Advanced English Conversation Vocabulary Phrasal Verb Pronunciation

Vanessa:
Hi, I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.

Let’s have a real English conversation, let’s
go.

Today I have something super special to share
with you.

I’m going to share a real English conversation.

A little over two years ago my husband, Dan,
and I bought our first house.

And today you are going to meet our realtor,
Brandi.

A realtor, or sometimes we call them a real
estate agent, is a professional who helps

you to find and buy a house.

In the US if you want to buy a house, you
need to hire a realtor.

If this job isn’t common in your country,
don’t worry, you’ll learn a lot about it today.

Brandi is really passionate about her job
and how her job has completely changed her

family’s life.

I’m sure that you also have things that you’re
passionate about, so it’s a good experience

to listen carefully and imitate the way that
we speak.

During our conversation you will see some
subtitles down here for some important vocabulary,

phrasal verbs, and pronunciation.

After you watch the conversation, there will
be a vocabulary lesson where my husband, Dan,

and I explain in detail some of the important
phrases so that you don’t waste your time

studying unimportant words.

Ingrain these in your memory.

It’s great to hear them in the conversation,
but when you also hear us explaining them

in the vocabulary lesson, it will be even
easier to remember them and use them yourself.

After the vocabulary lesson, you will have
a phrasal verb lesson where you will learn

some of the most important phrasal verbs from
the conversation with Brandi, so that you

can use them in your daily conversation.

And finally, after the phrasal verb lesson,
you will have a pronunciation lesson so that

you can speak more like an American and speak
clearly and understandably.

You can always click CC on this lesson to
view the full subtitle so that you don’t miss

any words.

And of course, to help you remember everything
from today’s long lesson, I have created a

free PDF worksheet where you will remember
all of the vocabulary, phrasal verbs, pronunciation,

sample sentences, and you’ll be able to answer
Vanessa’s challenge question at the bottom

of the free PDF worksheet.

You can click on the link in the description
to download that free worksheet today.

And if you enjoy this lesson, I invite you
to join me in the Fearless Fluency Club where

you can finally learn real American English
and speak confidently.

Our course member Ildikó said, “This course
is fantastic.

I like the most that you teach us real English.”

Thank you Ildikó.

surprised her.

She said, “What surprised me even more was
the wonderful community and the opportunity

to meet and interact with so many friends
from around the world.

and to speak confident English.

My course uses the Conversation Breakdown
Method.

This method helps you to catch the real meaning
of conversations and be able to express yourself

with the same type of expressions and terms
and pronunciation so that you can be understandable.

Today’s YouTube video is just a short sample
of the course.

There are five modules in the full course,
and today you’re only seeing half of one of

the modules.

So let’s test the Conversation Breakdown Method
in the Fearless Fluency Club and let’s meet

Brandi.

Hi everyone.

Brandi:
Hello.

Vanessa:
I’m here with Brandi.

Brandi is a real estate agent, realtor, but
also a friend now.

So let’s start by talking about the definition.

What is a real estate agent or a realtor?

Brandi:
Okay.

So a realtor and real estate agent are almost
interchangeable.

Vanessa:
Okay.

Brandi:
So all real estate agents in order to get

on our listing service, which means the access
to properties, we have to be a realtor, which

is this organization that has a set of ethics.

Vanessa:
Oh.

Brandi:
And so we have to follow certain ethical guidelines

to make sure that we don’t mislead clients
and we share all the important facts about

a house.

And when it comes to our activities we essentially
are the … I like to think of myself as a

consult.

So I help consult people in buying and selling
their home.

Vanessa:
Okay.

So it is essential if someone wants to buy
or sell a house that they contact a consult

or a real estate agent, a realtor, to help
them in that process?

Brandi:
So technically people can buy and sell on

their own.

Vanessa:
Oh?

Brandi:
If they want to.

Though I do think that working with a realtor,
you have somebody who does it as a job and

somebody who has seen hundreds of experiences
of buying and selling and really understand

how the market works.

What a good deal is, what isn’t a good deal,
what important repairs are, what non-important

repairs are.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Brandi:
So some people try and sell on their own and

sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,
and then they connect with a realtor to engage

their expertise.

And then for buyers, at least in our state,
it’s pretty common that the seller pays the

realtor commission for the buyers.

So for buyers, the buyers don’t actually have
to pay anything out of pocket.

The seller pays the commission so it’s beneficial
for buyers especially.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

I remember when we bought this house, it didn’t
feel like we were paying you anything.

It was so weird.

You were helping us so much and then there
was no exchange of money.

So if we had decided, “Hey, we’re not going
to buy a house at all,” would you just be

out then?

You would’ve helped us all that time for nothing?

Brandi:
Yes, and it happens a lot.

Vanessa:
Oh no.

Okay.

But in the end, the expectation is that that
person will buy and then you’ll make a cut

of whatever the price of the house is-
Brandi:

Yes.

Vanessa:
-that they got.

Okay.

Because it seems like every country has a
different way of dealing with buying property,

but in the US it’s pretty common to use a
realtor who knows what they’re doing.

That’s your job, to know all those ins and
outs.

Especially for us as a first time buyer having
no idea of the process, it was so helpful

to have someone who was just guiding you.

Especially when we’ve got other stuff going
on in our life.

You don’t have time to know every detail about
who is the best person to sign these papers

or what’s the next step?

It was really nice to have help.

So thank you.

Brandi:
Yeah, you’re welcome.

And I feel like my role too is also to help
make it as stress free as possible for all

parties.

So as much as possible if a repair is needed
and a seller doesn’t have time to be there,

I’ll meet the repair person at the house because
buyers and sellers, they have jobs, they have

things they have to do.

And so if a buyer can’t make an inspection
because their schedule is really busy, I go

to the inspection for them.

Of course there’s a report, though I want
to be there to be able to help explain to

them what’s important, what’s not important,
those kind of things.

So I feel like another job for a realtor is
really just to make it as easy and as smooth

as possible.

Vanessa:
Yeah, and that’s what a good realtor should

do.

Brandi:
Yes.

Not all do that.

Vanessa:
That’s the ideal.

Brandi:
Yes.

Vanessa:
So now that we kind of have a general overview,

I’m curious about you personally.

How did you get into this?

Or why did you get into being a real estate
agent?

Brandi:
Yeah.

So I was bartending, so I was serving drinks
at the Grove Park Inn which is this beautiful

resort in our area.

And I met this woman named Samantha and she
was there with her team and we just started

talking and they were ordering a lot of drinks.

Vanessa:
So they were talking a lot.

Brandi:
They were having a really good time and we

ended up talking a little bit and getting
to know each other.

And I asked, “Well, why are you here?”

It’s normally a question that I ask just to
kind of engage customers.

And she said, “Oh, we’re celebrating a huge
business success.”

And I was like, “Oh, what was that business
success?

I want to know.”

And she’s like, “Oh.

Well, I was the top agent in all of Western
North Carolina.”

And I was like, “Like top real estate agent?”

And she’s like, “Yeah, yeah.”

And I was like, “How many houses did you sell
last year?”

And she’s like, “54.”

And I was like-
Vanessa:

That’s a house a week almost.

Brandi:
That’s more than a house a week technically.

So I was like, “Wow.”

And then I was like, “I think people make
3% and then house prices are like this.

That’s a lot of money.”

Vanessa:
It’s a pretty lucrative business, especially

if you do it well.

Brandi:
Yeah.

I was like, “Wow, that’s amazing.”

And then I just tapped back in to my past,
and I always helped my dad and my mom find

their houses.

Vanessa:
Oh.

Brandi:
Back in the day before the internet was as

huge as it was, I would look through … there
was these flyers.

And I would look through the flyers and highlight
all the different properties for sale or rent

and help my parents find them.

I found my parents almost every house.

Vanessa:
Really?

Brandi:
Yeah, as a 12 year old.

Vanessa:
Wow.

So it is inside of you.

Destiny.

Brandi:
I was like “I loved this growing up.”

And then I was like, “If she can do it, she’s
nice and all, but I don’t see that she has

something that I don’t have.”

So I guess it was just an opportunity for
me to be like, “I can do it too.”

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Brandi:
And so long story short, I was actually seven

months pregnant when I decided I wanted to
do that.

Vanessa:
Great time to make a big life change.

Brandi:
Yeah, and I already had one baby.

So I was like, “It’s now or never.”

While he’s inside of me, it’s going to be
easier than when he’s not.

So I signed up immediately for a real estate
course.

So I worked full time five days a week, Monday
through Friday, and then I would drive two

hours away to go to real estate school Saturday
and Sunday.

And so I did that for eight weeks and then
I graduated and I got my license eight days

before I gave birth.

Vanessa:
Oh my goodness.

That just makes me a little stressed thinking
about it.

Brandi:
So most people don’t pass that exam on their

first try.

Vanessa:
But you were like, “This is it.

I got to do it now.”

Brandi:
I was like, “I literally don’t have an option.

I can’t do this with a one week old baby.”

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Brandi:
And so I’m like, “I’m just going to study

super hard and try not to panic in the test
room.”

Vanessa:
But you did it.

Brandi:
I did it.

Vanessa:
Wow.

Wow.

So at that time, I guess talking with Samantha
must have been just a page turning that this

is a new career.

This is a new option for me that I didn’t
know existed before, or didn’t think about

as a path.

Brandi:
Yeah, I never really thought about it because

I owned my own business for a while.

I was a yoga studio owner and I loved that.

And so I kind of just like, “Well, I’m just
going to do that again eventually.”

And bartending was just my in between because
since we had just moved from a different state.

And then when I met her, I was like, “That
sounds like a great thing to be able to support

my family really abundantly.”

And yeah, I ended up joining her team because
she-

Vanessa:
Cool.

Brandi:
-got me information as a good realtor does,

and followed up as a good realtor does.

Vanessa:
Yep.

Brandi:
And she was like, “Oh, so are you thinking

about buying a house?”

And I was like, “Actually, I’m in real estate
school.”

She’s like, “Oh.”

Vanessa:
You inspired me.

I am here now.

Brandi:
She literally followed up while I was at school.

I was on lunch break when she happened to
call and I was like, “Oh, the universe.”

Vanessa:
It is crazy how if you have one real estate

agent, they will follow you throughout your
life.

My parents used to live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
and the house that they bought there when

I was two years old, when we moved to South
Carolina, even 20 years later, they still

would get Christmas cards from him.

And it’s like, “We don’t even live in the
same state.”

This kind of networking connection to those
people is insane, especially if you’re like

Samantha, good at networking and keeping up
with potential customers, but also in a friendly

way.

Brandi:
Yeah.

Vanessa:
Not just like, “Are you going to buy something?”

But really just connecting.

Brandi:
And that’s important.

Vanessa:
Yes, not being too pushy.

Brandi:
To not be pushy, because I think a lot of

people that goes over their head.

They’re like, “So who do you know looking
to buy, sell, or invest in real estate?”

That’s a script.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Well, I feel like something I really appreciated
the first time we talked to you is we had

also contacted Samantha when we were looking
for a house.

We stumbled upon her contact information and
had talked with her and we’d kind of been

looking for a place on and off for a year,
just looking at listings.

And I think we’d driven by maybe two places,
maybe looked at a place or two.

But then when we talked to you, you were like,
“Okay, this seems like something you really

want.

How about next week you try to find three
places that you like and we can walk in them

and just get a real grasp for what you want
after looking at concrete places?”

And just that wording to me felt like, “Oh,
I’m kind of excited to actually see places.”

Even though I know, not with a thought like,
“These are my three dream houses,” but just

like, “We’re going to analyze these places
and see how you really feel about them.”

And that felt to me less definite like, “I
have to find the perfect place and that’s

the only place I can look in.”

It’s like, “Oh, let’s look at these places
and get a real feeling for how you feel about

them.”

Instead of just, I felt really serious.

“I need to find the perfect place before I
go in it.”

So I appreciated that not pushy, but let’s
just get a feeling for what you really want.

And I think that helped us to get the ball
rolling in a real way.

Brandi:
Yeah.

Vanessa:
So that was a really comforting kind of conversation.

Brandi:
I mean not that House Hunters on HGTV, our

network here, should be how we look at houses.

But I think House Hunters … I loved that
growing up by the way.

Vanessa:
Yeah?

Brandi:
I was obsessed with HGTV.

I would watch all these weird home things.

So I guess it was in my blood.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Brandi:
As a teenager, who does that?

Anyways.

I’d stay up until midnight watching Curb Appeal.

But anyways.

So yeah, but on there what I learned too is
that people start … when you look at different

houses, you’re like, “Oh.

Well I like this and I don’t like this and
I like this about out this house, but not

this house.”

And eventually after you see enough, you really
start getting a feel.

I mean, you can also get to the point where
you’ve seen too many and then it gets a little-

Vanessa:
Overwhelming.

Brandi:
Yeah.

But if you just see a few, it starts to give
you an idea.

Like you said, a concrete feeling of, “Yes.

This is what I like.

This is what I don’t like.”

I think we saw one house that was gorgeous.

It was a little bit higher price point but
you were just like, “There’s just something

about the feeling of it.”

Vanessa:
Too overwhelmingly big or that sense that

you get.

Brandi:
It’s a lot to take care of for you guys.

And so when you found this one, you were like,
“Oh, this is perfect.

It’s nice.

Though it’s also concise.”

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Brandi:
Is maybe a good word for it.

Vanessa:
It’s not big, especially for an American house.

But it was a good step up from where we were
before.

Brandi:
You were at a tiny apartment.

Vanessa:
Yeah, I mean.

Brandi:
So this is a lot more space.

Vanessa:
This is double or more than double the space,

which to us felt huge.

Brandi:
The other one would’ve been quadruple.

Vanessa:
Yeah, and I think that is something to think

about.

Where are you now?

What kind of lifestyle change will your new
house give you?

And do you want that?

Brandi:
Yes.

Vanessa:
So yeah.

So I’m curious, I have already been through
this because we were your clients.

But for students too, a lot of people live
in the US and maybe would be in this process

or don’t live in the US and have bought houses
in their own home country, just to kind of

compare from how the US does it.

If I wanted to buy a house and I called you
and said, “Hey, Brandi.

You were recommended to me.

I’m looking to buy a house.”

What happens at that point?

What’s the process that you would go through
with someone?

Brandi:
Gotcha.

Well first I like to listen a lot in the very
beginning because it’s not about me.

Right?

It’s about them and what they want.

So the first thing that I do is ask them a
bunch of things.

So kind of just be ready to share with the
realtor, “Okay, this is what I’m looking for.”

So have a list of your needs and your wants
and that kind of thing and be ready to go

there.

So that’s the first thing that I do, is a
thorough needs analysis.

And then the next step, and I honestly think
that connecting with a mortgage lender after

you talk to a realtor is a good idea because
the realtor will be able to recommend a mortgage

lender.

Because often big banks and people that you
bank with can be a little bit slower.

They work on salary, not commission.

So local lenders are typically more motivated
to actually help you and get you to closing.

Whereas big banks, they just work on a salary.

They’re not as motivated.

Vanessa:
Oh.

Brandi:
And then so a realtor can sometimes recommend

somebody that they were work with a lot.

They work really well together.

They know that they’re going to hit the deadlines
appropriately and not be late.

And then so getting that mortgage loan would
be the next step.

And then once you’re approved, because especially
in our market, I think it’s like this globally

right now.

It’s just a really strong housing market in
general.

I don’t know about globally, but definitely
within the continental US.

Right?

Though I guess US and Hawaii and Alaska are
doing good too.

I have some friends there.

But anyways so basically once you have that
approval and you’re ready to go, like literally

could make an offer, that’s when you start
touring properties.

Drive bys are great.

Though honestly in today’s market, it really
just depends.

Vanessa:
Like it might already be sold?

Brandi:
Yeah.

Vanessa:
Don’t have the time to-

Brandi:
I’ll drive by today and we’ll make an offer

tomorrow.

No, let’s just go today and offer today.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Brandi:
Because sometimes right now we’re talking

… like in California, people post in real
estate groups that I’m in on Facebook and

people are receiving 50+ offers sometimes.

Vanessa:
That’s crazy.

Brandi:
I mean just an insane amount.

So you really want to get in there as soon
as possible obviously.

And then even here, we’re not that hot.

But recently I’ve been involved in 11 offers.

There’s five offers.

So it’s still, it’s a lot.

It’s a lot of competition so it’s good, at
least right now in today’s market, to move

quickly.

Vanessa:
Do you think today’s market means post-COVID,

that kind of has changed to make the market
different?

Is that what you mean by the changing market?

People leaving cities, and that’s kind of
what I imagine is people want to leave New

York City and move to the mountains to Asheville
or something like that.

Or is it just in general the way the world
is this current moment?

Brandi:
Yeah.

So when I say today, I literally mean today
because tomorrow there could be a political

announcement that changes the market forever.

Vanessa:
Ah.

Brandi:
We don’t know what tomorrow’s market will

look like quite literally.

We don’t know if the mortgage rates are going
to go up, because right now they’re still

at a historic low and it happened for a little
while now though.

So with rates being so low, it’s a great time
to get a mortgage.

That’s why so many people are buying.

Vanessa:
Like the interest rate?

Brandi:
Interest rate.

Yeah.

So the interest rate, basically the amount
that you pay now for a $300,000 house is significantly

less than what you would’ve paid five years
ago for a $300,000 house.

So for the same amount of money, you’re paying
less per month.

Vanessa:
Because that percentage of interest is just

so low over the 15 or 30 years.

Brandi:
And so the monthly payments are a lot lower.

I mean, you’re talking sometimes really significant
differences.

If you’re talking 5% versus 3% over a 30 year
time, it makes a really, really big difference.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Brandi:
Especially with those big numbers.

So yeah, so the market could shift.

There’s some whispers of inventory rising
because of the economy in the next few months.

But people are also seeing the economy will
stay strong because the stock market’s been

doing well so the wealthy have enough to purchase.

Vanessa:
It seems so complex.

Brandi:
It’s super complex.

That’s why literally the market of today is
the market of today.

Of course it’s probably tomorrow’s market.

Is it next week’s market?

I don’t really know.

So it can change at any point.

But as of right now, yes, post-COVID, a lot
of people are moving from places that they

disagree with their policies to places where
they agree with policies, both directions.

Vanessa:
Oh.

Brandi:
If that makes sense.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Brandi:
And not to get too political about it, but

when people want or like a certain policy
in a certain region, they want to live there.

Vanessa:
Yeah, that makes sense.

You want to live near people who get you and
you understand.

Brandi:
And large acreage is also going really quickly

now.

Vanessa:
Oh.

Brandi:
Because people are now seeing the value in

having a bunch of space after maybe they’ve
lived in an apartment for the last year and

been stuck in their apartment with whatever
neighbors they have.

I’m really glad I don’t.

Vanessa:
That would be so tough.

Brandi:
Yeah.

With all the lockdowns and stuff, I think
it’s really brought awareness to people’s

living situations and people have realized
they either love it or they don’t.

And I think most people, after a year being
stuck in one place, are kind of like, “You

know?”

Vanessa:
“I kind of want more space.”

And we live in the mountains where-
Brandi:

It wouldn’t be terrible.

Vanessa:
-people are selling acreage.

They’re selling big plots of land.

Brandi:
The property I was talking to her earlier

today about was, it’s 150 acres.

And so again, there’s a lot of people wanting
different chunks and different splits of this.

Vanessa:
Oh.

Brandi:
And it’s expensive, though also a lot of people

want it because it’s such a large tract of
land.

Vanessa:
Yeah, that’s like a whole mountain side.

Brandi:
It’s literally a whole mountain with a creek

and up, and then the views.

It’s all cleared and it’s gorgeous.

Vanessa:
That sounds amazing.

Brandi:
Yeah, it’s really cool.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

I mean those kinds of things two years ago
might have been less sought after.

I mean that sounds like a pretty unique situation,
but in general.

Brandi:
No, it would’ve been.

Because there’s another property, it was 100
acres.

It was listed for $750, actually less than
this one was listed for, and the views were

incredible and the house was 10 times better.

It was this beautiful old Victorian house
and it was super magical, and it sat on the

market for years.

Vanessa:
What?

Brandi:
And it just sold because the market’s crazy

now.

But people didn’t-
Vanessa:

It’s like that’s what people want now.

Brandi:
Yeah.

But a few years ago people are like, “Why
do I want to live in the middle of nowhere

with 100 acres?”

Vanessa:
Wow.

Brandi:
Now people are like, “Please.

Yes.”

Vanessa:
That’s so interesting.

So yeah, it can just change.

Brandi:
Yeah.

Vanessa:
Very quickly.

Brandi:
In a few months.

Again, years for that to sell.

And then all of a sudden they were getting
so much interest, they ended up getting a

really good price in it.

So yeah.

Vanessa:
Wow.

That’s so strange because I feel like if that
is how people are feeling who are buying now,

I remember we felt like that even a year and
a half ago.

Is it just a bubble right now?

Is it really high price for the past or historically
or whatever and are we just spending too much

money?

And then you never know what the future holds.

Brandi:
And you just found out you have 20% equity

essentially.

Vanessa:
Crazy.

But those things can always … you never
know what’s going to happen.

Brandi:
Yeah.

I mean, it’s amazing.

You don’t, right?

Because at that time … there was this meme
that basically it was a skeleton on a chair

and it said, “Buyers waiting for the market
to crash.”

Vanessa:
Oh my goodness.

Brandi:
Because people keep saying that like, “Oh,

it’s a bubble.

It’s a bubble.”

It just keeps going to stronger and stronger
and stronger and stronger.

And we’re like, “We don’t know, that’s why
it’s today’s market.”

Vanessa:
Wow.

So if you want it and you find the best thing
for you, just do it.

Brandi:
Yeah, especially with mortgage interest rates

so low.

And even if it does pop if you’re planning
on staying there a few years, it’s going to

go back up.

It’s just how inflation works essentially.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

The market is always going to be changing
and shifting.

Brandi:
Yep.

Vanessa:
So let’s say that the bank has said, I don’t

know the exact terminology, but the bank has
said you are approved to buy a house for $300,000.

You find a house that’s that much.

Great, you want to buy it.

But there’s three other people who also want
to buy it.

Like our situation, five other people, whatever
it was.

What happens at that point?

Because it seems like right now that’s really
common, that you’re going to have other people

putting offers on the same house that you
want.

Do you fight it, duke it out?

What happens?

Brandi:
So what is stressful about those situations

is that all the offers are blind.

And so we had this conversation, right?

Vanessa:
“What are other people going to offer?

I don’t know.

How much do we want to offer?”

Brandi:
Yeah.

And there are terms other than cash that can
be incentives, but sometimes you don’t want

to waive those terms.

And so an example would be an inspection period.

You found some things in the inspection that
you wanted addressed and they addressed them.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Brandi:
And that happens a lot.

Even if it’s a great condition house, as this
one was, there’s still going to be some items

that you want fixed or repaired or might help
you renegotiate from the price.

So some people … in different states it’s
different by the way, so very different.

So we have an inspection period where you
can choose three weeks, 30 days, whatever

it is, and you can get as many inspections
as you want.

In other states, their rules are you have
to choose what inspections you want up front.

Vanessa:
Oh.

Before you find out the results of the inspections.

Brandi:
Yeah.

So in other states, people are like, “I’ll
waive all of the inspections,” because that’s

a part of their offer and their contract.

Ours, luckily, is very different.

I would be more stressed if it was that because-
Vanessa:

Yeah.

Brandi:
-telling people to waive their inspection

is risky on my end too.

Because I can be held liable if I encourage
something and they find out something later.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Brandi:
But anyway, so if it’s multiple offers, obviously

price is going to be the biggest factor that’s
going to motivate somebody.

Emotion is another thing.

So the letter you wrote definitely helped,
and the pictures and stuff.

There’s some legal iffiness about that because
technically there’s fair housing stuff that

people could get in trouble for.

Vanessa:
Like, “You didn’t like-”

Brandi:
…fair housing stuff that people could get

in trouble for.

Vanessa:
Oh, yeah.

Like, you didn’t like us because I have brown
hair and-

Brandi:
Or skin color, whatever people want to say

about why they didn’t choose them.

So, there’s a little bit of stuff with that,
but I leave it up to the buyer to decide if

they want to write a letter or not, with keeping
those things in mind.

Vanessa:
So, how did you enjoy that with Brandi?

Was it a little fast, a little tricky?

Did you understand everything?

Well, now you are going to get a vocabulary
lesson where my husband Dan and I explain

in detail some of the most important phrases
from the conversation, so that you can also

use them in your daily life.

You’re also going to be able to see a short
clip from the original conversation with Brandi,

so that you can see it in its original context.

Let’s get started with the vocabulary lesson.

Welcome to the Fearless Fluency Club, Vocabulary
Lesson.

Today, I’m here with my husband, Dan.

Dan:
Hello.

Vanessa:
We’re going to be explaining 17 useful daily

English expressions that you heard in the
conversation with Brandi.

We’re going to be going over these in detail,
and then you’re going to see a clip from the

original conversation, so that you can see
the context and also get a better idea about

how to use this yourself.

Are you ready to get started?

Dan:
I’m ready.

Vanessa:
Let’s do it.

The first expression that we’re going to talk
about is to be on one’s own, or to be on your

own.

This means that you’re doing something independently,
without help, you’re doing it by yourself.

So, for example, in the conversation with
Brandi, most people use a realtor or a real

estate agent to sell their house.

But she said that some people try to sell
their house on their own.

That means they do the marketing, they schedule
all of the visits, it’s just by themselves.

They do it on their own.

Before we talk about any other examples for
this expression, I want you to notice the

grammar in the middle of this phrase.

We can change one word.

They did it on their own.

I did it on my own.

He did it on his own.

Notice how the subject, I, matches the word
in the middle, that’s going to be our possessive

pronoun.

I did it on my own.

He did it on his own.

That always needs to match, when you use this
expression.

Let’s talk about some other examples for this
phrase.

How would you use this?

Dan:
Sometimes we say, on your own, or you are

on your own.

So, if you say this to somebody else, likely
you are maybe somebody’s teacher.

So, if you’re teaching somebody how to do
something, and then you say, you’re on your

own, that means now it’s time for you to do
it by yourself independently.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Dan:
I would say, on your own, or on my own, often

is a good thing.

So, for example, sometimes we say, I’m on
my own now, once you leave your parents' house.

So, if you live with your parents and they
took care of all sorts of things, and then

you move out and you have your own place and
you do whatever you want, you could say, I’m

on my own now.

I’m responsible.

I think sometimes though too, it could just
mean alone.

I was on my own on the way to the park, walking
through the woods.

But I would say maybe this is a little less
common.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

I think it does have this sense of independence,
maybe some freedom.

As we said, for a teacher, a teacher could
say this or someone who maybe is a boss telling

the employees, okay.

I have given you these skills, now you’re
on your own.

So, I can say this to you after you watch
this English lesson, you are on your own.

That means, I have given you the tools that
you need to use these expressions, but now

it’s your choice.

You need to decide what to do with these expressions.

Are you going to just forget about it, or
are you going to write them down, write some

sentences?

Use them with someone else in the course,
this course, the Fearless Fluency Club?

A lot of people speak together.

They choose to find a Skype speaking partner
or speak in a group on Zoom.

This is a great way to use these expressions.

So, after this lesson, you are on your own.

You need to be able to use this material yourself.

We’ve given you the tools.

All right, let’s go to the original clip from
the conversation with Brandi, so that you

can see how it was originally used.

Let’s watch.

Brandi:
So, some people try and sell on their own,

and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,
and then they connect with a realtor.

Some people try and sell on their own.

Some people try and sell on their own.

Some people try and sell on their own.

Dan:
The next expression is, to pay out of pocket,

or out of pocket expenses.

This means that you pay for something from
your personal funds, and this is almost always

in a setting like in an organization, or in
a business, or insurance.

So, what comes to my mind is if you work in
a company and you go on a business trip.

A lot of times the company will pay for certain
things.

Maybe they’ll pay for your travel, maybe they’ll
pay for your food.

But if you have to pay for it yourself in
these situations, then you say, I had to pay

for it out of pocket.

Or maybe if you’re on a business trip and
you’re with your clients and you buy them

drinks, but the company doesn’t pay for that.

You could say, yeah.

I paid for those drinks out of pocket.

It was from my own money.

Vanessa:
Yes.

Or those were an out of pocket expense.

You can imagine your own pocket or your own
wallet, and that’s what you’re paying from.

You’re not paying from the business' pocket,
you’re paying from your own pocket, it’s out

of pocket.

And like Dan said, we often use this in a
business situation.

This is really common in the US to use in
an insurance situation.

So, your insurance will cover or will pay
for certain things, but it might not pay for

other things.

So, for example, maybe your insurance doesn’t
cover birth control.

You might say, we need to pay for birth control
out of pocket.

This is a very common situation, and you’re
talking about an organization, the insurance,

you think they should cover this but they
don’t.

So, you need to pay for it from your own personal
money.

Dan:
Yeah.

Or they may even list some things as out of
pocket expenses.

So, stuff you just have to pay for yourself.

You’re on your own, buddy.

Vanessa:
Yep.

You’re on your own.

So, I want to let you know that if you go
to a bar with some friends, whenever we can

do that again, and each of you pays for your
own drink, you wouldn’t say I paid for my

drink out of pocket.

Dan:
This is just with your friends casually.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

There’s not a business that’s paying for most
of the expenses, and then a little bit of

it you are paying for it.

We usually use this in a business situation
or insurance.

There might be some other situations where
there is an organization paying for most of

it, but a small percentage you need to pay
out of pocket.

You don’t say out of my pocket, just out of
pocket.

All right.

Let’s watch the original clips that you can
see how it was used in the conversation with

Brandi.

Let’s watch.

Brandi:
So, for buyers, the buyers don’t actually

have to pay anything out of pocket.

The seller pays the commission.

So, the buyers don’t actually have to pay
anything out pocket.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out of pocket.

Vanessa:
The third expression that we’re going to talk

about is to make a cut.

Is this talking about scissors or cutting
something?

Not really.

This is a little more figurative.

Usually this means that you’re receiving part
of the profits, or the money from something.

So, for example, in the conversation with
Brandi, when you hire a real estate agent,

you don’t need to give them money immediately.

When you hire them, instead when you buy a
house, they will receive a portion or part

of the total amount of the house.

So, they’ll get a bigger cut if you purchase
an expensive house.

They’ll get more money.

If you purchase an inexpensive house, they’ll
get less money.

So, they receive a cut of the total price.

So, this is a part of the amount, and this
is pretty typical in sales situations.

Maybe your business is like this.

If you sell a lot of products, maybe you will
receive a cut.

You’ll get some extra money because you sold
more of those products.

Dan:
Yeah.

I think this is a pretty casual expression.

It sounds casual, but we do use it in certain
professional circumstances.

For example, if you sell a product online
and you get a portion of the proceeds if you

sell something, then you get a cut.

We do say that.

But other times I associate this with maybe
drug deals.

Vanessa:
Oh.

Dan:
So, if you help somebody do something shady,

like a drug deal, you get a cut of the profits
or you get a cut of the drugs, something like

that.

Maybe I’ve watched too many TV shows, but
I associate it with that as well.

But this bleeds into all society as well.

So, it’s very common.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

And you notice that we use, to get a cut.

You can also say, to make a cut.

Both of those verbs are perfectly fine with
this expression.

Usually get in English is a little more informal,
and we use this in a lot of different situations,

but you can also say, I made a cut on the
sale of this expensive house, because my clients

bought an expensive house.

One situation that I want to mention that
is pretty common, and because a lot of you

watch YouTube videos.

You often see people on YouTube saying, this
is my favorite…

Dan:
Makeup.

Vanessa:
Makeup.

You should buy this makeup.

Well, this is an advertisement, and they are
receiving, or they are making, or they’re

getting, a cut of the profit.

So, if you purchase that makeup, they will
get a percentage.

10%, 20%, 50%.

I don’t know.

So, you have to, of course, trust the person.

If that person is trustworthy and you think
that they really love that product, they’re

not just doing it to get a cut, then it’s
worth buying.

You can get it, but you need to make sure
that they are trustworthy, because they are

making a cut.

There is money here that’s being exchanged
when you per just the product from their recommendation.

They’re making a cut.

All right.

Let’s watch the original clip from the conversation
so that you can see how to use this fun expression,

a cut.

Okay.

But in the end expectation is that that person
will buy and then you’ll make a cut of whatever

the price of the house is.

Expectation is that that person will buy,
and then you’ll make a cut of whatever the

price of the house is.

Expectation is that that person will buy,
and then you’ll make a cut of whatever the

price of the house is.

Dan:
The next expression is lucrative, and this

means that something, or some activity, produces
wealth or money.

Usually we think of this as a lot of money,
so it’s a polite way to say something can

make you rich.

For example, real estate.

Now, a lot of people try to do real estate
and it’s a lot more difficult than they expect,

and they don’t make a lot of money, so it’s
not lucrative for them.

But if you’re really good at real estate,
you’re really good at selling houses and you

get a large cut from these million dollar
houses that you’re selling, well real estate

could be very lucrative.

Or there’s people who buy houses and then
they fix them up, and then…

It’s called flipping houses.

So, they fix it and make it better, and then
sell it at a profit.

So, that can also be very lucrative, but these
are tricky things in the real estate business.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

It might not always be lucrative if you’re
not good at that business.

So, the word lucrative, like Dan mentioned,
is a polite way to talk about lots of money,

because in English, at least in the US, it’s
not very polite to say, I can make a lot of

money with my business, I am rich.

This is very proud or uncomfortable in conversation
to say that.

So, when you say lucrative, it’s a much more
soft way, more indirect way to say, it’s possible

to make a lot of money with my job.

So, you can see, when Brandi says this word,
she’s a little bit uncomfortable, but she

uses that word lucrative, instead of saying,
I wanted to become a real estate agent because

I wanted a lot of money.

Dan:
Yeah.

Vanessa:
It’s more polite to say, wow.

I realized that real estate could be really
lucrative if I did it really well.

So, it’s a more polite way to talk about money.

I think it’s understandable.

We don’t want to work a job where we don’t
make any money.

We would like to get a job where we make more
money, or what’s at least required for life.

So, I think that’s a good word to be able
to add to your vocabulary.

All right.

Let’s watch the original clip.

You can see how the word lucrative was used.

Let’s watch.

Brandi:
That’s a lot of money.

Vanessa:
It’s a pretty lucrative business, especially

if you do it well.

Brandi:
Yeah, I was-

Vanessa:
It’s a pretty lucrative business, especially

if you do it well.

It’s a pretty lucrative business, especially
if you do it well.

The next expression is to not have an option,
or to be out of options.

This is a little bit self explanatory, and
it means that you don’t have a choice.

Usually it’s desperate.

You’ve tried everything, and this is all that
you have left.

So, for example, in the conversation with
Brandi, she was talking about how she needed

to finish real estate school before she had
her baby, because when you have a one week

old baby, you can’t go to real estate school.

So, she didn’t have an option.

She had to finish real estate school before
she gave birth.

She didn’t have an option.

Or we could say she was out of options.

She was out of options, this was the only
thing that she could do.

Finish real estate school now.

Dan:
Yeah.

Vanessa:
It’s a desperate thing that she was doing.

Dan:
Yeah.

This is a figurative expression usually.

Like, sometimes you literally don’t have any
options at all.

But a lot of times, say if you need a new
job, you might have a selection of jobs but

you really want money right now.

Or you just don’t know what the future holds,
so maybe there’s a job you don’t really want

to do, let’s just say working at McDonald’s,
not to rip on McDonald’s employees, but it’s

probably not on the top of people’s lists.

So, you would say, I was out of options, I
had to take the job at McDonald’s.

Well, maybe you did have a little bit of savings,
but if you actually said that, you probably

really don’t have very much money.

If you say I’m out of options, I have to do
X, Y, or Z.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Dan:
That means that you’re pretty desperate, and

you need to get a job now.

Vanessa:
Yep.

You’re out of options.

Or I don’t have an option, I have to do this.

It’s a good way to explain yourself if someone
says, why did you take that job at McDonald’s?

You were working at Google last month.

That was a great job.

It was a lucrative job.

Why are you working at McDonald’s now?

You might say, well, I got fired or I lost
my job because I-

Dan:
I blew all my money at the casino.

Vanessa:
Because of the pandemic, now I’m out of options.

I have to get a job at McDonald’s for the
next couple months until I find something

else.

So, this kind of desperate plea.

All right.

Let’s watch the original conversation so that
you can see how, I don’t have an option or

I’m out of options was used with Brandi.

Let’s watch.

You’re like, this is it.

I’ve got to do it now.

Brandi:
I literally don’t have an option.

I can’t do this with a one week old baby.

I literally don’t have an option.

I literally don’t have an option.

I literally don’t have an option.

Dan:
The next expression is, a page turning, or

to turn the page.

Turning pages, anything with pages in a book,
these kinds of expressions, if we’re using

it in the figurative way and depending on
the context, you’ll understand that this means

that there was a big change in your life,
or that it was very sudden.

So, for example, Brandi was talking about
when she decided to become a real estate agent,

she had talked to another real estate agent,
and Vanessa said that moment was a page turning.

So, that means that, oh, I’m doing this one
thing, and now I’m going to change my life

completely and do something else.

It was a page turning.

But she could have also said, Brandi turned
the page on that chapter in her life being

a bartender.

Now, she’s a real estate agent.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

We can use this in a very poetic, beautiful,
figurative way, but it’s a great thing to

talk about, to use when you’re talking about
a big event that changes your life.

Maybe getting married, having a baby, moving
to a new city, changing your job or deciding

to learn English.

Maybe you could say, when I found Vanessa’s
lessons, it was like a page turning in my

life.

I decided that I was excited about English.

I hope that’s true for you.

Or you might say, I decided to turn a page
in my life and start to learn English and

enjoy it.

Instead of feeling that stress and anxiety
about studying grammar, I decided to turn

a page in my life.

There is one little bonus expression I would
like to add, and sometimes in these situations

we say, to turn a new leaf.

You can imagine a leaf on a tree.

We don’t exactly turn a leaf over, but sometimes
we use the word leaf to talk about a page.

This is an old fashioned word to talk about
pages, like the leaves of the book.

We don’t really use that in daily conversation
anymore, but that is an old fashioned way

to talk about a page.

So, you will hear people say, I’m ready to
turn a new leaf.

I’m going to leave my job and find a new career.

This is a total change.

Dan:
Yes.

I was going to add that that’s another way
we use this.

If you say, I’m ready to turn the page, or
ready to turn the leaf, this means that you

want to make the change.

So, it hasn’t already happened yet.

So, maybe you just had a breakup with your
boyfriend or girlfriend, and you say, I’m

just ready to turn the page on this feeling
or relationship.

I’m over it.

I’m ready to move on.

Vanessa:
Yes.

You can turn a new leaf and begin a new life.

Well, I hope that your journey with English
is like that, that you are ready to turn a

new leaf, to turn the page on your English
journey and really take a hold of your learning.

You can do it.

All right.

Let’s watch the original clip from the conversation
with Brandi, so that you can see how this

was used in our conversation.

Let’s watch.

Wow.

So, at that time, I guess talking with Samantha
must have been just like a page turning, that

this is a new career- Talking with Samantha
must have been just like a page turning.

Talking with Samantha must have been just
like a page turning.

The next expression is to go over one’s head,
or to go over my head.

We often use this expression with our hand.

It went over my head.

This means-
Dan:

And you make a whooshing sound.

Vanessa:
Really fast.

Whoosh.

This means that you didn’t understand something,
maybe it was too complicated, maybe there

was some kind of joke.

This is often used with a joke that you don’t
understand.

Maybe someone’s speaking English and it’s
too fast.

If someone is speaking really fast and you
just don’t understand what they’re talking

about, because they’re just going on so quickly,
and they’re talking about stuff that you don’t

know-
Dan:

Maybe this is Vanessa.

Vanessa:
Well, you might say, I didn’t understand anything

Vanessa said.

It just went over my head.

We can imagine the words flying over your
head.

This is a really common expression to talk
about, I just didn’t understand it.

Dan:
Yeah.

Vanessa:
It went over my head.

Dan:
I usually think of this expression being used

with a joke.

So, when you’re in school, people use this
all the time.

So, sometimes they literally just say the
joke, whoosh.

They don’t even finish the expression.

So, if somebody doesn’t understand, you say
the joke or sometimes it’s mean, if you’re

making fun of somebody and they’re like, what
are you talking about?

You could say the joke just went right over
their head, or the joke went over your head.

I guess you usually say that to other people,
not that person, but anyways.

So, it’s often used for a joke, other times
it could be used for maybe a complex science

or math problem.

So, for me, big math problems that I did in
high school, my dad would be trying to help

me with these math problems.

I could just say, yeah.

This is over my head.

These math problems are over my head, I don’t
understand it, it’s beyond where I can reach.

Beyond my understanding.

Vanessa:
That happened to me a lot too.

Both of our dads are engineers and they understand
complex math problems that normal people like

us don’t understand.

Dan:
For some reason I was taking calculus.

I don’t know why.

Vanessa:
That sounds very complicated.

But even for more simple math classes, my
dad would try to explain things to me too,

and so many times it just went over my head.

He tried so hard to explain it, and I’m sure
he was doing a great job of explaining it,

my brain just wasn’t ready to accept that
information yet.

It went over my head.

So, if you’re in this kind of situation where
you’re speaking in English with someone else,

or you’re having a dinner and everyone’s speaking
in English, and someone says a joke and you

don’t get it.

Well, if you have a friend in that group,
you could say, hey.

That joke went over my head.

Can you explain it?

Or I didn’t understand that joke.

It just went over my head.

You can use this expression to say, I didn’t
understand, I didn’t get it, could you help

me?

And if you would like to understand some jokes
in English, I have a couple of videos on YouTube

where I talk about some popular jokes in English,
and I will try to link those for you so that

you can immerse yourself in some English humor.

All right.

Let’s watch the original clip from the conversation
with Brandi.

I hope that her expression will not go over
your head.

I hope you’ll be able to understand it.

Let’s watch.

Dan:
Whoosh.

Vanessa:
Yes.

Not be too pushy.

Brandi:
Because I think a lot of people, that goes

over their head.

They’re like, so who do you know looking to
buy, sell or invest in real estate?

Because I think a lot of people, that goes
over their head.

Because I think a lot of people, that goes
over their head.

Dan:
The next expression is to get a feeling for

something, which we often shorten to, get
a feel for something.

This means to get a sense of something, get
some experience.

For example, I used to work in a coffee shop,
and when you first look at an espresso machine

you just feel really confused.

You’re like, how does this thing work?

You have to get a feel for it.

You have to practice on it, or explore it,
look at the different buttons, watch somebody

do it.

Getting these kinds of experiences with something
helps you get a feel for that thing.

In my example, the espresso machine at the
coffee shop.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

So, in this situation, Dan is getting a feel
for a physical item.

Dan:
Yeah.

Sometimes literally.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Getting a feel for the espresso machine.

But in the conversation with Brandi, I used
it in a more emotional way.

So, when Dan and I were looking for a house
that we wanted to buy, it felt really overwhelming.

There was just a lot of options, we felt really
picky about what we wanted, and when we first

talked to Brandi, she said, all right.

Let’s just check out a few houses that you
think are okay.

They don’t need to be perfect.

Let’s get a feeling for what you like, and
what you don’t like, and then we can go from

there.

So, it wasn’t so definite, you have to find
the perfect house.

No, let’s just get a feeling for what you
like.

In this way, we’re actually talking about
our emotions, a feeling.

Let’s try to see, do I like this house, do
I not like this house?

What do I not like about it?

So, we’re talking about our feelings.

So, in this more emotional sense, you can
use, I got a feeling about the house, or I

got a feel, you can use both in this emotional
sense.

But in the physical sense that Dan talked
about, get a feel for the espresso machine,

we would really only use, feel.

Not a feeling.

Get a feeling for the espresso machine, that
sounds like you’re thinking, should I fall

in love with the espresso machine?

Do I have a feeling, an emotion?

We’re not talking about emotions.

We’re just talking about your experience.

Dan:
Yeah.

Vanessa:
And trying to learn how to use it.

Dan:
Perhaps a single word that can explain this

is, test.

It’s like a small test.

You’re testing how you feel when you see these
houses.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

Dan:
You’re testing out the espresso machine and

feeling how it works.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

So, we would say, to get a feel, or to get
a feeling.

All right.

Let’s watch the original clip from the conversation
with Brandi, and you can see how I used it

in this positive way, talking about our first
experience when we first met Brandi a long

time ago.

All right.

Let’s watch the clip.

I appreciated that.

Not pushy, but let’s just get a feeling for
what you really want, and I think that helped

us to get the ball rolling.

Let’s just get a feeling for what you really
want.

Let’s just get a feeling for what you really
want.

The next expression is, a bunch of something.

We often pronounce this, a bunch of, a bunch
of something.

It’s a casual way to say a lot.

Maybe it’s a little bit less than a lot.

So, in the conversation with Brandi, she says,
when I get to know someone, when I first meet

a client, I ask them a bunch of questions.

Maybe there’s 30 questions, maybe there’s
10 questions, but she asks them a lot of questions.

Dan:
I’m going to say more than three-

Vanessa:
All right.

Dan’s official answer is-
Dan:

…a bunch.

Vanessa:
…is more than three.

Dan:
Maybe four.

Vanessa:
This is not a strict number.

Dan:
Yes.

Vanessa:
But it’s the general sense that it’s not a

little bit, it’s not a lot, but it’s just
a casual way to say kind of a lot.

Dan:
Yes.

That’s the casual way.

I believe technically a bunch means a group
of similar things.

For example, a bunch of bananas.

So, literally the bunch of bananas that you
buy in the store, that’s what it’s called.

It’s a bunch.

Vanessa:
A bunch of bananas.

Dan:
The group of bananas, they’re all the same

thing, it’s a bunch of bananas.

But again, we use this much more casually,
just to mean a lot-

Dan:
But again, we use this much more casually

just to mean a lot more than four.

Vanessa:
Okay, more than four.

If you’re going to plant a garden, like what
we’re doing, you might go to the plant nursery.

The plant nursery is a store that sells little
tiny plants or seeds or something.

You could go to the plant nursery and say,
“Whoa, there are a bunch of options.

There are a bunch of plants here.

I don’t know which vegetable I should buy.

There’s so many tomatoes.

There are a bunch of different tomatoes that
I could buy.”

We’re talking about just a large quantity,
usually of something in the same group, like

a bunch of plants, like Dan said, a bunch
of bananas, a bunch of options.

This can be used in a lot of different ways,
but it’s a great word to add to your vocabulary

because we use it in conversational English
all the time.

Dan:
Oh, and I just remembered, sometimes we just

say bunches.

Vanessa:
Oh, okay.

Can you explain that?

When would you say that?

Dan:
Well, is it improper English, technically?

Vanessa:
No.

Dan:
It seems like the wrong way to say it, but

if you have a lot of something you can just
say, “I have bunches.”

Vanessa:
Yeah, maybe this isn’t the most proper thing

to say, but-
Dan:

Yeah, it’s like what kids say a lot of times.

“I have bunches of toy cars.”

Vanessa:
Oh, okay.

Dan:
“I’ve got bunches.”

Vanessa:
Yeah, maybe if Dan asked, “How many plants

did you buy the nursery?” and I say, “Bunches,”
it’s kind of a silly way.

Maybe that’s just if you’re going to use it
as an adult, you use it in a joking way because

it’s not perfect grammar, but you are going
to use it in kind of a silly way, “Oh, I bought

bunches.

You won’t believe, it’s just piles of plants.

I got so many, bunches.”

It could be in a joking way too.

Yeah, well, that’s a fun way to add it.

All right, let’s watch the original conversation
so that you can see how the word a bunch of

was used.

Let’s watch.

Brandi:
The first thing that I do is ask them a bunch

of things, so just be ready to share with
the realtor, like, “Okay, this is what I’m

looking for.”

The first thing that I do is ask them a bunch
of things.

The first thing that I do is ask them a bunch
of things.

Dan:
The next expression is post, and we mean post

as in the prefix to some word or expression.

This means after something, usually some kind
of event.

A very common way to say this is post-war.

This means after the war, so post-World War
II America.

This is usually the time after the war, not
when the war’s going on.

Post-World War II America saw a baby boom,
lots of babies were born when the soldiers

came home.

I wonder why?

But sometimes it also means this thing is
still going.

For example, sometimes casually you might
say, “My life post-kids has been crazy.”

This means that once you had children, after
that time, life got really crazy for you.

Vanessa:
Yeah, you still have kids.

Dan:
But it doesn’t mean the kids went away, even

though you said post-kids, it just means after
they were born.

Vanessa:
Yeah, so this expression is a little bit vague

about whether the event is still continuing
or not, because when we use this with war,

like Dan said, post-World War II, post-World
War II, there was a baby boom in America,

that means definitely World War II is over.

Everyone will understand that this means World
War II is finished when the baby boom happened.

But when you say, “Post-kids, my life has
changed a lot,” that doesn’t mean my kids

are gone, my kids are finished.

It just means my kids were born and now my
life is different.

A page turned when my kids were born and our
life is a lot different.

We just could say in that situation, post-kids.

Now, the opposite of this is pre, “Pre-kids,
we had a lot more free time.”

What did I even do in my free time?

I don’t even know.

Pre-kids or pre-World War II, pre some event,
and that means definitely before the event.

But in the conversation we used post, we talked
about post-COVID and-

Dan:
This one’s a little unclear, I think.

Vanessa:
Yeah, because COVID is not finished, at least

when we had this conversation, COVID is not
over.

Dan:
Hopefully it’s finished now.

Vanessa:
I don’t know, you’re going to see this in

just a couple weeks so I’m not sure about
that.

But we’re talking about an event, COVID, the
pandemic, that’s still continuing and we are

in the middle of it.

Post-COVID the world has changed a lot, post-COVID
people have moved into different areas of

the US, this is during the period of COVID,
not when COVID is finished.

It’s a little bit unclear, but I think that
you can get a general sense that it’s after

an event or after an event has started.

All right.

Let’s watch the original clip from the conversation
so that you can see how we used this to say

post-COVID.

Let’s watch.

Brandi:
But as of right now, yes, post-COVID, a lot

of people are moving from places that they
disagree with their policies to places where

they agree with policies.

Post-COVID, a lot of people are moving.

Post-COVID, a lot of people are moving.

Vanessa:
The next expression is to duke it out.

Like you can see from Dan’s example here,
it means to fight.

This could be a physical fight or it could
be a verbal fight where you’re just arguing

about something, you’re duking it out, so
you’re fighting with someone.

This expression has a very strange and complex
origin because the phrase, to duke it out,

is very American.

It’s pretty much exclusively used in the US,
but the origin came from London in the UK.

As far as I remember-
Dan:

I did the research.

Vanessa:
… duke is a slang word for-

Dan:
Your hands.

Vanessa:
… your hands, and then it turned into to

fight, to duke it out with your hands.

It seemed a little bit complicated.

Dan:
Right.

Well, it originally came from Cockney slang.

Is that what it’s called?

Cockney?

Vanessa:
Cockney rhyming slang.

Dan:
Cockney rhyming slang.

Vanessa:
Cockney is like an accent, an accent in the

UK.
Dan:

They would say dukes of York for forks, but
then somehow forks became your fingers, and

then somehow your duke and forks or dukes
and Yorks or something became-

Vanessa:
Just dukes.

Dan:
… hands and fingers.

Anyways, somehow in the end dukes became your
fists, your hands.

Vanessa:
It’s a long historical story.

Dan:
It’s a strange tale.

Vanessa:
Yeah, but it’s quite interesting if you want

to do any research about Cockney rhyming slang.

This is a historical way of speaking in a
certain area in London.

They had a certain type of slang or rhymes
that they would use.

Some interesting expressions came from that
type of slang, even American expressions like

this.

Dan:
Yes, and I think the original thing they would

say is, “Put up your dukes.”

Vanessa:
Oh, okay, to fight.

Dan:
Put up your dukes.

Vanessa:
Put up your dukes and fight me.

Dan:
But in America, somehow we turned it into

duke it out.

Vanessa:
Yeah, so let’s talk about some physical ways

we can use this and more figurative, verbal
ways we can use this.

How-
Dan:

Yeah, the most literal way is a fist fight,
literally just fighting, punching each other.

That’s literally duking it out.

But we often use this for verbal debate, especially
one-on-one.

If you’re arguing with just one person and
you’re yelling at them, or even in America,

we have presidential debates, you could even
say that they’re duking it out.

They are duking it out on TV, they’re having
a debate and everybody’s watching.

They’re adversaries, they’re not friends.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

They’re not maybe yelling, but they are arguing,
they’re having this fight, so to speak, but

we can also just say, “Yeah, those two guys
at the bar, they got drunk and they just duked

it out.

They just fought.”

This is a very violent, physical thing.

All right, let’s watch the original clip from
the conversation so that you can see how duke

it out was used.

That you’re going to have other people putting
offers on the same house that you want, like

you fight it, duke it out.

… that you want, like you fight it, duke
it out.

… that you want, like you fight it, duke
it out.

Dan:
The next expression is an idiom and it is

upfront.

This means at the beginning, or usually telling
somebody something at the beginning before

a process happens, or it means direct and
honest.

They’re actually similar.

I’ll start with the first one.

Brandi was talking about during a real estate
agreement with the owners of a house, in some

places you have to get the inspection chosen
upfront.

That means, at the very beginning, you need
to choose the inspector and then tell the

owners who that inspector is.

Other places, you don’t have to do that, you
don’t have to tell them upfront who you’re

going to get to inspect the house.

This is kind of a technical way she used it,
but you get the idea that at the beginning,

upfront, you need to choose the inspector.

But even that one kind of has the same meaning
as being upfront as in director or honest,

kind of has to do with honesty, both parties
know what’s going on upfront.

Vanessa:
Yeah, in the very beginning you know what’s

going to happen.

Actually, in the conversation with Brandi,
I think it was even more specific than knowing

who’s going to do the inspection, it was which
inspections are you going to do.

Dan:
Oh, okay.

Vanessa:
You’ve never seen the house, you haven’t looked

at it, you don’t know about the problems,
but you have to choose, I want the basement

inspected, I want a termite inspection, I
want the roof inspected, but maybe you don’t

know that there’s an electrical problem and
you didn’t choose the electrical inspection

upfront.

Well, that’s a problem because when you buy
the house, if you buy the house, and there’s

an electrical problem, well, that’s your fault
because you didn’t choose the right inspections

upfront.

This means at the very beginning, but like
Dan said, we often use this to mean direct

or honest communication.

For example, when you purchased this course,
I hope that I was upfront with you.

I hope that it was very clear and I was direct
and honest with you that this is not one-on-one

speaking lessons, you will not be booking
lessons with me on Skype.

I tried to be very clear about this, that
you will receive a lesson set material, these

lessons, and you’ll have the chance to speak
together with other members, once a month

you have a chance to speak with me, but it’s
kind of a different situation, this is not

one-on-one lessons.

For your sake, and for mine, I need to be
up front with you.

If you are working at a business, you might
say this too, it’s important to be upfront

with your clients.

You need to tell them exactly what they can
expect, exactly what your product is.

You need to be direct and honest.

It’s that idea, at the beginning, you need
to present the information, not after a while,

but you need to be upfront.

That’s kind of the sentence construction here.

Dan:
Right, and on the flip side, if you say somebody’s

not being upfront, that means that they’re
hiding something, that they’re not being honest.

“He’s not being upfront with me.

I think he has some dirty secret.”

Maybe let’s say you’re in a relationship with
a girl or a boy, you could say, “They’re not

being upfront to me.

I think they’re chatting with somebody else
on their phone.

Who is that?”

Vanessa:
Mm, yeah.

Or maybe if you have been on a couple dates
with someone and then after the first couple

dates, they pull out a cigarette and start
smoking.

Dan:
He was hiding that.

Vanessa:
You might think, “Oh, he wasn’t upfront with

me that about his smoking habit.

That would’ve changed how I thought about
him.

He wasn’t upfront with me.”

Or if you want to be upfront with someone,
you could say, “All right, I want to be upfront

with you and let you know that occasionally
I do smoke.”

Dan:
“I smoke a pack a day, I drink a six-pack

of beer.”

Vanessa:
“Here’s all of my problems.”

Or you can just tell someone something that
you think might be useful information to them,

“I want to be upfront with you that occasionally
I do smoke.

I have some anxiety and this helps me to relieve
it, but I’m working on it.”

Okay, you’re just telling them directly and
honesty something that they might find useful

or informative.

Dan:
Yeah, usually it’s kind of challenging information.

Vanessa:
Yeah, yeah, but it’s important to be upfront

in a relationship.

I think that helps solid, healthy relationships.

All right, let’s watch the original conversation
so that you can see how upfront was used.

Brandi:
In other states, their rules are you have

to choose what inspections you want upfront.

Vanessa:
Oh, before you find out the results of the

inspections.

Brandi:
Their rules are you have to choose what inspections

you want upfront.

Their rules are you have to choose what inspections
you want upfront.

Vanessa:
How did you enjoy that vocabulary lesson?

Now it’s time for grammar, phrasal verbs.

You are going to be learning some of the most
important phrasal verbs from the conversation

with Brandi so that you can use them yourself.

In the full Fearless Fluency Club phrasal
verb lesson, there is an extra material section

for each phrasal verb, where I explain some
movie clips, TV show clips, and song clips

that use the phrasal verbs.

This is a great way to see the phrasal verbs
in real life context, but unfortunately, here

on YouTube, I can’t add those clips because
of copyright problems.

I’m sorry if the editing seems a little bit
choppy, I had to cut off that section, but

if you join the full course, you will be able
to see that part.

All right, let’s get started with the phrasal
verb lesson.

Dan:
Welcome to the Fearless Fluency Club grammar

lesson.

Vanessa:
Today, I’m here with my husband, Dan.

Dan:
Hello.

Vanessa:
And we’re going to be talking about some phrasal

verbs that you heard in the conversation with
Brandi.

These phrasal verbs are commonly used in daily
conversation, so I hope that it will help

you to understand daily conversation, but
also be able to integrate them into your own

speaking and daily life.

First, Dan and I are going to be explaining
the phrasal verb meaning, and then we’re going

to go to an extra material section.

During that extra material section, I’m going
to be explaining some movie clips, TV show

clips, song clips, and also the clip from
the original conversation so that you can

get a broader context for the phrasal verbs,
because we often use them with a different

intonation or just a slight different look
in our eyes that makes it mean something different.

You’ll be able to see that in those TV and
movie clips.

Let’s get started with the definitions and
some general ideas, and then we’ll move on

to that extra material section.

Are you ready?

Dan:
I’m ready.

Vanessa:
Let’s do it.

The first phrasal verb that we’re going to
talk about is, to think about.

You might think that this phrasal verb is
pretty straightforward, that maybe you’re

just using your head, you’re thinking, but
there are some nuances in this expression

that I want you to understand.

Sometimes when we use phrasal verbs in conversation,
they replace textbook words.

You might have learned the word, reflect.

“Hmm, sometimes I reflect on my childhood,”
or, “Hmm, I need to consider all of the options,”

consider, reflect.

These are great words, but they’re often a
little too formal for daily conversations

so instead we often exchange words like this
for a phrasal verb.

We can do that with the word, think about.

We could say, “Yesterday, I was thinking about
my first experience going to the movie theater

and I can’t believe my parents let me watch
The Matrix when I was six years old.”

Here, we can exchange reflect, “I was reflecting
on my first experience at the movie theater.”

This isn’t true, I did not see The Matrix
when I was six years old, but it’s the idea

of exchanging a phrasal verb, to think about,
to sound more natural and more comfortable

instead of reflect, this high level, maybe
more formal type of word.

Dan:
Right, or you could use it in the past tense,

I thought about it.

“I went to the movies and I was going to watch
this movie with my friends, but then I thought

about all the other scary movies I watched
and I thought about how scared I was.”

You’re kind of thinking back, reflecting on
the past.

Vanessa:
Yes.

We can start by thinking about this, thinking
about this phrasal verb.

We use it so much.

Dan:
That’s the second way.

Vanessa:
Yes.

In the past, I was the thinking about something,
you’re reflecting on something, but let’s

take it to the present.

If we give a statement, a fact, like when
you are in a relationship, you should think

about your partner.

Dan:
Oh, what?

Vanessa:
Okay.

You should consider your partner.

This is exchanging think about with a different
word, consider.

I should think about Dan’s perspective.

What is his experience in our relationship
like?

What is his experience like?

I should think about Dan.

It doesn’t mean I need to sit on the couch
and think, “Oh, Dan, Dan.

I’m thinking, Dan is in my head, Dan.”

No, this means I’m considering, I’m being
thoughtful about his experience.

You should think about your partner.

Dan:
Yeah, sometimes this is like a command or

a suggestion.

If you want somebody to think more, you could
say, “Think about what you’re doing.”

This really makes people stop and think, “What
am I doing?”

Think about what you’re doing, or think about
how I feel when you don’t wash the dishes

at night.

We always use dishes as an example.

Vanessa:
It’s a very classic couple situation, right?

Dan:
Right.

You’re asking somebody to consider this problem
or issue or anything really.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

I think that this is a common type of command
in close relationships, so maybe in your marriage

or with your kids, sometimes authorities will
say this to someone under them.

Parents could say this to children, teachers
could say this to their students, “Think about

your actions, think about what you did wrong.”

Dan:
Yes, and it could also be hypothetical, like,

“Think about the children.”

Vanessa:
Oh.

Wait, can you explain this, because this is
kind of digging a little deeper.

Dan:
This is almost a meme to the point of being

a joke if you say, “Think about the children.”

That’s like saying this thing that’s happening
in society, let’s say you really hate a certain

kind of music and the girls are dancing like
crazy and showing their stuff, well, you might

say, “Think about the children, there’s children
watching this.”

It’s kind of this whole big picture, stop
and think about what you’re doing.

Vanessa:
Mm, sure.

Dan:
But in a more hypothetical, maybe large scale

sense.

Vanessa:
Yeah, yeah.

We could say, “Think about the environment.

Think about the future,” these type of big
ideas.

We talked about the past and the present,
what about the future?

If I said to you, “I’ll think about it.

I’ll think about it.

I will think about it.”

This is the future.

I will think about it, not now, but later.

I’ll think about it.

Dan:
Yeah, that expression has a lot of meaning

baked in.

If you say, “I’ll think about it,” sometimes
this means that you’re very serious, like

you actually will, but a lot of times when
we say, “I’ll think about it,” that means

that you are just telling them yes now, but
you’re probably going to say no later.

This is very common to say if somebody asks
you, “Oh, Sarah’s having a party on Friday,

do you want to come?”

If you probably don’t want to go, or yeah,
you really don’t want to go, it’s polite to

say, “I’ll think about it,” but that person
knows that if you don’t show up, they’re not

surprised.

Vanessa:
Yeah, because you already didn’t show strong

interest.

Dan:
You’re not like, “Yeah, I’ll clear my schedule.”

No, it’s not like that.

I’ll think about it.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

There is an underlying tone of I don’t want
to be negative right now.

I don’t want to say no, so instead I’ll be
indirect and just say, “I’ll think about it.”

You could be serious and say, “Okay, I’ll
think about it,” but sometimes this also means,

“No, I’ve already decided no, but I don’t
want to tell you that directly right now.”

Dan:
Yeah.

I think if you want to be more serious, a
lot of times if there’s a problem, you might

say something like, “I’ll have to think about
that,” or, “I’ll have to think about it.”

Vanessa:
That’s a good one.

Dan:
That makes it sound a little bit stronger,

when you say, “I’ll have to,” just kind of
a different emphasis.

Vanessa:
Yeah, yeah.

Dan:
A lot of it depends on your tone.

Vanessa:
Mm-hmm (affirmative), yeah.

I think that if you said, “Oh yeah, I’m having
a birthday party this weekend and you’re invited,

do you think you can come?”

I might say, “I’ll think about it,” and that
means probably not, but if I said, “Oh, I’ll

have to think about it,” that kind of means
I’m a little more serious.

Dan:
You’ll want to qualify it though, like, “Oh,

I’m really busy, but I’ll have to think about
it.

I would like to.”

You’d add a lot more if you were serious.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

You notice that a lot of times here, we said
it, “I’ll think about it.”

We sometimes just leave it as that.

Instead of saying, “I’ll think about if I
can go to your party.

I’ll think about whatever that situation might
be.”

Instead of repeating it and saying it, we
just stick with the phrase, “I’ll think about

it.”

It’s very clear and simple to say this.

What we are going to do next is you’re going
to go to an extra material section where you’re

going to see a bunch of different situations
that use this phrase from movies, TV shows,

songs, also the conversation with Brandi.

I hope that it will help you to dive deeper
and understand the different situations so

that you can use this yourself.

Also, if someone says it to you, you invite
them somewhere and they say, “I’ll think about

it,” you really know what they’re saying.

I hope this will help you gain a deeper understanding.

All right, let’s go to the extra material
section.

In this extra material section about the phrasal
verb, to think about, we’re going to take

a look at six different clips.

Actually, it’s eight clips, but three of them
were going to put together.

The first one is from the conversation with
Brandi, the next few are from movies or TV

shows, and the final one is from a famous
song.

Let’s start with the conversation with Brandi.

We were talking about how Brandi had never
thought about real estate as a future career

for her.

In the conversation we said, “This is a new
option for me that I didn’t know existed before

or didn’t think about as a path.”

This is something that she didn’t consider
as an option for her future, because she’s

talking about the present, this is just a
statement, “I didn’t think about that.”

This is something that she didn’t consider.

This is a new option for me that I didn’t
know existed before or didn’t think about

as a path.

Brandi:
Yeah, I never really thought about it.

Vanessa:
Or didn’t think about as a path.

Brandi:
Yeah, I never really thought about it.

Vanessa:
Or didn’t think about as a path.

Brandi:
Yeah, I never really thought about it.

Vanessa:
The next phrasal verb is, to follow up.

This can also be used as an adjective or a
noun, but we’ll talk about that at the end

of this section.

First, we’re going to talk about the more
literal meaning, which isn’t used as often.

We’re going to be focusing on the more figurative
meaning, which is more common in daily conversation.

But if I said that a famous singer, who’s
a famous singer, Taylor Swift, had a really

popular album, this means a bunch of songs,
she had a really popular album and then she

followed that up with a less popular album.

What would that mean to you?

Dan:
This sounds like it just literally means the

next thing, but usually if we say followed
up with, that means it’s something extra or

surprising, or maybe it’s an event.

“We followed up the big party with another
party at my house,” so you were just having

a partying night.

This is kind of extra, if you’re saying the
next thing we did was something a little more

than usual, then we could use follow up.

Vanessa:
Yeah, if you’re just giving someone a list

of things to do, like, “To make bread, you
need to put the flour in the bowl.

Then you need pour in the water,” you can’t
say-

Dan:
Then you need to follow up with sugar.

Vanessa:
Yeah, you wouldn’t-

Dan:
No.

Vanessa:
You wouldn’t say it in this way because it’s

not something surprising or more, it doesn’t
really have that sense.

When we use it in the more literal sense,
to follow one event with another event, to

follow up an event, it has to be surprising
or a little bit more.

That’s what we mean about the literal meaning,
but I want to focus more on the figurative

sense because this is the one that’s used
more commonly in daily conversation.

What if I said to you, “Hey, can you give
Sam a call?

He never finishes his projects on time.

Can you follow up with him?”

Dan:
Or you need to follow up on him even.

You might say on him in that situation, like
if you’re somebody’s boss.

Vanessa:
What does this mean in general?

Dan:
It means that you need to check in on somebody.

You need to make sure that they’re doing the
right thing, or maybe you had told them that

you are going to talk to them later.

A lot of times, if you say, “Oh yeah, I’ll
get back to you on this problem or this project,”

well, then if you follow up on that, you’re
going to either call somebody back, a lot

of times this is used with the phone.

“I need to follow up on John and see how the
project going.

Beep.

I’m following up right now.”

You wouldn’t say that, but that is an act
of following up.

I can only think of phrasal verbs really,
checking in on somebody, making sure they’re

okay.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

I would say that this is contacting someone
to get additional or more information, at

the base that’s kind of what you’re doing.

You’re seeing are they finished with the project,
how is it going, you realize that something

should be happening or is happening and you
want to contact them to get more information

about it.

What if I said, “Can you follow up with him?

Can you follow up on him?

Can you follow up on the project,” or, “Let’s
follow up about the project?”

There are a lot of prepositions that can be
used after this phrasal verb, and there’s

a couple different rules-
Vanessa:

… single verb.

And there’s a couple different rules; they’re
maybe not strict rules, but conversational

rules for which preposition we use at which
time.

And I know that prepositions can be really
tricky for English learners.

For me, as I’ve been learning French, my second
language, prepositions are also tricky in

French.

So maybe they are for people learning your
language too.

So let’s try to specify; when can you say
follow up with…

Is it someone or something?

What do you think?

Dan:
It could be either one.

Vanessa:
Yes.

So, I’m going to follow up with the project
or follow up with him.

Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

It’s a little more, I’d say gentle than follow
up on.

So, if you’re following up on somebody, you’re
kind of in charge or if I’m following up on

a project, it means it’s important and you
need to get it done.

But if you’re following up with, I think that
sounds a little more gentle, like maybe you’re

in a team project, or you maybe have an appointment
or something.

It’s just a little bit different.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

And what about following up about a project?

Dan:
I’d say that’s used the least.

Vanessa:
I think-

Dan:
Like maybe if you’re talking to somebody about

something at that moment, like if you’re introducing
something to somebody on the phone, like,

“Hey John, I just wanted to follow up about
the project.”

That’s kind of the situation you would say
about.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

When you’re introducing why are you calling?

Well, I’m following up about something.

And I was trying to think about why, think
about, use our other phrase over, why we don’t

use to follow up about in a question, because
it sounds okay to say I’m following up on

the project.

It sounds okay to say I’m following up about
or on the project.

But if you say, can you follow up on the project?

Great.

Can you follow up about the project feels
a little bit weird.

So, the conclusion that we came to is that
you can’t really use follow up about something

in a question.

It’s more of a statement about why you’re
contacting someone.

So, if I called Dan and said, “Hey, Dan, I
just wanted to follow up about the project.”

I just wanted to follow up about the project.

It’s a statement.

It’s not a question.

But if I was asking Dan to do that, I could
say, “Hey, can you follow up on the project?”

“Hey, can you follow up with Sam about the
project?”

So it’s not really used in a question form,
which is something that is maybe a little

bit tricky if you haven’t thought through
all of those things, that’s why we’re here.

I also want to talk about how we can use follow
up as an adjective and as a noun.

So if I said to you, I have a followup appointment
next week.

What would that mean to you?

Dan:
That means that you’ve already had one appointment

and that you already scheduled another one.

So that means you have a followup appointment.

One that’s already scheduled that’s after
the first one.

Vanessa:
Yes.

This kind of goes back to that literal meaning
of one event before another event or after

another event.

So, we can use it as an adjective, a followup
appointment or you could just say, I have

a followup next week.

This is as a noun.

I have a followup.

And what we understand or what is implied
in this is that there’s an appointment or

a meeting, something you’ve already talked
about that topic.

You’re already talking about going to the
doctor and how did your last doctor’s visit

go?

And you say, oh, well, I have a followup next
week.

So, I’ll get more information about it.

And we know it’s the doctor’s appointments.

Dan:
Yeah.

I would say maybe a little bit more rarely,
you can even say he has a lot of follow up

or he doesn’t have a lot of follow up.

People also use the expression, follow through,
which kind of means the same thing.

But if you say, oh yeah, he doesn’t like follow
up or he doesn’t have a lot of follow up-

Vanessa:
As a noun.

Dan:
That means that he doesn’t call people back.

He doesn’t finish things.

It’s kind of negative things if you say he
doesn’t have follow up.

Vanessa:
Yeah.

So, we could use it in that literal sense
to say, I have a followup, I have another

appointment.

But if you’re talking about someone’s character
and say he doesn’t have a lot of follow up,

usually we use it in a negative way.

He doesn’t have a lot of follow up.

It has that same sense that nothing happens
afterwards.

Something should happen.

There should be some kind of conclusion to
the task that he’s working on, but that doesn’t

happen, instead it’s kind of cut short.

So, he doesn’t have a lot of follow up could
be a way that you could use it to describe

someone’s character or personality.

And like Dan said we use this a little less
frequently, but you might hear this.

So, I hope it will add to your toolbox of
knowledge.

All right, let’s go on to our extra material
section where you’ll be able to dive a little

deeper and see some other situations where
to follow up is used.

Let’s watch.

In this extra material section for the phrasal
verb to follow up, we’re going to take a look

at five different clips.

Ones from the conversation with Brandi, three
are from movies and TV shows.

And the final ones from a song.

Let’s start with Brandi.

Brandi was explaining that she met a real
estate agent named Samantha or Sam.

And Sam told her about their job with real
estate and Brandi said, all right, I’m changing

my life.

I’m going to go to real estate school, but
she didn’t tell Samantha about that.

And then Samantha called her and said, “Hey,
how you doing?

You expressed an interest in real estate.

I wanted to follow up with you.”

And Brandi explained to me that she, Sam,
literally followed up while I was at real

estate school.

So, Brandi had already taken action and Sam
was following up on their previous conversation.

So in our clip, we used the phrase just follow
up.

She followed up while I was at real estate
school.

We could have said she followed up with me
while I was at real estate school or she followed

up on our previous conversation while I was
at school.

She could have used something else, but she
just cut that short and said she followed

up and she called her and wanted to get some
more information, see how things were going.

You inspired me.

I am here now.

Brandi:
She literally followed up while I was at school.

Like I was on lunch break when she happened
to call.

And I was like, oh, the universe.

She literally followed up while I was at school.

Like she literally followed up while I was
at school.

Vanessa:
So were those phrasal verbs new for you?

Let’s go on to the pronunciation lesson.

We’re going to be taking an in depth look
at a couple sentences that use the vocabulary

and phrasal verbs and break down the pronunciation
so that you can sound more like an American

speaker and speak clearly and understandably.

During this pronunciation lesson, try to repeat
out loud with me, speak out loud because it’s

great to listen, but it’s even more important
when you shadow and imitate my voice.

So, try to do that during this pronunciation
lesson, let’s go.

Hi, welcome to the pronunciation lesson in
the Fearless Fluency Club.

Today, we’re going to be focusing on five
sentences that you heard in the conversation

with Brandi.

Each of those sentences includes a vocabulary
expression or a phrasal verb that we talked

about in the vocabulary or grammar lesson.

So, I hope that this will help you to remember
that phrase because we’ll be talking about

it a lot, but more importantly, I hope that
today you will be active and imitating what

I’m saying, speaking with me, speaking out
loud during this lesson, so that you can feel

more comfortable pronouncing the sounds of
English.

When you hear your own voice speaking in English,
it really helps you to become comfortable

with the sounds that you’re making, to improve
those sounds to be more clear and understandable.

So, I challenge you to take action today instead
of just listening to me, speaking out loud.

I’ll be asking you, please repeat with me,
say this with me or say it after I have a

little pause, take some courage to do that,
but you can do it.

So, let’s go on to our first sentence.

You’re going to be listening to a sentence
from the conversation a few times and then,

we will break it down in detail so that you
can really understand every sound that we’re

saying and also you can say it yourself.

All right, let’s listen to our first sentence.

Brandi:
So, some people try and sell on their own.

And sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

And then they connect with a realtor.

Some people try and sell on their own.

Some people try and sell on their own.

Some people try and sell on their own.

Vanessa:
And the phrase you heard was to be on your

own or to be on one’s own, to do something
by yourself.

And the original phrase that you heard was
some people try and sell on their own.

Some people try and sell on their own.

Before we talk about this, I want to explain
a little grammatical point that is happening

here.

She says some people try and sell on their
own.

Now, we could also say some people try to
sell on their own, but sometimes we add and

here after try, I’m going to try and call
my friend.

I’m going to try and pass the test instead
of try to pass the test, try to call my friend.

And this is in spoken English, a very common
type of phrase.

We don’t really write like this, try and instead
of try to, but this is very common in spoken

English and it’s not wrong.

So, if you want to include this as part of
your conversation, that’s perfectly fine,

but I don’t recommend writing in a formal
way, like a formal business email or in an

exam.

I don’t recommend writing, try and plus a
verb instead try to plus a verb, but you will

absolutely hear this in conversation just
like in this clip.

And you can use it yourself in conversation.

So, let’s break this down pronunciation wise,
starting at the beginning.

She said some people, people.

Let’s talk about this word people, what’s
happening to the O in this word, P-E-O, it’s

just gone.

We don’t say people, we need to say P, say
it with me, people.

So, the final sound is P-U-L, pul, pul, people,
people.

Can you say those two words with me?

Some people, some people, some people.

Let’s go to the next part.

Here, we have our two verbs, try and sell,
try and sell.

What’s happening to the word and?

It’s just getting reduced to, nn, try and
try and sell, try and.

This happens all the time with the word and
especially when we’re listing things, for

example, zebras are black and white, black
and white.

I didn’t say black and white very clearly
instead I reduced and to just, nn, this is

quite common.

So, do you think you can say it with me?

Yes.

Let’s say it together.

Try and sell, try and sell.

It kind of sounds like the word in, in, I’m
going in the store, try and sell.

So, if you need that kind of a image in your
head or those words in your head that could

help as well, try and sell, try and sell,
try and sell on their own, on their own.

This is the final part of our phrase.

And let’s focus on the final word own, own.

What’s happening to the W, own?

It’s not very clear.

This word is not on, O-N, so we’re not forgetting
the W but we’re not saying own, own with a

woo, a very clear W sound.

Instead, it needs to be own, own.

Can you say that with me?

Let’s put it together in that phrase, on their
own, on their own, on their own.

All right.

Do you think we can put this whole sentence
together?

Let’s try to emphasize the right words too.

Some people try and sell on their own, we’re
emphasizing, try, sell, own.

Say it with me, some people try and sell on
their own.

Some people try and sell on their own.

Can you think you can say this a little bit
quicker and then, I’ll pause and you can say

it all by yourself.

Ready?

Some people try and sell on their own.

Some people try and sell on their own.

Okay, I’m going to pause.

And I want you to say this sentence out loud,
no matter where you are in the world, my ears

will listen to you.

I will be able to hear you wherever you are.

This is teacher magic.

So, I want you to say the sentence out loud.

Some people try and sell on their own.

Go ahead.

It’s your turn.

Great work.

All right.

Let’s listen to the original sentence one
more time or actually a couple more times,

so that you can really pick out all of the
things we talked about.

Listen for the pronunciation of people, listen
for try and sell, try and sell.

And then our emphasized words, try, sell,
own.

Listen for that carefully when you watch this
clip, let’s watch.

Brandi:
So, some people try and sell on their own.

And sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

And then they connect with a realtor.

Some people try and sell on their own.

Some people try and sell on their own.

Some people try and sell on their own and.

Vanessa:
Did you hear people try and sell?

I hope so.

All right, let’s go to our second clip where
you’re going to hear the phrase out of pocket.

I want you to listen for this, this expression,
but I also want you to listen for the full

phrase and try to understand what’s happening
because we’re going to break it down.

Let’s watch.

Brandi:
So for buyers, the buyers don’t actually have

to pay anything out of pocket.

The seller pays the commission.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out pocket.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out of pocket.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out pocket.

Vanessa:
In this clip, she said, the buyers don’t actually

have to pay anything out of pocket.

There are so much pronunciation we can talk
about in this short, quick sentence.

So, let’s start at the beginning.

The buyers don’t, listen to that negative
contraction, the buyers don’t, don’t.

Do you hear don’t that T is just gone.

This happens a lot with negative contractions
that we end the word with a stopped T. This

means that your tongue is in the position
of making a T, so it’s flat at the top of

your mouth.

Don’t, don’t, but you don’t let the air pass
through to make the T, don’t, that air is

stopped.

So instead you need to say don’t, don’t.

Do you think you can say that with me?

Let’s say those first couple words together,
the buyers don’t, the buyers don’t, it helps

if we link it with the next word, but the
next word has a lot going on.

So, let’s talk about that before we link it.

The next word is actually, actually.

Let’s break this down.

There are a couple different ways that we
can say, actually.

We could say it a little bit clearly like
I just did, actual, with an oo, vowel, actually

or we can reduce it further, which is what’s
happening in the conversation, actually, actually,

actually, actually.

So, the first part is act, can you say that
with me, act, act, the next is just S-H-L-Y,

shly, shly, actually, actually, actually.

Actually, I’m pretty tired today, so I’m not
going to go.

Actually, it’s a beautiful day.

I thought it was going to rain, but actually
it’s amazing.

Actually.

You think you can link this together with
the first part?

Let’s do it.

The buyers don’t actually, the buyers don’t
actually, the buyers don’t actually, the buyers

don’t actually, the buyers don’t actually,
the buyers don’t actually what?

Let’s go to the next part.

Have to pay, have to pay.

This is an extremely common reduction have
and to become havta, havta.

Can you say that with me?

Havta, havta.

I have to study English today.

I have to go outside, it’s a beautiful day,
havta, havta.

So, let’s put that together, have to pay.

Can you say it with me?

Have to pay, have to pay.

Let’s put all of it together so far, the buyers
don’t actually have to pay.

It’s a lot to remember.

You got it.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay, have
to pay what?

Let’s see, pay anything, pay anything.

Something a little funny is going on at the
beginning of the word anything, the a, anything

is not so strong.

It’s not that we cut it out completely, but
that it’s really linked together in such a

fast way that it almost sounds like nything,
nything, pay nything, pay.

You can almost think about it like in, pay
in, in like I-N, pay anything, pay anything,

pay instead of pay a, a, anything like a clear
A sound.

Instead, we’re going to say pay anything,
pay, pay anything, pay anything.

And then we have our key phrase out of pocket,
out of pocket.

I want you to listen to what is happening
at end of the word out.

Listen to this, out of pocket, out of pocket.

Is it out of pocket?

No, instead this is another extremely common
American pronunciation technique where a T

between two vowels is going to change to a
D sound.

This is called a flap T usually because the
T is changing to a D. So, we’re going to link

these two words together and say out, out
of pocket, out of pocket.

Can you say it with me?

Out of pocket, out of pocket, out, out of
pocket.

All right, let’s take a deep breath.

I’m going to try to put it all together in
this whole sentence.

I want you to say it out loud with me.

Repeat with my voice.

This is called shadowing.

I’m speaking.

And you’re speaking exactly with me trying
to keep up.

Let’s do it.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out of pocket.

One more time.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out of pocket.

You think we can speed this up a bit?

Yes.

You got it.

Let’s try to speed it up and try to say it
exactly with my voice.

Let’s do it.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out of pocket.

This is also going to help us emphasize the
right words.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out of pocket.

Can you say that with me?

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out of pocket.

So, we’re going to emphasize buyers, pay anything,
and pocket.

It’s a lot to remember.

You got it.

Let’s say it all together.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out of pocket.

I want to pause.

And I want you to try to say all of this together.

Are you ready?

Go ahead.

It’s your turn.

You did it.

Great work.

All right.

Let’s listen to this in the original conversation.

And I want you to listen for all of the things
we talked about to pay anything, or actually

or out of pocket.

Listen for those linkings and reductions in
the original clip.

Let’s watch.

Brandi:
So for buyers, the buyers don’t actually have

to pay anything out of pocket.

The seller pays the commission.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out pocket.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out pocket.

The buyers don’t actually have to pay anything
out of pocket.

Vanessa:
Great work.

Are your pronunciation muscles warmed up?

I hope so.

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grammar, and pronunciation lessons, you’ll

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and PDF transcripts, so that you can study

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The story is a fun one page combination of
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You can listen to it, repeat it, even memorize
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