Stop Blocking in English When You Lack a Word - English Conversation Tips

hey there and welcome to speak English with Christina where you'll have fun becoming fluent in American English I'm your English coach Christina and let me ask you a question has this ever happened to you you're in a conversation and suddenly you don't have the specific word you need you hesitate you search for your perfect word the conversation stops and there's that terrible awkward silence while you're looking for your words ah it's so frustrating today you'll learn how to avoid this situation and continue the conversation fluently even when you don't have the exact right word let's get [Music] before we start let me share with you the site I talky where you can increase your speaking fluency and get lots of conversation practice plus you'll get ten dollars and I talking credits when you buy your first lesson because I have a special partnership with them the link is below the video so be sure to check it out after today's lesson now now what if you don't have the exact word you need here are three ways to continue the conversation fluidly I call them silly words because they sound funny but they're actually very common expressions that we native speakers use in fact if you use them people might be so impressed that they don't notice that you didn't have the precise words you're missing so win-win situation these are words like thingamajig say that one with me thingamajig thing of a jig or another one what you might call it a whatchamacallit a what should we call it or perhaps the most common thingy thingy we use these words in the place of the precise word that we don't have for example [Music] this little part of a puzzle piece do you know what it's called yeah I don't I don't know what that what this is called so I might say this little thingy on the puzzle piece is missing or the little thingamajig on the puzzle piece is missing or maybe I want Roman to give me this thing so that I can take my Thanksgiving turkey out of the oven if for some reason I forget the precise word for this I would say Roman having the UM ah the the whatchamacallit so that I can take the turkey out of the oven hand me the whatchamacallit so I can take the turkey out of the oven notice that I gave a little description of what I want to do so that the other person can guess what I'm talking about if I just say Oh hand me the whatchamacallit or hand me the thingy it's a little hard for the other person to know what you're talking about [Music] sometimes I get very specific questions like this from clients Christina what's the English translation for elderly no laughing good I can't even pronounce that word in French but it's spelled like this auto Reno Lyon garage East maybe correct me if I'm wrong anyway they feel like they need to have this very specific vocabulary to sound intelligent or correct but in reality even we native speakers use simpler more general words for example what is the exact translation of this very difficult word in French in English it's otorhinolaryngology yeah good luck with that pronunciation even for us Americans it's hard so we use the more general word ear nose and throat doctor ear nose and throat doctor simpler easier and just as effective another example let's talk about hmm maybe you have one word in English to designate the ensemble of fork knife and spoon in English we do two cutlery or silverware but if you don't have that specific word you can use the more general forks knives and spoons another example maybe you don't know the exact word for this or for this but you probably know the general word boat is it less precise yes but it allows you to continue the conversation fluidly so it's other than silence [Music] let's take those last examples you want to tell your American friend about your last weekend where you went to the beach and you went on a boat in your head you're thinking of this type of boat but you don't have the precise word for it so you can describe it for example oh I went on a small boat that uses wind to move forward I went on a small boat that uses wind to move forward and then your friend will probably confirm your description by saying you mean sell it and bam you've learned a new word a sailboat another example let's say that you've lost yes it's Hello Kitty mm-hmm yeah but you've lost it you're frantically looking for it and your American colleague asks what are you looking for but you don't have the precise word for but you can describe it um I lost my little bag where I put pencils in its Hello Kitty I lost my little bag where I put pencils in and they'll answer ah you mean your pencil case pencil case and again a new word for you when we describe things we often use relative clauses like a person who a person who a thing that I think that or a place where a place where you don't know the exact word for this job so you could describe it as a person who sells fruit and vegetables at the market maybe you don't know the exact word for this object you could say them the thing that opens wine bottles and if you don't have the exact word for this place then you can say the place where you have a lot of stores and you go shopping so you can use the vocabulary that you already have to describe the things that you don't know the exact name for it's the same technique that we native speakers use and being able to do this is part of speaking fluent English perhaps even more so than knowing every single precise vocabulary word what about you do you use any of these techniques in your conversations did you know words like thingamajig whatcha McCall it and thingy before you watched this video tell me your stories in the comments below so that we can all learn from you and be sure to check out ital key with the link below the video so that you can practice all of these techniques in real conversations thank you so much for watching speak English with Christina and I'll see you next week [Music] you

Channel: ChristinaRebuffet

Views: 377,441

Keywords: American English, learn English, esl, english lessons, videos to learn english, christina rebuffet, speak english with christina, channels to learn english, italki, improve your english conversations, English Conversation Tips, improve your english, learn american english, learn english youtube, learn to speak american english, speak english fluently, american accent, free english lessons

Id: SRHfui85eZI

Length: 10min 46sec (646 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 16 2017