Introduce Yourself in English in 30 Minutes

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hi everybody my name is Alisha and

welcome back to top words

today’s topic is ten lines you need for

introducing yourself so let’s go hello

it’s nice to meet you hello it’s nice to

meet you you can only use this the first

time that you meet someone if you say

this to somebody after you have met them

already you’re going to see them either

a like you’ve completely forgotten

meeting them or be like you are a very

strange person for saying it’s nice to

meet you again

so when you use this the first time you

can shake hands with someone and say

hello it’s nice to meet you my name is

the next phrase is my name is blah blah

blah

in my case my name is Alicia you can use

this again when you’re introducing

yourself or if you need to reintroduce

yourself you can use this pattern when

you meet somebody at a party for example

you can say my name is blah blah blah my

name is Barbara my name is Stevens you

can shorten this you can say my names my

name is blah blah blah

I’m from after you’ve said your name

after you’ve shaken hands you can say

I’m from the US I’m from Japan I’m from

Turkey

I am from your mom’s house I’m from I’m

from a cave in southern Europe I’m from

your country or I’m from your city I’m

from the future

I live in I live in blah blah blah you

can use your city you can use your

country you can use even maybe if you

live near a certain station you can use

the name of the station where you live

so for example I live in America it’s

fine I live in Los Angeles it’s fine I

live in New York it’s fine so your

neighborhood is fine if someone says

where do you live and you say I live in

an apartment it’s like what so please

use your the region or the location

where you live not the type of place

where you live i’muh if you hear the

question what do you do it it’s asking

about your job in

people don’t say what is your job that’s

not the question that we ask instead the

question is what do you do and the

correct response to that is I’m a or I’m

n bla bla bla

followed by your job title so if someone

says what do you do you can say I’m a

teacher what do you do I’m an engineer

what do you do

I’m donut shop tester

I’m years old when someone asks how old

are you you can say I’m bla bla bla

years old

don’t forget the S at the end of this if

you like you can shorten this phrase to

just I’m plus your age so I’m 65 I’m 13

whatever I’m this many sometimes

children will say that how old are you

they’ll say I’m this many it’s kind of

cute first time you meet someone you

might not ask how old are you if it’s in

a friendly case like a party after

you’ve spoken to the person a little bit

it’s okay but just try to be sensitive

to the context try to be sensitive to

the people around you and if you sense

that maybe there’s a very large age gap

between you it might be better just not

to ask the question at all I enjoy many

of my students say what is your hobby

but that’s not something that native

speakers will say no native speakers say

what is your hobby instead we ask what

do you like to do or what do you do in

your free time this is a much more

natural question than what’s your hobby

the answer to this then is I enjoy or I

like plus a noun phrase so for example

what do you like to do I like listening

to music or I enjoy listening to music

what are you do in your free time I like

watching movies what are you do in your

free time I like baking cakes what do

you do in your free time I enjoy tap

dancing what do you do in your free time

I enjoy making new friends oh one of my

hobbies is one of my hobbies is blah

blah blah with this one it’s probably

better to use a short easily or easy to

understand hobby if you’re explaining a

hobby people are gonna expect that it’s

gonna be something that they know about

like photography or cooking or dancing

or swimming or whatever

so try to pick something that will allow

you to continue the conversation that’s

why movies are cooking or books or you

know sports are a good thing to share

one of my hobbies is snowboarding I’ve

been learning English for if you are

learning English if you’re studying

English you can use this expression if

someone asks you how long have you been

studying English you can say I’ve been

studying English for amount of time or

I’ve been learning English or I’ve been

practicing English or I’ve been speaking

English for a certain amount of time

I’ve been studying English since

elementary school is also okay to use

I’ve been studying English since I was

in college just be careful for is used

for a length of time and since is used

for a specific point in time at which

you started something so you can try and

mix it up and use a few different

expressions there so I’ve been learning

English for a long time I’m still

learning English you should do that okay

I’m learning English at English class

101.com

this probably could be used in response

to where did you learn English or where

are you studying English or how are you

studying English you can respond with

I’m learning English at English class

101.com or I’m learning English at my

school I’m learning English at my

private teachers house for example so a

little bit of grammar in this sentence

why do we use the progressive tense I’m

learning English if you say I’m learning

it sounds like you’re still continuing

your studies if you say I learned

English in English class 101.com

it sounds like you’re finished like you

you’re finished studying there’s nothing

else for you to study so you’re done so

it’s it’s much much more natural to

actually use the progressive I’m

learning or I’m studying when you’re

talking about your studies when you’re

talking about your hobbies than it is to

say I learned or I studied and and and

and so those are ten lines that you need

to introduce yourself and to help give

the other person a little bit of

information and carry the conversation

forward so please try them please go

crazy with them make them your own

thanks very much for joining us for this

episode of top words and we’ll see you

again soon

I’m from your neighbor’s doghouse fish

glub glub oh yes I’d like to go

spelunking in North Africa every summer

welcome to English class 101 coms

English in three minutes the fastest

easiest and most fun way to learn

English hey everyone I’m Alisha in this

series we’re going to learn some easy

ways to ask and answer common questions

in English it’s really useful and it

only takes three minutes in this lesson

you’re going to learn how to ask a

really basic question in a polite but

natural way how old are you in your

English textbook one of the first

lessons may have been how to ask

someone’s age by saying just how old are

you

however in many English language

cultures asking in adults age directly

particularly a woman’s age is not polite

if you suddenly ask how old are you to

someone you’ve just met they’ll

understand you but they might not be too

happy about answering such a blunt and

direct question so how do you find out

someone’s age without offending them you

just add a magic phrase to the beginning

of the question this phrase is do you

mind me asking this is an incredibly

useful phrase that you should definitely

memorize it comes in handy whenever you

want to ask a question that may be a

little personal or come across as a

little too direct native speakers of

English use it all the time so the full

question would be do you mind me asking

how old you are

be sure to pay attention to the word

order of this sentence rather than do

you mind me asking how old are you it’s

do you mind me asking how old you are

the answer to this can be simple I’m 25

years old or just I’m 25 or it can be a

little more detailed if you’ve just had

a birthday you can say I’ve just turned

25 or if you’re about to have a birthday

you can say I’ll turn 25 this month or

I’ll turn 25 in July it’s more natural

here not to give your exact birthday

like July the 9th but just the month so

again to turn this question back on the

asker and find out his or her age all

you have to do is use that other magic

phrase we introduced in previous lessons

how about you here it’s okay not to

worry about being polite since the other

person asked you the question first now

it’s time for Alicia’s advice we

mentioned that asking someone’s age

might not be polite but if you do decide

to ask this question here’s another tip

some people like to reply with another

question how old do you think I am be

careful if you say an age that’s older

than the person’s true age they might be

very offended so it’s always safer to

say a number lower than what you

actually think so if you think the

person looks 40 say 35 and see how happy

they look see you next time want to

speak real English from your first

lesson sign up for your free lifetime

account at English class 101.com hi

everybody welcome back to English topics

my name is Alicia and I’m joined by baby

hi Davey so today our topic is going to

be how to start a conversation in

English so both of us have tried to

prepare a few tips that might help you

as you try to start conversations in

your English language studies so let’s

begin north start first again okay we’re

giving tips on how to start a

conversation and I will start today my

first tip very important I trying to

follow myself right now don’t be shy

very important tip this isn’t really so

much a language learning tip well it

doesn’t seem like a language learning

tip but I

think it really is because whenever you

communicate in a second language or a

foreign language it can be really

nerve-wracking can make you very nervous

very anxious to try and do that

especially if you’re talking to someone

for the first time and so the first

thing is just to remind yourself that

it’s not a big deal and to not be shy

and be confident and if you can maintain

that attitude as you begin to talk to

talk to someone it will be much easier I

think I agree I agree or even like you

say even if you are shy just pretend

that you’re not shy that’s a good tip

you know it’s like you and if you could

just pretend just for a few minutes just

to start the conversation or to continue

a conversation a little bit it can be

good even if you feel shy I agree and

you might find too oftentimes people who

would say that they are shy when they

talk to someone in another language they

can have a different personality it’s a

chance to have a different personality

in a different language so if you tell

yourself that too when you speak English

when you speak into the language you’re

more confident than you are when you

speak your own language yeah I’ve heard

that before actually people who say that

they feel like they’re more outgoing

when they speak English if that’s the

case maybe that’s good for you also just

in general another point about maybe not

only starting conversations but

continuing them we’re comfortable

English language speakers are with

interruptions to some point like you

shouldn’t always interrupt the other

they aren’t very comfortable with us see

he just did it so we’re kind of we’re

very comfortable with it so you don’t

need to wait for an invitation to speak

in a conversation you can just join in

or maybe agree with the person who’s

speaking or disagree with the person

who’s speaking as a way to join a

conversation that’s already in progress

yeah nice one that’s a good one okay I

will share a tip mine are a little bit I

don’t know they’re very dependent on

maybe who you’re talking to maybe what

your relationship is so let’s say for

this one you are in a place where like I

don’t know a restaurant or a bar

or something and you don’t know the

person you’d like to speak to but maybe

I don’t know there’s someone attractive

you’d like to speak to or maybe you want

to speak with the bartender or something

so maybe okay maybe this is better if

you’re trying to speak to a fellow

customer so I have it’s sort of small

make a simple comment about something

happening in the surroundings so this

should be one simple comment at two

something that the other person can

clearly see and three something that you

can agree on easily so for example if

somebody has just walked by the

restaurant wearing like a crazy hat I

don’t know you could say like oh did you

see that guy something like that

something that it’s easy to agree on to

initiate the conversation or maybe I

don’t know there’s a TV in the bar like

whoa did you see that play or something

that maybe you can identify that you

maybe shared with the other person

during the time you’ve been in that

space together so this should be a very

simple comment don’t make a weird

comment here make it make it very very

relaxed and create a relaxed environment

that the other person feels they can

join in easily mmm that’s a very good

tip I don’t know I’m trying to think of

maybe a time that I used this or maybe I

wanted to make a comment like and there

was another person that happened to be

there and we had a moment where we

agreed on something right but then the

conversation didn’t really continue yes

so it’s kind of a good way to test and

see if that other person wants to speak

to you too yes yeah mmm that’s a good

point and it makes me think this isn’t

one of my tips this is an extra tip

you’re getting a free freebie tip now is

I think they’re ever the flying around

to be be patient wait for your opening

too because you might want to talk to

this person next to you but if you just

butt in with a question out of nowhere

it might seem very strange but if you

wait and have have a moment wait for

that guy with the funny hat to walk yeah

and then you have your opening then you

have a natural point that you can enter

the conversation with someone yeah and I

would be patient totally and going back

to your point about not being shy like

do

don’t be so focused on waiting for that

moment that you just pick something

really strange like if I like walked up

to you I don’t know inna Barnes like did

you hear that noise yes I think that’s a

really strange question maybe he did

hear that noise but that’s a really

strange question to introduce yourself

yeah that’s true actually

this this kind of relates to to my my

second tip that’s very similar to to you

to your tip about making a kind of

comment was ask an indirect question and

I noticed a lot of the comments your

your tip was to make a comment but a lot

of your comments the examples you gave

her questions and importantly I think

that those questions should be kind of

indirect questions for example if I’m

standing at the bus stop and I want to

start a conversation with someone else

standing at the bus stop let’s say it’s

very very hot but if I turn to that

person and say do you think it’s hot

that’s very strange but if I say

something like oh it’s pretty hot today

right you know that’s a little bit more

casual a little bit more informal yeah

you don’t want to scare people with

these very direct questions that’s true

that’s true and even even a question

that’s a great example do you think it’s

hot is a really weird question but but

again keeping or giving people that

opportunity to agree with you yeah

you’re throwing a little opinion out

there it’s hot right oh yeah it’s hot

it’s true that’s a really really good

one I totally agree or and I but I think

for that exact same reason I’ve had some

people come up to me and they try to

begin a conversation with how are you

yeah that’s that’s a–that’s a–that’s–

an introduction that you use for people

that you already know yes so don’t try

to start a conversation with how are you

it sounds too familiar and it’s a little

confusing too strangers don’t always

want to tell you how they are that’s

true what if I’m bad I don’t want to

tell you what if I feel bad that day

yeah so don’t use how are you to

introduce yourself nice one

okay Oh DMX um actually okay maybe this

is somewhat related to the one you just

mentioned okay I’ve got okay this is

maybe in a like a party or a social

events that you

I have energetically introduce yourself

and ask a question about where you are

so this might be a little specific but

if you go to a social event where you’re

there to meet people and to speak to

people if you go up to someone and you

just introduce yourself with a big smile

and say hi my name is Alicia have you

ever been to one of these events before

something like that can get the

conversation started but again this is I

feel like it’s a tip that’s good in a

place where maybe everyone is there for

a similar purpose if you do that like on

to use your example at the bus station

it’s a little bit weird or if you’re if

you’re just in public you pass someone

on the street it’s a little strange to

just walk up and introduce someone

energetically but if you’re in a

location where you have this chance

there are a couple of nice little

introductory questions you could use for

events like I don’t that’s one that I

would I’ve used like hi is this your

first time here or who do you know at

this party yeah how did you find out

about this event that sort of similar

kind of question in those situations is

asking someone for help or for

information because it lets that other

person know that you’re not a a scary or

threatening person in that situation

either if you’re asking for help you

know can you can you tell me where the

kitchen is I need to put this in the

refrigerator something like that and

then that shows the other person that

you’re not you’re not an expert on this

you’re asking for their help and that

kind of gives people an easy thing to

engage you to talk about yeah absolutely

for help can be a nice widget yeah

that’s a good point I think asking for

help it also kind of puts you in a

slightly vulnerable position it makes

you seem a little bit like I need help

so you know please take care of me it’s

a little bit interesting so that’s a

good tip too I think

okay I think we’re on to number three

g-free you are my last one is a very

important one this comes at the end

though is uh don’t take it personally if

the person doesn’t want to talk a lot of

times if you try and start a

conversation with a stranger

they don’t always want to talk to you

people try and talk the stranger tries

to talk to me I might be very busy I

might have had

bad day I may not want to talk to them

that doesn’t mean that they’re a bad

person or they can’t speak English or

anything like that so if you have that

experience you know my first tip was

don’t be shot you might be very nervous

about starting a conversation with

someone and then you work up the courage

you go and you ask them a question and

they don’t want to talk to you that’s

okay don’t take it personally I has

nothing to do with you you know you can

find someone else to talk to

mm-hmm that’s true that’s true and I

think that’s especially important

because especially depending on the

culture that you’re from you might have

heard like Oh English speakers

particularly Americans they’re so

friendly or so outgoing then but you

know if a stranger tries to speak to me

or to you maybe we’re gonna ignore you

on the street because we don’t know who

that person is or you know maybe like

you say we’ve had a bad day or whatever

it is there are so many reasons not to

want to talk to a person that you don’t

know so don’t be offended don’t be sad

don’t be discouraged don’t don’t think

that all my my English is so bad this

person didn’t want to talk to me don’t

think that that it could be any any

other reason why someone doesn’t want to

talk to you mm-hmm that’s true that’s

true

nice tip that’s really important okay

then we will move on maybe to our last

one okay so for my last one this is

maybe among people that you have some

acquaintance with so maybe you’re not

super close to them but you’ve seen them

before

or maybe it’s coworkers you’re not super

close to but anyway you’d like to make

your relationship with those people

deeper you can share a story about

something you did recently something

interesting a small short story

don’t tell a long ten-minute story about

I don’t know going shopping for milk on

the weekend that’s moring but something

interesting that you did relatively

recently that maybe they can find

something of interest or something of

value in so maybe you found a new

restaurant that was good maybe you went

to a concert and that was exciting maybe

you met someone interesting so if

there’s something that you can share

about yourself that the other person

might find valuable that’s a good way to

initiate conversation

on that point if I can add another

another free tip oh my gosh on that note

it made me think you spoke earlier about

being vulnerable asking asking for help

can show that you’re vulnerable tell an

embarrassing story that’s good too don’t

don’t brag don’t talk about this great

new car that you bought no one wants to

hear that talk about how you you lost

your car keys immediately after you

bought your new car tell an embarrassing

story tell something that will make the

person laugh and will make you be

vulnerable and and look like a normal

person that’s true that’s true like

telling actually that’s a good strategy

it’s called self deprecation so making

it means to make yourself look bad or to

put yourself in a lower status a lower

position and it can be very effective

for making friends and like making

people laugh I totally do this it’s it’s

actually a lot of fun when you think

about it like a story about something

bad happening is often times more

interesting than a story about something

good happening it’s true so all the best

comedies are about terrible things

happening yeah so if you have something

like a little yeah like you lost your

car keys or you had some kind of funny

episode where maybe you don’t look like

the hero of the story that’s a really

good one to share have you had anything

happened to you recently oh my gosh I

probably have I lost my bag I just came

back from traveling in Europe and my bag

got lost between Dubai Airport and Tokyo

Airport and so my bag didn’t arrive so I

had to go two days without any of my

clothes or anything and then when I

finally got my bag I was like yeah I got

it from the I got it from the delivery

guy I was so happy I opened it up like

my sunscreen and exploded inside my bag

I was like at least I have my objects

okay I have my clothes and thing and

they don’t get sunburned exactly now I

won’t sunburn any of my clothes so yeah

so I mean it’s like a small relatable

small relatable story that maybe someone

else can identify like oh that happened

to me one time and then the conversation

rolls from there so nice tip nice - okay

are you out of are you out of free tips

are those all your free tips that’s all

for today a conversation started good

today we can’t continue this

conversation that’s a different subject

alright well we’ll finish there for

today thanks very much for joining us

for this episode of English topics AV

thanks very much for joining us you for

having me if you liked this video please

make sure to hit the like button and

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please make sure to check us out at

English class 101.com if you have any

ideas for how to start a conversation

that you use please make sure to leave

it in a comment too so we can check it

out thanks very much for watching this

episode and we’ll see you again soon bye

bye hi everybody my name is Alisha and

today we’re gonna be talking about the

top 25 English phrases so let’s get

started the first phrase is hello hello

of course is used as a greeting you can

greet your friends you can greet your

co-workers your family with this phrase

just by saying hello hey hi what’s up

hello sup yo pretty much any time of day

you can use hello hello the next phrase

is good morning good morning is used as

a greeting in the morning you can kind

of feel when morning ends for you good

morning is nice and polite or even just

morning with your close friends or close

co-workers the next phrase is good night

good night is fine we don’t use this to

greet other people we use it when we’re

saying goodbye to other people at night

family members particularly mothers and

fathers to say good night to their

children before they put them to bed you

can say it to your friend and a text

message or in an email if you’ve been

talking for a while good night so the

next word to talk about is goodbye use

it when you say goodbye to your friends

when you leave your friends good bye bye

of course take care have a nice day

peace out

that’s another way to say goodbye okay

the next phrase is I’m plus your name of

course this is a way to introduce

yourself you can use I’m in my case

Alicia I’m Alicia - introduce yourself

in any situation new friend I’m Alicia

okay the next phrase is what’s your name

what’s

is used to ask someone else what their

name is so what is your name sounds a

bit try to use what’s your name

if you forget someone’s name you can say

sorry what’s your name or sorry what’s

your name again

next phrase is nice to meet you nice to

meet you anytime you meet someone new

nice to meet you is fine good to meet

you is a little more casual great to

meet you sounds very excited pleasure to

meet you sounds like maybe a formal

situation or a business context okay the

next phrase is how are you how are you

is an it’s just a friendly way to check

in with the other person you can use it

with friends your family your co-workers

maybe even your boss to a certain degree

how are you

how you doing the next phrase is I’m

fine thanks and you if you saw English

in three minutes we talked a lot about

this phrase instead of I’m fine thank

you and you say I’m good thanks how are

you just shorten it make it a little bit

more natural how are you good how are

you great how are you not so good how

are you okay and so on so when someone

says how are you offer I usually say I’m

good this week I pop a blog give some

information about what you’ve been up to

maybe a hobby something that you did

recently an event something interesting

you saw whatever people want to make

that connection with you and it’s a good

chance for you to continue speaking the

next word is please please as a polite

phrase used when you want something from

someone else you can use this as a

response when someone offers you

something like in a restaurant for

example would you like more water would

you like something to drink

oh please the next phrase is thank you

thank you is used to express your

appreciation you can use thank you with

everybody the next phrase is you’re

welcome you’re welcome when someone says

thank you you can say you’re welcome

no biggie I use no biggie as in no

biggie is short for a no big problem an

X where it is yes yes of course yes

means is any positive expression someone

asks you a question and the answer is a

positive answer you say yes yep uh-huh

yeah we know

next I’m guessing I knew it yep the next

word is no no is a negative response to

something when you have to give a

negative answer so as you can probably

guess

the long form of no is negative I like

to use nope it’s very very casual not

gonna happen my parents would use that

with me to soften that a little bit if

you want to show a negative response to

something like let’s go for dinner

tonight what do you want to do like do

you want to go out not really

hmm no I don’t think so hmm to soften it

the next word is okay okay this word

comes from copy editors okay when they

had to check a manuscript they had to

label the manuscript all clear

AC but because they were copy editors

and they have a very very sick sense of

humor they thought they would mark it

okay for all clear to make a joke

because o and K do not start all and

clear but it caught on among everybody

in the world anyway okay is used to

agree with somebody else well it can be

used actually to express a positive or

kind of a slight negative I feel

transitioning in your conversation you

can say okay now we’re going to talk

about blah blah okay

the next phrase is excuse me excuse me

it’s used to get someone’s attention in

English when you don’t know the other

person for example in a store a

supermarket maybe a stranger on the

street you need to ask directions you

can use excuse me you can use excuse me

in the supermarket excuse me can you

tell me where the hot sauce is if you’ve

done something rude in public you can

use excuse me I personally do not do

drew things in public ever I’m sorry is

the next word we’re gonna talk about I’m

sorry is used to apologize when you have

made a mistake or someone you know it’s

made a mistake and you’re connected to

it or you just feel bad you can use I’m

sorry you made a mistake at work I’m

sorry

you forgot to feed your cat I’m sorry

sorry about that you bump someone next

to you oh sorry what time is it is the

next phrase when you need to check what

time it is what time is it when you ask

someone else what time it is maybe you

say this to yourself to check your watch

check your phone check a clock pretty

straightforward phrase there aren’t

really any short version so that’s an

easy one

where is that plus a location so you can

use this for a building or a store we

don’t we’re not going to use this where

is the for a place a city name or a

state name or a country name too

that you would need to remove the but

where is the bank where is the post

office you can use this to ask

directions to ask for help in your house

or at work where is the copy machine

where is the file

I need where is the bla bla bla where is

the bathroom is perhaps a very important

question to know the next one is may I

use the restroom may I use the restroom

is a polite and soft expression that you

can use if you need to use the toilet

you need to use the washroom and when

you’re at someone’s house for the very

first time when you’re in a place that

your that is new to you you can ask may

I use the restroom more casually can I

go to the bathroom to be very polite you

could say may I go to the bathroom the

next phrase is I would like to order

something you can use this at a

restaurant probably or in any situation

where you need to place an order I’d

like a pizza I like beer can I get the

check please this will be used at a

restaurant when you’ve finished your

meal and it’s time to go can I get the

check please in a very very casual

situation you can just say check please

that’s fine the next phrase is see you

soon see you soon is used with friends

and family members perhaps when you

expect to see them again

soon after saying goodbye to them this

is used at the end of the conversation

you’re going separate directions you see

you soon seeya is also good or just see

you to make it a little more formal you

can say I’ll see you again soon make a

full sentence out of it that way

the next phrases see you later see you

later is very similar to see you soon

but the point is would see you later is

that you’re probably going to meet that

person again later on in the same day

the last phrase is really really is a

very useful word because you can use it

to show you are interested in a

conversation with upward intonation

really really tell me more or to show

that you’re not so interested in the

conversation with downward intonation

really so there are many other words

that you can use similar to really in

this way like seriously or oh oh and so

on so it’s a really good practice for

your intonation so those are 25 very

common words and phrases in English if

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Oh interesting uh-huh okay I see great

fantastic unbelievable gratitude

subjects what do we having for dinner

tonight pizza affirmative

riff on that I am Chris Hardwick

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