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hi everybody my name is Alisha and today
I’m joined again in the studio by
Michael hello hi Michael thanks for
joining us again today today we’re gonna
be looking at a few tips for learning
another language so each of us have
prepared a few things that we think are
really useful when learning another
language both of us have studied another
language to some degree so we’re gonna
talk about things that were useful for
us and which might be useful for you as
you practice your English skills so
let’s begin do you want to start sure go
for it I would say absorb media this is
something that actually when I meet
someone and they sound like a native
English speaker and I go you know where
are you from are you from Australia
America no no no I’m from blah blah blah
what you mean you’re not a native
English speaker and every single time
they tell me I said you know how did you
learn please I’m an English teacher I
want to know I want to help people habla
and every single time they tell me oh I
just love blah blah blah culture so
usually I love American culture I love
Justin Bieber and Lady gaga blah blah
blah blah blah and so all day every day
they’re reading they’re watching movies
are sitting on YouTube and just
absorbing it and it doesn’t feel like
you’re studying but you are and so then
you’re more likely to study so it’s like
a fun way to study it’s it’s helped me
I’ve changed everything on my iPod so
even when I’m lazy I have no choice but
to listen to the language I’m learning
yeah I think that’s a really good tip I
had the same thing essentially mine was
just phrase slightly different I said
find something that interests you in
your target language so if English is
your target language whatever it might
be if it’s music if it’s movies if it’s
comic books I don’t know if it’s if
you’re interested in something dating
someone who speaks your target language
whatever it is find something to
motivate you something that’s gonna make
you want to study and make you want to
learn that language so that you have
that you know that that drive to do it I
totally agree with you yeah I think it’s
a great tip okay cool so we had one
thing that was the same I guess I’ll
share another one of mine if that’s okay
my next one is one that I try to do
myself but I know that yeah I’m
miss I mess up every once in a while
practice every day even if it’s just a
few minutes whether you can spare an
hour or two hours or just I myself study
while I’m you know commuting to work on
the subway just find something that you
can do every single day so that you
don’t lose you know lose your place in
your studies just whether it’s
vocabulary or picking a new grammar
point to be looking at or just you know
finding a new phrase on TV that you
thought was interesting just being an
active learner every single day really
really contributes I think to your
abilities to speak and to understand
another language let’s just practice
every single day something I think this
is a really useful piece of advice for
anything I think a lot of people you get
overwhelmed and you know you think man I
want to be here whether it’s exercising
or playing the piano or whatever and you
just want to finish you know a year’s
worth of time in one day so you study
really hard you know you procrastinate
and then one day you do you cram as much
as you can you get burnt out and then
you don’t do it for weeks eight months
and that’s not the way humans work we’re
creatures of habit any of the best the
greatest whether they speak a language
like you is wonderfully as you do or
whatever or play piano or whatever every
single time you ask them and it’s brick
by brick by brick so I I agree 100% and
I also don’t follow this advice all the
time that’s tough I think the key is to
not give up so for me honestly my my
languages aren’t I’m not as confident
but as far as exercise you know you’ll
get lazy and you’ll pig out and you go
down but you can’t just give up and just
let it go down right just remember the
big picture that you are making progress
even if there’s some some some decline
so you busy with work whatever get back
on it keep practicing yeah English get
back on English class 101.com what is
your next tip um so my next tip is also
related to practice everyday is practice
fearless ly so this means you know it’s
easy to learn some basic phrases in
English hello I’m fine thank you and you
and you sound like a robot and you feel
comfortable in your little like comfort
zone but you don’t expand you’ve got to
be willing to make mistakes and I think
it’s the same as with dancing if you’re
afraid you look stupid if you
you’re reserved and you’re off onto the
side of the club and you’re just kind of
moving one shoulder and your little
comfort bubble it looks really stupid it
looks way more stupid than if you were
actually going all out and just having
fun with it
yeah I think it’s the same thing with
language don’t just stick to your little
comfort of hello I’m fine thank you and
you and sound like a robot you got to
have some fun with it try to use those
big words that maybe you mess up that’s
okay that’s how you learn it’s like a
kid
so let’s see your other one my tip my
last tip then is kind of general I guess
I’ve just chosen immersion this doesn’t
necessarily mean that you have to go to
the country you know where they speak
the language that you’re studying but
just find a way to even if it’s just for
a short period of time every day or once
a week or whatever it is if there’s some
some way that you can immerse yourself
in the language that you’re studying for
a period of time and only study you know
Spanish or only study English in your
case for affer for a period of time
every day or every week every month
whatever it is on a regular basis so you
get used to just hearing that and just
experiencing that I think is really
really helpful I think yeah I agree
um I think that’s no no that’s nothing
um I thought I thought I wrote a duck
yeah I agree
one of the things that most people don’t
realize is that now it’s the 21st
century everyone’s connected so a lot of
people just assume that if you move to
the country you’re gonna pick up the
language because immersion is is one of
the best most you know time and time
again improved way proved ways to learn
a language but that’s not always the
case like I have a lot of friends in
different countries who don’t learn it
at all they’re married to a local but
they just it’s easy to just sit on
Facebook and talk to your old friends
and never actually you know practice and
put it out there so if you can’t make it
out to another country don’t worry about
it because even if you do is sometimes
you know it’s that mindset it’s actually
doing it yeah yeah okay what’s your last
tip our last tip is take grammar with a
grain of salt
so of course grammar is essential for
learning a language absolutely there’s
no doubt about it you should definitely
focus on that but what I found is that
when you’re learning from a non-native
English speaker
they feel safe teaching grammar because
their set rules they can teach even if
the pronunciation isn’t correct or any
of that and you know you you you can
just get into that rut but the reality
of most languages is we break those
rules all the time so don’t worry too
much if you’re if your grammar is a
little off or you’re having trouble
learning it just just kind of go with it
and just try to repeat what you hear
yeah I don’t know about you though no I
think I think that’s an interesting
point though because I think that I’d
like you say I think grammar is a really
safe place for a lot of people because
like you say there are there are rules
it’s clear that I can see them you know
if I put a noun and a verb like this
then I’m gonna make a sentence that says
this and I understand that it’s really
easy to understand but I think that’s
something that a lot of learners and
myself I’m guilty of this too is that
there’s a limit to how much grammar that
you can learn like once you learn the
grammar you’re you’ve you’ve learned the
grammar like yeah it’s possible I think
to master the grammar of any language
but it’s the vocabulary that continues
to change every year there are new words
in every single language that gets
developed people are making up new words
every day especially in English so
experiment you know when once you find
that you know you’ve learned you’ve
learned the grammar move on you don’t
keep keep exploring new vocabulary find
new and interesting things to do with
the tools that you’ve given yourself so
don’t be afraid to experiment with your
vocabulary too if you find something
that you might like to try to make a
verb out of like Google for example give
it a try see if it works if the other
people around you are confused maybe it
didn’t work if the other people around
you laughs or you know continue with the
conversation hey maybe you just made a
new word you never know so give it a try
thanks very much for joining us for our
English tips on this lesson we will see
you again next time bye Pacific ording
hi there welcome back to weekly words my
name is Alisha and today we’re going to
talk about commonly looked up words
these are words that are the most
commonly searched for on merriam-webster
online which is a popular English
dictionary so let’s get started the
first word is pretentious pretentious is
a word that means you’re trying to
impress other people or someone who
tries to impress other people by making
themselves seem more exciting or more
important or cooler than they really are
in a sentence you might say my coworker
is so pretentious he’s always
exaggerating his stories to make himself
sound him
don’t be pretentious the next word is
ubiquitous ubiquitous just means
something that you see everywhere
smartphones smartphones smartphones
smartphones it’s a fur that’s really
smart you can tell when you need extra
oxygen in a sentence you might say
smartphones are ubiquitous everybody has
one now and I have one too al biet I’ll
be it just means although in a sentence
she was making progress albeit rather
slowly an expert is ambiguous ambiguous
just means something that’s the meaning
is not really very clear to you maybe if
you’re reading the newspaper for example
and a sentence is written kind of
strangely you might say hmm the meaning
of this is rather ambiguous alright love
really baby don’t hurry love is just
that intense feeling where you really
really like somebody else could be your
family member it could be a partner a
romantic partner or whatever it could be
a food you really like as well just
anytime you have that really deep strong
emotion you can use the word love for
example I love pizza it’s my favorite
food okay and that’s the end of commonly
searched for words in the dictionary I
hope you learned a few new things give
him a try and we’ll see you again next
time for more weekly words bye this is
unnatural rollin rollin rollin okay hi
welcome back to weekly words I’m Alicia
and today we’re gonna talk about phrases
that aren’t cool anymore whoo-hoo
I probably say a whole lot of these
phrases so I’m about to embarrass myself
the first phrase is sweet
Oh sweets not cool anymore sweet means
cool sweet means something that’s good
you might say oh man that’s skateboard
trick you just did with sweet
groovy I still say groovy groovy means
cool guru means good it was used in the
seventies when you know funky groovy
music was popular in a sentence like oh
hey those are some groovy moves on this
hint I don’t know if we can use that
going steady going steady is kind of an
old-fashioned phrase as well going
steady just means you’re dating someone
who is dating someone else
like me and Trisha are going steady what
just means you’re dating you’re a couple
not oh this is this word is actually
what the entire holiday at April Fool’s
Day is based around that’s a lie
particularly I would say for junior high
school students this phrase is um very
popular they might say something like
hey Steve thinks you’re cute not so in
other words it’s often used as an insult
duh duh duh duh is used when someone
says something really stupid or
something really obvious so if you say
something like oh hey it’s raining the
other person who can also maybe look out
the window you’re both sitting in front
of might say duh because you’ve just
indicated something very very obvious
you can also use to make fun of yourself
when you do or say something really
stupid as soon as you realize this you
can go ah duh yeah I’m learning today
but I’m not cool that’s the end oh okay
well those are some phrases that are no
longer cool I hope you learned something
about things that are no longer cool but
you can still use these words just you
know don’t expect to sound really
interesting or hip to the lingo if you
use these words okay thanks for joining
us and I will see you again next time
bye bye hi everybody welcome back to
English topics my name is Alisha and I’m
here today again with Michael hello and
today we’re going to be talking about
questions that we have been asked so
let’s begin what is the first question
that you would like to discuss today
Michael I would like to discuss
what’s the main difference between
British and American English so for me
I’d like to get this out of the way
Canadians and Americans sound pretty
much the same it’s hard for us to tell
the difference
even even native English speakers
there’s a couple telltale signs you know
say some things but it’s used usually
regional so I guess North Americans and
then like UK English and again there’s a
lot of different accents and dialects
you know it all depends but for me the
easiest way is Americans enunciate every
word we’re very loud and we open our
mouths a lot hello how are you where are
you from
teacher water we enunciate every sound
so um for me a dead giveaway is that
that our end are right it’s tough I
listen for vowel sounds and try to guess
based on that so your question is about
British English and American English
there’s also Australian English there’s
Scottish English there’s Irish English
there’s so many different English
speaking and dialects and honestly
sometimes it’s hard for us to understand
we’re both from relatively the same part
of America so we have the same speaking
style our accents are the same but to go
through all of the different dialects
and to try and approximate the to try
them to try and say them badly ii would
probably just be a waste of time
but you’re on the internet look it up
okay I guess we’ll go to the next one um
let’s see my questions let’s see I’m
gonna start with a grammar question that
I get a lot a grammar question that I
come across as students ask me this
question the present tense versus the
progressive tense
what is the difference when should I use
present tense versus progressive tense
so by this I mean of verbs the present
tense is used for facts things which are
always true things which are part of
your regular schedule the progressive
tense has a few different meanings to it
a few different uses to it but one of
the meanings are one of the uses is to
express something which is temporary
which is not part
your regular schedule or another uses to
describe a trend so you use a very
common mistake as an example if I ask
the question where do you work a lot of
times the response I get from my
students is I am working in America
depending on on the situation that
sentence could be correct but if you’re
talking about the place where you work
always every day you go to that job it
could be the location of your office it
could be the country or the city where
you work if it’s a part of your regular
schedule you want to explain a fact that
is true about your life you should use
the present tense not the progressive
tense so the correct version of that
sentence should be I work in America
that’s part of my regular schedule if
however you’re only in America for the
week for example you can use the
progressive tense but it’s more natural
to say for example this week I’m working
in America that’s a much much more
natural sentence to use how do I
pronounce the th sound so you know
depending on who I’m teaching English to
they’ll have problems with different
pronunciation sounds but for me I think
one that’s that’s common with a lot of
different cultures is the th sound and I
think again this goes back to like the
different ways of speaking and how
Americans we and them see it every word
and we push our the way we speak to the
very tip of our mouth that’s the th
sound so most people are capable of
making the th sound but they’re just a
little shy and it just doesn’t seem
natural it’s almost as if you can bite
the tip of your tongue off when you say
the sound right and then just another
thing to note is that th can have a hard
or a soft or voiced or unvoiced sound so
the is hard or voiced you hum hmm the
the and then with like think it’s a soft
or unvoiced you don’t hum you don’t
vibrate you just say think but it’s
still the tongue goes touches your teeth
think that this is another grammar point
that I get questions about from time to
time it is the present perfect tense
versus the simple past tense the
question is when do I use them so
present perfect tense let’s see an
example of present perfect tense would
be I have been to Paris simple past
tense would be I went to Paris what is
the difference we use the present
perfect tense to talk about a life
experience or something which occurred
in the past but which still affects the
present so in this case in my Paris
example sentence it’s something that
happened in the past but when exactly
when is not important we just want to
say I have had the life experience of
going to Paris simple past however is
used to refer to a specific point in
time in the past so for example I went
to Paris last summer it’s important that
you know I went last summer if the time
point when you went to Paris is not
important use the present perfect tense
so this is really useful for talking
about your travel experiences for
talking about your study experiences
foods you have and have not eaten so
keep just try to keep in mind when when
you should use these two they’re very
commonly used together like for example
you might use the present perfect tense
to introduce a question have you ever
been to Paris and the follow-up answer
oh yes I have been to Paris using the
present perfect tense again but then a
common pattern is to follow that answer
up with a simple past question when did
you go so you can see it changes from
present perfect tense to simple past
tense so a larger life experience to a
more simple life experience so they’re
used together but just be careful try to
be aware of am I talking about
an overall life experience or a very
specific life experience this is one
that many of my students struggle this
is more cultural why do Americans wear
shoes inside the house on the bed etc I
feel like this depends and this is
starting to change I take my shoes off
in most houses but I guess it’s more so
for comfort whereas I feel like on the
east side of the world it’s more of like
a cleanliness kind of a thing and if you
do still wear your shoes it’s pretty
taboo whereas in the states I feel like
most people from my experience anecdotal
evidence just personal experience most
places you take off your shoes but if
they have a party they let people wear
shoes inside the house they don’t care
and a lot of my friends will see
American movies and they see somebody a
main character wearing their shoes on
the bed on the couch something like that
again from my experience it’s not that
big of a deal but typically you wouldn’t
do that for me the the the rule of thumb
like they’re the unsaid rule is that you
can put your shoes up but you don’t let
your shoes touch the couch you kind of
you hang off right so you can if you
want to lay on the couch without taking
your shoes off you let your feet hang
off cuz yeah of course they’re gonna get
dirty but yeah it’s just not as
emphasized as much in our culture I
don’t know the last question I have is
can I ask a question the answer is yes
the answer is yes and in probably 95% of
cases the answer to the question can I
ask a question is yes okay why did I
choose this question my students
sometimes will put their hands up in my
lesson and say can I ask a question like
one this is your English class yes
please ask question um but to also this
is a discussion I’ve been having with a
few people recently just about the
mindset that I think is really important
when speaking English we have experience
teaching in Asia where maybe there’s a
different approach to conversations I
don’t know if this is the same cultural
approach to conversations that people
from other countries have but don’t wait
for permission to speak don’t wait to
jump into a conversation just go for it
don’t wait for someone to say oh would
you like to speak now because that’s
never going to happen
so don’t be shy get your tongue out and
say things and don’t worry if it sounds
rude or too polite or whatever um yeah I
couldn’t agree more
yeah yeah just
it’s a shift in mindset if you when you
when you start speaking that second
language like you said if you just
change your mind just a little bit just
make a small shift in your mindset maybe
you’ll see ah that’s what it takes just
like a little bit of your home language
and see what happens great so those are
some questions that we have been asked
about teaching about English about
culture if you have any other questions
by the way please make sure to leave
them in a comment for us or if there’s
something that you’ve always wondered
about or if there’s something that
you’ve encountered recently that
confused you whatever leave it in a
comment for us and maybe we’ll talk
about it in the future thanks very much
for watching this episode of English
topics please make sure to subscribe to
our channel if you haven’t already and
we will see you again next time
fight welcome back to weekly words my
name is Alisha and this week we’re gonna
talk about commonly misspelled words I’m
excited about this because I like
catching misspellings believe to believe
something just means to accept something
as true or not true in the negative
believe is commonly misspelled they
spell it alive well believe is commonly
misspelled don’t do that
so if you’re having trouble remembering
the correct way to spell the word
believe consider that the word lie is in
the middle of the word which is kind of
counterintuitive if you’ve been paying
attention to the weekly word series if
you’re trying to persuade a friend to do
something you might say please believe
me this is gonna be the best party ever
you have to come okay the next is a lot
this is commonly misspelled because
people like to put the UH and the lot
together it’s actually two separate
words uh and a lot a lot just means a
large number of something or a large
amount of something many of something in
a sentence you might say something like
I have a lot of hobbies I like skiing
snowboarding and whitewater rafting
so just spell them separately don’t put
it all together oh the next they’re
there and they’re students of English
tend to be better about spelling these
words than native speakers of English
and I find that very interesting the
first there th ER e refers to a place as
in he lives
over there the book is over there
somewhere other than where you are right
now the second forum th e IR is the
possessive form of a as in that’s their
house that’s their dog something that
belongs to some other group of people
and the last form th ey apostrophe r e
they are refers to a quality about
another group of people as in they are
the students they are the teachers it’s
the contracted form of they are on word
the next word is grateful grateful the
meaning of grateful grateful just means
that you appreciative of something in a
sentence you might say oh I feel so
grateful my teacher took time after
class to explain this concept to me
grateful is commonly misspelled because
this gr8 e e sounds just like the word
great gr EA T but actually that great
good meaning is not the correct spelling
for this word we use great instead this
spelling of grade is also used as a verb
as in two great things in the kitchen I
don’t know if that has any relation to
this or not probably not it’s gr8 te
next is receive receive to receive
something as a verb means to be given
something or to get something receive
can be kind of tricky because of the I
and the e a place where the I before E
except after C rule applies it’s not a
100% true rule but typically after the
letter C if the letters E and I need to
follow it after the letter C I is
typically not the first letter to come
usually it’s e that’s the first letter
so it should be C e I ve receive rather
than recite you something like that in a
sample sentence you might say I received
a gift from my friend on my birthday I
was really happy about that the next
word is end right end is not very
commonly misspelled but thank you for
joining us for this episode of weekly
words please watch your spelling with
these words as it can be very important
to get them right thanks again and I
will see you next week bye bye wanna
speak real English from your first
lesson sign
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English class 101.com welcome back to
weekly words
I’m Alisha and this week we are going to
do words with strange plural forms this
is good practice I bet let’s start yes
antenna the plural form of antenna is an
10a I think I’d seen today and I think I
probably actually just say antennas and
antenna on an old TV set for example
would be it would kind of look like this
we’d call it bunny ears where you had to
adjust the bunny ears you’re out there
and just adjust the antenna to make the
signal on your TV come in more clearly
bugs they have antennae from their heads
the next word is millenium the plural is
millennia a millennium is a period of a
thousand years a thousand years is a
millennium a series of thousands of
years would be called millennia you
might say many millennia have passed
since the earth was formed cactus is the
next word a cactus is a plant these are
the arms of the cactus I couldn’t make
the trunk of the cactus Wow
you can put a picture on the screen
instead of my amazing cactus the plural
of cactus is cacti or cactuses I think
I’m more inclined to say cacti so when
you go to the desert you might say keep
an eye out for cacti if you step on one
it could really hurt you the next one
it’s an interesting one I don’t think
I’ve ever used this word in a singular
like if you have a swimming pool or if
you’ve seen a pond or whatever it’s that
green sort of scummy stuff that
accumulates on top of it or on the sides
of your pool if you haven’t cleaned it
in a while algae bacterias and things
that like to live in the water there’s a
singular form and I’m just I’m looking
at it for the first time I don’t know
how good to use the plural then you
would say I need to clean my pool
there’s a lot of algae in it yeah next
is ox ox the plural of ox is oxen these
animals used to be used for farming I
don’t know that they are very much
anymore I don’t have much personal
experience with farming but there they
look like really really
cows with huge horns few torrents yeah
okay next is the end plural words that
have weird plural forms so please keep
them in mind when you are trying to use
them in conversation and use the correct
form of the plural thank you for joining
us again this week for weekly words next
time we will see you for more weekly
words that was weird
we’ll see you again next week for more
fun information take care bye welcome
back to weekly words my name is Alisha
and this week we are going to look at
commonly misinterpreted phrases the
first phrase is I couldn’t care less
people will often say I could care less
but that doesn’t really mean the same
thing as I couldn’t care less short for
I could not care less and it’s not
possible for me to care any less about
this situation so it’s just emphasizing
it whatever is going on it doesn’t
bother you
in a sentence my co-workers project
wasn’t successful and I couldn’t care
less Oh
jerk alright next is nip it in the bud
many people say nip it in the butt it
should be nip it in the bud bud in this
case might refer to a flower before it
blossoms that small shape before the
flower actually opens up we call that a
bud
so to nip something would mean to take
something quickly like biting taking
motion to nip something in the bud we
mean to stop something before it becomes
something else stopping something
negative from happening mm-hmm knitting
a sweater because I was making a sweater
earlier there’s a section of the sweater
where the thread that the yarn has
started to unravel and you think to
yourself oh my gosh I need to nip this
in the bud nip this in the bud so you
decide to fix it right away instead of
letting the sweater to slowly unravel as
you work on it next is one and the same
not one in the same I’m probably guilty
of this one actually one and the same
just refers to something that is maybe
has two names but both of those names
refer to the same thing or the same
person my teacher and my father are one
in the same person maybe you know if
your dad is your teacher in school you
could use this expression on tenterhooks
on tenterhooks is the next expression
this isn’t a phrase that I’m familiar
with I don’t use this one but it seems
that some people use the free
on tender hooks I’m not really sure what
tenterhooks are this expression is used
when people are looking forward to
learning the outcome of something or
kind of maybe there is anticipation
they’re anticipating something maybe you
would use this when you’re watching a
movie perhaps like I was on tenterhooks
to learn about the end of the story
something like that
maybe next moot point not mute point but
moot point something that is irrelevant
something that there’s just no point in
talking about it it is moot there’s no
meaning a moot point
yeah moot point that’s funny ah ask the
internets hey Siri Oh No okay you’re
looking for a guy to fill a position and
you find the guy and he’s a great
programmer and he’s fantastic but it’s a
moot point because he’s a convict onward
well that was a long one and the last
one okay that’s the end of commonly
misinterpreted phrases be careful when
you use these phrases and make sure to
get them right thank you very much for
joining us this week we’ll see you again
next time for more bye you’re excited
about something anxious or like looking
forward to something the origins of this
phrase are unclear hi everybody my name
is Alisha and today I’m joined again in
the studio by Michael hello and today
we’re gonna be talking about bad habits
in English so these are some things that
we’ve heard before or mistakes that
native speakers and non-native speakers
of English make and that drive us crazy
so let us begin you start what’s your
first thing um this doesn’t bug me too
much until someone points it out about
me and then it drives me nuts
yeah okay once you tell someone that
they say um or like too much then every
time they say it they notice it and it’s
really hard to get a thought out because
these are filler words that you almost
always use or I always use maybe
Americans always use but it’s yeah it’s
really tough not to use the word like or
um I think when you’re just speaking
casually right yeah right well yeah I
mean like right now why did you
first why’d he had remain in the first
one actually we talked about that we
have a video I think probably like a
year ago one of the English weekly words
videos where the word like was one of
the words that Americans overuse I don’t
know where that information came from
but that was C oh my god now I’m
suddenly aware of it why the whole thing
I’m gonna be thinking about how often I
say liking them okay let’s see I’m gonna
go to one that I think all of us talked
about and all of us were aware of before
we even turned the camera on but this is
a this one is written this is a written
problem that drives me nuts and there
are so many variations on this with
other words but this is the big one
you’re why oh you are this is a do not
equal sign why oh you apostrophe re so
this one your while you are is a
possessive word this is your shirt your
bag your whatever why oh you apostrophe
re is a contracted form of you are
interestingly enough though I will say
that I rarely see non-native speakers of
English make this mistake most of the
time it’s native speakers who make this
mistake come on guys really I just it
just drives me nuts
yeah that one you need drives me nuts
that one bugs me too because it’s it’s
really simple I mean there’s another one
and it still kind of bugs me but I’m
more forgiving as its and it’s because
they’re both I ts and one of them has an
apostrophe and in both cases it seems
reasonable because you can use an
apostrophe for possessive or for a
contraction so both seem reasonable and
you just have to do like you know a
pneumonic device figure it out there’s
rules I’m sure there’s a you know
English language English class 101 an
episode on it you know what apostrophe
is the one that’s the possessive the
apostrophe s is the one that starts for
it has or it is right but it makes sense
it’s kind of tough for some people to
remember you are you’re in your that
that really upsets me yes it’s so easy
it’s simple that in there and we talked
about this earlier there there and there
the possessive th e ir4 that’s their
house that’s their dog th ER e it’s
over there and th ey apostrophe re they
are there are three different there
there there’s sound the same but they
have different meanings and they should
be spelled differently too so come on
native speakers games together okay all
right
next one for you what’s your next one ah
along the same lines of being like
correct could of so I think the problem
with a lot of these words is so it’s
supposed to be could have but when
you’re speaking the language any
language you you make it quicker and
quicker and you kind of slur the words
together so like for example grandma or
grandma you like native speakers you
don’t really say the D just say that
grandma grandma and so as a kid I
thought that’s how you spelled it and I
remember spelling GRA Mme
someone told me no that’s not it so
could of it it makes sense why people
would say could of but it doesn’t it’s
not proper and you shouldn’t get in the
habit of doing it I think most of these
things you can be forgiving when they’re
kids but it’s best to nip it in the bud
because you know it just becomes a bad
habit yeah and I mean with could have
there is a correct contracted spelled
version it’s just could do apostrophe ve
could’ve I mean I I would argue that
it’s more casual and it’s perhaps not
the most correct thing to write I would
probably would just write could have I
probably wouldn’t use the contracted
form so much use of contractions will
make you sound more casual if you want
to write a formal letter you should I
feel you should not use contractions if
you’re writing an academic paper as well
don’t use contractions spell it out
spell the whole thing out you’ll sound
much more formal and more at least in my
mind more educated all right ah great
this topic is getting me all like antsy
okay let’s see I’m gonna go to okay
another another pronunciation issue that
I feel like almost is cool now okay let
me ask you a question this pronunciation
okay
so I’ve written acts on this card but
the it’s asked ASX let me ask okay so
this let me which we talked about in a
previous video which is short for left
me I’ve contracted it here to the very
lemmie but I’ve used lemme here because
this is this is typically said in a very
very casual setting let me ask you a
question but the pronunciation of ask
should not be acts it’s asked let me ask
you a question I want to ask you
something it’s not acts it’s asked asked
yeah this one again so like lemme lemme
is okay I think most people say lemme I
think that’s okay but for some reason
acts I think a lot of these just are not
even close at all
let me when you say it really fast it
sounds like lemme let me right but when
you say acts it’s just totally wrong
well it’s reversing the the consonants
and the word asked right it’s not faster
you’re not making it quicker you’re not
slurring or making you know putting it
into one little like fluid blob it’s
just you just switch the two yeah
similarly I hear this with the word
asterisk as well
the little star that’s on like the
number eight on your keyboard or
whatever that this looking thing it’s
not an extra s–
or what I don’t even know it’s asterisk
so over pronunciation so this one is
kind of the opposite direction so this
whole time we’ve been kind of nitpicking
when you use the incorrect version of a
word I think over pronunciation can also
be equally as damaging but instead of
making you look stupid it makes you look
pretentious so for example we don’t say
in English we don’t use all of the
syllables with chocolate so it’s cha
like when you spell it
chocolate white chocolate right and so
like maybe in Spanish or something like
that they would still say that like
chocolate their something whatever but
with English we took it out and so even
though you still spell all of those
syllables native speakers now say
chocolate chocolate or like comfortable
come for bull that’s how it’s spelled
but native English speakers we say
comforter bull and this is like now it’s
it’s I think it’s like unanimous so
maybe when it becomes when slang becomes
so popular that it’s part of the new
language it’s the language is now
evolved if you don’t go with the flow
even though it’s incorrect I think you
sound pretentious that’s a great one I
like that a lot
alright I’m gonna
wrap it up I have to actually I’ll just
I think I can do them quickly though do
you have any more by the way no no okay
then I’ll go quickly these are to the
left my last two are just a couple that
my students actually struggle with so
maybe this this is something that you
can work on as well
this one just an example sentence I want
to go to there I’ve underlined the word
to here we use the word to when we’re
talking about a specific city or a
specific country like I want to go to
New York I want to go to Europe but
there is not a specific location I want
to go to there is it’s not a specific
place so we you don’t need to use too in
this sentence I want to go there it’s
perfectly fine so this is a mistake that
non-native speakers it seems seem to
make from time to time perhaps okay and
then another one that I’ve heard a lot
recently is this phrase in case of and
then a country so for example in case of
China in case of Egypt or whatever where
someone is trying to explain like the
political situation or a policy in that
country in case of in case of but
actually you don’t need to use case of
just in China in Europe in Japan
whatever you don’t need to use case of
this pattern in case of is used for like
an emergency situation or used to talk
about alternate plans often to do with
weather so for example in case of rain
the event will be canceled or in case of
tornado please go to your nearest
evacuation center I don’t know something
like that so it’s used for like an
emergency situation it’s not used to
talk about policies in the country it’s
just use in plus the place it’s much
better much more natural so those are a
few things that I’ve noticed that
non-native speakers struggle with
sometimes
so perhaps they’ll be helpful for you as
well so thanks very much for watching if
you have a bad habit that you’ve noticed
when you’re speaking English or if
you’ve noticed about habit and somebody
else in their English speaking or their
writing or whatever please leave it in a
comment and let’s compare it might be
interesting to see if there are any
other things that people tend to
struggle with thanks very much for
watching this episode
we’ll see you again soon bye here I go
here I go here I go hi everybody my name
is Alisha welcome back to top words
today we’re gonna be talking about ten
phrases that make you look like a fool
hopefully you never use them let’s start
I don’t need to learn anything anymore I
don’t need to learn anything anymore if
you say this you sound like I know all
the information ever I’m done learning
I’m done studying of course you need to
learn of course you need to study please
don’t say this phrase I don’t need your
advice
I don’t need your advice I don’t need
your advice you sound like you don’t
appreciate what they’re saying you sound
like you don’t want to hear anything
from them I really think that you need
to be studying more I’m concerned about
your grades Jeff I don’t need your
advice mom I know everything I know
everything this is awful nobody wants to
hear you say this because it’s just not
true are you ready for the test next
week Steve yeah I’m good I know
everything they don’t I’m not ready to
learn English I’m not ready to learn
English mmm you can study anything at
any time pretty much I really think that
you should start studying English before
your trip to America next year no I
don’t think I’m ready to start learning
English see how stupid that sounds
ah moly Oh Eagle you don’t know York I’m
right and you’re wrong I’m right and
you’re wrong you sound awful when you
say this nobody likes to hear that
they’ve made a mistake in that you’re
happy about that that’s what the nuance
of this phrase is I’m right you’re wrong
don’t say this phrase unless you’re very
very close with the other person and you
know that it’s okay to joke together I’m
right you’re wrong
it’s too hard don’t even try it’s too
hard
don’t even try this sounds like you’re
giving up before you’ve even started
doing something if you don’t try you
never know right hey I think I’m gonna
start studying English this week because
I’m going to Canada next year what do
you think don’t even try it’s way too
hard oh really
you think it’s too hard mm-hmm okay I
guess I won’t just do what I say just do
what I say just do what I say parents
might use this phrase a lot with their
children actually but if you say this to
your friends or to your colleagues
you’re gonna sound like a really mean
are difficult to work with person just
do what I say we can’t do that
the next phrase is we can’t do that this
could also be changed - I can’t do that
again this sounds like you’re giving up
before you even tried to do something I
can’t do that
you’re just you’re not prepared or
you’re not even willing to try hey
Stevens do you think that you could take
care of this report for next week we
need it for our client meeting oh no I
don’t think I can do that no that’s
that’s not my job that’s not my
responsibility you’re not very smart
you’re not very smart that’s not a nice
thing to say if someone makes a mistake
and you say oh you’re not very smart
that’s so mean it’s so rude everybody
makes mistakes from time to time don’t
tell them that they’re stupid don’t say
you’re not very smart that’s hurtful
an example of what not to do I’m so so
sorry about this mistake that I made in
my report last week I’ll fix it I
promise I’ll fix it and I’ll send it to
you right away I can’t believe you made
such a simple mistake you’re not very
smart are you everybody makes mistakes
you’ll never succeed you’ll never
succeed you’ll never succeed this is a
phrase that shows you’re not supporting
the other person and maybe you’re even
trying to hold them back how awful is
that who would say that don’t say that
and I hope no one ever says this to you
I’m gonna join a marathon race next
summer
I can’t wait a marathon you’re never
gonna succeed with that do you know how
hard those are have you even started
training well no but I think I can do it
I just need a few months and you know I
need to take care of myself and work
hard no way there’s no way that you can
do that it’s not possible oh you really
think so I was so looking forward to it
- thank goodness that’s the end oh my
gosh those were some sad phrases I hope
that nobody says those phrases to you
but I hope also that you don’t use these
phrases with other people because
they’re hurtful really try to be
positive so thanks very much for joining
us for this lesson and we will see you
again soon bye I’m very insecure about
my acting abilities there’s sound coming
through this
I love the awkward pauses today’s video
is on words Americans overuse I haven’t
seen these words yet but apparently it’s
going to be a series of words that we as
Americans I’m American we overuse we use
too often so let’s start the first word
is definitely definitely is definitely a
word that Americans overuse we use it to
put emphasis at the end of a phrase to
put emphasis the end of a sentence as in
oh that party last week was so great
yeah definitely or to agree with
somebody like that Oh God
literally oh just in the last few days
I’ve seen the word literally so many
times on the internet and used in just
such stupid ways the word literally
means actually or truly something this
is literally the best hamburger I’ve
ever eaten so literally meaning truly or
actually would mean that in that
person’s entire life that is the best
hamburger they’ve ever eaten however it
gets misused a lot in sentences like
George Bush was literally supporting the
war in Iraq or something like that
taking a phrase like that literally
would have to mean that you know the
president former president would be you
know physically supporting a war with
his body onward onward hilarious
hilarious is the next word I like to use
the word hilarious when something is
actually funny hilarious of course means
something that is really funny super
funny
it’s a step above funny maybe two steps
three steps I don’t know however people
like to use this word in place of
laughter so for example friends are
talking and instead of just laughing the
friend will say that’s hilarious but
well if it’s so hilarious just laugh oh
this must be the last one because this
is the worst one this word is like I’ve
probably said it several times already
today for the for the purposes of this
video the word like is used as a filler
word so it’s the same as something such
as um or uh or hmm for example we use
like
as a filler word when we’re trying to
think of something you it’s not uncommon
to hear the word repeated like three
four five times in a row when someone is
thinking they’ll say oh you know that
party that I went to like like like like
do you know who was there it just
invades your speech sometimes when
you’re trying to think of something and
no other filler words come out but the
word like does ah this wasn’t the last
word there is another one seriously yeah
seriously it’s used oh it’s it’s good
for any time you receive bad news well
not from your boss it’s a really casual
word but if you hear something like your
friend lost their job and you can
sympathize with them or maybe empathize
with them by saying seriously oh that’s
too bad or Oh tell me like all your
problems oh my god oh just he’s like oh
good well I hate myself it’s the end all
right well I hope you enjoyed learning
about a few words that Americans overuse
I’m sure that there are more words that
Americans overuse but perhaps you’ll
find those out on your own thanks very
much for watching and we’ll see you
again next time bye
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