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last time we talked about American

supermarkets and how they’re unique this

time we’re going to look at how much it

actually costs to live in New York City

when you think about America perhaps one

of the first things that might come to

mind is the bright lights and the fast

pace of the big city for sure in New

York City everyone who visits wants to

go to the big tourist locations Central

Park Times Square the Statue of Liberty

but how much does it actually cost to

live there in this video we’re going to

talk about the actual living costs of

New York City let’s start with the most

basic thing you need to live in New York

an apartment without an apartment you

can’t really say you live in New York

City but if you want to live in the city

you should be prepared to live in a

small space more than half of the

apartments in New York City are 700

square feet or smaller that’s about 65

square meters this could be for a studio

apartment which has no walls between the

kitchen and the bedroom or it could be a

one-bedroom apartment which does have a

separate bedroom these kinds of places

cost on average 1890 dollars or two

thousand one hundred dollars

respectively so expect to pay a pretty

high price if you want to live in the

city but keep in mind that a separate

payment is required for heat and water

in your apartment for an average

apartment about 915 square feet in New

York City about $145 is required for

utility bills

this covers heating electricity water

and garbage for Internet and phone

however that’s a totally separate

payment one of the best things about

living in New York City is how

convenient things are if you walk down

the street you can quickly find a coffee

shop a bookstore or a supermarket

because of this people who live there

rarely have cars it’s quite expensive to

keep one in the city instead people use

public transportation like buses or the

subway for a monthly transit pass you

can expect to pay about 120 dollars and

if you want to use a taxi fares start at

two dollars and fifty cents New York

City is known for its wide variety of

delicious restaurants you can find food

from all over the world you can get

anything

from a food cart hot dog to an expensive

steak dinner in New York City

because of this wide variety however

it’s hard to determine a specific

average for a meal with living in New

York City you can imagine going to

concerts shows baseball games and so on

but the cost of these can get pretty

pricey if you want to see the latest

film in New York City you can expect to

pay about $15 per ticket if you want to

do something a little more exciting and

check out a Yankees baseball game for

example it’ll cost you about $50 a

ticket and if you want to check out

Broadway and see one of the latest shows

you can expect to pay about a couple

hundred dollars for the best seats there

are lots of ways to determine the cost

of living in New York City but these are

just a couple important aspects so how

does New York City compared to big

cities in your country what are some

things that are different and what else

would you like to know about American

culture let us know in the comments hi

everybody my name is Alicia in this

lesson I’m going to talk about formal

request patterns these are a few

different patterns that you can use when

you’re making formal requests so these

are great for business emails and other

situations where you need to politely

ask for something I’m going to introduce

the patterns and then I’m going to share

a couple of examples as well these are

not the only patterns you can use

they’re just a few ideas to help you get

started so let’s take a look okay first

one let’s begin with the first one

you’ll see some of these patterns today

we’ll use the word wood at the beginning

remember we can use wood as a common

word to begin a request so the first

example includes this would you be so

kind as to something another thing

you’ll see in many of these examples is

the word - before kind of the extra

information portion this is a great hint

that we should follow this part with

some kind of verb so - plus the

infinitive form of over we’ll see a lot

of examples of this so the first one

I’ve included be so kind as to do

something so this is making a request

and this part be so kind as to

that the speaker is asking for the

kindness of the listener or the reader

in doing this action which we’re about

to describe so let’s look at an example

of this would you be so kind as to send

me the files so here the verb we’re

using is send as I said we need to

follow this two with the infinitive form

of the verb send and send me the files

finishes the phrase so would you be so

kind as to send me the files means

please send me the files but it’s a more

formal sounding request you’re saying it

would be really nice of you if you would

send me the files

it just means please send me the files

but it sounds more polite okay let’s

look at another one similar again this

one begins with wood and ends with two

in the introductory part of this pattern

however here we have possible would it

be possible to this sentence or this

pattern rather this is another way of

saying can you can you but would it be

possible to sounds much more formal than

can you or in some cases can I so let’s

look at an example of this one would it

be possible to discuss this later would

it be possible to discuss this later

again we have this 2 here which shows us

we should use the infinitive form of the

verb the regular form of the verb to

discuss this later this part would it be

possible to means can so in other words

can we discuss this later that’s what

this request is but it sounds more

formal would it be possible to discuss

this later we’re connecting if you’re

using this in speech we’re connecting

these sounds would it be becomes would

it be would it be possible would be

possible to discuss this later okay so

this is a good one to use for can

situations if you would use can in a

regular request you could try would it

be possible to in the formal request

okay let’s go along to the next one may

we ask you to may we ask you to this is

a formal way of saying

please please please do this thing so

again we’re ending the pattern with two

here we have this kind of confusing

maybe may we ask you so you know that we

use may to ask for permission to do

something but we’re also using ask so

really this combination make a very soft

request here I’m using we this we could

mean your group or your company or your

department perhaps so may we ask you to

is kind of making yourself sound quite

humble so you’re kind of lowering

yourself and making a request from the

other person but again this just means

please please we’re just using a more

formal expression again we’re going to

need to use the infinitive form here

because we see two at the end of this

introductory section so let’s look at an

example

alright may we ask you to submit the

application by tomorrow so again to our

infinitive form and here may we ask you

to submit the application by tomorrow I

phrased this as a question really if

you’re using please you could just say

please submit the application by

tomorrow period not a question mark here

because we’re being formal and polite we

say may we ask you to submit the

application by tomorrow so may we ask

you it’s like you’re asking permission

to ask for something from someone if

that makes sense so it’s kind of a very

soft expression but we’re phrasing this

as a question here again this just means

please submit the application by

tomorrow okay on to the next one the

next one is also a possibility

expression do you think you would be

able to so here we see would do you

think you would be able to this means

that in the future you’re asking about

someone’s future ability is something

that someone could do or would be able

to do in the future so do you think you

would be able to verb phrase here we

should follow this with the verb again

this part do

you think you would this is maybe kind

of softening it instead of would you be

able to it’s do you think you would be

able to hear as well a pronunciation

point this you would we reduce this to

you’d do you think you’d be able to do

you think you’d be able to in speech in

writing we can use the regular form the

non reduce the non contracted form let’s

look at an example of how to use this do

you think you would be able to have it

ready by tomorrow so this could be a

document for example do you think you

would be able to have it ready by

tomorrow if we want to make this really

really simple do you think you would be

able to have it ready by tomorrow is can

you have it ready by tomorrow that’s

really what this means it’s just a very

formal way of saying that do you think

you would be able to have it ready by

tomorrow so it’s quite soft it’s like

giving the other person a chance to say

no I’m really busy but it means can you

can you have it ready by tomorrow do you

think you would be able to have it ready

by tomorrow quite nice okay let’s move

along to the next one again we’re

starting this with wood so another soft

request pattern would you have some time

available to so this is asking about

someone’s schedule would you have some

time available to verb we need to follow

this with the verb so let’s look at the

example would you have some time

available to chat about this so again

here’s our to our verb to chat about

this in other case this just means do

you have time to chat about this but

this would you have some time available

in the future

in other words or do you think that it

would be possible to chat about this is

another way to say that so just a quite

formal expression again do you have time

to chat in other words okay let’s move

along to the next one for very kind of

direct requests but that are also formal

can use a pattern like this I would like

to request I would like to request here

you notice there’s no - at the end of

this so we should probably use a noun

phrase here there’s something that you

want to receive so I would like to

request something example I would like

to request your attendance at the

meeting I would like to request your

attendance at the meeting this is a

formal sentence which means please come

to the meeting please come to the

meeting so I would like to request you

can imagine this as meaning I want or a

need or please do this I would like to

request something I would like to

request a a letter I would like to

request an application form please I

would like to request your attendance at

the meeting as well so these mean I want

something but as I’ve gone over here try

to avoid using some of these expressions

informal requests I want and I need can

sound very casual and too direct

especially in business situations when

you’re making a request I tend to avoid

using these if you’re trying to give

some supporting information or your

requests maybe that’s okay so for

example I would like to request your

attendance at the meeting because I need

your approval for my project for example

in that case using I need could be okay

but if you make your request your first

kind of introduction to your request

using I want or I need in some cases it

might sound a little too direct

so please kind of be cautious I tend to

avoid these same thing with can I can I

can sound a little bit casual sometimes

so you can kind of feel the situation

and how close you are to the person

you’re speaking to or writing to okay

let’s move along to the next one the

next one is great in emails and written

correspondence so this is when you are

maybe introducing yourself in an email

or you’re introducing a request in an

email I am writing to request this is

very clear I like to use this when I’m

right

to someone that I don’t know I use this

after I introduce myself

hi my name is Alicia I’m from ABC

company and I am writing to request so

this is in other words why am i writing

to this person so I’m writing to request

a meeting I’m writing to request to

request this document for example I’m

writing to request noun phrase Here I am

writing to request a letter of

recommendation so in other words this is

the thing I want I’m writing to request

this thing this is great to use in

emails when there’s some specific thing

that you want and you want to describe

it quickly and clearly that’s quite nice

alright let’s move along to the next one

when you need to ask permission to do

something so here you’ll see we go back

to this too at the end of the pattern

meaning we should use a verb here may I

or may we have permission to in other

words is it okay to but this is a formal

way to ask permission example sentence

example sentence may I have permission

to use your video in an article so this

is actually I think this is a similar

similar to a comment we received on the

channel may I have your permission to

use your video in an article in this

case so in other words is it okay if I

use your video in an article this is a

much more formal a much nicer way to ask

if something is okay to do or not all

right let’s move on to the last pattern

for today

could you please could do you please

here you’ll notice I’ve used you you can

change this if you’ve changed this to

like could I please it means you want

something like you want to receive

something here you’re asking for someone

else to do something for you could you

please do something

example could you please let me know if

this is acceptable so this part let me

know if this is acceptable means please

let me know if this is okay acceptable

means okay really

but more formal so could you please let

me know if this is okay is what this

means but you can change this this you

to whoever like could he please give me

the information or could I please meet

with you later for example you can

change this could this could you

depending on the situation depending on

who is giving and who is receiving

information or a favor or so on so this

one there’s quite a lot of flexibility

with this so keep that in mind okay so

those are a few different patterns that

you can use when you’re making formal

requests so as I said this is really

good for business emails and formal

situation so I hope that you got some

new ideas of course if there’s something

else that you like to use in your formal

requests please let us know in the

comments hi everybody my name is Alisha

in this lesson I’m going to talk about

how to make negative requests by

negative requests I mean how to make

requests for someone not to do something

or to stop a behavior so I’m going to

talk about some formal and some very

casual examples of this I hope that it’s

useful let’s get started all right first

one the first one is probably the most

useful and the easiest to remember it’s

kind of polite a little bit but it’s

also very clear and direct the pattern

is please don’t verb please don’t verb

so put any verb here in the regular like

the plain infinitive form no change to

the verb just please don’t plus a

regular verb example please don’t take

my pens please don’t fire her so in

these examples my verbs are take and

fire please don’t take my pens

please don’t fire her so we can make

very simple ones too like please don’t

sit there or please don’t smoke for

example these are very quick short

direct easy to understand requests to

stop or not to do something okay let’s

go to a very formal expression you might

see this on signs or you might see this

in official rules in regular

policies for example this is not

something that is commonly used in

everyday speech please refrain from verb

ing so we tend to use the ing form of

the verb here please refrain from please

refrain from this refrain from means

don’t please don’t and instead of using

the regular infinitive form of the verb

here we use the ing form here so this is

like the more formal version of the

first pattern

please don’t burp to make it more formal

please refrain from verb in examples

please refrain from feeding the pigeons

so here feeding is in the ing form

please refrain from feeding the pigeons

if I want to use another simpler example

like in this sentence I used please

don’t smoke we could use that here

please refrain from smoking that’s a

very common one that you might see

posted in restaurants like on signs

please refrain from smoking please

refrain from ing form for a formal way

to say don’t do this behavior okay let’s

go on to three examples that are very

casual these are ones you’ll use with

kids

you’ll hear among close friends family

members and in some cases these are the

easiest to use because they’re so direct

first one stop verb + ing so this is

very very direct there’s no please

there’s no could you it’s just stop so

this is a very direct request stop verb

in examples stop hitting your sister

hitting is the ing form stop hitting

your sister stop looking at me so these

are very direct so we can imagine these

might be from like a parent to their

child or perhaps us to a close friend

for example so these are used in

situations where we’re very close to the

listener stop

ing in the verb form okay let’s go to

another one don’t plus a verb

sometimes if

the verb is very clear if the action is

very clear we drop the verb and we

extend this don’t sound so let’s look at

some examples with a verb first don’t

plus a verb it’s just like this please

don’t verb but even more direct more

casual don’t put your elbows on the

table so elbows remember this part of

your body and putting it on a table like

at a dinner table for example is

considered rude so don’t put your elbows

on the table don’t bless our verb and

some extra information here don’t put

your elbows on the table don’t chew with

your mouth open so chewing is the action

this action of your mouth and chewing

with your mouth open instead of closing

your mouth as you chew is also

considered rude so these are a couple

quick room maybe reminders from a mother

or father or other parent figure don’t

put your elbows on the table don’t chew

with your mouth open

don’t plus a verb so you might hear

especially young kids and kind of adults

who are having a little bit of fun with

language you might hear the verb getting

dropped so a great example would be mmm

like if a kid is fighting with their

brother or sister and the kid is getting

punched like there’s someone like that’s

hitting the kid the kid might just say

don’t

so because the action they want to stop

is quite clear like don’t hit me is what

the is what the speaker the little kid

means but they drop the the verb because

it’s very clear the unpleasant action is

very very clear in those cases you might

hear speakers drop the verb completely

don’t when it’s very clear we know which

action we don’t want so you might hear

that in lots of cases though we do

include the verb okay let’s go to

another one though a pair stop it and

stop that stop it and stop that so here

the difference is it and that this just

depends on the speaker’s feeling really

stop it means stop the behavior stop

that also it means stop the behavior

stop that is probably used

more when we want to point out a

behavior a little bit removed from us so

if I’m watching bad behavior across the

room I could say stop that stop that I

could say stop it as well if I want to

it just kind of depends on the speakers

the speaker’s mood a little bit so stop

it or stop that or quick commands again

often from parents to mean stop that

behavior to stop that behavior stop it

or stop that so you can use both of

those um maybe a question some of you

might have stop this stop this we don’t

use that one very much stop you could

say stop this car for example if you

want to talk about an object or

something that is moving that you want

to stop moving you could say stop this

car or stop this bus for example but

when you’re talking about behavior we

don’t use stop this we say stop that or

stop it interesting point okay let’s go

along to a very casual kind of more

common in the last maybe 10 to 15 years

I would imagine I’m not sure

specifically but this is when we see a

lot on the Internet these days and a lot

used among young people could you not

plus maybe do that sometimes this is

dropped so this is very similar to don’t

but what makes this interesting is it’s

phrased as a polite expression could you

could you is use in polite requests here

we’re using not though so could you not

do something could you not do that this

is actually not used in formal

situations yes we use could and you here

making us think oh well maybe it’s

formal but this is actually a very

casual expression could you not do that

we use this with that sort of intonation

could you not do that we use it with

close friends only

so examples could you not post such

embarrassing pictures of me online so

this is used with someone that we’re

quite close to we

make kind of a direct and slightly

sarcastic maybe request sometimes to

people so again as I talked about with

don’t if the action is very clear we can

drop this whole part of the sentence and

just keep could you not so if for

example maybe a close friend is singing

really really loudly in my ear I could

say could you not

or I could say could you not do that

which means please stop please stop so

this is kind of an interesting an

interesting pattern it sounds kind of

formal it seems like it could be formal

but it’s not actually it’s quite it’s

quite casual okay let’s go on to the

last one for today this one is a formal

expression if you could please not verb

we would appreciate it if you could

please not verb we would appreciate it

so again this might come from maybe a

service staff or you might see this on a

I don’t know some other kind of

gathering place where lots of people

visit so if you could please not regular

verb form we would appreciate it so a

formal expression at the beginning and

at the end so example if you could

please not feed the animals at the zoo

we would appreciate it so here’s my verb

feed the animals at the zoo I have an

object here we would appreciate it

or if you could please not smoke we

would appreciate it

so this is a formal request not to do

something and we include an appreciation

expression too so this is another nice

formal expression you can use if you

forget though this one is maybe the

easiest to remember it’s good and polite

situations good and casual situations

please don’t burp pretty simple so I

hope that this was useful for you of

course if you have some other patterns

that you know of or if you have any

questions please feel free to let us

know in the comment section

let’s begin with the basic definition of

this verb the basic definition of the

verb to put is to place something in a

location examples put your bag over

there don’t put your feet on the sofa

let’s look at some conjugations for this

verb now present put puts past put past

participle put progressive pudding

let’s talk about some additional

meanings for the verb to put the first

one is to write to write examples

put your name on this line she put her

name on the list so when we say put in

this way we refer to writing so you’re

adding some information to a written

document or a typed document as well so

can mean to write or like to type

information so put your name on this

line means like write your name or type

your name on this line in the second

example sentence she put her name on the

list it means the same thing she wrote

her name on the list or she added her

name to a list in some way it means

writing information ok let’s go on to

the second additional meaning the second

additional meaning is to use words to

express something to use words to

express something examples how should I

put this you’re putting it quite simply

so we can replace the word put with

express like how should i express this

in the first example sentence but we use

put because put sounds much less formal

than to express how should i express

this it sounds way too formal way too

polite instead we say how should I put

this we use that expression when we’re

not quite sure how to say something like

we’re maybe talking about a sensitive

topic and we don’t know the correct

words to use or it’s difficult to

explain you can say how should I put

this in the second example sentence

you’re putting it quite simply it means

you’re expressing things quite simply so

maybe it’s a complex situation but the

listener is explaining things or

expressing things maybe too simply so

the speaker in this case could say it

you’re putting it quite simply ok let’s

go on to the third meaning the third

meaning is rather open and kind of vague

which is to cause to be in a situation

to cause to be in a situation let’s look

at some examples this change puts the

whole company at risk you’re terrible

driving puts us all in danger so in

these examples we see put is used to

refer to a situation that some group of

people or some person is caused to be in

so in the first example sentence this

change puts the whole company at risk

this change causes the whole company to

be at risk in a situation of risk in a

condition of risk we use put to refer to

that to refer to being caused to be in

the situation of risk

the second example sentence is the same

your terrible driving this is the reason

why the people are in danger in this

example sentence your terrible driving

puts us all in danger your terrible

driving causes us all to be in a

condition of danger it’s very clumsy but

we use the verb put to make this quite

short and easy to say your terrible

driving puts us all in danger ok

there are so many variations so many

phrasal verbs to use with put yeah so

check and dictionary for more these are

just a few I’m going to introduce but

check a dictionary for this the first

variation for the verb put is put aside

to put aside so to put aside means to

stop thinking about something to seize

or to pause and activity while you do

something else

examples put aside your worries and

relax for a day I put my phone aside and

tried to focus on my work so in both of

these examples sentences we see that one

thing is kind of being moved away from

the focus so for example in the first

example sentence put aside your worries

it means like stop thinking about your

worries like put those to the side in

your mind like like don’t think about

those things for a while

so in the second example sentence I’m

talking about my phone where I’m saying

I can literally put my phone aside put

my phone to the side of the thing I’m

doing and focus on my work I put my

phone aside so we can use this to talk

about a concept in our minds or to talk

about a physical object as well okay

let’s go on to the next variation so the

next variation is to put someone down it

means to disrespect someone or to make

fun of someone to make them feel bad

about themselves some examples don’t put

down your classmates it’s rude his boss

keeps putting him down in front of his

co-workers so in both of these examples

we see situations where one person is

being disrespected by another person so

don’t put down your classmates it’s rude

so this in this case the listener is

maybe a kid in school who is

disrespectful to his or her classmates

so a parent or a teacher might say don’t

put down meaning don’t disrespect your

classmates don’t be mean to your

classmates don’t make fun of your

classmates so you know be kind to them

in other words don’t put down your

classmates

you could also say don’t put your

classmates down if you like that’s fine

too in the second example sentence we

see a work situation like his boss

always puts him down in front of his

coworkers means the boss disrespects

this person in front

his co-workers so it’s a disrespectful

situation again but one point about this

the expression to put someone down

refers to disrespect with regard to

humans however when talking about

animals like we had to put the cat down

and we had to put the dog down

it means usually due to some serious

sickness or some serious injury or

illness the owners of the pet usually a

pet or the animal decide that the pet

should have doctor-assisted death so to

put down an animal means to choose to

allow the animal to die peacefully

instead of suffering so we used that

expression I had to put my cat down this

is a much more soft expression than the

doctor killed my cat which is

essentially what happens but it’s

because of some kind of suffering or

some kind of illness or injury the owner

wants to prevent we use the expression

to put an animal down in those cases we

do not use this for people we don’t say

I had to put my brother down though we

do actually have an expression for

babies which which we use when we put

babies to bed like I’m going to put down

the baby for bed we do have that but

please be cautious of the differences

between animals and humans with this

expression to put someone down has very

different meanings ok let’s go on to the

next variation which is to put up with

to put up with means to tolerate

something examples I don’t want to put

up with this crazy schedule anymore

don’t put up with their bad behavior in

these examples put up with refers to

tolerating or being able to stand

something or continuing to live with

something in the first example sentence

I can’t put up with this crazy schedule

anymore means I don’t want to live with

this crazy schedule anymore I can’t

stand it I don’t want to do it anymore

in the second example sentence don’t put

up with their bad behavior it means

don’t tolerate their bad behavior so put

up with something means like to continue

living with something and we often see

it in the negative form as and don’t put

up with something

okay so those are a few new ways I hope

to use the verb put I hope that you

found something new and as I said there

are a lot of phrasal verbs that can be

used with put so please check a

dictionary if you’d like to see some

more how to improve your language and

speak more through preparation do you

think it’s possible to speak more of

your target language by preparing lines

ahead of time today you’re going to

learn one why you should prepare for

conversations ahead of time and two how

you can prepare for conversations in

your target language if you’ve always

wanted to speak more of your target

language but didn’t know how this tactic

will give you more to talk about how to

improve your language and speak more

through preparation okay let’s get into

part 1 why you should prepare for

conversations ahead of time if you’re a

beginner you can probably relate to this

when it comes to speaking you tend to

run out of things to say and that’s

because you don’t know enough of the

language to express yourself and that’s

where preparation comes in you may think

that the conversations we have in our

daily lives are spontaneous that you

can’t prepare for them you’re right to

an extent but imagine meeting someone

for the first time both of you will go

through some common questions and

phrases like what’s your name my name is

where are you from and how long have you

been studying the language as a language

learner you’ll have these kinds of

conversations with almost every native

you meet guaranteed they’ll always ask

you about how long and how you’ve been

learning and even with your friends some

conversations start the same way for

example you say things like hey how are

you how are things how was your weekend

my weekend was good and you let’s say

you went to a restaurant this weekend

man now you want to talk about it well

that allows you to prepare and learn

some phrases like I went to a restaurant

the restaurant had delicious food the

point is some questions and phrases come

up often in conversations so it makes

total sense to master them ahead of time

and you can always plan ahead and

prepare for things you want to talk

about when it comes time to speak you

know what to say how to respond and you

don’t

out of talking points as quickly so how

do you prepare let’s jump into part two

the first thing you can do to prepare is

check out our 25 questions you need to

know lesson series this series is

specifically designed to help you with

the first time conversations you’ll have

with native speakers you’ll learn the 25

most common questions and answers used

in conversations just listen to the

lessons repeat out loud then put what

you learn to use these will serve as

talking points so you can keep your

conversations going number 2 print out

the curriculum for this lesson series so

you can review all of the lessons at

once the curriculum gives you the lines

and vocabulary used in all lessons up

front so you can use this to review key

questions and responses this will allow

you to control conversations and ask

questions instead of just having the

native speaker ask you all the questions

in other words you’ll sound like a fluid

confident and experienced speaker number

three check out our printable

conversation cheat sheets this is

another free resource that gives you

lines and words for all kinds of topics

for example talking about hobbies your

family and much more number four ask

yourself what do you want to talk about

come up with some topics and for each

topic write out potential questions and

phrases that would come up in a

conversation for example if you want to

talk about restaurants you can have

lines like my favorite restaurant is my

favorite food is what’s your favorite

restaurant and then run these lines

through a translation app it won’t be

perfect but it will give you lines to

use that you can correct later number

five look for lessons that are related

to your topics with our lesson library

on our site we have hundreds of lessons

that teach you conversations so if

you’re looking for lessons related to

restaurants and food you’ll get all

kinds of conversations that you can use

for yourself and number six if you’re a

Premium Plus user get in touch with your

teacher via my teacher and try a

conversation with them they’ll help you

every step of the way

correct your writing and give you the

lines to use in a conversation that way

you can prepare ahead of time

when it comes time to speak you’ll know

what to say all right everyone here’s a

challenge for you

yes everyone watching this record a

30-second to 1 minute video or audio

clip tell us what’s your language

learning goal for 2020 if you do you’ll

win a one month premium flush

subscription to submit click on the link

in the description sign up for your free

lifetime account then fill out the form

attach the audio or video file and press

submit we may feature you in next

month’s episode so a lot of learners

will see you at your progress and will

hopefully get inspired to improve and

master the language to submit a

recording click the link in the

description and follow the instructions

on the page so thank you for watching

this episode of monthly review next time

we’ll talk about how to start

conversations talking points for

language learners most people don’t like

to hear this but consistent hard work is

one of the biggest factors in your

language learning success the course or

method you choose makes a difference too

but at the end of the day you write or

die by the work you put in the quantity

of time spent studying language doesn’t

necessarily determine the quality of

your study spending 3 hours a day

watching movies doesn’t help you learn

much if you’re not actively engaging

with the language in this video we’ll

talk about 3 ways to actively engage

your mind while studying a new language

number 1 think of your brain as a muscle

you’re probably familiar with the phrase

feel the burn

or maybe no pain no gain if you’ve been

to your local gym recently there’s a

chance you might have heard one of these

phrases or seen them plastered on a wall

there’s an idea in the world of sports

and workouts that the discomfort you

feel when running pumping iron or doing

some other physical activity is what

brings results during a healthy workout

the muscles of the body are effective at

a microscopic level the discomfort you

feel is your muscles being pushed to

their limit it’s the limit pushing that

strengthens your muscles so that over

time your performance increases in the

context of language learning it’s

helpful to think of your brain as a

muscle just as we need to push

physical limits when exercising we also

need to push our mental limits when

learning a foreign language

have we ever studied or practiced your

target language in a way that left you

tired or even exhausted if so you’ve

experienced what it’s like to push your

brain out of its linguistic comfort zone

number two practice active listening one

of the easiest ways to push your

language skills is to practice active

listening active listening is when you

listen to someone speaking your target

language and you do your best to

understand what you hear the best way to

accomplish this is by using audio that

you can’t completely understand on the

first listen preferably you want to use

audio that has subtitles or transcripts

for you to double-check your

understanding after you listen to it you

can use movies YouTube clips or even our

language program which has very useful

transcripts for each lesson during a

practice session you should listen to

the audios several times the first time

around it’s okay if little to no words

stick out to you simply make a mental

note of any words or sounds you

recognize the second time you listen

you’re likely to recognize a little more

than you did the previous time expect