Vanessa:
Are you fluent in English? Well, you know you're fluent in English when
you can understand nuance to jokes and memes. What's a meme, Vanessa? A meme is
often a joke within an image. And that's what we're going to take a look at today
to test if you are fluent in English. Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com, and
today I have created a very fun lesson for you, including a free PDF worksheet that
includes all five of today's jokes, memes, ideas about why they're funny. This often
includes cultural references, plays on words, advanced vocabulary. So make sure that you
download the free PDF worksheet so that you can level up your fluency and laugh when everyone
else is laughing. It's such a great feeling. You can click on the link in the description to
download that free PDF worksheet today. If sitting around the table with all English speakers
makes you feel uncomfortable, what should I say? Will they understand me? What if I don't
understand what they're saying? Well, I'd like to invite you to join me and thousands of other
motivated English learners in the Fearless Fluency Club. Ildiko from Hungary said, "This course
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confident when you speak in English too? Well, you can join the Fearless Fluency Club and
get a $200 off discount this week only. This limited time discount is only available
this week, and you can click on the link below this video to join me and thousands of other
motivated English learners level up your English, speak real English together. All right, are you
ready to test your English fluency skills with these jokes and memes? Let's do it. Our first
English joke, or we can call it an English meme because it includes a picture, is this silly one.
What's the difference between a cat and a comma? One has claws at the end of its paws and the
other has a pause at the end of its clause. All right, let me break this down.
If you did not think this was funny, that's okay. That's why I'm here.
A cat, the animal, has four paws. This is what we call a cat's hands and feet. Notice the spelling.
A cat has four paws, and each of those paws have claws. Notice the spelling here. So we're talking
about a kind of play on words or a tongue twister. A cat has claws at the end of its paw, but a
comma, you use a comma when you're pausing, you take a breath in the sentence, or there's a
slight pause at the end of a clause. Notice the spelling here. So a clause is a grammatical term,
but you can really just think of it as a thought. So when you say chocolate cake, which is my
favorite kind of cake, is going to be at my birthday party, we have a comma around this
clause because there's a little pause here. Well, we are just making a play on words. There
are commas around this clause or there are pauses around the clause. Ha, ha, ha. All right,
let's go on to our next English joke or meme. Are you from Tennessee? Because
you're the only 10 I see. All right. This is what we would call a very
cheesy pickup line. A pickup line is when someone is trying to get someone else to be romantically
interested in them so they'll say something silly, maybe something clever, maybe something loving or
romantic to get that other person to be interested in them. So maybe he would say something
like this, are you from Tennessee? This is a state in the US, because you're the only 10
I seek. So here we're dealing with a cultural reference. First of all, the state in the US,
Tennessee. But also, 10 is sometimes a term we would use for someone who's extremely beautiful.
He's a 10. She's a 10. That means they are the height of beauty. They are a 10. So when you are
trying to get someone to be interested in you, you want to say a compliment, you want to say
something very nice and exciting. So you might say, you are the only beautiful person I see.
Well, it's not quite as exciting unless you say, are you from Tennessee? Because you are the only
10 I see. No one else here is as beautiful as you. You're the only 10 I see. Our third joke is quite
a literary one, but I don't know. I'm a nerd, so I thought it was funny. When it rains, it poes.
Well, do you know who this guy is? This guy is a famous English author. His name is Edgar Allen
Poe, and he is famous for writing stuff that's pretty dark and gloomy, not much positivity
and joyfulness and sunshine in his writings. Nope. It is pretty dark and gloomy.
Well, in order for this to be funny, you need to know the original English
expression. When it rains, it pours. Here we use this when you are trying to emphasize
that when something bad happens, not just one bad thing happens, it seems like all the bad stuff
happens. So you might say, well, this morning I was late for work, and then I realized I had on my
pants inside out, and then I got stuck in traffic, and then someone bumped into my car. Ugh. When it
rains, it pours. Not just a little bit of rain, a lot of rain. Well, we're taking this expression,
twisting it a bit, making it a little bit of a nerdy joke. When it rains, it poes. And
there's a nice picture of Edgar Allen Poe. So you might see this on the internet if someone
is trying to have a little bit of visual fun and someone is laughing, well, now you can laugh too.
English joke number four is one that I thought you would appreciate as you struggle on your journey
to learn English. Well, you might think this is funny. English is difficult, it can be understood
through tough, thorough thought, though. Okay, when you first see this picture, did
all of these words look the same to you? Because they did to me. I think that's kind
of one of the points is that you look at this and they all seem like they're a very similar
word, but they're all pronounced differently. Oh, boy. So English is difficult, but what
does that last part even mean? English is a difficult language, but with hard work and
critical thinking, you can understand English. So here we're just kind of putting all of
these tricky TH words together in a sentence that makes sense to emphasize the point
that, oh yeah, English is really tricky. I want to challenge you to try to say this with
me. You want to try a little tongue twister just for fun? Let's try to say it together. English
is difficult, it can be understood through tough, thorough thought, though. Let's say that final
part again, it can be understood through tough, thorough thought, though. Great work. The fifth
and final joke today is another English related joke, but I thought that you might get a kick
out of it. That's an expression that means I think it's funny once you understand it. Here's
the joke. There are three voices in writing. The active voice, "You ate all the bacon". The
passive voice, "All the bacon was eaten by you". And number three, the passive-aggressive
voice, "You ate all the bacon and no one else got one. But don't worry, it's
fine. Clearly, you needed that bacon". Can you tell by the tone of my voice and the
rolling of my eyes, clearly you needed that bacon, that I'm trying to say something
that I'm not exactly saying? Am I excited that you ate all the bacon?
Absolutely not. Instead, I am being what we call passive-aggressive. So let's start at the
beginning of this little joke, meme. The first one, an active voice. This is a real voice in
English. The subject is doing the action. You ate all the bacon. You're the one who ate the bacon.
The second one, the passive voice is what we use when the subject is not doing the action. Usually
it's very indirect. All of the bacon was eaten. We don't know who did it. But here we have a
little parenthesis (by you), but I'm not trying to directly say you ate all the bacon. That's
very active. Instead, I'm going to be indirect. All of the bacon was eaten. Oh,
no. What am I going to eat today? Well, then we get onto the third voice, which is
not a real voice in English, but that's part of the joke here, the passive-aggressive voice.
I'm going to say something without really saying it, but I'm going to show my anger and my
contempt that you ate all the bacon, especially with my tone of voice. Don't worry, it's fine.
Clearly, you needed to eat all that bacon. That tone of voice shows I really care. It is not
fine. But this is just a funny way to say there's a third voice in English. So did you get these
five jokes, memes in English? I'm curious if you understood them before or after my explanation,
and if you understood them after my explanation, congratulations, you have leveled up your
English skills. That's wonderful. And now I have a little challenge for you. I want to know in
the comments, do you know any English jokes? Can you share them with us in the comments? Read each
other's comments and try to understand the jokes? You can level up your English skills a little
bit more and more. And don't forget to download the free PDF worksheet for today's joke
lesson where you can review these jokes, review why they're funny, and try to level up
your English skills so that you can be fluent, understand jokes, understand humor, and don't
feel left out when other people are laughing. You can click on the link in the description
to download that free PDF worksheet today. If you enjoyed today's lesson, but you realized
that you're not quite fluent in English, there's a lot still that you need to learn. Well,
I invite you to join me in the Fearless Fluency Club this week so that you can get a $200 off
discount. Join me and thousands of other motivated English learners who are learning real English
vocabulary, phrasal verbs, clear pronunciation, and speaking together on a weekly basis. You can
click on the link in the description to join us and save $200 this week only. Well, thank
you so much for learning English with me, and I'll see you again next Friday for a new
lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye. But wait, do you want more? I recommend watching this video
next. This is my English fluency test. Number nine is can you understand jokes and humor in
English? But what about all of the others? Well, I want you to take the test and find out if you're
really fluent in English. I'll see you there.
