Learn Professional English Expressions For Fluent English

hi i'm lisa let's learn some professional words and expressions that native speakers use [Music] one of the main ways that you can recognize a native speaker compared to a non-native speaker is the expressions they use generally native speakers use so many of them for example a non-native speaker might say 10 lawyers work for our firm but a native speaker might say we have 10 lawyers on staff so they would use the expression on staff a non-native speaker might say how did you choose your profession but a native speaker might say how did you get into the field they used the expression get into the field and that's one of the final steps of fluency to not only be able to understand the expressions but to be able to use them yourself this is part two of my conversation with a native speaker who works in los angeles you will listen to my conversation with ashley fitch ashley is an interior designer working for an architecture firm during my conversation with her ashley used a lot of expressions that i would like to teach you these are expressions that native speakers use all the time this is why i like this method of teaching first you listen to the native speaker and then i come back and i teach you the exact meaning of those expressions and then we practice the expressions with other example sentences that way you get a good understanding of the meaning of that expression i recommend that you pause the video after each expression that you learn and then you create your own sentence something related to your own life to your own work situation that way you hear yourself saying the sentence make sure you say it out loud when you do that you're more likely to remember the expression and then you'll be able to use it when you're having conversations in english ashley works for an architecture firm called studiopch and do you know what pch means pacific coast highway pch goes all the way from the top in washington state and then it goes through oregon and then it comes down to california and studio pch designed a restaurant that's located on pch in malibu called nobu and now there are nobu restaurants and nobu hotels in different parts of the world in this clip she talks about the challenges of her job the difficult parts of her job let's listen to her and then i will come back and we will talk about the expressions that she used i would think that dealing with people could be challenging definitely stressful yeah there's always deadlines definitely it's time it's money they want it done asap if you go over budget it's not acceptable the owner has a budget in mind and they don't necessarily communicate that budget up front but they will wait until we have renderings and a preliminary design have a general contractor price it all out see what it comes down to and from there if that price isn't acceptable if it doesn't work if it's way over budget then we go through a value engineering process we call it ve what is value engineering value engineering is basically cutting costs and that's simple value engineering means cutting costs yeah that's interesting it's a nice way to put it it's a nice way to say let's do it cheaper exactly exactly we don't want to spend this much money let's do it cheaper okay it's so interesting to me how these words exist yeah i know explain something it just sounds so much nicer yeah yeah let's do some value those words for a designer is like a dagger i'm sure that most of you know this expression asap time it's money they want it done asap some people say asap and some people say asap ashley said they want it done asap and you know what that means right as soon as possible repeat after me the boss wants it done asap you'd better do it asap let's listen to the way ashley used the expression to have in mind the owner has a budget in mind and they don't necessarily communicate that budget up front to have something in mind ashley said the boss has a budget in mind to have something in mind is to have a plan an idea about what you want to do for example i often hear it used this way you go to buy a car and you say to the salesman i'd like to buy a car and he says do you have a budget in mind do you have a budget in mind that means how much money do you want to spend or let's do something tonight what do you have in mind repeat after me what do you have in mind what do you want to do let's listen to the way ashley used the expression upfront the owner has a budget in mind and they don't necessarily communicate that budget up front upfront means in advance and ashley said they don't necessarily communicate the budget up front and that means they don't tell you in advance and you can also use upfront this way you need to pay up front we need fifty percent of the money up front ashley used the expression to go over budget two different times let's listen to the way she used it if you go over budget it's not acceptable the first time she said if you go over budget it's not acceptable to go over budget is to cost more than the amount allowed in the budget you can say the house is half finished and it's already over budget or the boss is angry because we went over budget and let's use the word way because she also said way over budget if it's way over budget then we go through a value engineering process we call it ve instead of saying a lot or too much you can say way is german similar to russian no it's way different or it was way too hot today repeat after me the project is way over budget let's listen to the way ashley used ve value engineering value engineering is basically cutting costs and then simple value engineering means cutting costs yeah yeah she said value engineering is basically cutting costs so to save money and let's look at a sentence that i found online using value engineering through some value engineering a project at lake wichita may be completed for less than the expected price tag and i'm sure you know what cutting costs means right to spend less money or to lower the costs but let's make sure you can use it in a good sentence repeat after me in an effort to cut costs they fired a lot of employees in an effort to cut costs they fired a lot of employees and let's look at the way ashley used put it it has nothing to do with the verb to put it has a different meaning it's a nice way to put it it's a nice way to put it she said it's a nice way to put it that's a very common expression when we say to put it it means to say it to express it in a certain manner in a certain way and usually when you're trying to be more polite you can say i need to find a way to put it people often say let me put it to you this way or if you're afraid that you might say something wrong or hurt someone's feelings you might say hmm how should i put it for example if you want to say to someone that the dress doesn't look so good on them it doesn't fit well you might say something like this well how should i put it i think you should keep shopping until you find the right dress it's a better way to say it or just a different way to say it it's a nice way to put it i like the next expression let's listen to how ashley uses a dagger to the heart engineering those words for a designer is like a dagger to the heart but let's do some value engineering like a dagger to the height a dagger is a short pointed knife that's used as a weapon and she said those words for a designer it's like a dagger to the heart and if something is a dagger to your heart it hurts you deeply and you suffer very much for example we can say when he found out that she was in love with another man it was like a dagger to the heart it was very painful for him he suffered very much so when ashley hears that they have to cut costs and all of her wonderful ideas can't be used because the budget doesn't allow it it's like a dagger to her heart engineering those words for a designer is like a dagger to the heart but let's do some value engineering like a dagger to the height in the next clip i ask ashley to tell me about some common misconceptions about her job let's listen to how she answers and then i'll come back what are some misconceptions about your job when i'm talking to friends or family members and they are asking me you know what i'm doing and i tell them i'm an interior designer um i get a lot of oh that's so nice you know you must just have so much fun picking out beautiful things all day long you know selecting fabrics like oh that sounds like a dream job when in reality there's so much work that goes on behind the scenes it's blood sweat and tears it's it's non-stop and there's a lot of technical documentation that happens the design firm that i work for is very technical the founder is an architect i have an architecture background we have architects on staff we also have interior designers on staff we have artists on staff we're drawing plans finish schedules 3d modeling and it's also about space planning and layouts and interior architecture let's listen to the way i use the word misconception what are some misconceptions about your job i asked ashley what are some misconceptions about your job and a misconception is an incorrect view a wrong belief because of not understanding something we can say the idea that money will bring happiness is a misconception people believe it's true but it's not true let's listen to the way ashley used the expression behind the scenes when in reality there's so much work that goes on behind the scenes it's blood sweat and tears she said in reality there's so much work that goes on behind the scenes what you don't see in private behind public view we can say they seem happy together but we don't know what's going on behind the scenes the next expression is blood sweat and tears let's listen to how ashley used it when in reality there's so much work that goes on behind the scenes it's blood sweat and tears blood sweat and tears means hard work with a lot of effort and suffering we can say after many years of blood sweat and tears he built a successful company and i remember when i was a teenager the first time someone told me about blood sweat and tears i was 15 years old and i was in high school and i was really struggling in my french class and i was so sad that i didn't understand french grammar and my teacher said lisa if you want to be fluent in french it's blood sweat and tears i went home that day and i worked really really hard and i finally understood this very difficult grammar concept and i felt so much better finally french grammar began to make sense to me and later i majored in french at ucla and then i taught french before i taught english i used to teach french when i was in my 20s and that's how i became a french teacher because of those words the teacher told me that learning a language is not easy it requires a lot of effort so you remember that too if you work hard you can become truly fluent but you have to put a lot of effort into it okay let's go on to the next expression let's listen to the way ashley used on staff we have architects on staff we also have interior designers on staff we have artists on staff and that means people working for a company employees a company can say we have people on staff to answer your questions that hospital has 300 physicians on staff i asked ashley about her dream home what kind of house she would design for herself let's listen to her answer with all that knowledge do you have a dream house in mind for yourself if i were in your profession i would know what i wanted i would know exactly what i would want in my own home you would think that but we have we're exposed to so many different types of styles of design and i appreciate so many different styles yeah so i think for me it's going to be a little bit tricky honing in on you know which which style to go for i think it would depend on the location of my dream home if it's a malibu home i know exactly what you know what i want it to look like james purse that style but if i you know move to aspen colorado it's going to be completely different but my fiancee is also an architect we are having constant discussions on houses and you know what what we're gonna do are we gonna buy a fixer-upper and renovate and do it ourselves because we would be the perfect team to really do that you would be yeah and you would probably save a lot of money that way rather than buying something that someone else completed exactly and i think we have um specific tastes as well so if we do buy something that is previously renovated it's definitely not gonna you know speak to us specifically there's gonna be certain things that we'll want to change so we might as well just start from scratch do you work as a consultant i mean i should i should start charging that you should start charging for that that's a very valuable skill yeah let's listen to the way ashley used the expression you would think that you would think that you would think that means it's logical to think that it's logical to expect it but it's not necessarily true we can say this is a brand new car you would think that it wouldn't need any repairs after just six months he's a grown adult you would think that he would make wiser choices but he doesn't make good choices let's listen to the way ashley used i appreciate of course you know the expression i appreciate it which means thank you but ashley used it differently let's listen and i appreciate so many different styles ashley said that she appreciates all different kinds of design all different kinds of styles to appreciate can mean to recognize the value of something or someone to understand how good something is we can say he appreciates modern art we both appreciate classical music and we like to go to concerts together and i appreciate so many different styles let's listen to the way ashley used fixer upper are we going to buy a fixer-upper and renovate she said are we going to buy a fixer-wrapper and renovate and do it ourselves a fixer-upper is a house that you buy that needs a lot of repairs and it's usually less expensive but you need to fix it up it's a fixer upper and the opposite of fixer upper is move in ready move in ready you just move in and everything is ready you don't need to fix anything would you like to buy a house that's move-in ready or would you prefer a fixer-upper are we going to buy a fixer-upper and renovate let's listen to the way ashley used to speak to us it's different from what you might think so if we do buy something that is previously renovated it's definitely not gonna you know speak to us specifically she said it's definitely not gonna speak to us what do you think it means if i say this house doesn't speak to me it means it's not my style i don't particularly like it i don't feel any kind of connection to it it doesn't speak to me do you like this house no it doesn't really speak to me i'm not excited about it this expression is usually used for style or for taste let's listen to how she used two expressions in one sentence she used might as well and start from scratch so we might as well just start from scratch she said we might as well start from scratch might as well means it's logical to do something even if you may not want to do it it's a practical thing to do it's best given the situation that you're in since all the other restaurants are far away we might as well eat here and she said we might as well start from scratch to start from scratch means to start from the beginning to create something new without using anything that already exists i left my friends and family and started from scratch in a new city or their theory didn't work so the scientists need to start from scratch so we might as well just start from scratch let's listen to the way that ashley and i used to charge i should i should start charging that should start charging for that that's a very valuable skill yeah she said i should start charging for that and i said yes you should start charging for that it's a valuable skill the word charge is often related to payment to an exchange of money you can say how much do you charge and instead of saying how much does it cost per hour you can say how much do you charge per hour or you can say is there a charge and that means do i have to pay or is it free is there a charge no there's no charge it's free in the next clip that you will see ashley told me why she decided to become an interior designer let's listen and then i will come back why did you decide to get into the field i was inspired early on by my great uncle he was a landscape architect and i also know that when i was a kid i was constantly asking my parents when can we renovate when can we redecorate um really yeah i remember so vividly sketching plans for a clubhouse that i wanted them to build for me and my friends to hang out in yeah we have this like little portion of our backyard that connects to the house and you know i drew it connecting to the house you know you're kidding yeah the next expression is to get into the field let's listen to the question that i asked ashley why did you decide to get into the field i asked her why did you decide to get into the field and that means why did you choose your profession so a field is your occupation it's your specialty it's your profession you can say i got into the field 20 years ago or i would like to get into the medical field a very common question that people ask each other is what field are you in that means what is your job what kind of work do you do why did you decide to get into the field do you know what great uncle means let's listen to the way ashley used it i was inspired early on by my great uncle he was a landscape architect she said my great uncle was a landscape architect now great means fantastic but great uncle does not mean a fantastic uncle it means the uncle of my mother or my father we use the word great now here is a very common mistake that a lot of my students make they very often confuse the word great with the word grand listen to this we have mother and then my mother's mother is what my grandmother right but how about my grandmother's mother what is she called if you said my grand grandmother that is not correct but i hear that all the time we don't say grand grand we say great grandmother so we have grandmother great grandmother and then how about the mother of that person that one is great great grandmother don't say my grand grand grandmother that's wrong and let's go in the opposite direction child grandchild and what comes after that great-grandchild so you can say she is 95 years old and she has 10 great-grandchildren or great-great-grandchildren if she lived a long time so don't say grand grand it's great grand grandparents great-grandparents and so on let's listen to the way ashley used the word vividly i remember so vividly sketching plans she said i remember so vividly sketching plans and sketching means drawing and vividly means clearly producing powerful feelings or strong images in your mind we can say i vividly remember my first day of school and i vividly remember my french teacher telling me that learning a language is blood sweat and tears okay so remember what i told you i'd like you to make some sentences using these words so that you can memorize them permanently and let me know in the comments if you enjoy watching my conversations with native speakers in los angeles if you do i will make more videos like this and don't forget to subscribe to my channel if you haven't done so yet thanks for watching and keep practicing your english to learn all of the rules for a good american accent you can buy my online video courses at accurateenglish.com

Channel: AccurateEnglish

Views: 1,057,504

Rating: 4.9450641 out of 5

Keywords: American accent, English expressions, fluent English, idiomatic expressions, business english, professional English, idioms, like a native, how to be fluent, natural english, real people in LA, real people in Los Angeles, listening skills, native speakers, real english with native speakers, Accurate English, Lisa Mojsin, Mastering the American accent, TOEFL, workplace english, how to sound fluent, how to sound like a native speaker

Id: Mk9_hOaYuRU

Length: 25min 6sec (1506 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 25 2020