How to Ask for Help in English

screaming up now all right up now I

think we are on the Internet hello

Internet hello

this week’s Internet well there are

people in the chat room hi YouTube chat

I see you how are you today oh wait

like these people now hmm maybe I’ll

give it a second

hi Internet we are live good morning

good afternoon good evening good night

depending on where you are in the world

all right we are going to start very

soon so we’ll wait for people to join hi

Christian from Mexico welcome hello we

this Facebook going yet YouTube is on

YouTube is live hi Brazil the people

from Brazil are joining again show hello

Elka hello Vietnam nuyen hello and Rika

Matt dance Henrique hello Facebook are

you up yet maybe maybe it’s coming hi

Marcelo hi Caroline hi you sauce from

California YouTube hi YouTube we’re

waiting for Facebook right now we’re

getting Facebook up oh I think Facebook

is going maybe

maybe do you have facebook uh yes

Facebook is slide yaqoob hello Chindi

hello okay Facebook is live YouTube

Vince live welcome to this week’s live

stream my name is Alicia if you didn’t

know already but thank you very much for

joining us today we’re waiting a few

minutes for everybody to join us and

then we’ll start this week’s topic which

is asking for help so while we wait for

other people to join us hello Vietnam

type Yoshi from Japan hi from Egypt

Mexico Jerry from China Muhammad hello

Eduardo from Guatemala while we wait and

while we say hello to each other

last week’s topic was giving advice and

I couldn’t get in touch I couldn’t read

everybody’s comments as the stream went

on last week but I read them after this

stream and there was a really good

advice sentence someone Miriam Mohammed

I don’t know maybe she’s watching today

she said if you go to Egypt do you have

to visit the pyramids that was awesome

that was really good

hello Austria good people are joining

now from Syria sorry I can’t read your

name but hi on Facebook I see you

Ricardo from Brazil hi let’s see

but yeah as more people join I thought

I’d share I actually a one of the advice

patterns we talked about last week so

like I posted a picture on my Instagram

about like a new series we’re doing and

then I posted about this livestream

today so I put up a picture and in the

comment on the picture it says come

check it out so there deserves I’m sorry

the size aside so I used like this is

the this is what we use this is what we

talked about last week this is what we

talked about last week this uh command

form I used to come check it out the

command form for advice or for

like a recommendation so I used this

last week did you use advice at all last

week I don’t know if you did but yeah so

that was last week’s topic hello

everybody joining we’re just recapping

last week’s information but let’s see

who is here now we have a lot of people

here now again from Brazil hi Brazil

Sergio from Brazil allene good night

from Brazil are you leaving remember a

good night is used when you leave to

remind people on Facebook

Nazim from Sweden hello German hello I’m

good I’m good I’m doing great today

Jakob says no I did not use advice are

you sure are you sure it’s really easy

to from Venezuela Milton and Nestor

hello let’s see you let’s see Sam I am

streaming on YouTube we have it on

Facebook and on YouTube let’s see here

Oh from Japan hi let’s see

Leigh from Brazil hi from Somali on

YouTube hello yeah Sam so his name’s Sam

he’s on Facebook the question was why

are you not streaming on YouTube this is

live on Facebook and on YouTube at the

same time so if you’re watching on

Facebook you can also watch on YouTube

at youtube.com slash user slash English

class 101 slash live or if you’re

watching on YouTube and you want to

check the Facebook page there’s a link

in the description at the YouTube

description box so you can check both of

those okay

yeah so I was talking about last week’s

last week’s advice topic last week’s

advice topic so I mentioned I shared

like a post on Instagram with my like my

like command forum example sentence come

check it out so yeah

hashtag new things exciting things all

kinds of new things so Kazakhstan hello

um let’s see from Vietnam nyan are you

Alicia or Alicia I am Alicia al I sha is

how you spell my name okay but let’s see

we are about five or six minutes into

this week’s broadcast so hello to

everyone joining us hi let’s see Hamada

from Morocco very cool uh let’s see

we’re gonna start today’s topic so

today’s topic is how to ask for help

actually we filmed last week we filmed a

new episode of top words that’s going to

be about asking for help so hopefully we

can this will be kind of a warm-up for

that it’ll be out soon alright so I want

to talk first about just kind of some

casual ways to ask for help and yes just

to remind you I am speaking slowly I’m

speaking slower than I speak in our

videos because there’s a there are a lot

of people watching around the world with

different levels of English so hopefully

so hopefully everybody can understand a

little bit better at this speed anyway

we’re gonna start with casual ways to

ask for help so the first pattern I want

to talk about is really simple like can

you or could you to begin a request so

if for example you’re visiting a new

city or maybe you’re watching this live

stream for example and you have a

request like for me even you could say

can you blah blah blah so for example in

a city you could say can you

you tell me where the station is or

maybe you have a question on this live

stream you can say can you tell me what

blah blah blah means so you can use this

actually right away today if you want

okay so this is this is the maybe the

simplest introduction yeah so someone

else has already used this way to ask

for help which I’m going to talk about

so I’m sorry I can’t read your name but

you said could you give me a hand could

you give me a hand is like can you help

me with something so could you give me a

hand with my homework hmm

actually we had a question last week

someone asked is it help me do homework

or is it help me to do homework it

should be help me do homework like you

could use this pattern No - could you

give me a hand with my homework oh it’s

gone now but there’s something else here

so yeah oh here’s another one from

Carlos could you indicate an app to

practice English with natives and app to

do that I’m not sure if there’s

specifically an app to do that but I

mean you’d have to I would just

recommend trying to connect with people

like in your community or just trying to

use the internet to make friends I’m not

sure if there’s a specific app for it

but yeah let’s see oh great so Tiago

from Sur has used it can you tell me

where you’re from make sure can you tell

me where you are from yes I’m American

I’m American I was born in California

Miriam I mentioned your example sentence

from last week you said can you do more

of these live videos we’re only doing

one a week right now we just started but

she just used that example so the more

kind of formal example could you do more

live videos so that’s perfect nice

another person can you help me about

future actions ah future tense

yes

actually just yesterday I mentioned that

like the thing I showed an Instagram in

this picture I share in that session

yesterday I made a video about yeah so

yesterday I took this picture for this

new series we’re doing and I was making

a video we’re making a video about

future tents so soon that will be out so

you can practice some very simple future

tense with will and going to we made

that we made that yesterday so that will

be out soon

so yes Christian we can talk about

future actions and we’re gonna do I hope

some live broadcasts featuring future

tentative can I do live videos and other

innovative language channels I don’t

know I don’t I think this one is

probably okay but you never know can i

phone you tomorrow that’s a good one to

use at work can you phone me tomorrow

nice one you nest that was good great

Facebook hello people are just joining

us over there from Ecuador but now in

New York Pamela great all right nice

lots of people from Brazil again

fantastic that’s great okay so we talked

about can you and could you um another

good way you can use can you in everyday

life

I use this a lot is can you hold this

for me so like if I have a bottle of

water but I need to do something else

I’ll say can you hold this for me I have

to do something so that’s a really easy

way a small way everyday way to ask for

help Diana can you tell me if you speak

Spanish very little very little okay

let’s see

Enrique says can you help me with this

new technology language I don’t know

depends on the language is it at I don’t

know it depends on the new language the

technology language alright so we’ve got

some some good example sentences nice

work you guys

those are great lots of people from

Brazil still too okay so we’ve practiced

can you and could you and then I think

every week as we did last week and the

week before we’ve got like some kind of

special thing to introduce during the

broadcast so this week we have there’s a

there’s a guy there’s like PDF guides I

talked a little bit about it last week

but there’s PDF guides that they have

available on the website in English

class 101.com so they’re talking about

kind of everyday vocabulary that you can

use so maybe at work at school when

you’re at home in the kitchen or maybe

they they’re also kind of gonna help you

if you are kind of running out of

reasons we just study a language so

maybe it’ll help you with your

motivation too so these are things you

can print out and take with you if you

want but they’re just sort of an extra

way to help you study I think so

some extra boosts in your vocabulary

little boosts and in opportunities to

study your language too so if you’re

interested definitely check that out

there PDFs so you can download them and

save them on your smartphone or take

them with you on your computer print

them out whatever so that’s our special

introductory thing for this week

definitely check it out I think it’s I

think it’s definitely something worth

checking out yeah there’s tons of stuff

I think the crew is showing you right

now

yeah so that’s an English class of

101.com check it out there the link is

in the description all right so let’s

get back to this week’s topic asking for

help so we talked about can you and

could you already

oh we have more people joining - hi from

Malaysia Mohammed can you give us your

Instagram username use your Google

skills it’s not hard okay let’s see

not taya on Facebook says could you put

the link please the link is on Facebook

I believe the link is on the Facebook

page to English class 101.com I believe

it the link is there on the page so

please check that on Facebook it’s it’s

a it’s above I think Facebook is above

the video perhaps and then YouTube the

link is below the video yes I see it now

so on Facebook yeah there’s a link right

above this box where you’re watching

this video on the page so please check

that okay great so let’s talk a little

bit more about giving I’m sorry asking

for advice my mouse is not working okay

great

so I want to mention something someone

said earlier someone said can you give

me a hand with wah wah wah I forget can

you give me a hand with something if

you’re moving something heavy like your

sofa or a desk that’s a really good

phrase to use so could you give me a

hand with this sofa could you give me a

hand with my desk something like that

this is a really good expression to use

for physical objects could you give me a

hand with something your item here okay

someone says could you tell me how tall

you are

I’m 162 centimeters tall it’s about 5

foot to 5 ok so ah

Eduardo says how can I order a beer when

I arrive at the bar um let’s see maybe

that’s that’s a topic for a different

discussion but you have to go and ask

for a pint or a half pint so you could

say could you give me well knock don’t

is hand with at the bar when you want to

ask a bartender for help good so don’t

use this one

I think the crew is changing the sample

sentence here now when you go to a bar

or when you want to order something at a

restaurant could you give me yeah this

one right here could you give me a pint

could you give me a glass of wine could

you give me a steak could you give me a

salad could you give me a delicious

thing so you can use this pattern in a

lot of different situations not just

asking for like emergency help but this

is like a request as well could you give

me bah-bah-bah at a restaurant bar or

service situation yeah great

someone husana says can you help me to

learn English because I live in the USA

but I can’t speak with people I think

you have to just practice as much as

possibly when you move it’s going to be

difficult to speak with people but you

just have to keep practicing and find

people to practice with who understand

who you are and where you’re coming from

as well alright so yeah so we have

another we have another good example

could you give me this is a good request

pattern as well

Alberto asks is it only for things so

could you give me ah you mean material

things we we can also use this for time

for example could you give me a moment

of your time could you give me a second

we can use it for time as well but

you’re making a request you’re asking

for someone’s help in that moment so yes

you can use it for time as well Oh

garrison says what if I say I don’t want

to bother you but can you help me with

an information is it too formal it

sounds it’s it’s very polite but I to

make that more natural if you need help

with some information it’s like I would

say excuse me sorry to bother you but

can you help me with this or can you

help me understand this or I would ask a

specific point I have a specific

question prepared to ask them about yeah

all right

Francois hello all right Jacob asks

could you give me a dozen donuts at the

moment no at the moment no perhaps in

the future please check back ah let’s

see

5b Faithie says I always feel shy when I

try to speak English

could you give me some advice I think

that feeling that shy feeling it doesn’t

really go away like I feel shy when I

speak another language - I think you

have to accept you’re going to feel shy

and pretend that you don’t and keep

practicing I like I still feel shy I

feel shy sometimes doing this so it’s

all about pretending maybe you’ve heard

the expression fake it till you make it

so pretend until you can do it let’s see

ah joy asks can I say

do you have time on you when I want to

ask what time it is not quite it’s not

quite that question it’s do you have

that time

that’s the question do you have the time

mm-hmm okay

oh why Lear says could you give me an

opportunity that’s a good one so maybe

could you give me an opportunity - bah

bah bah Thiago says can I say could you

give me your hand or your daughter’s

hand if you’re asking someone to marry

you and it’s kind of more formal and a

little bit more old-fashioned yes like

but in that case I think traditionally

the expression is may I have your

daughter’s hand in marriage yeah okay

hello Marcos on Facebook yes Alex let’s

study I see you okay someone says I

understand you well but I can’t speak

what do I have to do like I’ve said

before it’s just a matter of practicing

you just have to force yourself to speak

if you don’t use it you lose it you know

ah nut says could you give me a glass of

wine yes yes that is an excellent

sentence actually I think that was in my

notes somewhere maybe maybe not maybe

not could you give me a glass of wine is

a perfect a perfect sentence a perfect

way to ask someone for help especially

at a bar great okay

could you give me some advice to start

learning English well this is a nice

start doing listening practice and like

finding other ways to study you can use

all you can use we talked about before I

like the PDF we talked about before that

might be another way to help you get

started and help you stay motivated you

can check the link above this video on

Facebook or below this video on YouTube

to find those PDFs maybe those can be

helpful if you’re just getting started

yeah if you’re just getting started

maybe you can check out those PDFs so

they’re kind of little like Boost

materials so getting back to school is

one topic the business one is pretty

good for words in the office personally

I like food so the dining one the the

one for eating at restaurants and cafes

is I think really useful because that’s

a really common thing to do

so check does that if you’re just

getting started that might be a really

good resource to help get you used to a

few a few words here and there okay

ah let’s see hello group Uruguay

let’s see what else do we have

Walid says could you tell me what time

it is please well that depends on your

country right now it is 1122 am here

yes practice makes perfect is Omri

indeed our practice makes progression I

think

practice makes progression Anderson says

could you give me some money

nice one be careful be careful where you

use that question so that’s a that’s a

perfect sentence very nice very nice

okay Joe asks I’m confused do you have

any experiences or do you have

experience oh that’s a good question

both can be correct depending on the

situation for example like do you have a

lot of work experience is correct as a

noun phrase work experience but you can

also ask have you had any experiences in

other countries talking about individual

situations so it depends on the

situation with that question okay

someone on Facebook asked sorry I was

starting on a new question someone on

Facebook asked if my English is a

British English or American English it

is American English I was born in

California I speak west coast with an a

West Coast American accent okay great uh

let’s see hola habla espanol Jose I

don’t speak very much Spanish but okay

Ryan asks how can I learn words nobody

uses like Abyss you really have to just

find those words and look them up when

you see them so like there’s a famous

movie called the abyss that’s that’s one

way to pick up words like watching

movies or watching kind of subculture

topics too

all right hello Stanley from Haiti thank

you for joining good night Andre from

Brazil uh let’s see let’s go to oh I

have a couple more example sentences we

only have a few minutes left so let me

see I have a couple more example

sentences just a second so for general

help questions like at your office with

your friends with your family members

whatever you could do I need help and

then some kind of activity or some

action so for example I need help

cooking dinner or I need help cleaning

the house I need help studying for this

exam

I think the crew is going to make it so

we can see yeah so I need help studying

English I need help getting to the beach

I need help

I don’t know doing something so your

help phrase goes right here at the end

of this sentence so this is a really

good general health advice like I need

help reading the menu if if you’re

reading a menu in a different language

okay ah Bernardo has a nice question on

YouTube could you explain when I have to

use I couldn’t help but yes it has a

different meaning so the word help is

there but this is not a request for help

so the phrase I couldn’t help but while

blah blah usually it’s used in an

expression like I couldn’t help but

notice you got a new haircut so I

couldn’t help but means like it’s

impossible not to or for me like I

couldn’t help but is like like I didn’t

want to notice or maybe it wasn’t on

purpose but this is so outstanding or

this this stood out so much to me I

noticed it was impossible for me not to

notice I couldn’t help

but notice you have a new haircut or you

bought a new car something that it’s

used to express something that’s very

obvious to the speaker something like a

new surprising change usually okay great

um what else what else what else

Oh new people are joining on Facebook

hello Pranjal from India it’s seven

something seven twenty six in the

morning Wow thank you for watching it’s

so early

alright um let’s see maybe we’ll talk

about one more way to ask for help this

one a lot of my students use a strange

pattern with this one so when you want

someone to explain something to you

sometimes my students say can you please

teach me blah blah blah can you please

teach me something something something

so like for example I don’t know how to

turn on a computer instead of please

teach me use the phrase can you show me

or how do i blah blah blah how do I turn

on this car how do I get from Tokyo to

London how do I make a pizza how do I

use YouTube chat how do I find you on

social media how do I all these

questions these are really here this so

this pattern how do i blah blah blah

this is good

how do I use the word abyss for example

so this is a really good way to ask

someone to teach you a process how do I

do something yeah hot tea says how can I

learn a word or how do I learn

vocabulary nice how do I learn

vocabulary study then practice a lot

yeah okay ooh if Jahan station sorry if

I mispronounced your name ask what’s the

difference between to be on a diet and

to go on a diet

to be on a diet means now you are

dieting you are in the diet now you are

eating healthy and exercising maybe to

go on a diet is usually used in the

future tense like I’m going to go on a

diet that means maybe not now but soon

or in the future so to be on a diet is

now to go on a diet probably the future

all right

Angelica says how do I get an answer

from you that’s a nice one so how do I

plus your phrase your question phrase

how do I get an answer from you

great nice one Christian says how do I

study for my exam perfect nice one also

good

also good ah let’s see what else do I

have an English class in Michigan Sandra

asks no I do not I do not ok let’s see

we have lots of people joining on

Facebook and YouTube still ah but we

only have 30 seconds oh my gosh that was

so fast this week ok I have to finish up

Wow someone the person who ran into me

ah I remember you uh the person who ran

into me at Dublin Airport last month hi

thanks very much for watching you

surprised me on that day nice to see you

again

Wow great great ok um let’s see so I

have to finish up sorry crew I click the

mouse I have to finish up today’s

broadcast but next week we’re going to

do another broadcast at the same time so

10 p.m. Eastern Time

this the topic or the key question for

next week is going to be what did you do

last weekend so next week’s topic we’re

going to focus on using the past tense

so past tense to explain your weekend so

if you do something interesting this

weekend please remember it so you can

talk about it in the chat on Facebook or

on YouTube next time so we’ll talk about

this next week it’s 10:00 p.m. Eastern

Time on Wednesdays Wednesday nights

10:00 p.m. Eastern Time so you can

adjust your timezone accordingly as

needed

okay so thanks very much for watching

again this week guys it was great to see

your example sentences that was great

even after the live broadcast you can

leave comments and questions and maybe

we can review them again in next week’s

lesson too so thanks very much please

make sure to check out the the PDFs we

talked about those might be really

useful so on Facebook check the link

above the video on YouTube check the

link below the video and take a look at

that for some more good stuff there all

right I will see you guys again next

week thanks again so much for joining

and have a nice week and a nice weekend

bye bye

you