6 English Language HACKS that you DIDN'T LEARN at school

okay so you're learning English and I imagine that you've probably got a good level already okay but let me ask you a question when was the last time you learned something and you thought yourself what I never knew that I'd been saying it wrongly all these years well today we've got six of those moments for you six ways of speaking that native speakers used that you probably didn't learn a school if you did then congratulations you went to a good school and while watching this video if not then I promise you that this video is really going to boost your level in English in just a few minutes so stay tuned [Music] hello and welcome to let them talk the channel that goes deeper into everything about the English language and I'm an English teacher and I've been teaching English for more than 15 years and although I teach in Paris now I've had students from all over the world but whatever the level of my students I usually know in advance that there are some very common ways of expression and grammar that native English speakers use that the students don't for some reason and I can only conclude that these just aren't in the English books that they use a school anyway I've got six tips for you today plus a bonus tip at the end so stay tuned for that you're going to learn a lot so let's get straight into it so you enter restaurant with your friends and the waiter says how many are you and you say we are two now is that correct we are two no it isn't in English we usually talk in personally when we talk about people even if it includes us so we would say there are two of us there are two of us okay another example I'm not sure exactly but five of us will be at the concert okay so tip number one is use there are and not we are when talking about yourself and other people [Music] so next question is this sentence grammatically correct these days it's not easy to know the difference between a French wine and a New Zealand wine it's not easy to know the difference between the French wine and a New Zealand wine when you're drinking it I mean no it isn't the correct sentence would be it's not easy to tell the difference between okay that's right the rule is if we're using our senses the sense of smell touch taste feeling or hearing to recognize information then we use the verb to tell and not make or know remember here we are not using the verb tell to mean saying something to something this is a different meaning of tell so I often hear students say something like I can know the difference between a Clementine and tangerine this is not correct firstly firstly you don't use can and note together in the affirmative anyway we are using our senses the sense of tastes maybe one is sweeter than the other perhaps so you must use tell I can tell the difference okay by the way I've just realized I don't really know the difference between a Clementine and a tangerine so if you know the difference then do leave the answer in the comments anyway we use no to talk about situations when we have prior information pry information for example you say you didn't seal the cookies but I know you're lying because I saw the video of you stealing the cookies okay I have pry information I saw the video so I use the verb no okay I can tell you are lying because of how you're answering the question and your body language no I didn't steal the cookies it was some other guy okay so in that case we're using our senses to recognize the information so we used tell I can tell you or lying [Music] so my neck sip is used though at the end of sentence to show a contrast we know that you can use although at the beginning on the middle of a sentence but most English speakers or certainly when they're speaking informally will put it that's the end of a sentence so for example it's very cold outside nice day though so all you need is a statement and something that contradicts that statement and then though at the end which you say with a rising tone okay he's a really nice guy it's stupid though I'm free most of the week not tomorrow though ok so there you are you make a statement you contradict the statement and then you put though that's the end simple huh ok one more example the exam was really difficult I think I passed it though [Music] another challenge for you is this sentence correct we visited many countries on our European trip like Portugal and Germany like Portugal and Germany is that correct not really a much better and a much clearer way of expressing that sentence would be to use such as rather than like yes use such as that's our next tip like we use for comparison okay if you say like Portugal Germany you'd mean somewhere which is similar to both Portugal and Germany and I don't know where that is so like means the same or something similar to so for example we need someone like Messi or Ronaldo in our football team okay so such as is giving an example from a longer list okay you're giving an example from a longer list okay so for example I watch a lot of British TV shows such as Sherlock and Black Mirror okay so there you are I'm giving an example from a longer list and my next tip is use ich has a suffix to mean about approximately around to some extent for example will arrive eight ish which means will arrive about 8 p.m. are you busy busy ish but never too busy to see you was the film good yeah good ish but certainly no masterpiece native English speakers use ish a lot so do learn it and we've made a video about this very subject and I'll put a link to that in the description so my next challenge is is this sentence correct somebody asks you have got the time and you respond sorry I don't sorry I don't is that correct not really a much better way to respond would be I'm afraid I don't I'm afraid I don't have the time okay now in English we use I'm sorry when you have done something wrong and you need to apologize okay that's fine I'm sorry I'm late I'm sorry I ate all your sausages I'm sorry I drank all your whiskey okay but when you are giving people information that they don't want to hear okay you use I'm afraid I'm afraid you haven't got the job I'm afraid we've run out of bananas I'm afraid the show has been cancelled okay so here we are we're giving people information but you are not responsible for the bad news so we use I'm afraid and not sorry okay and we do have once again we do have a video just on this subject with more information and once again I'll put a link to that in the description you is this sentence correct Venezuela has a lot of economical problems Venezuela has a lot of economical problems no it isn't correct the correct word is economic not economical and this is the bonus tip and I'm just giving you this tip because the difference between economic and economical is a very common mistake that I hear so I thought this was a good moment to give it to you so just to clarify this economics is the study of the science of the economy so for example we are trying to improve the economic situation whereas economical means saving money or not wasting money so for example I don't have much money this month so I have to be economical with my budget okay electric cars are more economical to run than petrol cars they also they save money they are cheaper so there you are how many of those did you know you can put your answer in the comments so once again thank you for watching stay mellow and I'll see you next time [Music]

Channel: LetThemTalkTV

Views: 341,913

Keywords: yt:cc=on, letthemtalktv, learn English, practical tips, didn't learn at school, such as, like, econonomic, economical, I'm afraid, though, gideon, English teacher, British pronunciation, cours d'anglais, Paris, english tips, English hacks

Id: 12aAL6mdfDo

Length: 11min 56sec (716 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 08 2018