How to Explain Something in English Part 2 Basic English Phrases
talking about explaining steps in a
process good hi everybody on YouTube and
on Facebook my name is Alisha and
welcome back to our Li CLE livestream
today we are talking about explaining
steps in a process so I made this lesson
with the hope that it would be useful
for your presentations and for writing
so a lot of you have asked about how to
improve your writing so today I’m going
to talk about some sequence words some
transition words you can use to connect
your ideas and then I’m going to talk
about a grammar point and if when a
grammar point and then finally I’m going
to show you a sample presentation or a
sample kind of short report that maybe
can help you as you prepare similar
pieces of writing so we’re going to
start in about two minutes or so so as
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introduction today we’re talking about
explaining steps in a process explaining
steps in a process so I’m going to start
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I guess share of something else if you
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is really really fun to make I love this
series if you don’t know this series we
focus on one verb and then we talk about
many different ways different meanings
like different variations of that fur so
there are some phrasal verbs in this
series which many of you have talked
about but there’s a new one up on the
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night
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know your verbs know about the verb hold
alright with that then let’s get going
into today’s lesson today’s lesson is
explaining steps in a process so I’m
going to begin over here and I’ll slow
down with speaking a little bit I’m
going to begin here by reviewing some
sequence words and by sequence words I
mean like words we use to explain steps
so like the first one that I have here
is first so your first step number one
step number one if you have other ideas
for sequence words there are a lot
please send them in the chat and I will
try to add them in on the board so I’ve
arranged this so that it’s like the
first step is here and then maybe the
last step is down here so let’s take a
look at these sequence words and I also
want to talk about some things you
should keep in mind especially when
you’re writing so I mentioned this
already this word first first of course
first means like number one thing number
one
in your in your presentation or in your
like written report when you’re writing
make sure to always use the same the
same style of like first second and
third for example so if you begin by
saying first then you should continue on
to second and third so I’m making this
point because sometimes what I see is
people will use first and then they
change to secondly thirdly so there are
two different ways that we can explain
these steps so you can say first second
third or you can say here let me use red
or you could say like firstly secondly
thirdly both are fine but just don’t mix
the two if you want to use only the
black color words great just use that
but don’t mix the two that have the ly
endings so this is especially important
for writing it can sound or it can look
a little bit strange if you mix up these
two almond ah on facebook says why do
people say first off instead of just
saying first first doc sounds more
casual actually so first off it sounds
kind of rough a little bit rough and a
little bit more casual than first so
that’s why people say first off first
off okay if you have other questions
please send them I’ll try to catch
everything can’t promise okay so on to
the next group so the next sequence word
or transition word here is just next
next so just step two or step three
whatever you can use next and then
throughout your presentations and
throughout your writing so it’s a great
these are two great a very versatile
versatile means you can use them in many
different ways versatile so these are
words that you can use in so many
different situations they are great
connecting words to show your going to
the next
this one after that after that where
that here refers to the thing you just
said so like when I begin this
livestream I say first I’m going to talk
about sequence words after that I’m
going to talk about if and when so after
that means after the thing I just said
in this case after I explained sequence
words okay one on YouTube says is it
correct to say first of all yeah sure
first of all can sound a little bit like
you’re maybe a little angry or a little
like like you’re explaining something to
someone because they made a mistake so
be careful with them
okay so I’ve explained after that I want
to move on to this next group though
right here they all begin with once
you’ll notice once so that’s the
pronunciation here
yeah we’ve zoomed in thank you so once
once once you’ve done that or once
you’ve finished that or once that’s
complete so here I want to like kind of
look quickly at this grammar point ah
sorry once you’ve done that once you’ve
you’ve I know that this is something
that’s difficult for people to hear once
you’ve not once you once you’ve done
that so this youth is once you have done
that once you have finished that so
again this that refers to a previous
point that you explained once you’ve
done that these are and this one as well
these are good when you’re explaining a
process so for example like a recipe so
add the milk to your dough for example
once you’ve done that so that means
after the previous thing is finished go
to the next step so I’ll show you an
example of this
a little bit later but a pronunciation
point for your presentations is once
you’ve done that or once you’ve finished
that and then this one down here once
that’s complete once that’s complete the
spelling here is th a T apostrophe s
that’s here this is different grammar
once that is complete or you might hear
once that’s been completed there are a
couple of different ways to say this but
they communicate the same idea
it just means after the last thing is
finished that’s what this means but
these sound quite natural because we’re
connecting to the previous statement
with the use of words like this or that
okay ah let’s see other questions once
you’ve finished the video I’m going to
practice it cool or maybe once you’ve
finished the video I’m going to review
it that would be a nice natural thing to
say
okay I’m gonna continue on the next pair
I’m going to talk a lot about this point
in part two so the next pair are first
if we can do that so I’ve made this kind
of as a like a presentation or a group
related example you’ll notice I’m using
here we if we can do that if we can do
that that means if it’s possible for us
to do something if it’s possible for us
to achieve something that’s like this is
a way of sharing an unreal thing so
something that has not happened yet but
you’re thinking about it so this is
useful for a plan a plan or maybe a
proposal if we can do that okay the next
one in this pair is when that’s done
when that’s done so you’ll notice the
same thing here I talked about with once
that’s complete when that’s done they
really mean the same thing
this
when so using when means we have some
expectation I’m going to talk about this
later so we think it’s definitely going
to happen
similar to once as well we use these in
the same way and someone I think asked
about like done and complete and
finished in this case we use them in the
same way when we’re talking about
explaining steps in a process there are
some other cases where like finish and
complete can have like different
meanings but for today’s lesson let’s
just focus on them meaning something is
finished it’s 100% okay finally
that’s perfect finally these last two
here they are last and finally last and
finally and you can use this last leave
if you want but they just we use these
before we introduce our very last point
so I just said finally to introduce
these last two words so this is a quick
review of some common transition and
some common sequence related words I
don’t see any other points in the chat
oh hey jr. hi Alicia can I say when this
lesson is all wrapped up I’ll eat dinner
yeah nice good yep all wrapped up so jr.
used if you’re in the YouTube chat jr.
you as the expression all wrapped up so
that’s a casual way to say finished that
comes from like present wrapping so it’s
like when a present is finished it’s all
wrapped up this is the verb we use for a
present to wrap so all wrapped up nice
one okay other things all right I don’t
see other points so I’m gonna take a
quick break and then we’ll go on to
talking about and when so this week
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let’s continue on in the lesson for
those of you asking yes this lesson is
live hello Edwin yes it is live um
someone Lam I said when do we use lastly
use lastly before you introduce your
last point in your presentation so I
used last I think you can say lastly -
that’s fine
okay let’s continue on if you’re just
joining it send a message in the chat
like the video share the video as always
we really appreciate it we’re talking
about explaining the steps in a process
okay let’s go on to a part two of
today’s lesson I want to focus in this
part on a grammar point that I’ve
noticed has occasionally caused some
confusion I suppose it is the difference
between if and when is Edwin so very
very simply we use if if there is a
chance something can happen so if is
used to talk about an unreal situation
it’s it has not happened but there’s a
chance it’s going to happen in the
future if if when on the other hand is
something that is like 100
percent going to happen there’s an
expectation it’s something that’s
expected to happen
so using these correctly can be very
very important because it can
communicate or not your expectation to
the listener or to your reader so let’s
look at a few examples first let’s look
at if so remember these are all
expressions we use for unreal situations
that means it’s not true it has not
happened but there is a chance that it
could happen so for example if I have
time I’ll call you if I have time so
there’s only a chance I will have time
if I do I’ll call you or if we can
finish this we can go for dinner
something like that or if he arrives
early we can get a drink together so
these are all unreal situations they
have not happened we’re just like
talking about a chance so I mentioned
this in part one over here this sequence
word thing if we can do that that means
there’s just a chance there’s not
necessarily an expectation of something
let’s compare this then to when when so
as I said when is like this is a future
expectation a future expectation so we
think there’s a 100% chance this thing
is going to happen we want to
communicate that expectation so some
examples of this when I get to the
office so that means 100% I’m going to
arrive at the office so when I get to
the office please make some copies I
don’t know if it’s a weird request so
when I get to the office I’ll go to my
desk
something simple is fine another example
when she calls when she calls give her
the information again there’s an
expectation here we know this is going
to happen
there’s a plan when she calls give her
the information okay
and finally when we leave it’s like when
we leave
don’t forget your wallet or when we
leave please pay the bill so these are
all things that we expect to happen
there’s a 100% chance that thing is
going to happen so I want to show an
example of where making a mistake with
this could cause a problem so it’s quite
small sorry I think we might have to
zoom in again you just zoomed out sorry
so I want to show a situation where
making a mistake could cause a problem a
key word here is the word break up break
up so to break up means to end a
romantic relationship so to stop dating
someone to break up let’s compare these
two sentences the first sentence is if
we break up I’ll be sad I’ll be sad if
we break up I’ll be sad the second
sentence when we break up I’ll be sad so
why is this weird why does this cause a
problem if means there’s just a chance
the speakers the speaker is saying like
the if if if this unreal situation
happens I will be sad the speaker is
expressing just a chance of something
however in this sentence when we break
up I’ll be sad if you use when in this
sentence it means you expect your
relationship to end you expect to break
up with the other person so in many
cases this is probably not a good thing
to say if you want to continue in your
relationship so chance expectation this
is an example of where it could cause a
problem in other situations it can cause
a little bit of confusion like saying if
I have time I’ll call you or when I have
time I’ll call you so these are very
small choices but they communicate
expect
tation or no expectation to the listener
so please be careful in your writing and
in your like presentations and in your
conversations about which one you choose
here
oh hey other things nice example
sentences Jonathan says if you continue
making videos I’ll watch them all or
I’ll see them all nice okay
I don’t see other questions or other
examples okay good so as I mentioned
before to this if and when points is
used when you’re explaining your
sequence when you’re explaining those
steps in a process so I introduced
originally if we can do that meaning a
chance and here when that’s done when
that’s done so here that means there’s
an expectation that thing is going to be
finished okay good ah I don’t see
someone I’ll mender on Facebook says if
I were to be is that right to say it
could be and it may be it’s kind of
depends on the sentence I’m not sure
exactly so perhaps perhaps I I would
need to see a full sentence other points
I don’t see anything else other
questions okay so I will take one very
quick break if you’re just joining us
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other things I don’t see other questions
yet I will try to check let’s continue
on the final point finally finally in
today’s lesson I want to talk about or I
want to introduce rather like a sample
presentation or a sample report so I
want to put everything together that we
talked about in this lesson and show you
how something just simple could be
explained before I do that though I want
to give a quick reminder some quick
grammar reminders about your
presentations or your reports there are
three points here I’ve mentioned here
past tense present perfect tense and
future tense so simple past tense
remember we use simple past tense for
actions that started and finished in the
past so nothing in the future it’s not
continuing to the future it started and
it finished in the past so I talked
about sequence words I talked about if
and when those are finished actions then
the second grammar point here is present
perfect tense present perfect tense I
know many of you have questions about
this so a reminder we use present
perfect tense for something that started
in the past and continues to the present
or the effects of that action continue
to the present so this is something
that’s continuing and we can use the
continuous form here to really emphasize
the continuing nature of that thing
final point future tense simple future
tense like I will or I’m going to I plan
to
we use these to talk about our next
steps so your plans like the things
you’re going to do
after your presentation so let us look
at a sample oh wow I’m screen this is
just a giant black attack so I’m gonna
read it and I’m gonna make some points
while we while we read this through
first here is kind of my my presentation
point so I’m going to tell you about
this so we made some Q&A videos
yesterday we’ve made some Q&A videos Q&A
videos thanks these are the the ask
Alicia videos that come out once a week
so we made some Q&A videos yesterday
this is my topic so I’m going to explain
the steps of making the Q&A videos
you’ll notice past tense here so I’m
gonna start by saying first as I said
over here to introduce my first step
first I read remember read and read have
this same spelling but the pronunciation
is different so first I read questions
you sent first I read questions you sent
that’s my first step then I made this
comment you’ve been sending them for a
year so I’m giving some extra
information here so you’ve in this case
you the viewers the people watching
you’ve been sending them for a year so
the series has been continuing for a
year so that means starting in the past
and continuing to now you have
continuously sent questions for that
series so hear them means your questions
you’ve been sending them for a year then
so here I’m moving to my next step there
my next point then I chose a few to
answer so past tense this is something
that finished I chose a few questions I
chose a few to answer following that I
have here after that or I just said
following that after that we came to the
studio to shoot the videos after that we
came to the studio here’s my past tense
my connection my sequence word is right
here after that we came to the studio to
shoot the videos so I’ve included the
videos here just to be specific I could
say we came to the studio to shoot but I
want to be specific what did we shoot
the videos the next point uh here so
I’ve got once this lesson it is finished
once this lesson is finished that means
once this lesson this live lesson is
finished or once this lesson has
finished is also okay I’ll edit I’ll
edit the videos so I’m expressing
expressing a future point I’ll edit or
I’m going to edit the video so here I’m
changing my tenses I’m changing to a
future tense expression because I’m
talking about my plans then my last
point here is finally finally so I’m
introducing my last point with finally
finally I’ll send it to the team where
it is the video here I’ll send it to the
team so here you can see my major steps
first then after that once finally so
it’s easy to find the major steps in my
presentation or in my report because
I’ve used these specific sequence words
so these are things that your listener
and your reader can look for to
understand where in the sequence you are
like what step in the process it is so
these are helpful for you for organizing
your ideas for organizing your thoughts
but they’re also helpful for the people
that you’re trying to communicate with
so that they can understand so these are
this is just a really simple example of
how to use these words naturally to make
a presentation okay so maybe you guys
can use this you can try to send an
example if you want in the chat for sure
I’ll try to read it if you have
if you can get it in in the next two
minutes or so so this is what I wanted
to cover today but if you have any
questions about this topic please also
send those in the chat I will try to
check them and answer them somehow
somewhere otherwise yeah you can send
them to ask Alicia too and we’ll look at
them there but I have to wrap up for
today so oh and there I suppose I’m
actually on time my goodness it’s gotten
into me I didn’t talk too much Wow okay
uh we’ll end there for today so thank
you as always for joining us if you
missed today’s lesson don’t worry it was
recorded you can watch this anytime on
youtube or on Facebook next week we’ll
be back we’re gonna be here again next
week next week’s topic is explaining
problems explaining problems so I’ve
planned a lesson that’s about like when
you make a mistake like I made a mistake
with or I don’t know how to or whatever
so I’m gonna talk about how to explain
problems and like mistakes next week so
please join us Wednesday oh that’s
easier to see when I stand right there
when I’m not standing there it’s hard to
see okay so join us next week Wednesday
that will be at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard
Time 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
that is New York City time New York City
time please google it to find your local
time we will talk about explaining
problems so that will be next week
December or 6 is Thursday December 5th
is the Wednesday night I think no I
believe whatever Wednesday is I think
Wednesday Wednesday the 5th I feel like
anyway Wednesday next week Wednesday
please join us Wednesday the 5th for
this lesson at 9 p.m. Eastern
Standard Time to explain your problems
so that will be a good one okay uh that
was fun so thank you guys so much thank
you everybody for joining us this week
live it was great to see all your
messages and your questions I hope that
you can use this in preparing your
reports and your writing and your
presentations so I’m going to go now
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will see you again next week bye
you