English Fluency Practice - 22 Expressions with a Native Speaker

hi I'm Lisa let's take your English fluency to the next level we're continuing my series with conversations with real people in Los Angeles I teach you the words and expressions that they are using that you generally don't learn in English classes and I give you other sample sentences using those words so that you can learn to use them in different contexts and at the end of the video I will give you a quick review quiz a fill in the blank quiz so that you can test yourself and find out how much you learned [Music] in this video you will meet Raquel Raquel is a real estate agent she helps people buy and sell houses in Los Angeles first let's pronounce real estate correctly let's link the two words we're gonna say it like this real estate real estate we're going to connect the L to the E let's say that again real estate and now let's say the name of her profession real estate agent let's say all of those three words together because they are part of one unit we shouldn't pause between them let's stress the first word real estate agent a few weeks ago Raquel was holding an open house not far from where I live she posted the address on Instagram and I recognized the street so I decided to stop by an open house is generally held on the weekends people who are looking to buy a house stop by and look at it and they get more information about the house and while I was there I decided to ask Raquel some questions about the house and about her job I'm so glad that she agreed to be filmed because she used some very valuable expressions and vocabulary that I think you need to know she was holding the open house on Saturday and on Sunday afternoon I filmed this video on Saturday and then I came back on Sunday and talked to Raquel a little bit longer and I will post part two of my conversation with Raquel in the near future so make sure that you're subscribed to this channel so that you can find out when I post part two the house is located in an area of Los Angeles called the west side in a community known as Delray way Del Rey is just east of Marina del Rey okay let's get started do you know how to use the word cozy let's listen to the way Raquel used it this mom has a nice modern cozy feel to it this one has a nice modern cozy feel to it Raquel said this house has a nice modern cozy feel to it if something is cozy it gives you a feeling of comfort warmth and relaxation for example we can say the fireplace makes the room feel cozy this is such a cozy room or you can say I feel cozy in my bed let's listen to the way some other people used it the effects here are cozy intimate and special for instance this cozy sofa Arrangement is directed toward this focal point in the room from this angle which is the fireplace it was loving cozy cookies unconditional love let's listen to the way Raquel and I use the verb to stage and as you can see we have the home staged oh this is stage yes with modern furniture she said we have the home staged and I asked oh this is staged what does that mean it means preparing the home to make the buyer more interested a staging company comes to decorate it in order to sell the house so the furniture in the house doesn't belong to the owner it's just there temporarily to sell the home and research shows that a staged home sells for a lot more money than a home that's not staged usually for at least forty thousand dollars more and maybe you saw my video that I made a few years ago where I spoke to Lauren and she works for a staging company I'll put the link in the description below if you would like to see that she talks about her job and about the importance of staging a home let's learn the meaning of Jack and Jill bathroom let's listen to Raquel follow me this way kind of like a Jack and Jill bathroom to bedroom number two a Jack and Jill bathroom is a bathroom between two bedrooms so we have a bedroom and then a bathroom and then another bedroom and the bathroom has two doors so you can enter the bathroom from each of the bedrooms okay let's learn some more vocabulary related to houses let's learn about a stackable washer and dryer let's listen to Raquel there's room here for a washer and dryer okay just empty so it would be a stackable washer and dryer let's look at washer and dryer most people don't say washing machine and drying machine they say washer and dryer and let's look at the word stackable it comes from the word stack stack is a noun and a verb let's look at the noun this is a stack of books this is a stack of pancakes this is a stack of clothes and the verb is to stack and that means to make a stack and the past tense is stacked for example we can say I stacked the boxes and the adjective is stackable so this is a stackable washer and dryer what else can be stackable chairs these are stackable chairs Raquel said you're more than welcome let's listen I want to move into this house I said I want to live in this house it's beautiful and she said you're more than welcome your welcome can be used in two different ways if someone says thank you you know that we say you're welcome that one you're familiar with right but we can also say you're welcome to join me for example I'm going to the party you're welcome to join me and that's an invitation or we can say Don't eat by yourself you're welcome to join us at our table you're welcome to join or for special emphasis we can say you are more than welcome so if we say you're more than welcome to come that's an invitation I'm inviting you to come and when I said I want to move into this house it's beautiful Raquel said you're more than welcome and that means yes you can I invite you to live here but then she told me the price of the house and it's very expensive let's listen to the way she said those numbers let's listen to how much it costs how much 6.3 million dollars you're more than welcome Raquel said 2.3 million dollars that period is pronounced as Point repeat after me 2.3 million did you notice we didn't say Millions we didn't add an S why not 2.3 Millions because we gave a specific number so we can say it costs millions of dollars or it costs 2.3 million we don't add an S when we give the specific number and the same thing is true for a thousand or hundred for example we can say it costs thousands of dollars we put an S there or it costs five thousand dollars no s because we gave the specific amount let's practice using the word Point repeat after me 1.2 million 2.5 million 5.8 million 2.3 million is a lot of money keep in mind that housing is very very expensive in Los Angeles in other parts of the United States a house that costs over two billion dollars would be a mansion let me show you some examples of houses in other parts of the United States for example you can buy this house for 2.2 million in another part of California in a city called Fresno Fresno is a lot less expensive and this is a house in Houston Texas and it sells for 2.6 million again it's a really huge house and this is the house where Raquel was holding the open house in Los Angeles it's selling for 2.398 million almost 2.4 million crazy isn't it do you know what a burner is let's listen to Raquel I like the stove yes the stove has eight burners eight burners why would anybody need eight burners someone who loves to cook this is considered a Chef's Kitchen Raquel said that the stove has eight burners and this is a burner and I asked why does anybody need eight burners in my stove I only have four burners how about you how many burners does your stove have let's learn a very common idiom with the word burner the idiom is to put something on the back burner we have front burners and we have back burners my stove has two front burners and two back burners so what do you think it means if I say to put something on the back burner what do you think that means it means to make something a low priority it's not the most important thing when you're cooking you usually put the most important things on the front burner but you can keep some things on the back burner too so if you put something on the back burner it means you are temporarily not dealing with it or you're delaying it or it doesn't need your immediate attention it's not urgent for example we can say the project was put on the back burner when more important assignments arrived or we can say your health is very important don't put your health on the back burner let's listen to the way some other people use this idiom you know so much of our pain comes from putting our own needs on the back burner is that now somehow on the back burner or is it still essential to this conversation or sometimes my brain wants to put my main job on the back burner because of some other current Obsession let's listen to Chef's Kitchen eight burners why would anybody need eight burners someone who loves to cook considered a Chef's Kitchen in real estate language a Chef's Kitchen is Big it's roomy maybe there's more than just one oven or maybe they're very high quality appliances and maybe more than one sink and lots of cabinets and do you know what an island is let's listen and this is a nice Island and this is a nice Island this is an island it's a kitchen island it's a cabinet and a countertop that's in the middle of the kitchen and it's not against the wall and it gives you extra space for preparing food or it can even function as a table and don't forget the S is silent and the word Island repeat after me kitchen island Raquel said that the house has plenty of room to entertain your guests let's listen plenty of room to entertain your guests plenty of room to entertain your guests when you speak English do you use the word plenty it's a very common word and in American English the tea is generally silent most people say plenty and not plenty but you will hear people say plenty also but it's more common to say plenty and plenty simply means enough or more than enough for example we can say don't worry we have plenty of time we have plenty of time to get there there are plenty of restaurants in this neighborhood if you're still hungry there's plenty of food left Raquel said plenty of room plenty of room to entertain your guests let's look at the word room it can have two different meanings depending on if it's a countable noun or an uncountable noun what is the difference between these two sentences there are no more rooms left there is no more room left the first one refers to rooms in a house or in a hotel for example you can say I can't get a reservation at the hotel because there are no more rooms left but if we say there is no more room left without an S because it's an uncountable noun that means there is no more space left for example we can say my suitcase is very full there is no more room left so in this case room means space if you would like more leg room you need to buy a first class ticket so plenty of room to entertain your guests means the kitchen is big and there's enough space for your guests but let's look at the meaning of entertain with the way Raquel used it she said to entertain your guests plenty of room to entertain your guests to entertain means to have guests to invite people to your house to eat or to drink to show Hospitality for example we can say I love to entertain and that means I love it when people come to my house and I cook for them I love to entertain or we can say I'm entertaining guests tonight and that means guests are coming to my house tonight maybe I'm having a party I am the hostess do you like to entertain how often do you entertain let's learn the meaning of Adu let's listen to Raquel now follow me today two bedroom Adu each bedroom has its own bathroom so the Adu has more than one bedroom yes it's a two bedroom EDU an Adu is an accessory dwelling unit it's a little guest house in the back of the house it usually has a kitchen and a sleeping area and a bathroom in Los Angeles these days many people are building adus because they have a big backyard that's not being used and very often it used to be a garage but they converted it they made it into an Adu they can't park their car in the garage but they can rent out the small house the Adu and they can make money from it or other family members could live there let's learn the difference between to rent and to rent out I asked Raquel about renting out the house if somebody rented this out they could get a lot of money for this right I would say they could probably get about forty five hundred dollars a month rent plus utilities I said if somebody rented this out let's look at the difference between to rent and to rent out if I rent a house out I'm the owner and other people are living in it and they're paying me rent for example we can say do you live in that house no I'm renting it out I'm renting it out to somebody other people are living in it but if we just say to rent that can have two meanings it usually means that I am paying rent to someone I am not the owner I'm paying rent to the owner but some people also say to rent when they are the owner and they're renting it to someone so if I'm renting it it can have two meanings but if I'm renting it out it only has one meaning it means I'm the owner and somebody else lives there and pays me rent Raquel said if the owner rented out the Adu they could probably get forty five hundred dollars a month let's listen if somebody rented this out they could get a lot of money for this right I would say they could probably get about forty five hundred dollars a month rent plus utilities Raquel didn't say four thousand five hundred dollars she said forty five hundred dollars and that's a much more common way to say it let's practice for example most people don't say 2 500 they say 2500. how would we say this number you say it 9 500. ninety five hundred dollars how about this number you say it twelve hundred twelve hundred dollars repeat after me I paid Eleven Hundred for it I bought a used car for 7 500. Raquel said 4 500 plus utilities I would say they could probably get about forty five hundred dollars a month rent plus utilities what is utilities utilities are the monthly payment for services such as electricity Gas and Water we can say my utility costs are high or utility costs have gone up or how much do you pay for utilities or when we're looking for an apartment we could ask are utilities included in Los Angeles usually they're not water is generally included but electricity and gas are generally not but landlords can make their own rules about that let's listen to the pronunciation of mortgage that can help pay for the mortgage yes I said that could help pay for the mortgage I didn't pronounce the T repeat after me mortgage mortgage a mortgage payment is the monthly payment that you pay the bank because you borrowed money from the bank to buy the house so if you don't pay cash the mortgage payments can be very high usually people put 20 percent down and then they finance 80 percent so on a 2.3 million dollar house you can imagine how high the mortgage payments must be do you know the meaning of the word ample let's listen to the way Raquel used it apple storage space Apple Stores Raquel said that there is Ample Storage Space people sometimes prefer to use ample rather than plenty of it sounds a little bit more formal for example we can say ample free parking is available and that means enough or more than enough free parking is available there's ample room in this closet the trunk has ample room for my luggage let's learn the meaning of the word cosmetic when we're talking about real estate let's listen to Raquel this fell down this is purely cosmetic and easy fix what does cosmetic mean in real estate it just means it's more for the aesthetic I'm sure you already know the meaning of the word Cosmetics when we are talking about the makeup that women put on their faces however Raquel used the word cosmetic when she was talking about the house she said purely cosmetic cosmetic things are not the big things for example paint is cosmetic or the light fixtures are cosmetic or the faucets and so on they're not structural so the fact that the screen door needs to be fixed is not a big deal it's just cosmetic let's listen to the way Raquel used the word loungy so here you can make it loungy you can put a barbecue grill back here she said you can make it loungy and if something is loungy it means it's suitable for lounging so let's look at the verb to Lounge to Lounge means to sit or to lie down in a very relaxed way in a lazy way and the past tense is lounged repeat after me lounged or we can say I spent the weekend lounging around the pool and Lounge is also a noun a lounge is a room or an area for people to sit and to wait and to relax this is a hotel lounge and this is an airport lounge and this is a lounge chair Raquel's Instagram is raquel.r dot Rivera and if you're planning to buy a house in Los Angeles contact Raquel she can help you out with all of your needs okay now it's time for your review quiz let's find out how many of these words you remember let's look at the first word what is this my stove has four what burners burners my stove has four burners did you get that one correct which verb means to have guests to have people come to your house to eat and to drink Raquel said this house has plenty of room to blank your guests what's the verb to entertain to entertain your guests let's go on to the next one when the washing machine is at the bottom and the dryer is at the top what kind of washer and dryer is that it's a blank washer and dryer stackable stackable washer and dryer let's go on to the next one if you want to say the people are living in my house and they're paying me rent you can say I am renting my house blank what is the preposition I am renting my house out let's go on to the next word if you want to say every month I pay for the electricity the gas and the water that I use you can say every month I pay the blank utilities I pay for the utilities let's go on to the next one if you want to say that there's a lot of space for all of the clothes in my closet the closet is Big so it has a lot of room we can say there is blank room in the closet there are two different ways you can say it you can say plenty of room or you can say ample room so plenty of and ample have the same meaning how about if we say this house needs new paint and new lights those things are considered wet cosmetic the house just needs some cosmetic things to be fixed a place where you can sit and relax is called a blank what is it a lounge a lounge how did you do if you got all of them correct or if you only made one mistake congratulations you did an excellent job if you made more than one or two mistakes I suggest that you watch this video again and pause to make your own sentences that way you're much more likely to remember them and to make them a permanent part of your speech and remember I will post part two of my conversation with Raquel so make sure that you're subscribed to this channel so that you can find out when that video is released thanks for watching and keep practicing your English to get the two courses the American accent course and the 400 Advanced words you must know for fluent English go to accurateenglish.com

Channel: AccurateEnglish

Views: 280,158

Keywords: like a native, fluent english, advanced english, american accent, Lisa Mojsin, English with a native speaker, native speaker in Los Angeles, English teacher, ESL teacher, speak fluent English, idiomatic expressions

Id: M5ej4s4WzNQ

Length: 25min 36sec (1536 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 13 2023