Your Monthly Dose of English - Best of January 2020

happy new year access your first free language gifts of the year right now here's what you're getting this month first the national holidays cheat sheet want to know more about national holidays in the country you love this conversation cheat sheet will not only give you the dates but will also teach you all the words and phrases to talk about these holidays second do you know seven tested ways to learn language fast with this ebook you'll learn how to speak better remember more words and improve fast download it for free right now third do you have allergies and want to be able to read food packaging check out the most useful words and phrases you should know when reading food packaging from nutritional value to allergens fourth want to be able to talk about the world around you then this next one minute lesson is for you you'll learn common geography vocab fast fifth want to play video games and your target language you'll learn the basic video game words and phrases with this one-minute lesson six want to learn the language on your phone then download our innovative language 101 app for free for the Android iPhone and iPad you'll learn fast and start speaking in minutes and finally the deal of the month if you want to finally master the language with lessons by real teachers and our complete language learning program take the 12 month challenge and get 12 months of premium or premium plus at up to 45% off to get your gifts and language learning resources click the link in the description below download them right now before they expire hi everybody welcome back to ask Alicia the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them maybe first question this week comes from Stefan hi Stefan Stefan says hi Alicia what is the meaning of the phrase to get used to doing something does it refer to a completed action or not and can we use it in present simple like I get used to getting up early yeah yeah okay to get used to doing something means to become accustomed to doing something we tend to use it more simple past tense as in your example I got used to getting up early or I got used to waking up early when we use it in the past tense the past tense got instead of present tense get it means that the speaker has already become accustomed to doing that thing so in the sentence I got used to waking up early it means the speaker is now accustomed to getting up early they're fine we can however as you suggest use it in the present tense as well like I need to get used to getting up early that's an expression for like a desire to be able to get up early which means that the speaker is not now able to get up early or they're not accustomed to getting up early so yes you can use it in present tense but it's probably going to be used in a situation where the speaker is expressing a desire or some kind of need for a new behavior for some kind of new behavior to be learned if it's in a conversation a speaker might say like ah don't worry about your new job you'll get used to getting up early so it's you'll get used to in that case it's a future tense expression like you are going to get used to getting up early through this job or another way of saying that is you will become accustomed to getting up early through this job so to get used to something means to take time and practice to get accustomed to something to become accustomed to something we use it all the time when we're learning new things like you'll get used to learning English or you'll get used to speaking English or you'll get used to talking in front of a camera all of these different things that take some time and practice to do we can describe those with get used to or once we've become accustomed to them got used to so I hope that this helps you thanks very much for the question ok let's move on to your next question next question comes from Assuan hi us when Oswin says what's the difference between do you didyou and are you when I ask questions ok first let's talk about do you and also does he or does she so this do and does pattern we use these do and does patterns when we're making simple present tense questions like do you have a pen or does he exercise everyday or do you know my bag is so we're asking these simple yes-or-no questions with a simple present tense verb so we could answer yes or no to all of these questions so let's compare this then to did did so did is just the past tense of do we use did in the same way as do but when we're asking simple past tense questions for example did you just call me or did he forget his wallet or did we buy enough food so these are all simple past tense questions we don't conjugate the verb that comes after do rather we conjugate did so did is the past form of do finally let's compare this with ru or for example is he or is she when we begin sentences with is or are we're typically using them with an adjective or with the progressive tense verb so we're asking simple questions again yes-or-no questions but the thing that follows is or R is an adjective or is a verb in the ing form as in is he sleeping or are you okay or is he at the office so these yes-or-no questions don't use simple present tense verbs in the part that comes after the is or R so to recap do and does are used in present tense or past tense with simple present tense verbs and ru or is he is she are used with adjectives and with verbs in the progressive form so these all are ways of making yes-or-no questions but the grammar and the structure of the sentence just changes a little bit so I hope that this helps you thanks very much for the question okay let's move on to your next question next question comes from Anderson C's again hi Anderson Anderson says hi Alicia I'm a bit confused with the difference between the present perfect and the present perfect continuous if I want to say that I live in some place and have lived there for some time which one should I use okay you can either for example I have lived in Portland for three years and I've been living in Portland for three years so at base these two sentences have exactly the same meaning they mean exactly the same thing the only thing that changes here is perhaps the situations in which we might use these let's take a look at the first example here to begin with let's imagine that you're at a going-away party a farewell party for yourself it's your party you are leaving the city of Portland you might say to your friend at the party I have lived in Portland for three years it's been great to live here but I'm excited about my next step so in that case present perfect tense not using the continuous sounds quite normal because you want to talk about this period of time you've spent in Portland it started three years ago it continued till now at this party in Portland right now and so you want to emphasize like yes this has been a continued experience up until this point in time but it would sound strange to say I lived in Portland for three years because actually at the party you're still in Portland maybe you have a few days or another week or so so it would sound strange to use simple past tense here we don't want to use the continuous tense here because the continuous tense really emphasizes that something is going to continue after the conversation perhaps so in this case just using present perfect tense without the continuous form sounds the most natural let's compare this then to another situation in this situation you are in Portland and you're at a networking event for your job you meet someone there and you're talking about like basic things where you live and so on you might say I've been living in Portland for three years it's a great place to live so in this case we're using the present perfect continuous we choose this it sounds most natural because we want to emphasize that we are going to remain in Portland I'm going to continue the condition of living in Portland so this sounds a little bit more natural and it sounds like it's more emphasis on my continued presence in Portland which we want to emphasize here because we might be making a new business connection so in sum these two sentences communicate exactly the same thing yes but there are just some small differences that depend on the situation and that's the reason that we might choose to use simple present perfect tense as opposed to the present perfect continuous so try to keep these sorts of situations in mind when you're choosing between these two I hope that this helps you thanks very much for the question okay let's move on to your next question next question comes from Nene young I hope I said that right hi Nene Nene says what does can't help plus the progressive form mean okay yeah this is like saying I can't control this behavior so a great example is if you're watching a funny movie and when you try to explain your feelings about the movie you might say I can't help laughing at this scene can't help laughing means I can't control the behavior of laughing you might also hear I can't help but and then the simple present tense form of the verb as in I can't help but laugh so I can't help but laugh and I can't help laughing both communicate this loss of control I'm not able to control this thing we tend to use this sort of pattern when we're talking about emotions so in this case it's about laughter you might also hear it used to talk about feelings like I can't help feeling angry or I can't help feeling worried about this situation I can't help feeling means I don't have any control over this emotion or this action we tend to use this pattern for like emotional and mental state verbs we might use it for some other kind of like bodily related verbs like I can't help watching or I can't help looking and so on so it's like these sorts of actions that maybe we don't even think about doing and that we just do automatically if we see something interesting or exciting or if something smells terrible whatever that is it's like some situation where we lose control somehow for a moment we can express that with can't help plus the progressive form or I can't help but blah blah blah some examples can't help but laugh or can't help laughing I can't help but feel and can't help feeling or I can't help but look or can't help looking so there's not really a difference in meaning between present tense and the progressive tense there but I would say personally I feel that that can't help but present tense sounds a little bit more formal so I hope that this helps you understand the meaning of this can't help plus the progressive form of a verb thanks very much for the question okay let's move on to your next question next question comes from Kitty hi cutie cutie says hi what is the difference between half 2 and must alright must is used for official rules and strong advice very strong personal advice so for official rules you might see in the airport passengers must show their passports to immigration or for strong advice a doctor might say to a patient you must stop smoking or you're going to die so in these very serious official situations must sounds very appropriate must sounds too official for everyday speech we don't use it so much for giving advice or for talking about rules in everyday speech however you might see it in something like your company's rules like your corporate policy like employees must wear business shirts to work for example let's compare this then to have two we use half-jew to talk about our responsibilities and we also use half two to talk about friendly advice or rather to give friendly advice that also sounds a bit strong for example you have to try this dessert it's so good or I have to go to the bank today so have to for advice sounds friendly and strong but it's not used for very serious things like we did with must so please keep this in mind when you're choosing between these two also if you would like some more information about have to end must there is a live stream about this exact topic on the channel so please check out our channel archives for some more information about this there is also a whiteboard about this topic coming up soon so please keep an eye out for that too I hope that this quick introduction helps you and definitely check out the other resources on our channel thanks very much for the okay that is everything that I have for this week thank you as always for sending your questions remember you can send them to me at English class 101.com slash ask - Alicia thanks very much for watching this week's episode of ask Alicia and I will see you again next week bye bye hi everybody my name is Alicia in this lesson we're going to talk about reporting speech in English I'm going to talk about the verbs we use and a couple of grammar points that you can think about so let's get started the first type of speech reporting I want to introduce is reporting statements so statements are just simple things simple sentences that people said so this can be direct dialogue exactly the thing someone said or it can be a summary of something someone said so keep in mind these are not questions I'm going to talk about questions later let's look at the verbs and the other expressions we use to report simple statements the first one is the very very neutral said I said said is the past tense form of say so we use say and past tense said as the most basic way to share something someone else said so we can use this for direct reports meaning exactly the things someone said we do this we use quotes to indicate direct speech or we can just use it as I have here to introduce a summary of something in this example sentence I said I had to work so this is just a simple summary I said something similar in the past perhaps but this is maybe not a direct report of my speech we can use said in most cases just to report information this was said by someone the speaker is here the subject so I in this case I said I had to work we could change it - he said he had to work is fine they said they had to work so this is the most basic verb we can use to report speech let's move on to a couple of the let's look at this told here I'm using the verb till but I'm using past tense told so here the speaker is indicated at the beginning of the sentence he and then the person receiving the information in this case me follows the verb so he told me in this case the train was late he told me the train was late so this is a past situation I received information from him the information was this he told me the train was late so you can change the person speaking and the person receiving by changing these two parts on either side of the verb my mother told my brother to clean his room for example so keep in mind when you use the verb tell or in this case past tense told the idea is that it's more one-way communication it's not really a conversation in this case he told me so meaning information is coming this way only I'm not sharing information with him really he's just sharing something with me it's one way so we use told to communicate that of course we could use said here he said the train was late using tell or in this case past tense told just makes the feeling of one-way communication stronger he told me ok now I want to go on to some very casual expressions that you see for reporting direct speech especially in American English the first one is this was all was also I've used this in past tense here you may hear this in present tense she's all as in this example but was all is quite common too so was all is a very casual way of using a verb like said however we use this to report direct speech so these quotes show this is exactly the thing someone said these little quotation marks in this case she was all you're not gonna believe this so this is the exact statement the speaker she said in the past she said exactly this we know this because we've used this reporting expression and in this case in the written words we see that the quotation marks here so when you're speaking or when you're listening for this you won't hear she was all you'll hear she was all so she was all you're not gonna believe this it's quite fast she was all she was all so sometimes this W sound is very difficult to hear you might just hear she's all she's all in which case it sounds like present tense but in both cases the basic meaning of just communicating speech remains so don't worry too much about catching this W sound so this she's all is fine to understand what's going on another one that uses this same was pattern is using like another very casual way to report direct speech so in this case who is speaking my mom so my mom was like you can't go out this weekend so in this sentence to these words here are exactly the words my mother said but we use was like here so you'll notice that these two expressions was all and was like well they're very very casual they're used to kind of report something that's maybe shocking or surprising or maybe a little bit gossipy in this case maybe the speaker is complaining so it's very very casual situations that we use these expressions and my mom was like so again this w sound my mom was like this kind of disappears a little bit we can also use it in present tense my mom is like but my mom was like is good for a clear past tense report okay so we use the next pair went and go to report speech very casually so you can see here there is past tense went present tense go we use them in the same way again just as with was all and was like we use these to communicate direct quotes these are exact quote things people actually said so they went we're leaving so again we could say they said we're leaving but using went again has this sort of very casual maybe gossipy like there's a little bit of exciting information there perhaps same thing with go so I go fine I'm leaving too so we use these two together in very casual situations that have kind of a quick conversational feel about them we can say these things very quickly in a pair they went we're leaving so I go fine I'm leaving too so having this kind of went and go match together feels very natural I think to native speakers same thing here she was all and my mom was like using these together in the same kind of dialogue rapport sounds quite natural I think but generally using a mix of all of these two rapport statements is a really good idea if you use the exact same expression to report report report all the time it sounds a little bit unnatural kind of stiff okay so these are all four statements these are all four statements let's look at two patterns for questions now so here I have the past tense asked and inquired used here I chose these two just because asked is kind of the casual or the everyday verb we can use for questions inquired just sounds more formal it's a more formal way of saying asked so some examples of this are I asked about the menu and I asked if there were any vacancies these are two common patterns I asked about some topic or I asked if and then there's some kind of inquiry point here I asked if there were any vacancies here same thing we can do with inquired he inquired about the company so we see this same about plus a topic point we can also with the verb asked use a direct quote - so for example I asked what are you doing that's also okay we can use ask with a direct quote you can also use it with inquired as well if you like but perhaps this one is a little bit more useful for everyday conversations and everyday questions so throughout this lesson I've talked about using the past tense and the present tense for reporting but what's the difference so I want to talk a little bit about that here to finish that so past tense and present tense both used to report speech both fine to report speech here I've used simple past and simple present tense you might also hear progressive tense in the past or in the present tense but the difference between them present tense if you use present tense it feels like the story is happening now so if I'm using present tense to report speech and maybe to share the points in the story as well it sounds like the story is happening now it's present its present tense it's happening in the present so if I want my story to feel kind of lively and more exciting I can use present tense to tell my story if however past tense is used it sounds more like just a simple report it's like you're just telling facts what happened there's not really like a feeling of excitement necessarily it's just simple reporting so we see past tense and simple past tense story reporting in the news for example so in the news it's simple reports affect what happened on that day you'll see simple past tense used in English news reports so this is kind of a key difference that you can think about when you're telling stories and you're reporting information as well all right that's everything for this lesson I hope that it was useful for you if you liked the video please make sure to give us a thumbs up subscribe to the channel if you haven't already and check us out at English class 101.com for other good study tools of course please feel free to drop us a message in the comments as well thanks very much for watching this episode and I will see you again next time bye hi everybody my name is Alisha in this lesson I'm going to talk about borrowing and lending expressions I'm going to share some sample requests you can use for borrowing and lend and I'm going to introduce some time expressions you can use with these requests to make more specific questions so let's begin okay first I want to look at a category for expressions you can use when you want something so you want to receive something in other words let's look at the first sentence here then so it's will you lend me your car here we're using the verb lend and the person receiving the item follows the verb lend so in this case me who is receiving it me I am receiving it the item I'm receiving your car comes after the person receiving it so in this case lend is used but let's look at the kind of opposite of this question can I borrow some money so here the verb borrow is being used but the person receiving in this case money the person receiving the item is the subject here can I borrow some money so here we're not saying can i browse some money from you you can include can I borrow some money from you that's okay but here it's understood we understand the speaker wants to borrow money from the listener so this is a key difference when the verb used is lend the person receiving the item is the object of the verb however when the verb is borrow the person receiving the item is the subject so this is something to keep in mind let's look at some other examples here I'm not using the word lend and I'm not using the word borrow here I'm using use can I use some item for a minute so this specifically includes a verb what am I going to do I'm going to use the item so can I use your pen for a minute can I use your computer for a minute can I use your phone for a minute for a minute means a short period of time literally it means 60 seconds but this indicates just a short period of time about a minute perhaps another one if you don't want to use a or can you can also use just a simple please statement so this is not a question but please lend me something something something so please lend me your car please lend me your pen this sounds quite formal actually please lend me keep in mind though we cannot use please borrow we can't say please borrow me that's incorrect we can only use lend here please lend me something okay let's go though to the next category here which is borrowing and lending for someone else so in these sentences I've included you and me as the basic pattern however if you're talking about someone else or you want to ask person a for something for person B how do you explain that let's look at these examples first similar to this will you lend person your item so this is very similar to this pattern here I've replaced me with person here so will you lend your classmate your pencil will you lend your teacher at the paper so something you want comes at the end of the sentence here and the person follows the verb right here we can do the same thing when we're using the verb borrow as we did in this example sentence here we've replaced I in the original sentence with person so can person borrow your item so again because we're using borrow the person receiving the item is the subject of the verb so can my roommate borrow your car can my parents borrow your house for the weekend for example so just keep in mind that these two verbs always follow this same rule about the positioning of the subject and the object and the person receiving or giving the item let's look at one more example though this is quite a complex situation because the person lending the item and the person receiving the item are not participating in the conversation the speaker and the listener are talking about some other group of people for example here I wonder if person a can borrow item from person B so here we need specifically to describe who is person a and who is person B they're not participating in the conversation so I wonder if my dad can borrow a tool from my uncle for example so these two people are not participating in the conversation but we're discussing the possibility this is how we would do it this is one example of them all right so just to recap them these are kind of the simple requests that I'm using and that you can use when you're doing borrowing and lending conversation practice so can I will you and please you'll notice please is not made as a question please it's just a statement can i and will you are actual questions there so just remember can I borrow will you lend because the subjects of the sentence indicate different people are receiving and giving the item also just to review as well this is a key point from this lesson when you're using the verb lend the person receiving the item is the object of the verb as in here please lend me your car will you lend me your car me is the object here when you're using the verb borrow the person receiving the item is the subject of the verb as we saw here can I borrow some money I is the subject I am receiving the money in this case okay so with that I want to look at some time expressions that you can add to your request so I talked about it in this point here can I use something for a minute that's an example of a time expression we can use to make our requests a little more specific so I've used two kind of patterns here the first group uses for the second group uses until so remember we use for for a period of time a time period a length of time in other words here for a minute I talked about before for a bit is a casual way to say a short period of time for a sec a sec is short for a second a second also a very short period of time literally not a second one second but very short period of time here specifically for a week and for a year so these are just some examples of lengths of time you can use to add to your request in the other group until here we see some situations that might happen that would cause the speaker to return the item they have borrowed or to return the item they have been lended so can I borrow your car until I get a new one for example or can I borrow your calculator until I find mine so these sentences or rather these time expressions show for example can I borrow your calculator until I find mine means at the point in time I find my calculator I will return your calculator to you so until I find mine shows that another one until I can pay you back this would be used for money so we talked about here can I borrow some money until I can pay you back it's quite a risky question perhaps but until I can pay you back is one example here are some more specific ones with time until tomorrow so until this point in time until the test so again a specific point in time so we can use until and for with our requests for borrowing and lending I hope that that helps you make some more specific questions anyway those are all the things that I want to talk about for this lesson if you have any questions comments or would like to practice making sentences or requests please feel free to do so in the comment section of this video of course if you like the video don't forget to give us a thumbs up subscribe to our Channel and come check us out at English class 101.com for other good study tools thanks very much for watching this lesson and I will see you again soon bye hi everybody welcome back to top words my name is Alisha and today we're going to talk about ten past perfect continuous patterns so before we start today's episode of top words this is just a a review of a grammar point so using I've been I'm going to use I've been to introduce each of these so for a little bit of grammar review this means I have been plus a progressive form of the verb meaning I started at some point in the past and it continues to the current point in time when we are speaking so all of the sentences all of the patterns I'm going to introduce in this lesson follow that pattern then I'll try to use some example sentences with different subjects as well so let's look I've been thinking all right the first sentence is I've been thinking I've been thinking so something that you started thinking about in the past and you have continued you may be started thinking I don't know two weeks ago and you thought about the week ago and you thought about a few days ago so and now you're thinking about it you can say I've been thinking you could say I've been thinking thought that thought and continue to a new idea you can say I've been thinking about and then you continue with the gerund form of the verb so like I've been thinking about changing jobs I've been thinking about moving to a new apartment we use the gerund form they're moving so another example sentence I've been thinking about starting a new hobby I've been worrying the next pattern is I've been worrying I've been worrying so something that you thought about in the past that caused you to worry and you continued to worry about until the present time I've been worrying about bla bla bla I've been worrying about my brother my mother says she's been worrying about me for a long time or my boss has been worrying about this project so always this has been or have been plus worrying about something I've been worrying about something okay in another sentence I've been worrying about you all night I've been wanting then the next pattern is I've been wanting I've been wanting so wanting means something you started like you wanted it for the first time in the past like I think I used this in a live a live video I said I've been wanting to see that movie like I've been wanting to see the new Blade Runner I think I said that means I started wanting I for the first time I thought I wanted to do that or I wanted some object and I didn't get it at that time maybe the next day and the day after that and the day after that I still wanted that thing so I can say I've been wanting that I've been wanting that so for example in my sentence I've been wanting to see that movie for a long time or he's been wanting to take a day off for ages or they've been wanting to travel the world for 50 years something like that in another example sentence yeah I've been wanting to see that movie I've been studying the next pattern is I've been studying I've been studying this is a pattern that's probably very useful for many people who are watching I've been studying means you started studying in the past and you continued to study for a number of years or a number of months or maybe just a few days I don't know I've been studying so this is a pattern that you can use actually all of these are patterns that you can use with for and since before the period of time or the length of time so for example I've been studying English for three years or she's been studying accounting her whole life or they've been studying gardening for the last six months for example so talking about a thing you have studied for a period of time you can refer to that continuously with the progressive form or the continuous form in another sentence I've been studying English for a year I've been hearing about ah the next one the next pattern is I've been hearing about I've been hearing about this is useful for gossip or for news maybe you can use it to talk about like a new restaurant or a new bar or just something interesting some interesting little piece of information you continue to hear about so you heard it once or maybe you heard about it again a few days later something that here and there you you heard about a few times you can say I've been hearing about bla bla bla like I've been hearing about this new restaurant that opened recently or I've been hearing about the upcoming policy changes at work or he said he's been hearing about some bad weather that's gonna come this summer but something that you've been hearing something that you heard news about in the past multiple times you can say I've been hearing about bla bla bla in a sentence I've been hearing about our new manager okay I've been listening to next one is also may be useful for your studies but um I think useful for your hobbies it's I've been listening to I've been listening to so something that began and again began in the past continues to the present that happened regularly so this can mean like music that you like or maybe a news program or a podcast that you enjoy or maybe I don't know even this video series for example so I've been listening to that artist for many years or he's been listening to his boss's advice for the whole day or she's been listening to her mother shout for three hours I don't know but these are things we've we are we have listened to continuously for a period of time I've been listening to something else continuously in another sentence I've been listening to a lot of jazz lately I've been talking a lot with the next pattern is I've been talking a lot with I've been talking a lot with or you can say I've been talking a lot to it's also all right but I've been talking a lot with means over an extended period of time or maybe recently there's a person or a group of people or an organization perhaps you have had many conversations with you spoken to that person many times so for example he's been talking a lot with a counselor recently or they've been talking a lot with upper management about the future of the company for example or I've been talking a lot with my neighbors lately it's been great so talking a lot with is another pattern that's useful in this grammar point I think in a sentence I've been talking a lot with my parents this month I've been living next one is a commonly confused when I think the next one is I've been living I've been living here or I've been living in city or country name for or since blah blah blah so I've been living in the USA for 87 years or she's been living in that city for three months or they've been living here for almost a year I think so been living a lot of people say like can I say like I have lived here for one year or I've been living here for one year they mean the same thing really like especially with the verb to live like I have lived here for five years and I've been living here for five years they're to me they're very similar in meaning I think I've been living here I feel both there they're both perfectly acceptable really I would I would use either like I would say I've lived here for five years or I've been living here for five years if I suppose the continuous nature is a little bit stronger with the continuous tense but they really communicate the same idea so you can use either to talk about the place where you live really so one more example I've been living in Bangkok for three years now I've been working next pattern is I've been working I've been working this is one you can use to talk about your job or perhaps a project that you're doing so you can use I've been working at a certain company you can say I've been working as plus a job title with your extra information so I've been working as a teacher for 18 years or I've been working as a doctor for three months for example you can say I've been working on plus a project name like I've been working on a new promotion or I've been working on a new book for example so depending on the preposition that you use after this expression you can change sort of the information you want to present so to recap I've been working in ABC company for five years I've been working as a doctor for five years or I've been working on a new project for five years so these are a few patterns that you can use with the verb working here to talk about a continuous thing in your past and your present as well so in another sentence I've been working in this department for six months I've been planning the last one is I've been planning I've been planning so this refers to perhaps a future plan something that you started thinking about in the past but it has not happened yet maybe something that you are planning even now but you started planning it in the past so this is something maybe it has not happened yet it's going to happen in the future so I've been planning a birthday party for my friend or he's been planning to find a new job or they've been planning a month-long vacation for example so something it hasn't happened yet but it's going to happen in the future we can use I've been planning they've been planning she's been playing in another sentence I've been planning a barbeque all summer so those are ten past perfect continuous patterns I hope that those are helpful those are a few examples of some ways that we use at least in American English the past perfect continuous or the past perfect progressive tense so I hope that these are helpful for you as you kind of build some sentences and kind of get a feel for the way that some of these verbs are commonly used of course if there's another pattern that you like to use with the continuous or the progressive tense please let us know in the comment section if you like the video please make sure to give it a thumbs up it helps us a lot check us out at English class 101.com for some extra resources and of course subscribe to the channel if you haven't already thank you very much for watching this episode of top words and I'll see you again soon hi everybody welcome back to top words my name is Alisha and today we're going to talk about ten expressions for business emails let's go to whom it may concern the first expression is to whom it may concern to whom it may concern this is a very classic email opener so it may sound a little bit old-fashioned to some people but this is used when you don't know the name of the person you are right into so perhaps you're writing to a company or you're writing just to a general enquiries email account and you don't know who to address your letter to you don't know anything about who is going to receive the email but you can use the Express to whom it may concern' meaning in other words this message is for the person related to this inquiry I don't know who they are but this is a polite way to begin that message to whom it may concern in a sentence to whom it may concern at ABC company didn't I'm writing today regarding the next expression is I'm writing today regarding I'm writing today regarding this is a formal way of saying I'm writing today about blah blah blah so you can introduce the purpose of your message with this expression I'm writing today regarding an inquiry I have or I'm writing today regarding a problem with my order I'm writing today regarding a recent video that I saw on your channel for example so in another sentence I'm writing today regarding an order we received recently would you be available the next expression is would you be available would you be available would you be available is an expression that we use to ask about someone else's schedule so we want to know what their schedule is like at a specific day or at a specific time usually for like a meeting or perhaps for a conference call something that you need to do with that person we use would you be available it's a more polite way to ask instead of are you available would you be available sounds a little more formal so like would you be available for a meeting next week or would you be available for lunch tomorrow these are much more polite ways to ask for someone's schedule than just can you meet me so try to use would you be available in your business emails in a sentence would you be available for a meeting next week would it be possible for you to the next expression is would it be possible for you to so would it be possible for you to is a very polite way to make a request so you want something from the other person but you need to request that politely so would it be possible for you to send me that file or would it be possible for you to meet me tomorrow would it be possible for you to call our clients in the morning for example so you're making a request of the other person something you want them to give you something you want them to do for you would it be possible for you to verb phrase alright in another example sentence would it be possible for you to send the updated files we'd like to request the next expression is we'd like to request we'd like to request so here you can see I'm using this we'd we'd like we'd like so not we like but we'd like meaning we would like so this is a formal request we would like to request bla bla bla in this case I've used we'd just for an example but we can use I'd like to request too if you're writing on behalf of your company or on behalf of your department for example you can change I'd - we'd if you like so we'd like to request a new copy machine for example or we'd like to request a maintenance person come visit us for example so when you're making a request this is another way to do that we'd like to request Bob Loblaw so it's a it's a polite but direct request that you can make in another example sentence we'd like to request your attendance at the seminar next month we'd like to inquire about the next expression is we'd like to inquire about we'd like to inquire about this is when you have a question this is something that you can use if you have a question about a specific detail or something that you just don't know the answer to so this is an expression that you can use to ask a question so we'd like to inquire about your menu or we'd like to inquire about your prices we'd like to inquire about your plans for the next quarter for example so you can use this just to introduce a question in your email in another example sentence we'd like to inquire about a recent purchase if you can be so kind as to the next one is if you could be so kind as to this is an interesting one if you could be so kind as to verb phrase if you could be so kind as to send me that file or if you could be so kind as to return my call at your earliest convenience this is quite a polite request if you could be so kind meaning kind to me as to as to so in other words you are so kind you will do this thing for me this is sort of the level of formality this expression so if you could be so kind as to order me a pizza I don't know so of course that's a very casual situation but if you are trying to make a formal polite request you could try using this especially towards the end of an email I feel this is good so in an example sentence you could say if you could be so kind as to email the data it would be greatly appreciated I look forward to hearing from you again soon so the next expression is I look forward to hearing from you soon or I look forward to hearing from you again soon so you can include again if you are already in touch with that person if you are already contacting that person you can drop again if you are not in touch with that person if you're not contacting that person so this just means you are expecting a response and maybe you are happily expecting that response I look forward to hearing from you I look forward to receiving a response from you soon is what this means this is very nice at the end of your business email in a sentence thank you for all your help I look forward to hearing from you again soon I look forward to working with you the next expression is I look forward to working with you I look forward to working with you this is an expression that you can use when you are introduced to a new colleague or a new client or you have just begun a new partnership with someone this is a very positive expression that you can use to end an email as well I look forward to working with you very positive very nice it's a good way to begin a business relationship I feel in a sentence I look forward to working with you on this project sincerely warm regards best the last one is actually a few different ways to close your message or a few different ways to end your message so some of my favorites are sincerely warm regards and best sincerely is typically very good for more polite situations or where you don't know the other person will warm regards is maybe for a kind of friendly yet business maybe like a business casual email you could use warm regards so it has kind of like a warm feeling like you recognize that there's a good relationship and you want to express that you can use warm regard another one you can use is best so best means like my best are like all the best like I wish you the best sort of but in one expression I like to use best actually so best Alicia for example or sincerely Alicia or sincerely Megan whoever you are so you can choose the level of formality so sincerely is quite polite if you don't know the other party warm regards is kind of a business casual feeling best is fairly casual but just straightforward and direct so in an example sincerely Alicia that's everything for this episode so those are ten expressions for business emails I hope that those were useful for you and I hope that you can use them right away in your business emails and another polite email and writing related situations if you have any questions or if there's another expression that you like to use in your business emails please let us know in the comments if you liked the video of course as always please please please give us a thumbs up subscribe to us as well if you haven't already and you can check us out at English class 101.com for more good resources - thank you very much for watching this episode of top words and I will see you again soon sincerely Alicia hi MA very professional that's our job to be very professional on the internet that's recording okay business emails the musical by English class 101.com to human main concern I'm writing today regarding a request I'm gonna stop hi everybody welcome back to top words my name is Alisha and today we're going to talk about ten words for the airport let's go check-in the first word is check-in check-in so to check-in this is a verb a phrasal verb to check-in means to check into your flight to essentially say yes I am here I'm going to get on the plane I am checking in we can use the same expression for hotels actually to check in to your hotel to check in to your flight so to check in means to confirm you are going to fly on the plane in a sentence check in for international flights is two hours before departure immigration the next word is immigrant immigration so this is passport check essentially when you are traveling internationally you may need to well you do need to show your passport to the immigration staff so they are checking the people who are coming and going in and out of the country that processed that area of the airport that area may be of border control as well is called immigration we call it immigration in a sentence make sure your passport is ready when you go to immigration customs the next word is customs customs is the next word so customs is the part of the airport or the international travel experience where the items you have purchased or the items you are bringing into the country may be the amount of cash that you have on you or it may be any dangerous items or any kind of like specific items that you need to declare that you need to announce you are carrying those things are checked that's the place in the airport where that sort of thing is covered so there's usually there's usually a form that you fill out when you enter a country and it'll say do you need to declare anything so to declare means to announce there's something you are carrying or something you need to explain to the people who are in the country to the border staff the custom staff in the country you are going to so that whole area of the airport of the travel experience is called customs customs in ascendance do you have anything to declare with customs departure gate the next expression is departure gate departure gate so depart means to leave a place your departure gate is the gauge the airport gate from which you leave the airport your departure gate the place your plane leaves from in the airport is called your departure gate your departure gate all right in a sentence my departure gate is a five baggage claim okay next one the next expression is baggage claim baggage claim so bag or baggage meaning your luggage your suitcase and claim so claim means you say that's mine in other words to claim something to retrieve something to pick up something baggage claim suit case pickup is essentially what it means baggage claim so you might hear baggage claim carousel so carousel is that that machine that goes around in a circle and it moves bags and move suitcases that's a baggage claim carousel in the airport baggage claim in a sentence pick up your luggage at baggage claim carousel number three currency exchange the next expression is currency exchange currency exchange so currency means type of money currency so yen is a currency dollar is a currency euro is a currency type of money and exchange so for example if you need to change yen to euro you do it at a currency exchange location where you can change your money to a different type of money so if the country that you're coming from has different money than the country you're going to which is likely the case you may need to change your money at a currency exchange location so in a sentence I need to stop at a currency exchange disc boarding pass the next expression is boarding pass boarding pass your boarding pass is a piece of paper or now I suppose we have them digitally on our smart phones a boarding pass a boarding pass is the documentation digital or physical that shows the flight attendants that shows the staff from the airline that you are allowed to get on the plane that you have a seat you are allowed to board the plane so boarding means getting on the plane and pass means permission so boarding permission essentially allowed to get on the plane paperwork is what you could think of this as so a boarding pass very important of course in a sentence do you have your boarding pass seat assignment the next expression is seat assignment seat assignment so seat meaning of the place where you sit your chair your your assignment then is the place that the airline has chosen for you to sit the seat the airline has chosen for you is your seat assignment or maybe you chose your seat assignment but that's the place you are supposed to sit on the airplane in a sentence I'd like to change my seat assignment first class business class so the next expression is first or business class so these refer to a couple different levels of service on an airplane the basic level of service is called economy service or we also call it coach coach so Koecher economy is the basic level after that would be business class which usually has slightly larger seats maybe a little bit more delicious food maybe more drink options for example and then there's first class which is the highest level of service and is also the most expensive level service so a first class business class economy class these are the three levels on an airplane so it's typically considered a nice experience to fly business class or first class somewhere in a sentence are there any seats available in business class layover the next word is layover layover a layover is a period of time between two flights presumably at an airport so if you are flying for example from like I don't know from Singapore to London maybe maybe you have to transfer at an airport you fly from like Singapore to I don't know Los Angeles maybe or like Chicago maybe and then you have to wait there for your next flight to London your connecting flight that period of time between your two flights is called a layover so typically people want to have a short layover a fairly short layover so they have time to transfer to their next flight or maybe they want to take a break from being on a plane so a layover typically a short layover is good typically long layover ZAR bad but you might have a cheap flight if that's the case so a layover is the period of time between two flights in a sentence I have a long layover in Bangkok so those are 10 words for the airport I hope that was useful for you of course if there are some other words or other phrases that you have heard or that you find useful please let us know in the comments if you liked the video give us a thumbs up subscribe to the channel and check us out at English class 101.com for some other good resources thank you very much for watching this episode of top boards and I will see you again soon bye bye in a sentence pick up your luggage at baguettes and baguette cells [Laughter] bag is selling to call it from now on bag of sell claim seven oh my god pick up your luggage at baggage claim Karen sorry hi everybody welcome back to top words my name is Alisha and today we're going to talk about ten words to express appreciation so let's go Thanks the first word is thanks thanks thanks is a very casual very common way to express your appreciation for someone it's so easy to use Thanks Thanks so if usually for something small someone else has done for you or has given to you just say thanks so in a sentence yeah thanks that really helped thank you the next expression is thank you thank you so thank you is like a step above Thanks so thanks is the most casual one I think and then thank you is like the next step up thank you thank you so you can again use this in casual situations and in more polite situations if you're ever unsure if you ever don't know you can just use a thank you as your default as your basic greeting thank you in a sentence thank you for the book thanks a lot the next expression is thanks a lot thanks a lot so with this expression please make sure to use thanks a lot we don't say thank you a lot we say thanks a lot so please be careful with that thanks a lot so this is a little bit casual we use thanks here but to express a little bit more a little bit of a stronger appreciation you can say thanks a lot thanks a lot in a sentence thanks a lot for all your help this week I really appreciate it the next expression is I really appreciate it I really appreciate it so this expression is a little bit more formal I really appreciate it so we're using the word appreciate which means like to show to express your appreciation to Express a thankful feeling a grateful feeling so to say I really appreciate it expresses a strong feeling so I really appreciate it is for a slightly more formal a slightly more polite situation in a sentence thank you for the support I really appreciate it you're a lifesaver the next expression is you're a lifesaver you're a lifesaver so a lifesaver is this word actually refers to a piece of equipment used to save people who are drowning so there's there's like a circle and inflatable or like a floating circle that people can catch if they're like drowning or having trouble swimming in the ocean and a lifeguard can throw them of lifesaver something it's a round thing that floats so the person can hold on to it or put it around their body but that's called a lifesaver in this expression you're a lifesaver means in other words you saved my life similar to the way that a lifesaver would save like a person drowning so you're a lifesaver means you really helped me a lot you saved me from something terrible you did something really great for me you're a lifesaver so in a sentence you found my keys you're a lifesaver I'm so grateful the next expression is I'm so grateful I'm so grateful so this is one that you can use for more serious situation so maybe you receive a nice gift or maybe you get a special honor or maybe you receive some kind of recognition in a more formal situation you can say I'm so grateful I'm so grateful in a sentence your recommendation got me into college I'm so grateful your kindness is greatly appreciated your kindness is greatly appreciated your kindness is greatly appreciated this is one you might use to finish a formal letter you could use this perhaps to finish a formal speech I suppose - or to end a more formal discussion I suppose but your kindness is greatly appreciated kind of implies that you want to receive something from the other person or they have given you something so maybe if you receive a donor of money for example or if you receive a lot of like volunteer support you could say your kindness is greatly appreciated so it's a formal and sincere expression in a sentence thank you for the donation your kindness is greatly appreciated you rock the next expression is you rock you rock so this is a very casual expression it means like you rock this rock means like you are awesome you are great you are cool I think you're awesome amazing fantastic so it's a very casual expression it doesn't directly mean thank you but rather you are awesome I think you are great so it's a compliment we can use this expression as a compliment when someone helps you or someone does something for you that's great you really are happy about that and you appreciate that you can say you rock or you can substitute with any of the other words I just said you're great so we can use you rock or you're amazing or you are awesome those those are pretty good casual expressions to tell somebody you think they're great and to give them a compliment that means thank you so in a sentence you already finish the paperwork you rock thank you so much the next expression is thank you so much thank you so much so this sounds like a very positive yet casual and strong way to express your appreciation to emphasize it even more you can draw out that so sound thank you so much if it's too much of an extension though it will sound insincere if you say thank you so much it doesn't sound so sincere so kind of think about how long you want to make that sound thank you so much is pretty good so you can express casual strong appreciation with this phrase thank you so much in a sentence all right this birthday cake is amazing thank you so much Cheers the next expression is cheers Cheers so I included cheers on this list because it's a word that you might hear in British and perhaps Australian English it's a word that means sort of like thank you in advance for something we don't use this word very much in American English in u.s. English in US English we typically use Cheers when we're enjoying drinks with somebody we touch glasses together and say Cheers when we're drinking but in other types of English you might hear Cheers used to mean thank you in advance for something so if we agree to maybe do a project together or we agreed to make I don't know to plan a birthday party together and you say okay well I'll book the restaurant and I say okay I'll send invitations to everybody Cheers it means thank you in advance for what you are going to do for me thank you in advance so Cheers is a nice casual way to say thank you in advance for something in a sentence Cheers see you at the event tomorrow so those are 10 words to express your appreciation I hope that those were useful for you if there's another word that you've heard of or another expression let us know in the comments for sure thank you very much for watching this episode of top words give us a thumbs up if you liked the video check us out at English class 101.com for other resources and make sure to subscribe to our channel if you haven't already I will see you again in the next episode soon bye bye in a sentence in an expense that's right I tried to say expressing in sentences that ones do you like before it was bag of sell now it is expense yeah I am this is how a new language is born surely alright you are so good at sitting Meg I saw I was like oh there it is I haven't used that much that's our running joke telling giving each other compliments for everyday actions likes hi everybody welcome back to know your verbs my name is Alicia and in this lesson we're going to talk about the verb play let's begin let's begin with the basic deaf of this firm it's to engage in a game sport or activity examples we play soccer every week let's play a board game now let's look at the conjugations for this verb present play plays past played past participle played progressive playing okay so now let's talk about some additional meanings for this verb the first additional meaning to spend time doing something fun this use of the verb is typically used among children we use this for children and to talk about the activities of children examples we used to play with the kids in our neighborhood do you like playing with dolls in these example sentences we're talking about the activities that kids do things that kids do like playing with their friends playing with dolls playing with trucks playing with cars so when we use playing with it's like there's some kind of enjoyable activity going on and it has a very youthful sound to it it sounds like something kids do a mistake that I hear adult learners make sometimes is they say I played with my friends last weekend as adults we don't use the verb play we'll use it to refer to a sport or to a game but we do not use it to talk about spending time with friends as adults especially American English speakers we can say for example I hung out with my friends last weekend or I got together with my friends last weekend that's fine we do not use the verb play as adults for kids great I played with my friends when I was little I played with dolls when I was little okay let's go on to the second additional meaning the second additional meaning is to perform as a character this can mean theater it can mean movies it can mean any kind of performance examples Keanu Reeves played neo in the matrix series I want to play a dramatic role someday so here in my first example sentence I've got Keanu Reeves as my example Keanu Reeves played neo in the matrix series so he performed in the role of neo he performed in the role of is shortened to played there in the second example sentence I want to play a dramatic role someday play means perform in I want to perform in a dramatic role someday so this means perform to play okay let's move on to the third additional meaning for the sperm it is to pretend to be a certain way to pretend to exhibit a certain behavior a key here is pretending pretending examples he's playing dumb he knows the answer I taught my dog to play dead okay so here we see play in the first example sentence he's playing dumb that means he's pretending not to know that's what this sentence means he's playing dumb playing dumb is it quite a common phrase like don't play dumb means don't pretend not to know something in the second example sentence I taught my dog to play dead means I taught my dog to pretend to be dead or I taught my dog to act like he or she is dead so to play means to pretend something so the fourth additional meaning here is to perform music to perform music examples the DJ played a lot of great music last night have you ever played this on piano so this is quite simple it just means to perform music like you you cause music to be heard by other people so a DJ can play music through a sound system of course we can play instruments like playing the piano or playing the heart playing the flute so we can use play to mean performing music or like sharing music some way alright let's talk about some variations for this verb now there are a lot of variations for the verb play these are just a few that I'm going to introduce of course if you want to know more I highly recommend checking a dictionary ok let's take a look at the first one for this lesson to play something by ear to play something by ear this means to do something without a plan it means to make decisions in the moment so examples we have no plans for the day we're just gonna play it by ear I don't want to plan my travels too much I prefer to play things by ear so both of these use the expression play it by ear play things by ear meaning I don't want to make plans like I just want to see how things go if things are feeling one way I'll do that if things are feeling another way I'll make a different decision so why do we say playing by ear imagine then if you play an instrument maybe this is useful for you but imagine you're trying to play the piano and you're trying to play a melody you're trying to find a melody you don't know it but you listen to each note as you play and gradually you can find the melody you're looking for so we call that playing physically playing performing a song by ear so using your ear to listen to the melody and find the correct melody that way we use the same idea for our activities so playing an activity by ear according to our feelings we make decisions for the next step to play it by ear let's go on to the second variation for this verb it is to play with fire to play with fire means to do something dangerous or to do something that's a bit risky for example examples you want to confront the CEO about her mistakes don't play with fire he's trying to date three people at the same time he's playing with fire okay so both of these share may be a risky or possibly dangerous situation in the first example sentence confronting a CEO about her mistakes that sounds like it could be dangerous for someone potentially if they don't want to lose their job at the company so the speaker recommends don't play with fire in other words don't do something risky don't do something dangerous suggesting that the previous point confronting the CEO is a risky or dangerous behavior don't do that in the second example sentence we see it in the progressive tense he's playing with fire by dating three women at the same time so that could be risky it could be dangerous he could cause fights he could cause problems we don't know but we're saying he's playing with fire he's doing something that is risky or dangerous okay let's move on to the third variation of this verb the third variation is to play up to play up this is kind of a slang expression this is an expression that means to make something seem better than it actually is so maybe the true level is here but when we play something up we exaggerate it we improve it but only with our words it's not truly here it's still here we make it sound better examples my parents always play up my achievements be careful not to play yourself up on your resume it might cause problems in the future so here we see play up being used to describe someone's life or someone's activities being exaggerated so in the first example my parents always play up my achievements it means my parents make my achievements sound better than they actually are so maybe I had some nice achievement great but perhaps my parents make it sound like the achievement is even better even bigger than it truly is like as parents do fine but to play up something means it's not truly at that level in the second example sentence be careful not to play yourself up on your resume it means don't make yourself sound better than you actually are on your resume because it might cause problems in the future so to play up means to improve the apparent quality or the apparent value of something but it's not true okay so those are a few new ways to use the word play I hope of course as I said there are lots and lots of ways to use this word so I highly recommend checking a dictionary to see all of them of course if you have any questions or comments or if you want to practice using this verb please feel free to do so in the comment section of this video of course also if you liked the video don't forget to give us a thumbs up subscribe to the channel and check us out at English class 101.com thanks very much for watching this episode of know your verbs and we'll see you again next time hey Mike hi everybody my name is Alicia welcome back to know your verbs in this episode we're going to talk about the verb use let's get started the basic definition of the verb to use is to put something to a purpose examples we used our iPhones to make a video use your time wisely let's look at the conjugations for this verb present use uses past used past participle used progressive using let's talk about some additional meanings for this verb the first additional meaning for the verb use is to consume to consume like for example eating or taking all of something and applying it so that all of it goes away you're consuming it somehow examples you used all the butter we've used almost all the toilet paper so here these are items which we can gradually get rid of like in the case of butter in the first example we eat butter and so we consume it by eating so it goes away toilet paper we use for cleaning purposes and so gradually it goes away we consume it but we use the word use instead okay let's go on to these second additional meanings the second one is a slang term which means to take drugs to take drugs as like a habit examples of this use I heard he's using again they haven't used in years so here you don't hear any drug there's no word drug being used or no specific drug name but we use the verb use to refer to taking drugs so when someone says he's using again it means he's using drugs again but saying drugs is quite direct and kind of strong so instead we say using alone we don't specifically say what he is using but it refers to drugs so this use of the word use refers to drug use actually okay the third additional meaning of the verb use is to exploit a person or to exploit a situation exploit means to take advantage of someone or to take advantage of a situation examples he's just using you for money don't let them use you for your ideas so in both of these examples sentences use refers to someone being taken advantage of for a different reason so in the first example sentence he's just using you for money it means the he in the situation is taking advantage of the listener because he wants money from the list so he's taking advantage of the listener and getting money in the second example sentence it's the person's ideas so one person has a lot of ideas and a group of people are taking those ideas from the other person so taking advantage of someone or taking advantage of a situation it has a negative image let's move on to some variations of this verb the first expression is could use something could use something it means that that thing might be useful in some way might be a good idea in some way examples I could use a break you look like you could use a vacation so these just mean that the item talked about seems like it could be useful or might be useful so in the first example sentence I could use a break we see could this is actually used in the second example sentence 2 I could use a break meaning it would be possible for me to use a break like that seems like a good idea to me right now in the second example sentence you look like you could use a vacation it means it seems based on your appearance you need a vacation it would be useful for you to have a vacation so could use something means it seems like that thing might be good for you so this expression is used tip is used in positive statements you look like you could use something it means that thing might be useful for you or it might be a good idea for you ok let's move along to the second variation which is to use up to use up so this means to consume completely to consume completely in the alternate definitions for this verb we saw it means to consume to use means to consume but to consume completely we use the word use up to refer to this examples she used up all of her sunblock at the beach used up all the wood for the fire so here you'll see in both of these examples sentences I included the word all she used up all of her sunblock at the beach we used up all the wood for the fire so all shows everything completely consuming that thing so when you want to talk about using everything you can use use up use up she used up all her sunblock we used up all the wood you can also exchange verbs here like for example we drank up all the wine or we drank up all the beer or we ate up all the pizza you can use it in a couple other situations relating to consumption too but use up is used for like resources of some kind so those are a few hopefully new ways for you to use the word use I hope that you found something new of course if you know a different way to use this verb or if you have any questions or comments please feel free to let us know in the comment section of this video of course don't forget to give us a thumbs up subscribe to the channel and come and check us out at English class 101.com for other things you can use for your English to study thanks very much for watching this episode of know your verbs and we'll see you again soon bye might I use the Force use the Force that's obviously the best example sentence from this lesson when learning a new language we sometimes have a hard time with things like procrastination discouragement or failure but don't panic with a good strategy you'll be able to overcome these difficulties are you ready to discover the four habits of successful learners number one optimise your time when learning a language it's important to dedicate time peer studies regularly even if sometimes it's difficult you're busy with school work family or friends but you can spread out your learning throughout the day study whenever you have small gaps of time and your busy schedule this can be when you're on the Metro on your lunch break or while you're exercising our podcast learning format fits perfectly into your tight schedule number two consistency with your chosen method there are a lot of options when it comes to courses and learning materials switching from one method to another can confuse you and disrupt your progress focusing on one learning method will make a difference our method has been created and optimized by real teachers so you can stick to it with confidence number 3 use your language background many languages share some commonalities you can find words that look or sound similar or even share the same grammar structure a little bit of language background will give you an edge while learning number 4 study continuously people are excited when they start learning a new language the enthusiasm usually lasts until the first roadblock this can lead to discouragement and procrastination but don't burn yourself out learning a language is a marathon not a sprint don't try to learn it all at once break things down into more digestible chunks learning step by step might feel slow but it's an efficient way to learn a language with patience motivation and good resources you'll master the language do you want to crash your language learning goals and overcome setbacks on the road to mastering a new language in this video you'll discover why learning goals are so vital to learning a new language and overcoming the inevitable setbacks you'll encounter on your way to mastering the language here are some useful strategies you can use to crush your goals first switch to strategic goals rather than general internal motivations people are motivated to learn a second language for any number of reasons including personal enrichment better career opportunities or even meeting new people however unlike simpler goals which may only take a week or two to complete learning a new language takes time and there will be occasional setbacks and failures so to reach your overall objective of mastering a new language you need to learn how to motivate yourself and stay focused on the bigger picture to do so it is vital to set specific strategic goals with an action plan second reasons learning goals are vital to success learning an entire language well enough to carry on full conversations with native speakers is certainly a goal but with this as your primary objective there's a long period of time between the time the goal is set when it can be realistically attained the problem is that a failure to achieve an objective creates stress that can build until you either reach the learning goal or quit the solution is to set more realistic strategic learning objectives that are easier to attain but still keep you on track to learning here are some examples of strategic learning objectives that you might set on your way to mastering a new language study for 10 minutes every day complete one lesson or chapter each week learn 20 new words each week or even learn one new word each day the key here is that your learning goals and objectives need to be very concise attainable and relevant to your overall objective as long as you can see progress towards your learning goal your stress levels will be lower and you're far more likely to succeed next to learn a new language or virtually any new skill you'll need to make adjustments to your routine simply telling yourself that you want to be able to speak fluently probably won't force you to alter your daily or weekly routines but when your strategic goals include learning a new word each day or a lesson every week you're forced to alter your schedule to reach the goal or risk certain failure although altering your schedule may cause some minor degree of stress at first the added motivation you get from achieving goals quickly eliminates any initial discomfort and the more strategic goals you complete each day or week the faster you can achieve your larger goal of mastering the language the key to achieving goals includes learning how to deal with the inevitable setbacks and failures the great part about setting smaller attainable strategic learning goals is that you can occasionally miss your objective but quickly make up for it so if you can't finish a lesson one week it's entirely possible to either learn the lesson the following week or even do two lessons to make up for the initial failure the point is that failing to achieve smaller strategic learning goals won't kill your motivation or derail your overall objectives there are many ways to crush your language learning goals using our program first check out our custom learning paths which are based on your specific goals learning paths are designed to help you reach your specific learning objectives by providing you with step-by-step strategic goals so imagine you're about to travel and just wanted to learn enough essential language to navigate any potential emergency situations you might encounter our language learning program has created a custom learning path for your goal that includes just ten lessons or strategic learning objectives once you complete the ten lessons your larger overall learning goal is complete learning paths are one of the most powerful features at our website and help you quickly and efficiently achieve larger learning goals and objectives for premium and Premium Plus members our website offers more than 20 advanced learning tools to make it easier than ever to reach and achieve your goals these include teacher feedback and comments for every lesson full lesson transcripts and review tracks voice recording tools to perfect your pronunciation lesson review quizzes and much more our language learning program makes it easier and more convenient to achieve your smaller strategic goals so you can quickly reach your larger overall objectives in less time and with less stress without setting realistic and attainable learning objectives and goals your larger dream of mastering a new language might never be realized specifically strategic objectives help to reduce stress adjust your daily routine and make it far easier to deal with the inevitable setbacks on your way to mastering a language we've made it simple and easy for you to set and attain your strategic goals so you can successfully reach the larger goal of mastering your target language today's topic is how to double your speaking time in your target language today you're going to learn one why it's hard for many learners to make progress with their speaking skills and two how you can double your speaking time if you've always wanted to speak more of your target language then this episode is for you [Music] but first listen up here are this month's new lessons and resources first the movies and TV shows cheat sheet want to be able to talk about your favorite shows and films this conversation cheat sheet teaches you 50 plus words and phrases to help you do just that second the ultimate listening video master course how are your listening skills sharpen them up with this video master course download it right now third 20 phrases you'll need for the doctor learn how to schedule appointments talk about your symptoms and much more this one-minute lesson gives you 20 must know phrases fourth want to be able to handle everyday tasks in your target language like sending and receiving mail then this next 1 minute lesson is for you you'll learn most of the words and phrases you'll need at the post office fifth learn how to impress native speakers with this one-minute lesson learn how to give natural compliments like the food is delicious and this is a beautiful country to get your free resources click the link in the description below right now they're yours to keep forever okay let's jump into today's topic how to double your speaking time in your target language okay let's get into part one why is real speaking progress so hard to make let's say you've studied the language for a few months and now you finally have a chance to practice speaking maybe you have a tutor or a native speaker friend who is willing to practice with you you start talking and your friend helps you improve bits and pieces of your speaking like pronunciation and grammar and maybe you can talk about your day and common topics but without proper preparation on both sides the person learning and the person teaching that's it you're limited to what you can talk about you don't know enough of the language to keep going and they aren't prepared to help you speak more of the language so if you try to have an open-ended conversation you'll fall flat at some point you'll run out of things to say and talk about you'll run out of words and topics and this is true outside of language learning you easy for conversations to die when you run out of things to talk about a freestyle approach to conversation is nice for advanced learners or people who do serious preparation but it's not so great for beginners this is one reason it's hard to make real progress with speaking you run out of things to say but there is a way to double your speaking time even if you're an absolute beginner even if you're low on words and grammar and that's by adding structure that you'll find in our lessons let's get into that part to how you can double your speaking time with our audio and video lessons let's say you're having a practice conversation with that same friend except this time both of you have a list of topics to follow then your conversations won't die out as quickly the point is if you have a structure to follow like a lesson there's always something for you to fall back on and if you're already using our audio and video lessons you get just that so here's how you can use our lessons to double your speaking time 1 make sure to listen to and review your current audio or video lessons why each lesson conversation is based on a certain topic like talking about the weather talking about family ordering food and so on so by simply taking a lesson you learn a conversation around a certain topic lessons will give you a lot of topics to talk about along with the relevant grammar and vocabulary which many beginners might not have think about it if you wanted to talk about a vacation you'd need to know where it's like vacation cruise and holiday in your target language you'd also need the right grammar points to help you express ideas our audio and video lessons will provide you with all of these so listen to the lessons and prepare ahead of time to use the dialogue presented in the lesson in other words you can memorize the lines from the lesson dialogue you're already learning conversations in the lesson so you may as well use them for yourself and doing this will help prepare you for future conversations think about it we often use lines like where are you from what's your name my name is how was your weekend I went out last weekend once you memorize these expressions you can and will use them over and over as an example imagine you do a few lessons about the weather you'll master a few conversations about it the next time that topic pops up in real life you'll be able to talk about it and three each lesson comes with cultural insights what does that mean for you it gives you more things to talk about with a native speaker so if you bring up a cultural point in a conversation with a native speaker you'll likely get a good reaction and extend the conversation because you're talking about what they know best their culture so today you learn one why it's hard for many learners to make progress with their speaking skills it's because we tend to run out of things to say and to how you can double your speaking time accomplish this by taking our lessons memorizing the dialogues and using the cultural insights today traditional classrooms are no longer the only or even best place to learn a new language more and more people are finding that they can easily learn a language just about anywhere they have a few minutes of spare time including their daily commute to work according to the US Census Bureau the average American spends over 50 minutes a day commuting to and from work or over three hundred hours a year but rather than simply sitting in traffic and wasting the time you can instead use your daily commute to literally learn a new language in just a few short months our language learning program has specialized learning tools that you can use on your commute to and from the office to master a language in your spare time what are some reasons traditional classroom settings just aren't the best option for most people in today's fast-paced world difficulty getting to and from class learning on someone else's schedule very expensive and may cost thousands of dollars to complete can take years to finally complete classes and learn the language the simple truth is the traditional classroom instruction is simply not a viable option for most people in today's very fast-paced time-starved world now let's examine how you can learn a language faster more easily and at far less expense than traditional classes altering your commute to work and back home again three reasons your daily commute can help you master a language in the next year on average Americans spend more than 300 hours per year commuting during the commute to and from work over six hours a week is completely wasted the time isn't used to help you reach any goals or objectives but thanks to online language learning platforms with audio books and other resources that you can access during your commute you can easily transform wasted time into progress toward learning a new language with over 300 hours available annually your daily commute could provide you with enough time to gain significant skills in a new language each and every year increase your earning potential while commuting to work how would you like to transform all those spare commuting hours each week into more money for a new car house or even a dream vacation according to research someone making $30,000 per year can boost their annual income by $600 or more per year by learning a second language over the course of a lifetime that's a significant amount how from work at home translation jobs to working overseas there are many ways to leverage your second language into more money in your bank account so instead of wasting your precious time you can make your commute more productive and eventually profitable the more languages you learn the higher your income potential repetition is key to mastering a new language not sure if it's practical to learn another language while commuting to and from work each day well not only is it possible learning in your car on the way to and from work each day can actually help you learn and master any language quickly the simple truth is that repetition is absolutely vital to truly internalizing and mastering any language so if you listen to audio books or even audio lessons on your commute to work and then repeat the same lesson your commute home the information is more likely to be locked into your long-term memory our language learning program has been helping people learn and master language in the comfort of their home during their daily commute or any place they have a few spare minutes of time here are five features of our program that make it easy to learn a new language while commuting to and from work first the largest collection of audio lessons on the planet by native speaker instructors every single week native speaker instructors create new audio lessons all lessons are short to the point and guaranteed to improve your mastery of a language second the word of the day simply exposing yourself to new information and vocabulary terms helps increase your fluency and mastery of your target language so every single day check out the word of the day and memorize it during your commute it's a quick and easy way to boost your vocabulary every day third daily dose mini lessons have a short commute to work but still want to make progress towards learning more than just vocabulary not a problem our daily dose mini lessons are one minute or less and are designed to improve your grammar conversations and pronunciation fourth all content is available on a convenient mobile app you don't need a PC or tablet to learn during your daily commute instead all of our lessons tools and resources are available 24/7 via our mobile app that means you can access all of our audio lessons and other tools during your commute to work or anytime you have a few spare minutes fifth audio books and other supplemental resources in addition to the world's largest online collection of HD audio lessons our language learning program has audio books to enhance your understanding and make it more convenient than ever to learn a language during your commute the average commute time of most Americans is over 300 hours each year and it's the perfect opportunity to learn and master a new language use the dead time during your daily commute to learn a new language and potentially boost your lifetime earnings whatever your motivation our language learning program has the tools and resources necessary to help you learn a new language each year during your commute to and from work immersion is often hailed as the most efficient and effective way to learn a foreign language in many ways it's true with all the language learning methods out there nothing else comes close to having to think and interact with your environment in the language you're learning unfortunately though most language learners wrongly assumed that the only way to experience language immersion is to pack up and move to a foreign country but not everyone can afford to spend a summer abroad just to learn a foreign language luckily there are other ways to immerse yourself these methods are less obvious but they are effective in this video we'll take a look at five steps you can take for the ultimate language immersion experience at home number one transform your digital world into your target language technology is an indispensable part of modern life we interact with phones computers tablets and other electronic devices throughout the day why not take these interactions and use them to practice your target language most devices give you the option of switching the language of the operating system switching your phone or laptop interface to your target language won't make you fluent but it will help you engage with the language in a very practical way multiple times every day another way to transform your digital life is to check which sites you use on a daily basis and use them in your target language also a great example of this is switching your version of Google using Google in your target language will allow you to search for things in that language and you're more likely to get results in that language as well so if you're looking for a popular band the show or food something that's usually written in your target language it will actually be easier to find information about it if you switch your version of Google of course you can also change popular social networks like Facebook or Twitter you can even go to news sites for your fill of global news do you like podcasts try listening to a couple popular podcasts in your target language number two write out a speech or conversation in your target language a surefire way to increase your ability in a foreign language is to write out a mock conversation or speech in that language pretend you have to give a speech on one of your favorite topics it could be anything from sports hobbies or even your favorite movie genre now take some time to write out your fictitious speech inevitably you will hit some roadblocks but when you get stuck research the words or grammar points you don't know this is a highly effective and practical way to increase your vocabulary and it'll help you practice thinking in a different language writing a long connected train of thoughts exposes the gaps and weaknesses in your language studying once you know what these are you're free to practice them and use them to continue on with your speech this is also a great way to learn new words in the context of your entire speech context is king when you're learning a language learning words in the context of other words and sentences helps you surmise what new words mean it also helps you get comfortable with how these words are practically used not to mention context helps you to remember and recall new information more easily number three practice with native speakers there are a lot of great learning resources out there for anyone learning a new language however nothing quite comes close to practicing the language with a real person if you live in or around a large metropolitan area there's a chance that there are some native speakers nearby check and see if your area has any local language exchanges or language speaking groups you're likely to find a native speaker there if you can't make a connection locally you can search online just as there are language exchanges in the real world there are also online ones most of which are free number four connect with other language learners native speakers aren't the only people who can aid you on your language learning journey practicing with other learners is also helpful don't worry if you practice with someone who has a higher or lower level in the language than you if you're the more advanced learner you can learn a lot by teaching someone else as you help someone else understand difficult words or grammatical concepts you'll find that you start to better understand them yourself if you're learning partner has a higher level they can be the one to help you overcome the hurdles you encounter as a beginner after all what better way to learn them from someone who as a language learner has been in your shoes number five reward yourself in your target language at the end of a busy day we all love a little relaxation and me time one of the most enjoyable and effective ways to develop your language skills is to kick back and enjoy the language while doing leisure activities whether it's listening to music watching a movie or TV show reading a book or even enjoying a good online video binge even spending just an extra thirty minutes a day doing something you love in your target language can yield some serious long-term results if you're a beginner start with more basic content you might have to start out listening to simple songs or even watching children's shows after a while though you'll be able to dive into the meteor stuff and more engaging stuff as your proficiency increases learning a foreign language doesn't mean you have to spend your days straining over grammar rules or textbooks anyway that you can take your learning off the page and make it more enjoyable will help you learn faster immersion is a powerful way to learn a foreign language and now more than ever the immersion experience isn't limited to just world travelers with the little creativity and the right resources you can experience the language without ever having to leave your hometown great work here's a reward speed up your language learning with our pdfs lessons get all of our best PDF cheat sheets and ebooks for free just click the link in the description

Channel: Learn English with EnglishClass101.com

Views: 216,557

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Id: e7Pg8a6jL1I

Length: 107min 53sec (6473 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 19 2020