Learn British English in 90 Minutes - ALL the Basics You Need

wanna speak real English from your first lesson sign up for your free lifetime account at English class 101.com welcome to English class 101.com British English in three minutes the fastest easiest and most fun way to learn English hi I'm Gina nice to meet you in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask an answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn new more common ways to ask and answer the question how are you in English you've probably learned how are you and I'm fine in textbooks before but in the United Kingdom people will usually ask this question and answer it in a different way first let's review if someone says how are you you can say and find thanks I'm fine thanks here are some other ways to answer I'm good thanks this means about the same as I'm fine thanks I'm good thanks we also have not too bad you can use this if you are feeling just okay or so-so not too bad let's look at again how are you this is the most well known way of asking how someone is you could use it when you want to be polite but now let's look at some different ways to ask how someone is these ways are more casual and much more common first hi how are you doing hi how are you doing all hey how's it going hey how's it going all in an especially casual situation you could say you're right you all right what if you're not doing all right although it's the British way to say you're doing fine even if you're not if you feel comfortable with the other person you could also choose to tell them when you're not doing fine you could say not so good not so good not great not great all I've been better I've been better careful if you say one of these the other person we usually ask why what's wrong then you will have to explain however if you're feeling particularly well you could answer more enthusiastically fantastic fan tear stick fabulous fab you loose or even and very well indeed I'm very well indeed now it's time for Gina's tips because of the popularity and influence of American film and media some American phrases have become common in the United Kingdom as well how are you doing was originally an American phrase but these days you can hear it on either side of the pond do you know the difference between what do you do and what are you doing it's a little tricky but I'll explain it simply in the next British English in three minutes lesson see you next time in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask what someone's job is in natural English of course you can just say what is your job this is correct English but it sounds too direct and awkward native English speakers almost never say this in a social situation instead they use a different question but before we master that we need to compare it to a very similar question what are you doing I'm presenting a video about English what do you do I'm an English teacher do you see the difference these two questions what are you doing and what do you do sound similar but mean different things the first one is asking what you are doing right now this minute you answer it using an ING verb what are you doing I'm reading I'm watching TV while the second is actually a shortened version of what do you do for a living this is how we ask what is your job in natural English let's practice this question what do you do what do you do when native speakers of English asked this question it can come out very fast and sound more like what do you do in order to tell it apart from what are you doing just listen for the in sound on the end of the question if it's not there then you're being asked what your job is so how would you answer this question just think of it as if the other person is asking you what is your job you could answer with I'm and then your job I'm a teacher I'm a teacher or I'm an engineer I'm an engineer if you want to learn more job names go to English class 101.com and check out the core word lists these cover job vocabulary and more and include a picture and audio to help perfect your pronunciation you can also mention the place that you work at starting with I work at I work at a hospital I work at a hospital I work at a law firm I work at AA law firm if you work for a big company that is well known you can say I work for and then the name I work for Barclays Bank I work for Barclays Bank I work for the BBC I work for the BBC now it's time for Gina's tips when you ask the question what do you do and the other person tells you their job it's polite to make some kind of positive comment about his or her job for example how interesting or that must be exciting or even oh really remember to sound sincere do you know how native English speakers ask each other what their hobbies are here's a hint we don't use the word hobby find out next time in the third English in three minutes lesson in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask what someone's hobbies are without using the word hobbies you've probably seen the question do you have any hobbies or what are your hobbies in an English textbook before however native English speakers almost never use the word hobbies when asking about them and that more natural way to ask the same question is what do you do for fun what do you do for fun you can also ask what do you do in your spare time what do you do in your spare time so how would you answer this question let's look at how native speakers would do it the easiest way is to say I like to or just I like followed by what you like to do for example if you like watching films you could say I like to watch films or I like watching films I like to watch films or I like watching films and if you like golf you could say I like to play golf or I like playing golf I like to play off all I like playing golf you can emphasize how much you like your hobby by adding a word like really in front of like for example I really like watching films on the other hand if you want to play down how much you like something you can say kind of for example I kind of like playing tennis now it's time for Gina's tips if you don't have any special hobbies or you don't want to be specific a good way to reply is I like spending time with my friends and stuff like that I like spending time with my friends and stuff like that just use I like and add spending time with my friends and then add and stuff like that how do you answer the question where are you from it doesn't even have a verb we'll cover this and more in the next British English in three minutes lesson this series explains some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn some different ways people will ask you where are you from first though where are you from can mean many different things it can mean which city are you from or which country are you from in fact Brits asked this question to each other all the time to learn which part of the UK the other person comes from if you want to answer this question there are two ways to do it you can say I'm and then your nationality as in and Japanese or I'm Brazilian or you can say I'm from and then the country you are from as in I'm from Italy or I'm from Thailand if you're from a really famous city or place you can say that too for example I'm from Beijing or I'm from New Delhi of course in the United Kingdom as in other parts of the world people may be a little more indirect because they want to be polite to do this they might ask you if you are from the place where they met you for example if you meet someone in London they might ask are you from London or if you are in York they might ask are you from York many parts of the United Kingdom are very multicultural so asking the question this way avoids what could be an embarrassing mistake you can answer this the same way you answer where are you from just add a simple no in front for example you can say no I'm and then your nationality no I'm French oh no I'm from and then your country no I'm from Russia now it's time for Gina's tips the UK is a diverse place people you meet may take great pride in the place or region they come from if you ask someone about where they're from they may respond by saying something like Yorkshire Lancashire or hartfordshire if they answer in this way it usually means they are interested in talking more about their region and how it differs from others in this lesson we learned some different ways to ask where are you from do you know what to ask when you don't know someone's name of course you do but what do you say when you've forgotten someone's name find out in the next British English in three minutes lesson see you next time want to speak real English from your first lesson sign up for your free lifetime account at English class 101.com welcome to English class 101 coms British English in three minutes the fastest easiest and most fun way to learn English hey everyone I'm Gina this series will teach you some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn some new ways to ask someone what's your name including one that you can use when you forgotten someone's name now what's your name was probably one of the first questions you learned when you started studying English I have to tell you though that most native speakers of English with never say this in English just like in other languages it is often more polite to be a little indirect of course the easiest way to avoid asking the question directly is not to ask at all just introduce yourself and most people will respond by doing the same when introducing yourself simple is nearly always best just say hi I'm Gina to show that you want to know the other person's name just add and you at the end hi I'm Gina and you hi I'm Gina and you just like before take out my name Gina and put your name in its place after you say this the person will tell you his or her name okay now let's talk about an embarrassing situation that happens to everybody you've already met somebody once before but you've forgotten their name the most polite thing to do in this situation is to apologize and ask again there's a simple way to do this that's also polite I'm sorry what was your name again I'm sorry what was your name again this sentence is very similar to what's your name but it has three important differences first we say I'm sorry a small apology can go a long way after that we say what was your name this is just like what is your name but instead of is we use the past tense was this is really important as it tells the other person that you remember meeting them you haven't forgotten him or her you've just forgotten the name this little word makes all the difference I'm sorry what was your name finally we add again to the end this is another hint that tells the other person that you remember learning his or her name before but you just can't recall it right now I'm sorry what was your name again this phrase is appropriate for both formal and informal situations now it's time for Gina's tips in the United Kingdom it's normal to address people by name in conversation more than once in both formal and informal situations it's a way to show respect or interest in the other person and can help you make friends it is also a great way to practice someone's name so you don't forget it if you are talking to someone named Andy for example instead of just what do you do for fun you could say Andy what do you do for fun you can also put the name at the end of the sentence what do you do for fun Andy you don't want to say the person's name too often or it will sound a little strange but if you practice someone's name like this you won't forget it and people love to hear their own name in this lesson we learned what to say when we forget someone's name in the next lesson you'll learn what to say when you want to get in touch with someone whether by telephone email or even newer ways to communicate what's your favorite let us know in the comments and join us the next British English in three minutes lesson in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn some ways to get in touch with someone after you've met them once already in a lot of textbooks you've probably seen the question what's your phone number it's a very useful question but there are two problems with it firstly it can sound a little too direct especially when talking to members of the opposite sex and secondly people use the phone a lot less these days than they used to instead they might prefer to connect by email or on a social network like Facebook to start with though a simple variation on what's your phone number that sounds a little less direct is could I get your number could I get your number we start the sentence with could which softens a request next say I then get and finally your number which is short for your phone number this question is slightly casual but it can be used in almost any situation these days many people prefer to use email rather than the phone to communicate asking someone for his or her email address is also a little less direct than asking for their phone number could I get your email address could I get your email address we just took could I get your number and replaced number with email address it's that simple could I get your email address if someone asks you either of these questions you can reply by saying of course my phone number is of course my phone number is or of course my email addresses of course my email address is all of course it's and then say your phone number or email address at the end recently many people have started to use social networks like Facebook or LinkedIn or online chat services like Skype to communicate people might ask you about these especially if they are younger if someone wants to connect with you through one of these services they may simply ask are you on followed by the name of the service are you on Facebook are you on Facebook are you on LinkedIn ah you on linked-in are you on skype ah you on skype to answer you can simply say yes I am or no I'm not if you respond with yes I am the other person may ask how they can connect with you and one of these services but if you answer with now I'm not they won't be able to contact you if you still would like to stay in touch with the person you can say no but my email address is or no but my phone number is and then say your email address or phone number by telling the other person a different way they can contact you you'll show them that you want to hear from them now it's time for Gina's tips if you ask someone for their phone number their email address or some other form of contact information they will usually give it to you if you've gotten to know them a little beforehand if you ask them too early in the conversation though they may be hesitant about sharing that information the key is to make sure you talk for some time before requesting this kind of personal information in this lesson we learned how to ask for a person's contact information in the next British English in three minutes lesson you'll learn another good way to get to know a person in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask and say where you live usually someone will ask you where you live as a polite question after they've asked you your name where you're from and what you do for a living they'll say so where do you live this is inviting you to keep making conversation there are lots of you can answer this question but here are some of the most common you could say do you know and then the name of the area you live in do you know County Durham or you could mention a local landmark like near the library all near the cinema you could also answer by telling the person what train line you live on if your city has a train network or what station is nearest to your house on the central line or near Piccadilly so as you can see there are lots of possible ways to answer the question where do you live once you've told them the other person might respond in one of the following ways oh yeah I know it all I live near there or maybe I'm afraid I don't know it the other person is just being polite by showing interest so you can reply by saying something like oh really a good way to continue the conversation is to ask them the same question in return you can just say how about you or where do you live put some stress on the you where do you live now it's time for Gina's tips asking where someone lives is a way to try to find out something you have in common with the person you're talking to so if you're familiar with the area the other person lives in make some comments about it that's a really nice area or the Park Fair is really pretty anything is fine as long as you don't say anything negative that could be taken as offensive like that area has a high crime rate or I hear that area's really dangerous do you know how to ask which schools someone goes to find out in the next British English in three minutes lesson in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask someone where they went to school or university asking someone where they went to university is a good small talk question and conversation starter however you have to be careful not to offend people if they didn't go to university I'll tell you how to do this the question is simple if the other person is over 22 it's likely they will have left University already so you ask using the past tense where did you go to university the answer to this question is really easy all you say is I went to the name of the University in and then the city I went to Imperial College in London if the name of the city or town is part of the university's name like Tokyo University or Oxford University you can add the name of the country instead I went to Tokyo University in Japan once you've heard the other person's answer it's flight to make some kind of comment for example wow that's a really famous University or just oh really sometimes when you ask where did you go to university the other person might reply I didn't go to university in this situation you should be careful how you reply so as not to appear rude it's polite to not act surprised but instead make a positive comment like oh really or ask the question like did you go straight into a job now it's time for Gina's tips a good follow-up question to keep the conversation going is to ask the other person what did you study or what was your major this gives them an opportunity to talk about something they're interested in in the next lesson you'll learn how to ask another basic question about the other person that's do you have any brothers or sisters in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask someone about their family asking whether they have any brothers or sisters asking someone about their family is nearly always a good topic of conversation after all most people love to talk about their family right in some English textbooks you'll see the question do you have any siblings but actually we rarely use the word siblings in casual spoken English so in order to ask this question naturally all you say is do you have any brothers or sisters remember that in English we hardly ever say sisters or brothers it's one of those phrases with a set word order like black and white brothers or sisters so the other person's answer to this question will probably be one of the following yeah I have two brothers or a brother and a sister or two sisters and so on sometimes they'll give details about ages and say something like yeah I have two younger brothers or yeah I have a younger brother and an older sister and so on note that some people say elder instead of older but they both mean the same thing if the other person doesn't give details about the ages of his or her brothers and sisters you can ask a polite follow-up question to show you're interested is he or she older or younger than you are they older or younger than you the value at the end is optional as it's understood from the context but what happens if the other person doesn't have any brothers or sisters there's a set phrase for this in English and that's I'm an only child now it's time for Gina's tips when someone gives you information like this and that doesn't seem to be anything else to ask a good all-purpose reply is to say oh really while nodding are just looking interested be careful though it's really important to sound interested when you say oh really otherwise you sound very rude and sarcastic do you know how to ask someone if they have a husband wife boyfriend or girlfriend without being rude in the next lesson you'll learn how to ask a more personal question in polite English in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask someone quite a personal question whether or not they're married or have a boyfriend or girlfriend this might be useful for the single people out there among you but it's actually a really common question that comes up when two speakers have been chatting for a while in an English textbook you may see the question are you married however this is a little blunt and can come across as slightly rude or sound as if you're trying to pick up the other person when in fact you just want to find out some more information about him or her there's a really important little trick you can use to ask this question naturally and that's to say are you married or did you notice the or at the end you stretch out the sound of their or this has the effect of softening the question and making it sound less direct once you've asked this question if the other person is married the answer will most likely sound like this yeah I'd be married for three or five or ten years if you're not married but are engaged then how would you answer this just say not yet but I'm engaged the correct response to this by the way is usually congratulations if you aren't yet engaged but do have a long-term boyfriend or girlfriend this is a good opportunity to bring that up no but I have a long-term boyfriend or girlfriend by the way the word steady sometimes comes up in English textbooks but this is a really old-fashioned way to say long term and people don't really use it anymore but what if you're not married not engaged and don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend then you can reply no I'm single at the moment this at the moment is another way to soften what you're saying and make it sound less blunt now it's time for Gina's tips as I mentioned at the beginning this question is a little personal make sure you've already been talking a while before moving on to this subject or it can seem a little forward or too personal do you know how to compliment someone on what they're wearing in natural English in the next British English in three minutes lesson you'll learn how see you next time want to speak real English from your first lesson sign up for your free lifetime account at English class 101.com welcome to English class 101 coms British English in three minutes the fastest easiest and most fun way to learn English hey everyone I'm Gina in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to compliment someone on what they're wearing this is a great way to break the ice and to come across as friendly and kind when meeting someone new if the conversation slows down a little and you can't think of anything to ask a good way to get it restarted is to compliment the other person if you don't know them well yet a safe way to do this is to say something nice about something they're wearing or something they have like a bag or phone case the way to do this is to say I love your bag or top or shoes etc this can sound a little bit feminine so if you're a guy you could say I really like your and then the item a normal response to this is just thanks or if you want to be modest or really thanks a great way to follow this and keep the conversation going is to ask where did you get it or where did you buy it this gives the other person a chance to talk about the shop country or situation in which they bought it and from there the conversation can develop naturally if you're complimented and then ask this question of course the reverse is true and you have a chance to tell the other person more about the item and where you got it the usual answer - where did you get it or where did you buy it is something like I got it at the shop name in and then the town or city this is appropriate if you bought the item in the country you're currently in so the other person may know of the store if you bought it in a different country though its usual to say I got it in and then the country name you don't need to say the name of the store unless it's world famous as the other person probably won't have heard of it anyway now it's time for Gina's tips in some cultures it's considered totally fine and even polite to ask how much something costs but in most english-speaking countries like the UK Australia and America this is considered very rude and there's a question that can only be asked by very close friends and even then it's risky remember not to say something like it looks expensive or how much was it when you're complimenting something that someone else owns have you ever met somebody that you wanted to meet again but didn't know how to take that next step in the next lesson you'll learn how in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask someone what they do on weekend evenings and lead up to asking to hang out together sometime in lesson three we learned how to ask about someone's hobbies in natural English by saying what do you do for fun or what do you do in your spare time this lessons question is a little similar to this but has an important difference it's for when you want to ask what someone does on weekend evenings such as going out drinking or dancing first of all in English the most natural way to say go out drinking dancing and so on is just to say go out as in did you go out last night in context the other person will know what you mean in English it's important not to ask things too directly if you want to ask someone if they usually go out drinking or dancing on weekends it's best to say what do you usually do on Friday or Saturday nights it's a bit long but the emphasis on Friday or Saturday nights will tell the other person exactly what you mean you could also say on weekends but it might sound like you're asking about what they do during the day another way to ask this is to use the phrase get up - this has the implication of doing things that are slightly naughty like drinking alcohol or going to a club what do you usually get up to on weekends asking the question in this way implies nightlife activities so you don't need to say Friday or Saturday nights a few possible responses to this are I like going to bars with my friends I like going clubbing with my friends I like hanging out with my friends if you don't like to go out night that's fine all you have to say is I don't really like drinking or clubbing so I just like and then say whatever you like doing instead if you don't like drinking alcohol and going to clubs be careful not to criticize these things too harshly in case the other person gets offended as we've mentioned before a handy way to turn the question back on the person asking it's just to say how about you now it's for Gina's tips if you think going for a drink with this new person sounds like fun and you'd like to make an informal invitation bringing up the topic of what he or she gets up to and weekend evenings is a great way to do this a natural informal way to do this without pressurizing the other person too much is just to say that sounds like fun we should go together sometime do you know how to ask someone about their tastes music in natural English in the next lesson you'll learn how in this series you're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask someone what sort of music they like this is a really common question when two people have been chatting for a little while in this lesson you'll learn how to answer this question in several ways in your English textbook you may have seen the question what kind of music do you like this is okay to use but it can sound a little formal there's actually a more natural way to ASUS using the phrase to be into something like what are you into this means the same as what do you like so all you have to do to ask this question is say what kind of music are you into an alternative to what kind of is what sort of they both mean exactly the same thing so you can also say what sort of musical are you into now how do you answer this question an English textbook might tell you should reply with a type or genre of music like jazz hip hop or R&B this is okay you can say something like I'm really into hip hop or I really like classical music another way to answer though is to just say the names of some of the musicians or artists that you like as examples of the type of music you like for example I like oasis and queen in order to level up your casual English you could add the phrase people like or stuff like in front of the artists name I like people like Annie Lennox and David Bowie I like stuff like Coldplay and the Beatles as we've mentioned before a handy way to turn the question back on the person asking it it's just to say how about you but when talking about music it's common for the other person to say something about your tastes like oh I like them too or I haven't heard of them so as you can see music is a great topic for expanding a conversation with a new person the expression and really into can be used with a lot of different things not just music you can use it to talk about your hobbies or sports you like to play as in and really into tennis or and really into football it can be used with people too if you want to say you like a certain person in your romantic sense but be careful if you use it in this way how do you get the conversation going when you want to talk about food if you don't know find out in our next lesson in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask someone about their tastes in food food is another great topic for getting to know someone you might also find out some interesting things about the food culture in the other person's country of course you can ask someone directly what kind of food do you like or what sort of food do you like if you ask these questions though it might seem a little too open for example there could be too many answers this might slow the conversation down instead it's much better to choose a particular food such as a famous one from your country or one that has come previously in the conversation and asked if the other person likes that food for example do you like fish and chips possible answers to this are yeah I do it's then a good chance to expand the conversation a little and say something about the food why you like it etc for example yeah I do I like it with mushy peas or even something simple like yeah I do it's delicious but what if you hate fish and chips how do you give a negative answer again you have to consider the other person's feelings and not be too critical of the food even if you hate it more than anything in case it's their favorite so you could say something like not really or a more idiomatic phrase I'm not a huge fan again it's good for the conversation and polite to give a reason why you don't like the food some good reasons are it's too greasy for me or simply I just don't like the taste of it now it's time for Gina's tips if you meet someone who likes the same kind of food that you do a nice way to continue the conversation is to ask them if they know any good restaurants that serve the food say for example that you both like Cornish Pasties you can say do you know a good place for Cornish Pasties if there's another type of food you are interested in just take out Cornish Pasties and put in the food in the plural form do you know a good place for Sunday roasts when you meet people at a party do you know how to ask them how they know each other find out in the next lesson in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask someone about their holiday plans even between native English speakers talking about holiday plans is a really common topic of conversation because it's both safe and interesting so the first question you'll want to ask is if the other person is going on holiday this is one of those situations in English where you can use the present continuous tense to have a future meaning instead of saying are you going to go which was difficult to say all you need to say is are you going it means the same thing and is shorter and easier so you could of course ask are you going on holiday this year this is fine but there's actually another way we ask this question in English that sounds even more natural are you going anywhere on holiday this year you can replace this year with another phrase the most common is this summer so how do you answer this question if you're not going anywhere for the most natural sounding reply you can say I'm staying at home this year if you've already decided where you're going you can reply with the name of the place and the month you're going again using the present continuous or ing tense yeah I'm going to Hawaii in July what if you're definitely going somewhere on holiday but you haven't yet decided where you're going then you can use useful little phrases like I'm planning to go and I'm thinking of going if you have two or more places you're considering you can use a phrase or maybe as a joining phrase I'm planning to go to Hawaii or maybe Thailand I'm thinking of going to Hawaii or maybe Thailand so what can you talk about once you've said where you're going on holiday well you can say what you're planning to do they're using the phrase I want to and planning to go to Hawaii I want to sunbathe and planning to go to Thailand I want to go shopping a good follow-up question to this is asking how long the person will stay there for asking this is really simple we often say how long are you planning on staying or how long are you going for answering this question is really easy - you don't need to repeat the question or say and going for or I'm going to stay for all you need to say is the length of time how long are you going for a week ten days two weeks now it's time for Gina's tips British speakers of English will use holiday as opposed to the American term vacation depending on where the native speaker of English is from you might hear the word holiday holidays or even the colloquial term jollies in this lesson we learned how to ask and talk about vacation plans in the next lesson you'll learn how to ask about the relationship between two other people and by doing this make even more friends in English do you know how to ask about this I'll be waiting for you in the next British English in three minutes lesson see you next time wanna speak real English from your first lesson sign up for your free lifetime account at English class 101.com welcome to English class 101 coms British English in three minutes the fastest easiest and most fun way to learn English hi everyone and Gina in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask someone who they know often at a party or in another social situation that you attend with a friend you'll be introduced to someone new or someone else will join the conversation a question that we often ask in this situation is how the new person knows your friend and what the connection is between them so how do we ask this it's easy pretend that your friend's name is John you could ask the new person so how do you know John if John is still talking to you you can ask this in a slightly different way by including both people and saying so how do you know each other this so at the beginning softens a question as well as making it clear that you're introducing a new topic there are many possible answers to this question usually beginning with we met we met at school or we met at a party or we met through a friend another way to answer this is to state your current connection with the other person for example we work together or we have a mutual friend this phrase a mutual friend is a really useful idiom that you should keep in mind the next logical step in the conversation is to expand on what you've just learned a good all-purpose reply is oh really then you can ask another follow-up question for example if the other person says we met at school you can say where was your school or which school if they say we met at work you can then ask where do you work or what is your profession if they say we met through a friend a possible follow-up question could be anyone I know of course it's also possible that the other person will ask you where you met the mutual friend by using that useful phrase how about you now it's time for Gina's tips social gatherings in the UK are quite an occasion and there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in discussions with people from many different class backgrounds the British class system still very much exists and social sports gatherings such as Royal Ascot and the Henley Royal Regatta are good places to hear middle to upper-class accents words and phrases try to pick up some yourself when you go and be sure to wear sophisticated clothes do you know how to talk about sports in English not just what sports you play and like but what teams you're a fan of find out in the next British English in three minutes lesson in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask someone about what sports say like if you're a sports fan then you'll know how much fun it is when you meet someone who likes that sport as much as you do even if they don't like your favorite team you may assume that you just say which sports do you like of course this is a normal way to ask this question but there's actually a more natural way to ask this in idiomatic English we use the phrase to be into a sport to mean to like or be interested in a sport so you can ask which sports are you into or if you think it's likely that the other person does like sport you can ask which sports do you follow you can answer either of these questions by saying I'm into football I follow football I like football or you can use a phrase I'm a fan of I'm a fan of football but what if you don't like sport again remember what we said before about being careful not to hurt the other person's feelings by saying anything too offensive just say no I don't really follow any sports lots of people don't like to watch sport but do like to play sport if this is you then you can say I'm not really into sport but I like playing and then the name of the sport I'm not really into sport but I like playing rugby if you find a common ground with the sports you follow this is a great place to expand the conversation all you need to say is which team do you support if you are asked this question you can follow up your answer with how about you as we've learned in previous lessons now it's time for Gina's tips sport is a very popular topic of conversation in the UK it's a totally neutral easy way to talk about a topic which avoids controversial themes such as politics and religion topics such as seas are not usually considered appropriate things to talk about with someone you have just met which sports are you into let us know in the comments in the next British English in three minutes lesson we'll be learning a really useful question for making conversation with native speakers and non-native speakers of English alike in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask and answer the question what are you doing in this city this lesson will be particularly useful for those of you who live in a foreign country but it's also a common topic of conversation between people of the same nationality remember in a previous lesson we learned how to ask someone what they do for a living by saying what do you do well in this lesson we'll be asking the question what are you doing in then the name of the city note that this question is in the present progressive tense with doing instead of do this is very important as the meaning of the question changes slightly this question what are you doing in is often asked by one expatriate to another it can mean what is your job but it can also include the meaning of how did you get here or what circumstances brought you here let's try it out what are you doing in Tokyo what are you doing in Frankfurt as you can imagine this question is quite open-ended so there are a number of possible ways to answer it you could just say what you do for a living I'm a software developer at then your company name I'm a software developer at Google or you could say why you came to the city or to this country in the first place for example I studied English at college so I wanted to try living in an english-speaking country my husband or wife got transferred here by his or her company I got transferred here from and then the previous place we lived in I got transferred here from Manila as with many other English conversation questions you can ask the other person the same question by saying how about you however if the other person is a native of the country this can sound a little strange in this situation you can ask instead did you grow up here or were you born here this is a really great opportunity to find out more information about the other person be creative now it's time for Gina's tips you don't just have to practice English with native speakers all practice is good practice English is a global language of communication and is often the only language that a group of people from lots of different places have in common so if you find yourself in a foreign community go ahead and try out your new English phrases in the next British English in three minutes lesson we'll be talking about films and how to give your opinions on them in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask and answer the question have you seen this film sometimes when you're talking to someone you might run out of things to talk about don't worry it happens to everyone this lesson is going to be really useful in increasing your repertoire of small talk questions by focusing on a topic that most people are at least a little bit interested in films if you find yourself with nothing to talk about or if you just really like films then you can always start a conversation about a new or controversial film you asked this by saying have you seen and then the name of the film the question have you seen is used when asking about films rather than did you see because you're asking about the person's present state there are several possible answers to this if you have seen the film there are again several ways to reply according to how much you enjoyed it if you saw it and really enjoyed it you can say yeah I really liked it or if you saw it but only thought it was so so you can say yeah it was okay or if you saw it but didn't like it yeah but it wasn't a genre I usually watch remember with this last one that you shouldn't criticize the film too much until you know what the other person thinks of it in order to be polite the logical follow-up to one of these responses is to ask what the other person thought of the film you can just say what did you think of it and then this starts off a potentially interesting conversation about your opinions on the film however how do you answer if you haven't seen the film in question all you have to say is no not yet this not yet implies that you're planning to see the film at some point and so indicates to the other person that they shouldn't tell you about key points of the story if you don't plan to see the film in question or if it's not the type of film you like you can get this across politely by saying yeah but it's not a genre I usually watch now it's time for Gina's tips if you have seen the film in question but the other person hasn't it's a great conversation starter to tell them about the plot of the film or about any particularly funny or memorable scenes but be careful you should always ask if the other person plans to see the film in the future before telling them any important plot points just say do you plan to see it at some point telling someone an important plot point or the twist or ending of a film is called spoiling a film the noun is a spoiler as in don't tell me any spoilers it's considered very bad manners to reveal a spoiler without giving warning first and some people can get very annoyed if you do this so be careful I'll and remember that when you're in the UK you will go to the cinema not a movie theater are you as young as you feel tune in to our next lesson to find out how to ask someone's age in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask a really basic question in a polite but natural way how old are you in your English textbook one of the first lessons may have been how to ask someone's age by saying just how old are you however in many English language cultures asking an adults age directly particularly a woman's age is not polite if you suddenly ask how old are you for someone you've just met they'll understand you but they might not be too happy about answering such a blunt and direct question so how do you find out someone's age without offending them you just add a magic phrase to the beginning of the question this phrases do you mind me asking this is an incredibly useful phrase that you should definitely memorize it comes in handy whenever you want to ask the question that may be a little personal or come across as a little too direct native speakers of English use it all the time so the full question would be do you mind me asking how old you are pay attention to the word order it's not do you mind me asking how old are you it's do you mind me asking how old you are the answer to this can be I'm 25 years old or just I'm 25 all it can be a little more detailed if you've just had a birthday you can say I've just turned 25 or if you're about to have a birthday you can say I'll turn 25 this month all I'll turn 25 in November it's more natural here not to give your exact birthday for example November the 1st but just a month so again to turn this question back on the person asking the question and find out his or her age all you have to do is use that other magic phrase we introduced in previous lessons how about you here it's okay not to worry about being polite since the other person asks you the question first now it's time for Gina's tips we mentioned that asking someone's age may not be polite but if you do decide to ask this question here's another tip some people like to reply with another question how old do you think I am be careful if you say an age that's older than the person's true age they may be very offended so it's always safer to say a number lower than what you actually think so if you think the person looks 40 say 35 and see how happy they look did you hear about the great video series called British English in three minutes in the next lesson we'll be learning how to talk about recent news stories using the phrase did you hear about see you next time want to speak real English from your first lesson sign up for your free lifetime account at English class 101.com hey everyone I'm Gina in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to talk about current affairs in a casual and natural way by asking did you hear about current affairs sounds like a frightening formal topic to talk about but actually it forms the basis of many casual conversations in English talking about current affairs is a great way to have an interesting conversation without getting too personal as someone you may have just met and is also a great way to learn more about the country you're in if it's not your native country so say you were watching TV in English last night and you saw an interesting or controversial news item that you want to talk about you can't just suddenly start talking about it with no introduction because that would sound really odd and maybe confuse the person you're talking to so how would you bring a topic like this up naturally all you do is use the phrase did you hear about and then you add the news item to the end of this for example if there was an earthquake in Asia you could say did you hear about the earthquake in Asia to make it sound even more natural you can add when specifically this event took place did you hear about the earthquake in Asia last night in answering this question you have a number of options if you know if the event the person is talking about you can tell them and give some detail about where or how you heard about it yeah I saw it on TV or yeah I heard it on the radio or yeah I heard about it from a friend but if you don't know what the other person is talking about just saying no can sound rather blunt and as if you're not very interested in what they're saying so instead you can show your interest and invite them to tell you about it by saying no what happened and then this will normally prompt the other person to begin giving you details about the event in question leading to a longer conversation of course it's even better if when listening you can make some comments using appropriate adjectives the construction how adjectives is useful when doing this for example if the other person is telling you about a very sad or disastrous event an appropriate comment would be how terrible or how awful or how sad on the flipside if it's a happy event like a lost child being found what native speakers often say are comments like that's great or that's relief or that's amazing be creative with your English adjectives now it's time for Gina's tips 20 years ago most people got their news from television and newspapers or traditional journalism but recently more and more Brits have been getting their news online via social media which is a general term for services such as Facebook and Twitter a survey found that as of 2012 over 50% of people had learned about a breaking news story by a social media rather than from traditional sources during that same year online news revenues surpassed the revenue of traditional print newspapers have you ever been to Beijing how about Madrid in the next British English in three minutes lessons we'll be talking about past travel experiences in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to talk and ask about past travel experiences you in the phrase have you ever been to travel is a great topic for conversation because it's so easy to talk about you can discuss food you ate sites you saw places you visited things you did and so on and so on there's really no end to this topic once you get started so it's perfect if you're not sure what to talk about asking where someone has been on holiday or traveling is easy all you have to do is ask have you ever been to and then add the name of the country or city you want to ask about this little word ever in have you ever been to is very important not because of its meaning but because it makes a question sound just like how a native speaker of English would ask it it's like a set phrase have you ever been to so say you're asked have you ever been to Tokyo how would you answer as simple yes-or-no isn't going to cut it if you want to have a good conversation in English say you have been to Tokyo there are a number of ways you could answer this you could answer with how many times you've been there have you ever been to Tokyo yeah twice or yeah three times or if you want to be less specific yeah a few times if you've been one time to Tokyo there's a special way of saying this yeah but only once this but only is optional but it makes your reply sound natural like a native English speaker apart from the number of times you've been there you can also reply with when you went there for example yeah I went there last year or yeah I went there three years ago or yeah I went there when I was a kid the word kid is more colloquial than child and sounds less formal a common follow-up question - have you ever been to is often to ask the person's opinion of the place there are two common ways to ask this question the first is what did you think of it this is a super useful question that we saw in lesson 19 when asking about films but you can use it for so many different topics but it's a good idea to memorize it the second is how was it you can answer both these questions in the same way remember in previous lessons we talked about expressing your opinions without hurting the other person's feelings the same rules apply here if you like the place you can go ahead and say that be creative with your adjectives for example I loved it it was so exciting I really liked it it was so vibrant I loved it the food was delicious and so on if you didn't like it so much be tactful using one of the phrases we introduced in earlier lessons for example it wasn't really my type of place a great way to say you didn't like a place in the polite way is to compare it with another place you did like for example I didn't like Tokyo as much as I liked koto this is also a very useful phrase I didn't like something as much as something else remember it now it's time for Gina's tips since the point of these questions is to start a conversation with the other person you can follow up by asking about specific landmarks or attractions in the city or country you're asking about use the pattern did you see and then the landmark for example did you see the Great Wall this is a great way to get the other person to tell a story and further the conversation are you a cat person or a dog person in the next British English in three minutes lesson we'll be talking about pets in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to talk about your pets and ask about other people's lots of people love animals don't they and lots of people have pets which is why pets are a good topic of conversation in this lesson we'll be learning how to go above and beyond the boring English textbook questions when talking about and asking about pets the first question is a classic and one that you have probably seen in your English textbook there's really no other way to ask this do you have any pets if however you want to take a more roundabout route to this question and a feeling adventurous you could first ask are you a cat or dog person this is an idiomatic way of asking whether someone prefers cats or dogs if you bring this question out and native English speaker will be stunned with how good your English is and after asking this you could then ask if she or he has any pets answering the question do you have any pets couldn't be simpler yeah I have a cat yeah I have a dog yeah I have a dog and a cat yeah I have two cats and so on and so forth but you don't want the conversation to end there do you of course you don't here's a good place to ask a little about the pets themselves first you can make an enthusiastic comment about the type of animal for example oh I love dogs or I love cats then you could ask what's its name if the person has more than one pet what are their names another good question is asking what type of dog or cat the pet is the special word for referring to a particular type of animal in English its breed what breed is it or what breeds are they but what if you don't have any pets how would you answer the initial question do you have any pets a flat no can sound unfriendly and as we mentioned in previous lessons it can shut down the conversation before it really gets started so it's best to add the reason why you don't have any pets for example let's imagine you just don't like animals remember we mentioned being careful not to be rude when giving opinions well here it's particularly important as many people are animal lovers and may be offended if you say you hate or don't like animals instead you could say I'm not really an animal person this is a nice soft way of saying you don't like animals without causing offence if you don't want to say this there's another great answer to this question I'm allergic to animals this may in fact be true but it's also a great excuse as to why you don't have pets if you simply just dislike animals a third and final reason my building doesn't allow pets this is useful for those of you who live in apartment buildings in big cities wherein no pets rule is very common now it's time for Gina's tips some animal lovers don't like it when you refer to their pets as it in this lesson we refer to a pet as it as in what breed is it or what's its name and generally when you talk about animals you should say it but sometimes it's safer to ask the gender of someone's pet you could also refer to the pet as he when you're asking about a pet and let the person correct you if the animal is actually female for example what breed is he what's his name and if the pet is female the person might say oh actually my dogs are she or my dog is female do you know how to ask what someone's plans through the weekend are I'll be waiting with the answer in the next British English in three minutes lesson in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in this lesson you're going to learn how to ask someone to do something with you on the weekend in natural and casual English so we're nearly at the end of our English in three minutes series and by now you should have a range of incredibly useful natural and idiomatic English conversation phrases stored up in this lesson we'll build on all we've learned in order to invite someone to do something with you in a way that doesn't cause embarrassment if they say no asking someone straight out do you want to go to the cinema this weekend it's a good strategy if you're already friends or have an established relationship however if you've just met someone and don't know them too well it can be hard to judge whether they're open to doing something social with you or not so there's a way to ask this question indirectly which spares you any embarrassment should they say no instead of saying do you want to do something this weekend asked do you have any plans for the weekend be sure to ask this casually your body language and facial expression are also important if the person feels like you're putting pressure on them to say that they're free they may feel uncomfortable the weekend in English usually includes Friday night Saturday and Sunday so they might respond like this I'm going out with my friends on Friday and shopping on Sunday but I'm not doing anything on Saturday not doing anything on Saturday is a neutral version of saying I'm free on Saturday saying I'm free on Saturday signals to the other person that you would be actively open to doing something with them then so be careful if you're answering this question here's your chance to invite the person out instead of asking directly say I was thinking of going to see that new film on Saturday do you feel like coming along do you feel like is a more indirect way of asking do you want - how can you respond to an invitation like this if you want to go then you can say sure that sounds great and then you can follow this up with what time and where this is a very useful phrase for when you want to casually ask about time and place so I would memorize it however what do you do if you want to refuse an invitation like this without hurting the person's feelings well instead of saying no straight out it's best to say that you're not sure first of all though say something like that sounds really fun but then add I'm not sure if I can let's catch up another time soon though even if this isn't strictly true it is a more polite way to refuse an invitation than the flat-out no now it's time for Gina's tips in this lesson we took care not to be too forward when asking someone to do something but of course this all depends on the personality of the person you're asking if they're a friendly forward person you don't have to worry so much about being too direct just say do you want to see a film this weekend but even in this situation a good tip is to add in the super useful word maybe to take some pressure off do you maybe want to see a film this weekend do you know how to use um filler words in English I'll be waiting for you with the answer in the final British English in three minutes lesson in this series we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English it's really useful and it only takes three minutes in the final lesson in this series you're going to learn some of the things that native speakers say to make your English sound perfectly fluent so this is the last British English in three minutes lesson for this series I hope you've learned a lot in this lesson we're going to look at some words that are a feature of spontaneous fluent English speech they're known as filler words you probably have these in your native language two words that don't have any meaning but that Philip pause in the conversation while you think about what to say next you may not even be aware you're using them in your native language however one of the quickest ways to remind the person you're speaking to that you're not a native speaker of English is to slip back into using one of these filler words in your native language so now we're going to introduce a few of these common filler words in English you will hear these a lot when you're speaking to native English speakers but this doesn't mean you should use them all the time yourself they can make your speech sound fluent and natural equally though using these too much can sound very irritating some examples of filler words are sounds like so using these in a sentence would sound like I'm going to um Edinburgh this weekend but we also have actual words and phrases that serve as filler words some of the most widely used are you know what I mean actually basically I guess of course if you know what I mean and so on and so on however the most overused filler word is without a doubt like hey that's like a really cool haircut she's like such a cool person this usage of light has absolutely no meaning you will hear it a lot especially if you're speaking to younger people those under 30 but you should try to avoid overusing it as it can make your speech sound too colloquial and uneducated but there's actually another use of like which you may not be aware of it's used to quote speech in conversation in your grammar textbook you probably had some sample sentences like this he told me he was going to see a film this weekend or he said he was going to see a film this weekend or he said I'm going to see a film this weekend but I'll tell you a secret it is very very common for younger native English speakers to quote using the phrase was like for example he was like I'm going to see a film this weekend to expand this further you might even overhear something like this he was like I'm going to see a film this weekend would you like to come and I was like I don't know I'm sort of busy and he was like okay maybe next time did you follow all that now I'm not suggesting you copy this way of speaking exactly but please be aware that he was like and I was like is a very common if not a slightly lazy way of quoting speech in modern English and throwing in a he was like and I was like every now and again will make you sound like a totally fluent young native English speaker now it's time for Gina's tips I said that these filler words don't mean anything and that they can sound annoying when you use them too much but actually they can have an important function as well as giving you time to decide what to say next they also help you to keep your turn when speaking as opposed to going quiet and possibly allowing someone else to jump in and start talking they can also weaken or soften what you're saying which can work either positively or negatively if you're saying something important that you want people to take seriously you should try to avoid using fillers but if you're telling someone something difficult or if you're expressing some strong feeling it might be good to throw in a light or a you know and worries about you sounds very serious and heavy whilst I'm sort of worried about you sounds much gentler and less heavy and the opposite side adding a you know at the end of a sentence can actually underline and strengthen what you're saying as in I'm worried about you you know this is the last British English in three minutes lesson but it's hopefully not the last you learn about the English language to take your language ability to the next level check out English class 101.com the fastest easiest and most fun way to learn English by everyone [Music] you you

Channel: Learn English with EnglishClass101.com

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Id: XtEixjKMPfM

Length: 91min 36sec (5496 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 04 2017