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expire says hi Alicia I’ve noticed some

expressions that use AZ plus adverb plus

AZ for example as soon as can you tell

me about the adverbs that I can use this

with and explain all about it sure

okay first let’s look at a couple of

basic ways that you can use this pattern

so we’ll talk about as soon as a little

bit later because it’s a little bit

different but we can use AZ plus adverb

plus AZ or AZ plus adjective plus AZ to

show that something is equal to

something else for example Sarah sing

as beautifully as Kim Jeff is as tall as

Dave so these examples mean that person

a and person B are equal in terms of

something in the first example sentence

Sarah and Kim sing equally beautifully

in the second example sentence Jeff and

Dave have equal Heights so as plus

adjective or as plus adverb plus AZ

refers to two things that are equal in

some way so that’s one way of using this

as soon as your example is a bit

different from this we use as soon as to

mean that one action will be done or one

action will occur immediately after

another action for example will leave as

soon as you finish your drink so that

means that one action leaving will

happen immediately after the other

action finishing a drink so we’ll leave

as soon as you finish your drink means

we’ll leave immediately after or just

after you finish your drink so this is

kind of different we’re not using it to

make a comparison or to say that

something is equal to something else

this is kind of a set expression which

means immediately following something

else another expression that uses this

as plus something plus as pattern is as

long as as long as so as long as means

only if for example I can go to the

party as long as I finish my homework so

another way to say this is I can go to

the party only if I finish my homework

meaning if I do not finish my homework I

cannot go to the party so as long as is

another way to do that another pattern

is with few and with little and we use

this when we want to emphasize small

quantities of things we use as few as or

as little as for example as few as 60

people attended the seminar as few as

half of the students passed the class

and as few as six stood

attended the class so this means that

like six or sixty or whatever the number

is was like a small amount compared to

maybe what was expected so we use as few

as or as little as to express that keep

in mind that this doesn’t really matter

regarding uncountable or countable nouns

we use this with both on the other hand

when you want to talk about large

amounts of things you can use as many as

to do that so for example as many as

1,000 people volunteered for the event

or as many as 60 students entered to win

the contest so that kind of emphasizes

that a large amount or perhaps more of

something than expected happened or

occurred as much as is another

expression that follows this as

something as pattern but as much as has

some different uses than as many as we

can use as much as to refer to something

that is equal as I talked about at the

very beginning to this answer as in she

earns as much as he does or she drinks

as much wine as he does so that refers

to equal amounts of something we can

also use it to talk about like

activities we enjoy or activities we

feel something for for example he likes

cooking as much as he likes watching

movies so that expresses equality

there’s also one kind of strange use of

as much as which is an examples like as

much as I like the new guy at the office

I don’t think he’s going to stay at the

company long or as much as I want to go

to that new restaurant I don’t have a

budget for it this week

so this use of as much as means like

despite or even though so like despite

how much I like that new guy or even

though I really like that new guy I

can’t see him at the company for very

long or something like that so we use as

much as usually at the beginning of a

clause to mean despite or even though so

this is a quick introduction to some

very common as something as pattern some

of which use adverbs but I hope that

this helps answer your question thanks

very much

ok let’s move on to your next

question next question comes from amar

hi amar amar says hi Alicia is there any

difference between these day by day and

by the day minute by minute

and by the minute hour by hour and by

the hour yes there are some differences

first let’s look at one group of these

let’s look at day by day hour by hour

and minute by minute we use these

expressions to mean that something

happens gradually something maybe

changes gradually a condition or a state

changes gradually over a period of time

so for example day by day she worked on

her project until it was finished or

minute by minute she grew hungrier and

hungrier hour by hour he got more and

more worried so each of these

expressions shows how much time passed

like what was the length of time of that

activity in the first example sentence

day by day it means that she worked on

her project over a period of days in the

second example sentence over several

minutes

she grew hungrier and hungrier in the

third example sentence over a period of

hours he got more and more worried so we

use this pattern to show like the

gradual progression of something or

gradual change in something we can use

the second pattern you introduced this

by the day or by the hour or by the

minute to do it but we need to change

the sentences slightly for example her

project progressed by the day she grew

hungrier by the minute he became more

and more worried by the hour so when

you’re using this by the day or by the

minute or by the hour pattern you need

to make sure that the subject of your

sentence is the thing that is changing

so in some cases the thing that is

changing might be separate from like the

person who is doing the activity this is

especially the case for the first

example sentence when using that day by

day pattern I said

by day she worked on her project until

it was finished that’s fine but when I’m

using this by the day pattern I need to

make the thing that is changing the

subject of my sentence so in this case

her project progressed by the day so

that means her project the thing that is

changing progressed so that means it

moved forward by the day so this pattern

personally I don’t use this one so much

I think I might use the first style a

little bit more commonly the final point

for my answer to this question is about

the second group of expressions we can

use these when we’re talking about

prices for goods or for services so

let’s imagine that we are renting an

office space to rent the office space by

the day it’s $70 to rent the office

space by the minute it’s 20 cents and to

rent the office space by the hour it’s

ten dollars so we use by the minute or

by the hour or by the day or maybe by

the week perhaps in some cases do you

talk about prices for time periods of

things so you may see this if again

you’re like renting a space or you need

to buy some goods or a service or

something and the available prices are

in units of time so this is another case

where you might see this so I hope that

this answer helps you thanks very much

for the question okay let’s move on to

your next question next question comes

from van anh hi van on Van anchez I’m

very confused about the conversion of

adverbs of time in reported speech for

example the rules say today needs to be

turned into that day tomorrow becomes

the next day and yesterday becomes the

day before why is that also why do

people who are learning English as a

second language need to learn about

reported speech and direct and indirect

speech by native speakers don’t mmm

first question I wouldn’t say that these

are rules there’s not a rule about using

tomorrow or yesterday or the next day or

whatever what’s important when you’re

reporting speech is chickens

sitter the relationship between your

conversation to the present point in

time so for example if you and I had a

conversation before I started recording

this video about like some plan we have

for two days in the future and then I

want to report that to our mutual friend

the next day so tomorrow now I would say

hey I talked to van yesterday or van

told me about this yesterday or I want

to talk to you about tomorrow’s plan

I talked to van about it yesterday so

what’s important is the relationship

between that conversation the

conversation where you’re reporting

something and the actual conversation

that you’re referring to so that

relationship is what’s important so I

wouldn’t say like the next day I would

say tomorrow because it’s quite natural

it is natural to use the next day if

it’s like something that was in the past

or it’s not easy to use tomorrow or

yesterday so if we think about a

different example like if I want to talk

about a meeting that happened two weeks

ago then I would probably use that day

or the next day so for example I could

say on that day my manager said my

project was a great success the next day

I received a promotion so in that case

on that day refers to the day of the

meeting so maybe I don’t need to be

specific then the next day refers to the

day following the meeting I cannot use

tomorrow in that case because tomorrow

is referencing only the day after the

present so tomorrow has a very specific

use the next day refers to the next day

in the story so we can’t use tomorrow or

yesterday loosely we can use the next

day or the day before or the day prior

to talk about like past events or even

future events as well too but tomorrow

today and yesterday are very like

constrained so it’s kind of strict our

use of those we need to use those when

referring to the present point in time

so please keep this in mind so don’t

worry about like following a specific

rule for reporting speech in this way

think about your relationship to the

conversation you’re having now and the

conversation about which you are

reporting that’s what’s important here

so this will get easier with time and

with practice and if it’s helpful you

might take a look at a calendar while

you try to think about how to report

speech and it might kind of help you

visualize how to explain things in the

best way regarding your second question

native speakers do learn about reporting

speech and reporting like indirect and

direct speech we just learn it naturally

as speakers of any language do so this

is something for everybody to learn and

that everybody uses I hope that this

helps you thanks for the question okay

let’s move on to your next question next

question comes from Khalil hi Khalil

Khalil says hi Alicia how do I get

better at pronouncing P and B in words

like probably responsible purple back

pack bath path and so on ah well you

already know that these letters are

these sounds are challenging for you so

the next step really is to practice I

would say when you practice

pronunciation - if it’s something that

you can’t quite get the hang of like you

feel like you’re trying really hard but

you can’t quite make the sound try

practicing a bit in front of a mirror

and look at the way a native speaker

says those sounds so Google or find on

youtube a video of someone saying these

sounds so it’s not just listening but

you want to actually see someone making

these sounds and try to make your mouth

make the same motions as the native

speaker so this might feel a little bit

uncomfortable at first like when I teach

pronunciation lessons with my students

they feel like a little uncomfortable or

they laugh because we have to use like

sounds in English that they don’t use in

their native language and it feels

strange to them so if it feels strange

that’s okay like try to push yourself to

make a new sound so for example when

you’re making a piece ound puff you need

to really like pull your lips in mmm to

make that sound so you

can’t make a peace ound with a B sound

mount position so it’s going to sound

like but you need to make a gesture sort

of or a motion with your mouth

so try practicing in front of a mirror

and see if you can make your mouth

motions match the motions of a native

speaker and if you have trouble

pronouncing the whole word like probably

in one go try breaking it down into

syllables so probably and then try to

connect the syllables together so ibly

or Probab something like that so break

the words down until you feel

comfortable that you’re pronouncing them

correctly so I hope that this helps and

good luck with your pronunciation

studies thanks very much for the

question ok

let’s move on to your next question next

question comes from Phoenix hi Phoenix

Phoenix says hi Alicia I am Phoenix from

Vietnam could you explain the difference

between bar pub beer club and beer

garden

thanks a million ok sure a bar is a

place where alcoholic drinks are served

bars can be casual they can be very

luxurious perhaps they have a few snacks

but usually snacks are like maybe nuts

or maybe like dried fruit or something

like that so a bar is a place primarily

usually for alcoholic drinks a pub is a

bit more of a casual place a pub has

kind of a neighborhood feel it’s usually

not like a luxurious place the probably

most popular drink and a pub is beer and

you can get food at a pub it’s usually

not super healthy it’s usually like

fried foods or like meat or maybe stews

that kind of thing so it’s often this

very like hearty kind of homestyle

cooking at pubs a beer club a beer club

is not something that we have at least

in the u.s. that’s not a word that we

really use in English that’s not a word

we use in English at all together a beer

club separately that could refer to a

group of people that gets together to

drink beer or maybe they have some kind

of membership system where they exchange

beer I don’t know

so it could be a

your club people who enjoy a beer

together we do have the word beer bar

which refers to a certain type of bar

that serves just specialty beers so that

is a word a beer bar you might also hear

the word beer pub which is like a more

casual beer bar finally a beer garden is

a place outside usually it like a

festival or some other kind of event

where people can drink beer outside so

it’s just like kind of like what it

sounds you can usually drink beer in

like a grassy area outside so that’s

called a beer garden I hope that this

helps you thanks very much for the

question Elektra from Greece could you

please explain gerron’s to us sure a

gerund is a verb in the ing form so

using it in this way makes it a noun we

can use it as a noun in a sentence for

example she likes cooking or he hates

hiking so in these sentences the words

that end in ing are gerunds in the first

sentence cooking in the second sentence

hiking we can use jaren’s and the

infinitive forms of verbs sometimes

interchangeably so the infinitive form

of a verb is 2 plus the base form of the

verb for example she likes to cook or he

likes to hike a very common question is

when do I use a gerund when do I use an

infinitive and the question is quite big

it’s way too big to answer in this

series the reason is that there are many

different groups of verbs that tend to

take jaren’s or that tend to take

infinitives but there are exceptions all

over the place so it’s quite challenging

to make a rule or a guide specifically

for jaren’s or specifically for

infinitives so this is a quick

introduction to what a gerund is it’s a

verb that takes an ING ending and is

used as a noun in a sentence I hope that

this helps you thanks very much for the

question ok let’s move on to your next

question next question comes from El

Hassan Ahmed hello al hassan al hassan

says I sometimes hear people say better

instead of improve as if it is a verb is

that formal for

example think about how to better

yourself also I heard someone say more

better and it sounded strange to me I

mean can I say he is more taller than me

I don’t think I can thanks a lot

okay yes exactly to better means to

improve and yes it does sound a little

bit more polite a little bit more formal

like you should better yourself you

should improve yourself or she aims to

better her students meaning she aims to

improve her students so yes you can use

better to mean improve in this way just

make sure you use it as a verb to answer

your second question though more better

as you’ve said yes is grammatically

incorrect and you’re also correct you

cannot say he is more taller than me

that’s also incorrect so the reason that

you might hear something like this is

because native speakers often like to

make grammatical mistakes on purpose to

sound funny like to sound childish or

like to make a joke so a very popular

one is to use the expression more better

like ah that’s more better it sounds

kind of cute like a child who hasn’t

learned all of the grammar rules of

English yet they might say more better

instead of just better so this is maybe

like a way that someone could joke

around or just try to sound more

friendly or kind of cute'

in their speaking thanks very much for

the question I hope that this helps you

okay let’s move on to your next question

next question comes from Tatsu haitatsu

Tatsu says could you tell me the

difference between correct and right

sure if you’re talking about the

opposite of wrong as in like the answers

on a test and correct and right are both

fine to use you can use either of them

if you’re talking about the opposite of

left then you have to use right you

cannot use correct for that we also

talked about things that are societally

proper that are societally good with the

word right we do not use correct so for

example if you say like oh my gosh my

medical feeds from my hospital stay

we’re so high that’s not right

so we use right to mean like that’s not

good or that’s not fair that’s not

like a good thing in our society we also

use the word right to mean like basic

human rules in a society again - so for

example in the USA people have the right

to silence so that means a basic rule

that people have in the US is the

ability to keep their silence about

something so we cannot use correct in

that case so these are the various uses

of correct and rights I hope that this

helps you thanks for the question ok

let’s move on to your next question next

question comes from Mitch mitt mitt mitt

mitt mitt mitt mitt mitt says hi Alicia

why don’t native speakers use specific

times and present perfect but they do

use specific times in simple past tense

because when we’re using the basic form

of present perfect we’re not focusing on

when in the past specific action

occurred we just want to talk about that

life experience so the time the point in

time at which it happened is not

important or we don’t know or we don’t

want to focus on that for example I have

been to France or he has eaten sushi in

these situations for whatever reason

when that happened is not important we

just want to express our life experience

so we do not use a specific point in

time and it sounds very unnatural to use

a specific point in time with that like

present perfect tense if however you

want to use present perfect continuous

to talk about a point at which something

started and then has continued until the

present time you can and you should use

a for or since ending to it for example

I have been living in France since 2013

or he has been studying English for

three years in those cases we need to

mark the starting point of that action

or condition so we do use a specific

point in time let’s compare this then to

using simple past tense when we use

simple past tense we want to express an

action that started and that finished in

the past and so we do use a specific

point in time for example I went to

France last summer or he

sushi last week so in sum if you want to

just share a general life experience use

the regular present perfect tense if you

want to talk about something that

started in the past and continues to the

present use present perfect continuous

and include a specific point in time at

which your actions started or began or

like when your condition started if you

want to talk about something that’s done

that’s over and you want to talk about

the specific point in which that thing

happened use simple past tense so I hope

that this helps you thanks very much for

the question okay let’s move on to your

next question next question comes from

late Jerry hi late Jerry late Jerry says

hi Alicia a lot of people use double

negation lately is this a kind of

innovation can we use it is it

grammatically correct for example can’t

nobody tell me nothing nice question

yeah some people who are very strict

about grammar like now and historically

consider double negation to be like

incorrect or they think that it’s a sign

poor education or something like that

but that’s not the case double negation

has existed in English for a long time

and it exists now so in some dialects in

English double negation or multiple

negation is used more commonly than

other dialects so for example I don’t

really use double negation in my speech

but in certain parts of the US or in

certain parts of England people may use

that kind of speech so I would suggest

that if it’s not natural for you if you

didn’t grow up with it if it’s not

something that you or the people around

you regularly use it’s probably going to

sound very unnatural for you to use that

so your example sentence was can’t

nobody tell me nothing that is not a

sentence I personally would use but

someone who speaks a different dialect

of English that uses this kind of

negation might if I wanted to say that

sentence I would say something like

nobody can tell me anything that’s how I

would say it so using the other sentence

would sound very unnatural for me that

kind of speech is not natural for me so

it sounds perhaps

maybe or offensive for me to use that I

would say just try to be aware of the

people who are around you if you are

learning English in a place where a

double negation is common then perhaps

it’s natural for you to use a bit of it

as well if you’re just kind of trying to

mimic something that maybe you heard on

TV or in music or in media or something

like that it’s probably going to sound

very unnatural so yes it is used yes it

is featured actually in some dialects of

English that doesn’t mean that it’s

natural for everyone to use if this kind

of speech is hard for you to understand

don’t worry this is just another part of

language learning and this is a specific

way that some people speak in English so

while yes it does go against like

traditional grammar rules I suppose that

doesn’t mean that the communication is

any less valid so try to keep that in

mind and again if it’s difficult for you

to understand people who speak this way

that’s okay just with time and practice

you will gradually come to know what

that sentence means or what that speaker

is actually saying so I hope that this

helps you thanks very much for an

interesting question Huckabee says hi

Alicia I’m a university student in Japan

I teach English to elderly students as a

part-time job one of them asked me what

fire with fire means I guess the man

heard the phrase in a movie could you

tell me the meaning yeah this is part of

an idiom the expression is usually to

fight fire with fire that’s the full

phrase typically you might also hear to

match fire with fire or to meet fire

with fire but in most cases it’s to

fight fire with fire

this phrase means to fight an opponent

with the same weapon or the same method

that your opponent uses so sometimes

this literally means fighting someone

with the same kind of weapon but in most

cases it’s talking about like a specific

kind of competition and using the same

method as your opponent to participate

in that competition for example if

someone starts shouting at you you can

fight fire with fire

by shouting back at them so in that case

there’s no fire involved but

outing is your opponent’s weapon or

method of attacking so if you want to

fight that you use the same method and

shout back so that could be considered

fighting fire with fire you might also

hear this used in like business

situations when you’re talking about

like competition between businesses or

between companies or industries for

example company a is spending a lot of

money on advertising this year we have

to fight fire with fire and increase our

own advertising budget so this just

means to compete or like to attack or

oppose someone with the same method or

the same weapon that they use against

you so again this is usually to fight

fire with fire I hope that that helps

you thanks for the question okay let’s

move on to your next question next

question comes from L Hasan Ahmed hello

again al hassan al hasan says what is

the difference between i don’t know what

is that and i don’t know what that is

for example i don’t know what the

difference between them is and i don’t

know what is the difference between them

okay the difference is that the second

example is correct the first example is

incorrect these are examples of what are

called embedded questions so it’s when

we have a question inside a statement or

we have a question inside another

question these are called embedded

questions embedded questions and when we

use the verb to be in embedded questions

it takes a slightly different word order

so when we use the verb to be to ask a

direct question we would say something

like where is the restroom or where are

my coworkers

that’s a direct question but when we use

an indirect question or we use an

embedded question we have to change the

word order a little bit so instead of

where is the restroom we have to say

something like I don’t know where the

restroom is and instead of where are my

co-workers we might say do you know

where my co-workers are so in each of

these examples the to be verb

actually moves to the end of the

sentence or to the end of the question

this is kind of special for these

embedded questions style responses so

keep this in mind when you’re making an

embedded question is does not follow

your question word is goes at the end of

the sentence the same is true for R and

of course was and were if you’re making

past tense statements or past tense

questions but again this is just for the

verb to be if you’re using any other

verb you don’t need to worry about this

change so if it’s like talk or walk or

drink or whatever you don’t need to

worry about that if you’re using the

verb to be however you do need to switch

your word order in the sentence so again

your second example sentence is correct

so I don’t know what that is is the

correct sentence I don’t know what is

that is incorrect of course if you’re

ever not sure what to do and you’re

faced with a situation where you should

choose it’s not impolite it’s not

incorrect to use a direct question like

where is the restroom but it does sound

a bit more polite to phrase it

indirectly or to use an embedded

question like do you know where the

restroom is it sounds a bit more polite

so again if you’re ever unsure you can

use a direct question no problem but do

make sure to practice these embedded

questions and the special pattern that

we use with the verb to be so I hope

that that helps you thanks very much for

the question okay let’s move on to your

next question next question comes from

on high on on says can you give an

explanation about the word roughly

thanks so much okay I’m sure roughly

means about it means approximately or

around for example roughly half of the

students in the class passed the test

sales decreased by roughly 30 percent

last month so in these cases roughly

means about or around we tend to use

roughly more in polite situations like

at work in meetings we don’t use it so

much in everyday conversation in

everyday conversation we use about or

around there’s another use of roughly

however which you can kind of think of

as meaning aggressive or like a little

bit aggressive or

not refined so for example my neighbor

speaks roughly but he’s actually a nice

guy or this woman on the train pushed me

really roughly it hurt so in those cases

roughly means in kind of an aggressive

manner a slightly aggressive manner or a

not refined manner so when we use

roughly as an adverb in this way it

means like not refined it’s it’s kind of

aggressive when you’re using it to talk

about amounts or data it means about so

I hope that this helps you thanks very

much for the question

okay let’s move on to your next question

next question comes from Patricia hi

Patricia Patricia says hi Alicia I enjoy

your videos thank you my question is

about when I visit restaurants and I

don’t want ice in my drink for example

how do I say that no ice or without ice

thank you yeah we would say no ice no

ice so if you said without ice it’s

probably not a communication issue but

more naturally we would say no ice

please you can use this for pretty much

anything any kind of special order like

no tomato no onion no pickles and so on

so if you don’t want something use no

before the name of that thing that you

don’t want we have another expression

that we use at restaurants which is on

the side on the side so for example if

you order a salad and you say I’d like

the dressing on the side please it means

your salad and the dressing or the

topping for the salad will come

separately so if you don’t say on the

side the restaurant staff will probably

put the dressing on top of your salad

and serve it to you if you request the

dressing on the side however you can

choose how much to put on top of your

salad so some people like to in this

case with salads request that things be

served separately to do that you say on

the side you’ll usually get a separate

dish or a separate cup or bowl or

something for your dressing or whatever

it is you’ve chosen to order so on the

side is another thing you can use in

restaurants finally for the opposite of

this situation for the opposite of no if

you want more of some

you use extra extra like extra cheese

please or extra bacon please or extra

avocado keep in mind though that when

you say extra you’re probably going to

have to pay more so if you have like a

cheeseburger for example and you say I’d

like extra avocado so that means there’s

already avocado on the cheeseburger you

want more avocado on it you’re probably

going to have to pay more for that

avocado if however you order something

without an ingredient like no tomato on

this cheeseburger there’s no discount so

please don’t expect a discount if you

ask for less of something if you ask for

more of something however it’s probably

going to cost you a little more money so

also keep in mind that we use extra when

something already exists inside the dish

so in my example it’s like an avocado

burger there’s avocado on the burger I

want more I say extra if there’s no

avocado on the burger I say like

something like can I have a picado as a

topping please or can I add avocado as a

topping please we might use one of those

expressions so can I have something as a

topping or can I add something we might

use one of those two patterns so those

are a few restaurant related expressions

that I hope are helpful for you thanks

for the question ok let’s move on to

your next question next question comes

from will Jin’s diss Samus hello will

jhin’s will Jin says hi Alicia is there

a difference between to lend and to

borrow yes the difference is in the

point of view for example I lent my

friend a pen and my friend borrowed a

pen from me so when the person that is

giving the object is the subject of this

sentence we use lend when the person who

is receiving the object is the subject

of the sentence we use borrow so let’s

swap the people in my example sentences

so my friend lent me a pen and I

borrowed a pen from my friend so again

in those cases the person giving

the object is the subject of the

sentence when I use lend and the person

receiving the object is the subject of

the verb borrow when I use borrow so

please keep this in mind this

relationship so am I giving or am i

receiving that’s what’s important to

keep in mind I know it’s a little

confusing at first but with practice you

will get the hang of it you’ll get used

to it

so I hope that this helps you thanks

very much for the question hi everybody

my name is Alisha in this lesson I’m

going to talk about phrasal verbs with

back let’s get started okay first I want

to introduce a group of four verbs that

shares one common point that is this

these four verbs all have the meaning of

moving with the rear part of something

forward so if you imagine a car the

front and the back of a car like the

front side and the back side of a person

if you imagine all of these verbs share

the meaning of making a motion in some

direction of moving in some direction

however the rear part is the part that

is like the forward moving part so we

usually walk with this part of our body

moving forward but when we move with the

rear part forward it means this

direction so we’re moving back in a

backwards motion so these four verbs all

include that meaning I want to mention

that first these that we’ll talk about

later don’t include that meaning so

these four include that meaning plus

some preposition that tells us the

direction of that movement and the

relationship of that movement as well to

something else so with that in mind

let’s take a look at these four phrasal

verbs the first phrasal verb here is

back into back into so back into means

moving with the rear part forward yes so

this kind of motion plus moving into a

space so to back into something you’re

backing into an enclosed space so in

imagine with a car a lot of these will

be very very useful for using with a car

so an example of this would be this one

he backed in to the parking space he

backed into the parking space so you

imagine with a car backing in the rear

part of the car moves in to the parking

space that means the rear part of the

car enters the parking space first so we

use the phrasal verb to back into you’ll

notice here - this is the past tense

form backed he backed in backed as the

past form of back so he backed in to the

parking space tells us that he moved

with the rear part of the car forward

into the parking space ok so now let’s

look at the opposite of this to back out

of something so since we have out here

we had in before this shows us this is

the the opposite direction then however

we don’t use back out - we use back out

of please be careful here back out of so

this means to move out of a space to

move out of a space so an example

sentence might be the question in this

case can you back out of the garage can

you back out of the garage so again this

means that the rear part of the car is

moving forward however instead of going

into a space the motion is coming from a

space so we’re backing out of a space

that means from a position inside a room

in this case a garage the back of the

car moves first out of the garage so

backing out of something to back out of

a garage or to back out of a parking

space as well okay now let’s move along

to the next phrasal verb back on - back

on - this is quite different from back

in or back out to back on to means to

move backwards on top of something so

again when you’re driving a car for

example you might use the expression he

backed on to the sidewalk so this means

the rear part of the car

our mood first and as it moved it moved

on top of something else

so there’s movement and movement on to

another thing he backed on to the

sidewalk or he backed on to maybe a

bicycle for example so movement

backwards and on top of something else

so this might happen to you when you’re

using a car or another vehicle so let’s

move on to the next phrasal verb which

is backed away from back away from is a

phrasal verb you might use more to talk

about your body the motion of your body

than you would a car so this means to

move backwards in a direction opposite

to something else so by this I mean

there’s maybe another person or there’s

some thing that you want to move away

from and again the rear part of your

body moves first so if you imagine it

that that there’s something like in

front of you here in front of the front

part of your body and you want to move

away from it but you maintain this

direction with your body we use the

phrasal verb to back away from to talk

about doing that so in example sentence

they backed away from the fire so you

imagine there’s a fire like you’re

camping for example and you move in this

way you can say you backed away from the

fire so to back away from might be

something you used to talk about your

body more so than to talk about a car

perhaps but this means moving in an

opposite direction from something else

okay so let’s move along then to the

next three which do not belong to this

group relating to that kind of

rear-facing motion these are very

different actually let’s first begin

with this expression - back off - back

off so to back off means to remove

oneself from a situation that’s one or

to move away in fear so this first one

to remove yourself from a situation this

is often said in response to a person

who’s getting involved in a situation

you want that person to go away from the

situation so it’s commonly used as a

command like back off it means go away

or stop bothering me maybe you’re

working on a project for example and

someone tries to come share opinions or

criticize your work or something you’re

not ready you can say it back off I’m

still working on this for example so

it’s used often to give a command to

someone actually we also use this to

express fear like if someone threatens

us or we’re afraid of something and we

want to kind of move away from the

situation we can use back off as well

let’s look at an example here back off

and let us deal with the problem so this

is related to criticism like we don’t

need you to be involved so let us handle

it that’s kind of the feeling of back

off like we don’t need you please go

away so to back off in this way we’re

first you leaving a situation okay let’s

move along to the next one which is back

down to back down from something means

to admit a mistake to admit a mistake or

it can mean like to stop supporting

something these are actually kind of

connected to stop supporting something

is like to stop supporting an opinion

kind of so when you admit a mistake you

stop supporting that mistake it’s kind

of the idea here so an example of this

could be my neighbor won’t back down he

accuses me of being noisy so the

neighbor in other words is wrongly

accusing the speaker of being noisy but

the neighbor won’t back down

that means the neighbor refuses to admit

a mistake there were a few he refuses he

or she refuses to admit that there’s

something wrong refuses to stop

supporting the opinion so my neighbor

won’t back down

he won’t stop in how many words he

continues to accuse me so to back down

is like yeah kind of removing your

support

for something you said or some behavior

you had in the past okay

let’s move along then to the last

phrasal verb for this lesson which is to

back up to back up this is used in terms

of to back up someone to back up another

person this means to support someone

verbally so verbally means with your

word to support someone verbally is to

back someone up so you can split this to

back someone up so an example of this

could be my colleagues backed me up when

I made a complaint so my colleagues

supported me when I made a complaint

I made the complaint and my colleagues

verbally or they shared some words to

support what I was saying in other words

so to back some what it means to support

them keep in mind this is very different

from to be a backup to be a backup means

to be a substitute for something it has

a very different meaning here so to be a

backup that’s something very different

from to back someone up so keep that in

mind and try to pay attention to the

situations where those two words are

used all right so those are hopefully a

few new ways that you can use the verb

back of course if you have any questions

or comments or want to try to make a

sentence or maybe you know a different

way of using the verb back please feel

free to do so in the comment section of

this video hi everybody my name is

Alicia in this lesson I’m going to talk

about some phrasal verbs that use the

word push so these are expressions that

feature the verb push but have a

slightly different meaning from the

basic meaning of push let’s take a look

okay let’s begin with the first

expression which is push off to push off

means to begin moving usually we use

this with a boat when we say push off

it’s like we’re pushing away from some

kind of like safety or some kind of

support we typically use this for boats

to mean moving away from like a dock

moving away from land moving away from

the part of the boat that’s connect

to some safety on land so we use this

like to refer to moving away from a safe

place but it tends to be used a lot in

boats an example of this we pushed off

at 8 a.m. so here it’s the past tense we

pushed off and the time we pushed off at

8 a.m. means probably the boat left the

safe place at the dock at 8 a.m. so to

push off means to begin moving away from

something away from something some kind

of support okay let’s move along to the

next expression the next expression is

to push by to push by something or to

push by someone means to use a pushing

motion to move past someone or something

we use this a lot with people in a

crowded situation where you’re near

someone else but you would like to move

past that person you can use a slight

pushing motion a gentle pushing motion

to move past that person so you don’t

want to maybe push them a lot but you

can alert the other person you can tell

the other person you’re going to pass

them with this expression for example

I’m gonna push by you I’m gonna push by

you shows I’m going to push myself or

I’m maybe going to push something close

to you or I might push you a little bit

it refers to making a pushing motion to

move somewhere so to push by someone in

this case to push by you in other words

I’m going to make a pushing motion and

move past you it’s usually a small

pushing motion not a big one so this is

just a quick kind of alert phrase you

can tell someone

as you move by them okay let’s move

along to the next expression which is to

push someone around to push someone

around means to bully someone to bully

someone so you can imagine this is in a

situation where there’s someone maybe

higher level and someone lower level

this could be at school it could be at

work it could be in groups of friends

when you push someone around you are

unkind to them you make unkind comments

to them you ask them to do lots of

things for you for kind of no reason

just to use your power over that person

we use the expression to push someone

around to talk about bullying someone

like this an example

don’t let your boss push you around so

in other words don’t let your boss bully

you don’t let your boss make you do so

many things or don’t let your boss be

rude to you so to push someone around

it’s like you’re using them or you’re

not treating them with respect it’s not

a good thing it’s a negative expression

okay let’s move on to the next phrasal

verb the next phrasal verb is to push

limits to push limits you’ll hear this a

lot in technology news business perhaps

as well this expression means to work at

the extremes so you can imagine that

there’s some kind of boundary some kind

of limit in your field at your job in

your life so to push those limits means

to work there and try to expand those

boundaries you’re working it like the

extreme part of your job or the extreme

part of your industry your knowledge or

whatever it is in your case and you’re

trying to make that like bigger you’re

trying to expand that so we use the

expression push limits to refer to that

kind of thing a very common example is

we’re pushing the limits of Technology

so here it’s the progressive tense we’re

pushing the limits of Technology in

other words we’re trying to make the

limits of technology a little bit bigger

or we’re trying to go to the next step

kind of so we’re pushing the limits this

is an expression we use to talk about

like next generation things they’re kind

of evolution of some kind

another way to think of pushing limits

is like doing the impossible or working

to do the impossible so something that’s

not possible now may become possible

through your efforts so it’s like you’re

trying to do

something that’s not possible in the

present but you want it to become

possible in the future you’re pushing

the limits of what’s available to you

now okay let’s move along to the next

phrasal verb then the next phrasal verb

is to push ahead I want to group this

with the next one in the list as well to

push ahead and to push along these have

quite similar meanings push ahead feels

a little more like to make efforts to

create forward progress to push ahead

like to the next step with something to

push ahead in a project to push ahead in

your business idea to push along is kind

of like to cause someone else to make

that forward progress so you can use it

for a project as well like to try to

push along a project but when we use

push along it’s like you’re trying to

kind of help something or help someone

else make forward progress so they tend

to be used in very similar ways but

perhaps there are some slight

differences in nuance we might use push

along more with people than push ahead

so as I said push ahead kind of feels

like making efforts to make forward

progress to move to the next step with

something and then we can think of push

along as like moving something forward

or causing another person to move

forward as well so let’s take a look at

some example sentences first let’s push

ahead to the next step so let’s make

efforts to move to the next step in the

thing we are doing in the second example

sentence with push along I’ve used a

person here can you try to push him

along so can you try to motivate him to

encourage him try to push him along

meaning get him

motivate him to do his tasks or to do

the things he needs to do so we can go

to the next step so you’re trying to get

someone moving here so quite similar

ideas but maybe slight differences in

how they are used okay let’s move along

to the next X

which is push back to push back means to

resist something to resist something or

to oppose something so this is used a

lot in politics and in business in any

kind of like discussion where there’s a

lot of disagreement to push back against

something usually you’re opposing an

idea opposing a person opposing a policy

so to push back is to resist that or to

oppose that an example management pushed

back against our proposal so we made a

proposal for something in the office and

management opposed that they did not

want to do that thing they resisted so

they pushed back you might also hear

this used as a noun push back push back

so not to push back but there was

pushback against our proposal so you can

hear this used as a phrasal verb or as a

noun but they both refer to resisting or

opposing something okay one more then

for this lesson it is to push for

something to push for something means to

try to persuade someone of something so

if you really really want to get

something you’re trying to convince

someone something is a good idea or

you’re trying to convince someone to

give you something we can use the

expression push for that thing to

describe that so in this example

sentence it feels kind of like you’re

persuading yourself a little bit like

you’re trying to motivate yourself

making efforts for yourself for your

future you could also use this in

talking to other people and trying to

convince other people like trying to

push your boss for a raise for example

so it means you’re trying to convince

your boss or persuade your boss to give

you a raise a raise is increased salary

increased money at your job so pushing

for something is like you’re trying to

make efforts in order to achieve

something or to get something or to

convince someone of something so to push

for a thing okay so those are a few

examples of some phrasal verbs

use the word push I hope that you found

something new here so keep an eye out

for these the next time you see them in

writing of course if you have any

questions or comments or want to

practice using one of these phrasal

verbs please feel free to do so in the

comment section of this video 10

countable nouns with irregular plural

forms let’s go

mouse mice the first noun is Mouse in

the singular it’s Mouse in the plural

its mice mice one mouse two mice not

Mouse’s not nice not anything like that

not not mouse or Mouse’s but mice mice

one Mouse two mice three mice for mice

in a sentence I hope you don’t have mice

in your house goose geese so the next

word is goose goose a goose is a kind of

big noisy bird really but a goose in the

plural form a goose becomes geese geese

so one goose two geese the collective

noun as well so the noun we use to talk

about a group of geese is a flock of

geese a flock of geese we use flock for

birds actually for collective nouns

except for like crows for some reason we

use a murder of crows isn’t that weird

I’m not sure about the history of that

word but we see like a flock of birds

like a flock of seagulls and like a

flock of geese but we use a murder of

crows that’s such a weird collective now

when you think about it I kind of

research the history on that one anyway

in a sentence geese migrate south in the

winter tooth teeth the next noun is

tooth tooth so the singular form is

tooth the plural form is teeth teeth one

tooth three teeth so please be careful

not to tooths but teeth teeth tooth is

an irregular noun - its teeth in a

sentence the Tooth Fairy is a mystical

creature that brings children money for

teeth they’ve lost foot feet the next

noun is foot foot so one foot two feet

so we can use this both for the part of

the body and for this

system of measurement that we use in the

US and I think in one other country we

measure things using feet so like one

foot is what twelve inches I think and

then two feet we can also use this kind

of for the system of measurement one

foot two feet so please be careful of

that not flutes but feet feet in the

plural form in a sentence keep your feet

on the ground child children okay the

next one is child child please be

careful child is the singular form

children is the plural form children one

child two children many children lots of

children so but be careful not cha

child’s children is the plural form here

please be careful in a sentence some

people want to have lots of children

person people the next word is person

person in the singular form one person

in the plural form people two people

three people four people many people

lots of people tons of people a bunch of

people people is the plural form there

so please use people when you want to

use the plural form of person one person

two people in a sentence the world is

full of different people man men

next noun is Man Man in the singular

form man in the plural form men please

be careful the pronunciation the vowel

sound pronunciation changes

significantly not man’s but men men one

man two men three men for men one man

two men so listen for that EE sound or

the a sound there this can be a really

key listening point as well in a

sentence more and more men are taking

paternity leave these days woman women

the next noun is woman woman the

singular form is woman the plural form

is women so please be careful here

although the spellings of these two

words are roughly the same and only the

vowel sound at the end appears to change

actually the O sound at the beginning of

the word also changes in the singular

form woman so we have the sort of sound

with the O at the beginning of the word

woman in singular in the plural form

however we have women it’s an e sound so

in spelling the O does not change but in

speaking the sound does change woman

women so please be cautious of this both

when you’re speaking and when you’re

listening woman to women in a sentence

look those women are all wearing the

same hat sheep sheep the next noun is

sheep sheep sheep is the next now the

plural form is actually just sheep we

cannot add an S to this we don’t say

sheeps we say sheep for the singular and

sheep for the plural weird right

so one sheep two sheep three sheep four

sheep it’s no change this word does not

change at all so how do we know we just

look at the word that comes before sheep

so if we say two sheep or lots of sheep

or a herd of sheep herd is the

collective noun for sheep or for like

cattle and farm animals big ones anyway

so sheep does not change actually it’s

an irregular one the

same rule applies to fish actually fish

in the singular fish in the plural

anyway shape in a sentence visit a farm

if you want to see lots of sheep knife

knives the next noun is knife knife so

one knife in the singular form in the

plural form it is knives knives so

there’s a V sound that comes into this

word knife that F sound knife becomes a

V sound in the plural knives one knife

two knives we also see this with the

word scarf actually one scarf two

scarves for example so please be careful

of this the so the spelling does change

significantly as well to in a sentence

then I hear you only really need three

knives in your kitchen the first

expression is I’d like to go to bla bla

bla I’d like to go to your hotel name

I’d like to go to attraction name I’d

like to go to the nearest station please

this is an expression you can use with

perhaps a taxi driver or maybe like a

shuttle bus driver from your hotel I

don’t know so if you want to explain

where you’re trying to go you can use

this expression I’d like to go to la

pobla I’d I’d like to go to bla bla bla

in a sentence I’d like to go to the

Empire State Building number of people

please the next expression is number of

people please number of people please by

this I mean like the number of people in

your group this is an expression you can

use when you go to a restaurant so if

you’re traveling with your family for

example you could say for please when

you enter a restaurant or if you’re

traveling with one other person you

could say to please so just the number

of people in your group when you go to a

restaurant this can be just a small

thing that you learn how to say so that

you can quickly communicate with the

restaurant staff so in a sentence

two people please

numbers okay next is just numbers

numbers are very useful when you travel

especially if you’re traveling to a

place where the price tags for items

might not be clearly displayed so if

you’re going to maybe like a flea market

or if you’re going to like a yard sale

or something where the prices are not

clearly marked you can use your

knowledge of numbers to ask about and to

listen for prices of things so if you

know your numbers this can be very

helpful for you and maybe you can also

like protect yourself from getting

charged too much money for something in

a sentence Wow fifty dollars for this

sandwich thank you the next expression

is thank you

thank you so before you travel make sure

to study how to say thank you and maybe

a few different ways that you can say

thank you to people of course the most

basic form in English is thank you but

maybe consider thanks or I appreciate it

or thanks a lot so make sure to know how

to say thank you before you travel in a

sentence thank you for your help can you

tell me where is the next expression is

can you tell me where something is so if

you need to ask for directions you can

use this pattern can you tell me where

the bathroom is for example or can you

tell me where this restaurant is or can

you tell me where this sightseeing spot

is so you can use this when you need to

ask directions or when you’re like in a

department store or a shopping situation

and you need help finding something can

you tell me where something is in a

sentence can you tell me where the

station is excuse me the next

expression is excuse me excuse me so

this is useful for if you bump into

someone on the street or if you need to

interrupt someone like you need to

approach someone with a question you can

sort of begin the conversation with

excuse me and then maybe could you tell

me where the station is or excuse me I’d

like to go to blah blah blah so using

excuse me can be a polite way to

initiate to begin a conversation with

someone excuse me

so in English we have excuse me or we

have sorry as well but sorry is used

more for like like an apology like I did

something wrong

excuse me is just a way to say like I’d

like to begin a conversation but I

recognize that you might be busy with

something so excuse me it’s like you

want to start a conversation sorry is

like an apology so I recommend using

excuse me in English in a sentence

excuse me where can I buy a train pass

where is the restroom okay the next one

is very important where is the restroom

where is the restroom so this is an

important question I think so if you’re

out shopping or if you’re at like in a

sightseeing location it may be important

to know where the restroom is so where

is the restroom

is a nice one to use in English you can

say where is the toilet but in American

English it might sound a little bit too

direct you could also use like where is

the washroom

perhaps in British English but generally

where is the restroom

it’s quite a nice expression to know for

English travel in a sentence where’s the

restroom I’d like please the next

expression is I’d like something please

this is useful when you visit

restaurants I’d like a beer please I’d

like a salad please you can also use it

when you’re shopping so I’d like three

of that t-shirt please I don’t know why

you need three or I’d like four of these

please so I’d like again that D sound so

the same I’d like as we talked about in

the first word in this episode I’d like

to go to we can use I’d like plus a noun

phrase I’d like something please very

useful for ordering and for shopping so

in a sentence

I’d like a beer please how do you say in

English the next expression is how do

you say something in English how do you

say something in English so if you don’t

know the English word for something but

you want to know how to say it you can

ask somebody maybe like a friend or

maybe staff at your hotel for example if

there’s someone nearby that you can ask

you can use this question how do you say

this in English how do you can point to

something like how do you say this in

English just pick it up if it’s like a

water bottle in my case how do you say

this in English or like how do you say

that in English you can use that

expression and you can just point to the

object to to make it clear what you mean

so how do you say something in English

do you speak language the next

expression is do you speak language so

do you speak language so if you want to

check and see if the other person speaks

your language you can use this

expression so in my case I would say do

you speak English or if you travel

somewhere else maybe maybe if you’re

from like Vietnam you could say do you

speak Vietnamese or do you speak

Portuguese or do you speak Chinese so

you can ask people around you what

languages they speak if you have like an

idea that maybe that person can speak

that language you can ask them do you

speak Japanese so maybe a useful one do

you speak English - alright in a

sentence then procrastinating and study

let’s go register for a challenging test

register for a challenging test to

register for a challenging test that

means registering for a test that is

slightly more difficult than your

current level so if you think you’re of

yourself as like a beginner right now

maybe try registering for a test that is

at like the lower intermediate level so

if you always register for a test or

give yourself some goal that is slightly

more difficult than your current level

you can always try to be pushing in the

in the upwards direction you can always

try to be pushing to to improve little

by little so I say challenging I don’t

say difficult because if you’re a

beginner and you register for an

advanced level test it’s going to be

really difficult to meet your goal it’s

gonna be really difficult to study

everything to pass the advanced test but

if you set smaller goals smaller test

goals maybe you have a better chance of

achieving those goals and your

motivation will stay up so try

registering for a challenging test to

give yourself a goal find a movie or TV

show to understand the next idea is to

find a movie or a TV show to understand

so finding a movie or a TV show that you

can watch every week or just maybe your

favorite movie in the language you’re

studying can be a really fun way to

motivate yourself so if you have like a

TV show you want to watch every week you

can focus your energy on trying to learn

the vocabulary words or to learn the

expressions that are used in that TV

show and perhaps week after week you’ll

start to hear some similar things and

start to pick up the way that people

speak in that show so having something

that’s kind of fun and a little bit

entertaining to use as you study can

help you enjoy what you’re doing a

little bit more so the same thing can

apply to a movie if you find a movie

that you really like or you really are

inspired by that movie it can help you

as you study because it can motivate you

and inspire you to want to know all live

like the aspects of that movie to know

everything all the details of that movie

so finding something that’s kind of a

little entertaining to help you study

can be a good way to stop

procrastinating sometimes get a study

buddy the next idea is to get a study

buddy a study buddy so what is a study

buddy so buddy is a word we use for

friend so a study buddy then is a friend

that you study with or a friend that you

tell your study goals to someone who can

make sure you are responsible for your

behavior so if you have a study buddy

you can maybe check in with them every

few days or like once a week maybe you

go to a study group to get

or maybe you practice conversation

together you can set goals with your

study buddy so you don’t feel like

you’re studying alone all the time if

you study alone all the time you might

feel like I have nobody to practice with

or nobody understands my goals or I feel

like I’m the only person with my goal so

having a friend having a study buddy can

help you to feel a little bit more like

part of a team and to help you like

through questions that you might not

understand or maybe they have some

resources that you don’t have and that

can help you as you study so getting a

study buddy can be both really fun and

really helpful for you and roll in a

course the next idea is to enroll in a

course and roll in a course so like to

enroll in a course means to start a

course or to register for a course so in

this case we’re talking about a course

of study like a language course if

you’re studying English enrolling in a

course can be helpful because it creates

accountability it creates responsibility

if you enroll in a course you’re paying

money presumably and if you miss a class

if you miss a session of your course you

can think of it as money wasted

essentially so if I’m paying maybe $50

for each lesson in a course and I don’t

attend that means that I’m wasting $50

so if you think of it this way and you

are enrolled in a course then maybe this

can help you study because you don’t

want to waste your money so by attending

class you’re using your money well

you’re using your time well to study and

you also have the option to talk to your

classmates and to the teacher there

about any questions that you have

so enrolling in a course especially like

a weekly course or maybe even like a

daily course or intensive course can

help you in a lot of different ways I

think create a social media account for

your studies the next idea is to create

a social media account for your studies

so this is a popular way to get some

daily practice actually creating with

the language that you’re studying so a

really common tool for this is Twitter

I’ve seen many people use Twitter to do

this they create a Twitter account

that’s specifically for their English

language studies so people will write

about their day in English

if they’re studying English so if they

don’t have a chance to maybe speak with

colleagues and the language they’re

studying or to write an email for

example if they don’t have a way to

practice making outputs many people

choose to use social media to do that so

it’s kind of a way to reach out to find

other people who are studying or to find

resources to read everyday about the

thing you’re studying but you also have

the chance to create something yourself

so if you like you could try making a

social media account that’s devoted only

to your studies so try that out sign up

for a regular event in your studies the

next idea is to sign up for a regular

event in your studies so that means if

you’re studying English for example

maybe you can try to attend like a

monthly get-together in English

somewhere so this can be about your

hobbies it can be about just something

in your community a school event for

example if you find something that you

are able to do in English in this case

that’s also related to your hobbies it

can be helpful for you because you start

to see the ways that you can use English

in a situation outside of just your

textbook maybe or a situation that’s

outside of just your studies but getting

an idea of how other people are using

the language and getting an idea of like

how you can potentially use the language

in other ways so going to a regular like

a monthly event or maybe something twice

a month or whatever that’s maybe outside

your course or outside of your test

studies can be another good way to get

some exposure to have a chance to

actually use the things you’re learning

and to learn new things make studying

part of your daily routine the next idea

is to make studying a part of your daily

routine so by this I mean for example

taking 30 minutes in the morning or 30

minutes at night or maybe 30 minutes at

lunch whatever it is for you finding

time in your day every day to do a

little bit of study so even if you’re

only doing 10 minutes in the morning in

10 minutes at night it’s better than

zero so that’s 20 minutes over the

course of one day which is still better

than zero minutes ever if you can find a

way to make studying part of your

day and you can kind of create a routine

that studying is part of it can help you

just kind of become used to doing that

so steady doesn’t feel like a job or

studying doesn’t feel like a chore it’s

just something you do like brushing your

teeth or cooking breakfast or having a

cup of coffee or whatever so if you make

studying part of your routine then after

a while it might not feel like work it

might not feel like study it might just

feel like okay this is just the thing I

do at this time of the day so give that

a try

try to integrate study try to put study

into your daily routine reward yourself

when you finish studying the next idea

is to reward yourself when you finish

studying so when you finish your studies

whatever that time period might be

whether it’s thirty minutes or one hour

or you went to your course for the week

try finding a way to reward yourself for

studying this can be a very simple thing

like for example buying yourself a cup

of coffee or you get to have a piece of

chocolate or after you finish studying

you can watch your favorite TV show so

find a way to put reward into your study

routine so once you finish studying

there’s something good that happens that

you can expect at the end of your study

period so kind of reward yourself like

so that it helps you develop and feel

motivated to continue doing that study

routine make your goals public the next

idea is to make your goals public so

make your goals public means share your

goals with people so if you don’t want

to share your goals with everybody maybe

you can just tell a few friends about

your goal so if that goal is to pass a

test for example or if that goal is to

master a certain grammar point or maybe

the goal is to learn a certain number of

vocabulary words whatever that is try

telling people about that goal because

then it kind of creates some

responsibility for you like if you tell

people about that goal they might ask

you about it in the future and if you

say I didn’t do it or I couldn’t do it

or I’m not studying at all you might

feel kind of bad about that actually

so at

surely telling people about your goal

creates that accountability and that

responsibility for you so try sharing

your goal with the people around you

also they might support you there’s a

chance that they can support you or they

can offer help they can offer something

to help you achieve your goal so try

that make studying a game the last idea

is to make studying a game to make

studying a game so in some cases you can

find applications or you can find games

you can find ways to study where like

someone has already programmed a game

like especially for vocabulary words for

example you can find a way to enjoy your

studies if that doesn’t already exist

try to invent a game especially if you

have a study group or a study buddy try

to find creative and fun ways to use the

things that you’re studying then you can

actually enjoy your studies you don’t

have to think of it as work but you can

actually see how your studies can be fun

some examples of games that you could

use when you study English you could use

theirs like a game called Scrabble where

you you get points by creating words so

the more words you know the better

chance you have of getting a highest

score in the game so Scrabble is one way

that you could do it for children one

that’s good is sort of like it looks

like a worksheet actually but it’s

called mad libs it’s called mad libs

this is something that my brother and I

used to play when we were little

it’s a worksheet but some of the words

are missing in the worksheet and we

can’t see the whole story really it’s

good to play this game with two people

so one person reads the worksheet and

there are blank spaces on the worksheet

that say adverb or adjective or verb so

you ask the other person to give you an

adjective to give you a verb and you

write those words in the story when

they’ve given you all the words that you

need to make the story complete you then

read the full story to the person using

the words that they have given you and

it usually becomes something kind of

funny so this can be a good way to test

your grammar and also just to get kind

of creative with the sorts of words that

you’re choosing so that might be good

for kids as well so there are a lot of

different things that you can do of

course

you can create your own games as well

let’s start with the basic definition

the basic definition of the verb beat is

to hit repeatedly to hit something

repeatedly examples he was beaten until

he was unconscious I have to beat the

dust out of this blanket let’s talk

about the conjugations of this verb now

present beat beats past beat past

participle beaten progressive beating

let’s talk about some additional

meanings for this verb the first

additional meaning is to defeat to

defeat some examples I think spider-man

could beat Batman in a fight

our team has never been beaten so in

both of these examples sentences we see

beat meaning defeat in the first example

sentence I think spider-man could beat

Batman

it means spider-man could beat Batman in

a fight that’s kind of the implied the

suggested meaning of this sentence

spider-man could beat Batman equals

spider-man could defeat Batman

spider-man would be better than Batman

spider-man would win in a fight against

Batman spider-man would beat Batman in

the second example sentence our team has

never been beaten it means our team has

never been defeated our team has never

lost our team has won every match every

game we have ever played our team has

never been beaten so no defeats pretty

great so this is one meaning to defeat

something okay let’s go on to the second

additional meaning for this verb the

second additional meaning for this verb

is to act before something else happens

examples let’s beat the crowds and get

tickets for the afternoon movie I left

the house early to beat rush-hour

traffic okay so both of these examples

show one action happening before some

other like negative thing we want to

avoid in the first example sentence it’s

about avoiding like big crowds of people

at a movie theater so let’s beat the

crowds is the expression that’s used

there so beat the crowds doesn’t mean

like hit the crowds of people it means

take action to do something before the

crowd of people arrives and that action

will be to see the afternoon movie so

let’s beat the crowds means let’s do

something before this crowd of people in

the second example sentence it’s I left

the house early to beat the rush hour

traffic we see rush-hour traffic is the

thing to beat so again it doesn’t mean

hitting rush-hour traffic it means doing

something in this case leaving

the house early to beat in order to

avoid rush-hour traffic

so we’re doing something before this

other negative thing happens so in these

examples it’s a large crowd of people

and rush-hour traffic so we do something

to avoid that thing to do something

before that thing happens okay let’s go

on to the third meaning for this verb

the third meaning for this verb is to be

more enjoyable than something else to be

more enjoyable than something else

examples enjoying some Sun on the beach

sure beats working in an office relaxing

at home beats spending the day shopping

so both of these example sentences

present two ideas one of which is better

than the other in the first example

sentence enjoying the Sun on the beach

beats or is better than is more

enjoyable than working in an office in

the second example sentence relaxing at

home beats or is more enjoyable than

spending the day shopping so we’re

comparing two things and the thing that

is better we use beats just after that

so when you want to use this pattern you

can just say a beats B and where a is

better than B a is more enjoyable than

me the fourth meaning here is to have a

regular movement like to have a rhythmic

movement that is regular in some way

examples my heart was beating fast after

my run the birds wings beat the air in

the first example sentence my heart was

beating fast after my run it means the

rhythm of my heart the steady regular

rhythm of my heart was fast after my run

so the rhythm was constant but it was

quick so in the second example sentence

about the bird’s wings it’s this motion

the bird’s wings beat the air so there’s

a rhythmic a steady motion happening

the birds wings beat the air meaning

it’s always it’s like going regularly

here so we can see this use of beat as

well to refer to a regular kind of

rhythmic motion

let’s move on to some variations and how

we can use this then the first variation

is to beat someone to something to beat

someone to something means to do

something before someone else so it kind

of has that meaning of defeat that we

talked about before examples I was gonna

book tickets for the show but you beat

me to it all my coworkers beat me to the

office this morning

so in these expressions beat me to

something mean someone did something

before me in the first example sentence

I was gonna book tickets for the show we

see the past tense I was gonna I was

going to book tickets for the show but

you beat me to it

so this is quite common you beat me to

it means you did that thing I just

talked about before me so I plan to do

it but you did it before me you beat me

to it this is quite a common expression

to use in the second example sentence

all my co-workers beat me to the office

this morning it means all my co-workers

got to the office before me this morning

so when you want to talk about someone

doing something before you you can say

they beat me to the office keep in mind

though that this kind of has the nuance

a little bit of competition like there’s

something that you want to do before

someone else like there’s a little bit

of a competitive feel with this

expression okay

let’s go on to the second variation here

the next variation is beat yourself up

to beat yourself up this means to be

very negative or critical about yourself

often for no reason or not for a big

reason example don’t beat yourself up it

was just a small mistake

I think he’s really beating himself up

for declining that job offer okay

in the first example sentence don’t beat

yourself up this is a very common

expression it means don’t be so negative

about yourself in this case we followed

this expression with it was just a small

mistake so in other words it’s not a big

problem don’t beat yourself up don’t be

so negative to yourself for such a small

mistake in the second example sentence I

think he’s really beating himself up for

declining that job offer

it means he’s thinking really really

negatively about his decision he’s

thinking about himself critically like

oh it wasn’t a good idea I shouldn’t

have done that he’s really down maybe

disappointed in himself for declining

the job offer though maybe it’s not a

big deal it’s not an important situation

so he doesn’t need to beat himself up or

he is beating himself up about it in

this case so he’s upset

in other words but maybe he doesn’t need

to be

let’s begin with the basic definition of

this verb the basic definition of carry

is to move while holding or supporting

something examples can you carry this

bag I always carry a pen okay let’s look

at the conjugations for this verb

present carry carries past carried past

participle carried progressive carrying

now let’s talk about some additional

meanings for this verb the first

additional meaning is to move a person

or an object from one place to another

examples veins carry blood throughout

the body the bus carried the children to

school so here we see objects and people

being moved from one place to another

through or via or by something else and

we use the verb carry to describe them

in the first example sentence veins

carry blood throughout the body veins

are the like you can see them on your

arm usually blue colored they’re the

kind of like pipes I guess you could say

like imagine them as pipes that carry

blood so blood travels through the body

through these veins so we can say veins

carry blood through the body so veins

are the method through which blood moves

throughout the body so veins are

carrying the blood we kind of can

imagine in that way they’re caring

they’re responsible for carrying the

blood so we can say that veins are kind

of responsible for moving blood around

the body we can use the verb carry to

explain them in the second example

sentence the bus carried the kids to

school the bus is the method of

transport for the kids so the kids are

moving from one place to another place

the bus is the method of movement so the

bus carried the kids to school we can

use carry to talk about this

transportation the second additional

meaning is to have a gene or illness

examples rodents are known to carry

rabies some people carry diseases they

don’t know about in the first example

sentence we see rodents are known to

carry rabies

so rodents are like small like rats or

mice those kinds of dirty sort of

creatures wild creatures rabies is a

disease a serious illness like causes

you to behave strangely in your body has

really strange problems too I won’t talk

about rabies that much not so important

here but rodents are known to carry

rabies so the

like the biological parts the things

that cause rabies that carry that

illness rodents are known to carry so it

doesn’t mean carry like a backpack

really but carry a gene or carry an

illness carry a sickness inside the body

in this case rodents are known to carry

the sickness that is rabies inside their

bodies in a second example sentence some

people carry diseases they don’t know

about it means some people have diseases

in their body but they don’t know about

the disease so you can imagine like we

carry the disease we hold it in our body

and we move around but we don’t know

about it we use the verb carry to talk

about this let’s move on to the third

meaning the third additional meaning is

to make something a success to make

something a success examples his

leadership carried the team through a

difficult time

her performance carries the show so in

both of these examples we see that

someone carried something so someone

caused something to be successful

because of their actions or because of

their leadership as we see in the first

example sentence so his leadership

carried the team through a difficult

time means the team was successful in a

difficult time because of his leadership

but we used the verb carry to mean that

so we can kind of imagine that this one

person in this case his leadership his

leadership and his abilities to be a

good leader in other words were kind of

the thing that carried the team so we

can imagine the whole team is on top of

this one guy’s leadership skill so he is

responsible for making the team a

success in a difficult time so we use

carry to explain that in the second

example sentence her performance carried

the show it means her performance was so

good it was so important that the show

was a success because of it so without

her performance maybe the show would not

have been successful but her performance

was really really good

her performance made the show a success

her performance carried the show

the fourth meaning of this verb is to

reach a distance to reach a distance

this can be like sound or it can be

something physical some examples of this

the sound of the Thunder carried 20

kilometers ash from the volcano carried

into the air so here we’re not actually

carrying a physical object in the first

example sentence it’s sound traveling so

the sound of thunder carried 20

kilometers it means we were able to hear

the sound of thunder 20 kilometers away

from the source so the sound carried in

other words we use carry to refer to

sound traveling a distance in the second

example sentence ash from the volcano

carried into the air

it means the ash from the volcano moved

into the air we could even say like the

ash from the volcano carried into the

next city for example so it travelled

into the next city it traveled some

distance but we can use Kari to talk

about that as well

let’s move on to some variations for

this verb so the first variation is to

get carried away to get carried away

this means to get too excited or too

involved in something usually it has

like a positive meaning we get carried

away because we’re excited about

something but let’s look at some

examples first I got a little carried

away baking last night he got carried

away listening to music both of these

examples are pretty innocent in the

first example sentence we see I got a

little carried away baking last night

it’s like I baked too much last night

the idea is that I was too excited about

my baking and I baked too much or maybe

I stayed up too late making something I

got carried away with it I did too much

of it because I was so interested in

this thing in the second example

sentence he got carried away listening

to music it maybe means he spent too

much time listening to music maybe he

forgot to do his homework or he forgot

to go to work or he was late for work or

something because he was carried away he

was so interested in listening to music

he forgot something or he did too much

of it in other words so this generally

just means that you’re too excited about

something or too involved in something

so it can have a positive meaning the

next variation is to carry over to carry

over means to continue into the next

period to continue into the next period

examples unused data will carry over

into the next month

my airline miles carried over into this

year so these two expressions both use

like points or miles or some kind of

data in the first example sentence it’s

like a mobile phone contract unused data

will carry over into the next month if

for example I have one gig of data

available on my mobile phone every month

but I only use 500 megabytes I have 500

megabytes remaining

that’s my unused data that amount

carries over to the next month that

means I have one gigabyte plus 500

megabytes of data to use in the next

month so carry over means that amount

continues to the next period we see the

same thing in the second example

sentence my airline miles carried over

into this year meaning my airline miles

from the previous year

carried over or continued into this year

so maybe I didn’t use those miles last

year but they continued into this year

and I can still use them so carrying

over means continuing something we see

it a lot in like credit card contracts

or like mileage plans or data plans

anything with data points numbers we

might see that sort of thing if you’ve

studied your target language but you can

barely understand native speakers you

might be doing something wrong you know

the vocabulary and grammar they’re using

but for some reason when they speak at a

faster speed you can’t keep track of

what’s going on why is this happening

have you spent all this time learning in

vain this is a common issue that all

language learners face at some point or

another

the truth is it’s actually a good

problem to have because only students

with a higher level of skill will

experience it when you know a lot of the

language but have trouble understanding

native speakers the problem is almost

always with your listening skills

learning what words mean and practicing

how to use them in a sentence are both

invaluable skills to develop but people

often forget that in addition to

speaking writing and reading we have to

develop our listening skills in a

foreign language as well in this video

we’ll look at three practical ways to

improve your listening skills

number one practice active listening one

of the best ways to practice listening

is to well listen to your target

language but this doesn’t mean putting

on some music and listening to it in the

background as you do other things you

need to practice active listening get

your hands on a recording of spoken

language you can use a movie news

broadcast or a podcast you can even try

subscribing to a YouTube channel listen

to a segment of the audio and do your

best to write down what you hear after a

couple tries at this go back and double

check what you wrote against the script

of what was actually said if you’re

watching a movie you can double check

yourself by turning on the subtitles our

language learning program is one of the

best tools for developing your listening

skills you can listen to the

conversation in a lesson and then check

it back against the lesson transcripts

this is simple easy and you can be sure

that the transcripts are correct number

to practice pronunciation

any problems you have pronouncing new

words correctly will be reflected back

in your listening skills it’s hard for

your brain to decipher and remember a

sound be it a letter or a word that you

don’t know how to make yourself a good

accent will give you the ability to hear

and pick out the otherwise unnatural new

sounds to develop your accent focus on

any sounds or letters that feel

difficult or unnatural for you once you

get more comfortable with the basic

sounds start to combine them using words

and whole sentences listen to native

speakers as much as possible and take

note of how words and sounds can blend

morph or get dropped in rapid speech do

your best to listen to this phenomenon

and imitate what you hear focus more on

how the syllables are said together

rather than simply saying the words next

to each other there is often a

significant difference between how words

are said individually and how they are

said when spoken together in a

rapid-fire sentence this is a big part

of the reason language learners can know

a lot of vocabulary and grammar but

still not understand native speakers our

playback feature is great for

pronunciation practice you can playback

the podcast itself or listen to words

individually you

even listen back at a slower speed if

you’re having trouble catching the

correct pronunciation as a native

speaker speed number three make

listening part of your routine now that

you’ve started practicing active

listening and pronunciation make it a

part of your regular learning a lot of

specific amount of time for each of your

listening activities for example you

might practice ten minutes of active

listening followed by ten minutes of

practicing vowels and then ten minutes

of imitation practice with a podcast now

you don’t have to use this schedule

exactly tailor it to your own needs and

availability the point is that you

should make a conscious and decisive

effort to practice your listening skills

on a regular basis it could be 30

minutes a day or it might be 10 what

matters most is that you practice

consistently these three tips will help

you close any gap that might exist

between your knowledge of your target

language and your listening abilities

understanding native speakers may seem

daunting at first but with a little time

and perseverance you will see your

skills improve few things are more

discouraging than putting in the work

and effort to learn a foreign language

only to not use it for a while and

forget a large part of what you studied

once you have a good handle on a

language it’s not hard to practice it so

that it stays in the forefront of your

mind in this video we’ll take a look at

five practical ways you can make your

target language a part of your daily

life so that you don’t forget it number

one use language exchanges the idea

behind a language exchange is that you

find someone who fluently speaks your

target language and is also interested

in learning your native language during

the exchange you spend half the time

speaking in the language you’re learning

and the other half in the language

they’re learning this kind of exchange

is a great way to practice your speaking

skills and cement the material you’ve

learned into your brain one great thing

about practicing through a language

exchange is that your language partner

is a fellow language learner they will

be able to sympathize with your

struggles and even give you some

insightful tips from their own personal

experience most major cities will have

at least one meetup or language club

where you can practice languages with

people from around the world

but sometimes it can be hard to find

people who speak the language you’re

learning if you can’t find a local

exchange or if there are no native

speakers in your city you can connect

with native speakers through online

language exchanges there are numerous

free sites that allow you to search for

users based on country and language and

have a text audio or video practice

session number two

immerse yourself digitally most phones

laptops and apps will allow you to

change the language of their interface

why not change it to your target

language this simple change may seem

small but it can actually be an

effective way to reinforce your use of

the language your language skills are

like a muscle if you use them on a

regular basis then your skill in the

language will be in good shape the more

you use your language skills the easier

will be to remember things however if

you go for long stretches without using

the language then you might have a

problem those linguistic muscles will

start to get weak before too long and

you’ll notice a drop in your language

ability simply changing the language on

your electronic devices won’t equate to

any heavy lifting in a foreign language

but it could be comparable to a warm-up

or a quick workout remember that you

probably use electronic devices everyday

if you can use at least some of that

time thinking in your target language

while using them each week that adds up

to a huge amount of time and can keep

your knowledge fresh number three teach

others a language you don’t have to be

an expert in a new language to lend a

hand to another language learner helping

a beginner through the language will not

only make you feel good about helping

someone out it will also help you use

the language and keep your skills sharp

remember those language exchanges we

talked about well what if you looked for

other learners so that you could help

them in the language don’t worry if you

don’t feel qualified to teach the

language they’re not looking to get

their PhD in linguistics most likely a

new learner would appreciate someone

who’s been down the road before someone

to show them some common pitfalls and

shortcuts have you ever been a complete

newbie in something had been graciously

helped by someone with more experience

pay it forward and be that expert to

someone else your language muscles will

thank you for it

number four keep a journal or blog

writing out your thoughts in a foreign

language is one of the best ways to

sharpen your skills it forces you to

take time to construct sentences and it

will reveal your weak points very

quickly journaling is also one of the

easiest and cheapest ways to practice

all you need is a pen and a notebook if

you’re not the journaling type don’t

worry you don’t have to write an

autobiography simply recounting your day

or describing an experience will be

enough to get your language juices

flowing the entries can be long but they

don’t have to be this exercise is

flexible and can take any shape you want

try writing short daily entries you can

even post them online for native

speakers to correct this way you can

hold yourself accountable and write

regularly

there are several free sites that allow

you to post an entry and have it

reviewed by native speakers number five

entertain yourself in the language books

movies YouTube videos language learning

websites music the list goes on there’s

an endless supply of media out there so

you’re likely to find something that

interests you in your target language

whether you love sports rock music or

sewing you’re sure to find something to

entertain you in your target language

learning a language is hard but

remembering it doesn’t have to be these

ideas are here to help jumpstart your

brain these aren’t the only ways to

practice your target language either do

your best to use the language on a daily

basis and make it a part of your

everyday life remember all languages

aren’t just spoken there lived the fear

of making mistakes is one of the biggest

roadblocks to language learning out of

all the discomforts that come with

learning a foreign language

nothing looms quite as daunting in the

mind of a beginner it’s almost as if

we’re hardwired to want perfection when

we speak however the reality is that

mistakes are unavoidable in fact

mistakes are an integral part of the

learning process think of small children

who are just starting to learn language

they mispronounce words they use words

incorrectly and their grammar isn’t very

good

sometimes they even make up their own

words research shows that this is all a

natural part of the process if making

mistakes made up such a huge part of

learning our native language why do you

expect it to be any diff

when learning a foreign one in this

video we’ll talk about six ways you can

benefit from your mistakes while

learning language number one be humble

there’s no room for pride when you’re

learning a new language if you’re a

beginner native speakers will likely be

very accommodating with your mistakes

and slower reaction times during

conversations there’s no reason to be

embarrassed remember that it’s a sign of

respect to learn another person’s

language no one expects you to speak

flawlessly right from the start no one’s

going to hold your mistakes against you

so make sure you don’t either number two

don’t play the comparison game whether

it’s a native speaker or another person

learning the language don’t make the

mistake of comparing your progress to

someone else’s no doubt at the beginning

there will be times when it feels like

everyone is speaking perfectly and

you’re left in the dust but try not to

get discouraged

it’s your race to run not theirs

everyone has their own story their own

reason and their own method for learning

comparing your progress to someone

else’s progress is like comparing apples

and oranges it’s easy to stress out when

someone speaks perfectly while you’re

struggling to make the most basic

sentences but don’t forget that while

you can easily see someone else’s

success you’re much less likely to see

the hard work that got them there every

speaker you meet had to learn the

language at some point whether it was as

a child or as an adult they too had to

wade through their mistakes before they

could speak fluently number three get

feedback on your mistakes anytime you

write or speak your target language try

to get feedback from someone who speaks

that language you can make mistakes day

and night but if they’re never corrected

they do you no good if you can’t learn

from a mistake or if you don’t know that

it’s a mistake it won’t help you many in

the language learning community hold

that feedback is an integral part of the

language acquisition process encourage

friends and language partners to correct

your speaking any time all the time

worst case scenario you’ll make a

mistake 100 times and get corrected 100

times it might seem frustrating but it’s

all worth it on the 100 first time when

you finally remember your mistake and

start speaking correctly some mistakes

will be easy to fix and you’ll adjust

your speaking right away

others might take a while speaking a

foreign language is a little bit like

juggling there are a lot of moving

pieces you have to keep in place whether

it’s pronunciation grammar or vocabulary

getting feedback on your effort will

help refine your language skills until

you feel comfortable in the language

number 4 listen to your brain after all

the practice and feedback eventually

you’ll start to notice that certain

words come to mind without having to

think about them instead of having to

scan your brain for the latest new

vocabulary word you begin to

instinctively come up with a word for a

given sentence don’t hesitate to blurt

this word out sometimes it will be

completely wrong other times it will be

dead-on when words start coming to mind

instinctively that means your brain is

starting to get more and more used to

using a new language the incorrect words

are sort of like growing pains you’ll

have them for a little while but over

time you’ll encounter them less and less

until all of your instinctual words are

correct so don’t let the fear of making

a mistake short-circuit your brains

natural learning process go with

whatever word your brain gives you

number 5 never take the easy way out if

there are two ways to say what you want

to say in your target language one you

know and are comfortable with and the

other you’re not sure of use the one

you’re least comfortable with purposely

choose subjects and sentence

constructions that are difficult for you

don’t get complacent and fall into the

trap of using the same phrase over and

over again or having the same type of

conversation with a language partner you

always want to push your language skill

boundaries to stretch them even further

number six

enjoy the language for its own sake

small children not only make a ton of

mistakes when they learn to speak they

also have a ton of fun to them life and

language are both giant mysterious

adventures they aren’t worried about

making progress impressing people or

speaking perfectly take a note from

their playbook enjoy the language as you

learn it let your focus be on the beauty

and magic of the language savor the

times you get to use it if you loosen up

and enjoy the ride you’ll learn much

faster mistakes are powerful and

indispensable part of learning a

language we hope this video inspires you

to stop being afraid of them and start

embracing them are you improving how to

assess your language skills have you

ever wondered am I actually getting

better with my target language if you

want to know how to check and see if

you’ve improved or not then keep

watching today you’ll learn why

assessment can mean the difference

between fluency and failure how to

assess your language skills even if

you’re learning on your own and much

more but first listen up here at this

month’s new lessons and resources first

the writing a journal cheat sheet with

this cheat sheet you’ll be able to keep

a diary in your target language and talk

about your day inside you’ll find

phrases for common daily activities from

warnings tonight second if you love

travel then you’ll love our brand new

travel words and phrases PDF ebook learn

all the must know travel phrases

download it for free right now

third must know words and phrases for

your resume if you want to write your

resume in your target language then this

next one minute lesson is for you fourth

the top 12 April Fool’s phrases want to

prank others and speak more of your

target language then you’ll want this

April Fool’s phrase list fifth must know

vocab for doing laundry if you need

language for practical situations like

doing laundry

then this one-minute lesson is for you

you’ll learn how to say washing machine

detergent softener and much more

to get your free resources click the

link in the description below right now

they’re yours to keep forever okay let’s

jump into today’s topic

are you improving how to assess your

language skills so have you ever

wondered am I actually improving with my

target language feeling like you’re not

improving can hurt your motivation on

the flip side if you notice yourself

understanding more of the language than

before you can feel good and that can

fuel your motivation to keep going but

it’s not easy to spot your improvement

it’s tricky with language it’s not like

going to the gym where you can see your

muscles in the mirror this is where

assessment comes in

what’s assessment the easiest example of

assessment is a test if you go to a

language class you’ll get a test on the

first day the goal of the assessment

test is to understand where your

language level is and any test after

that is a way to see how much you’ve

improved this is ongoing assessment so

assessment is checking where you are now

and how far you’ve come with your

language learning assessment lets you

see where you’ve improved and helped you

find what you need to work on if you’re

serious about learning a language it’s

one of the best things you can do to

stay on track stay motivated correct

your mistakes and reach fluency but

assessing yourself is also hard if

you’re learning on your own so what can

you do here’s how you can assess your

language skills whether you’re learning

with our program or not number one if

you’re a Premium Plus user retake the

assessment test technically you can only

take this once but if you get in touch

with our support team we’ll give you the

link if you’re using any other resource

find a way to test yourself look for

practice tests apply for a proficiency

test take online quizzes anything that

forces you to test your language skills

number two revisit old lessons an easier

way to self assess your language level

is to revisit old lessons you can do

this with any program you’re learning

with if you’ve truly made progress then

you should be able to understand the

lesson dialogues with no problem if not

then you know that you need to review

them some more number three try harder

lessons also something you can do with

any language resource if you’re using

our program try lessons from a higher

level if you’re a lower intermediate try

upper intermediate lessons if you don’t

understand anything that’s fine

but if you do then that’s a good sign

that you’ve improved and are ready for

harder lessons number four for reading

check out our extensive reading books

these are available for all levels from

absolute beginner to advanced you can

reread old ones or try harder ones to

see where your current level is you’ll

find these books in our lesson library

this will help you assess your reading

and comprehension skills number five for

speaking use our voice recording tool if

you can easily repeat the lines from the

conversation that’s a good sign or if

you’re using another program try to

shadow the provided conversations if you

can do it without a problem then you’ve

made progress and are ready to go to the

next level

number six for writing try and copy out

our lesson dialog by hand the point here

is to see if you can write smoothly or

not as a way of assessing your writing

you can also do this with any text book

you can also take a picture of your

writing and send it to your Premium Plus

teacher for feedback number seven use

our premium plus assignments if you’re a

Premium Plus member you can ask your

teacher to send you weekly assignments

based on your knees

whether for reading writing speaking or

listening and they’ll provide you

feedback so you can see where you are

with each skill so to recap one take our

assessment test to revisit old lessons

three try harder lessons or use our

extensive reading books for reading five

use our voice recording tool six right

out dialogues by hand and seven take

advantage of our assignments remember

the point of assessment is not to pass

or fail but to see where you’ve improved

and where you need to work so thank you

for watching this episode of monthly

review great work here’s a reward speed

up your language learning with our pdfs

lessons get all of our best PDF cheat

sheets and ebooks for free just click

the link in the description