How to Talk About Your Studies and Education Basic English Phrases
Oh Internet welcome back to our weekly
live stream my name is Alisha and today
we’re gonna talk about how to talk about
your studies and your education in
English I’m going to talk about
expressions you can use at school and
just for your classes so even if you’re
not like a high school student or a
college student University student I
want to give you some patterns so that
you can talk about your studies your
studies so that means your language
studies for example or just hobby
classes too
we’re going to talk about that we’re
going to talk about how to explain your
degree that you get from university or
from college and we’re going to talk
about how to explain your other goals
like certifications finally I’m going to
talk about how to ask your teacher
questions in class and via email so we
have a lot to do as you join please
don’t forget to send a message in the
chat and of course like and share the
videos so other learners can find this
week’s lesson I see lots of people in
YouTube appearing now hello Oscar
Spencer a sushi all Christian Alejandro
Eric Maria Maz Leia duty Mubarak Krishna
again Musab hi hi everybody and on
Facebook I see you too
John maybe Jonathan Salam pakka Wanaka
David sang Lord hello everybody welcome
to our weekly live lesson as I said
today we’re talking about how to discuss
your studies and your education so we’ll
begin shortly while we wait for
everybody though I have a quick reminder
if you have not seen it yet I shared
this on Instagram a while back but I
just want to review we have a monthly
review series on our youtube channel
where we talk about learning strategies
and best ways to study and we’re going
to be making the next version of that
very soon you might also know in the
monthly review there is a chance for you
to participate by seven
an audio file or a video file so this is
the photo this is an actual photo from
oh sorry is coming there’s an actual
photo that is coming very shortly about
the filming session yeah okay thanks so
we actually listen to your audio files
and your video files here in the studio
so our team members choose from your
submissions from your audio and video
submissions and then I actually listen
to them here in the studio and comment
on them and talk about them so if you
want to participate in this for the next
month please check out the monthly
review on the English class 101 channel
and you can find the link for submission
of your audio or video file in the
description on youtube so please send us
lots and lots of submissions I think
this month’s challenge is to tell us
about where you’re from where you’re
from so please check that out monthly
review monthly review okay so great I
think it’s about time to get started
today I see lots of people are here now
on Facebook and on YouTube great thank
you to everyone for joining us if you
have not already please do make sure to
like and share the video so others can
find it I’m going to share our live
video and then I’m going to get started
with today’s lesson so as I said today
we’re going to talk about your education
and your studies let’s begin so the
first part for today’s lesson is how to
explain your classes your topic of study
so it’s okay if you are not a university
student or high school student but you
just are taking some classes as like a
hobby for example so these are a few
patterns you can use to explain that
first I’m taking a class on subject I’m
taking a class on subject so notice the
preposition we use here is on you could
use about if you like as well
and please send in the chat I’ll try to
check please send in the chat some
example sentences so we can practice a
lot with your information so when I say
subject here I’m taking a class on
English I’m taking a class on computer
science I’m taking a class on cooking
I’m taking a class on geometry whatever
your subject is put it at the end of the
sentence after on on is a little bit
shorter than about and this is the one
that we tend to use the most in everyday
conversation I’m taking a class on
subject or I’m saying taking a class on
topic so please send your classes in the
chat so that we can take a look and I’m
taking a class on let’s see dance maybe
you could use that for dance like for
your hobby topics so I’m taking a class
on something the second pattern here
uses something a little bit different
here I’m using sign up I signed up for a
topic or subject class I signed up for a
topic or subject class so to sign up
means like you registered for it so that
means you gave the school your
information and you’re preparing to go
to that class I signed up for a class so
maybe the class has not started yet but
you’re getting ready for preparing so I
signed up for a dance classes are signed
up for a yoga class okay I see some of
your examples are coming in I’m taking a
class on English great a lot of you I’m
taking a class on English another person
I’m taking a class on sociology since
I’m on Facebook good I’m taking a class
on math perfect Hamza says I’m taking a
class on English many of you have of
course the same English English class
this one Thanks I’m taking a class on
Persian interesting I’m taking a class
he’s gonna show the lyrical are taking a
class on French French and
English says one person I’m taking a
class on English lots of you okay
everybody here maybe is taking a class
on English very nice very nice
on Facebook I’m taking a class on
computers very nice okay I signed up for
a math class as pechera cool cool I
signed up for a math class great I’m
taking a class on mechanical engineering
maybe lis on YouTube
good I’m taking a class on biology says
May uncool very nice
Mohamed says I signed up for an English
class great great Nelson on YouTube says
could you talk about a lesson or topic
you’re about to teach ah from the
teachers perspective I begin every
weekly live lesson with a pattern of
couple patterns maybe I say today I’m
going to talk about topic today I’m
going to talk about how to talk about
your studies and education so I begin
most lessons on our channel with
something like that so take a look at
the beginning of any lesson I’m taking a
class on English okay lots of people are
definitely using of course the English
example the English example fantastic
okay so let’s look at the next patterns
for this lesson here this one I started
taking topic classes classes so you’ll
notice this pattern uses the plural
classes classes this is probably a
pattern we use more to talk about our
hobbies so this is something I would use
to talk about maybe like a dance class
or a sports class or other hobby like I
started taking photography classes or
maybe for language too I started taking
French classes we use a pattern like
this when we’re talking with our friends
usually and we want to express something
new that’s why we use
I started I started so it sounds like
there’s this new thing in my life I’m
doing I started taking French classes I
started taking cooking classes I started
taking Pilates classes so when you want
to express something new that you have
started that you’ve begun you can use
this pattern and you can use this plural
form I started taking biology classes
classes so you can use this plural form
or if you like I started taking a again
hobby I’m sorry
hey hobby hobby sorry hobby class a
hobby class in the singular there we go
I started taking a cooking class is also
okay you can use either of those I think
I personally prefer to use the plural
form I like using the plural form here
because it sounds like there’s more than
one class so like a common question is
like what’s the difference between
course and class what’s the difference
here I’ll include this up here course
versus class so it depends a little bit
on the university or the school that
you’re attending but a general guide a
general guide is that a course is a
series of lessons to study a subject so
for example if you take a beginner
English course like English class 101
really 101 is the name of the course the
number of the course if you take English
101 at your university you will take
maybe 12 classes 12 individual sessions
to complete that line of study so a
course is like a long term period for
study a class is the individual session
this is how many schools and
universities differentiy differentiate
means like to tell the difference to
make different so this is how many of
them make these two different but in
everyday conversation we don’t always
make this difference clear in American
English we tend to use class more
tattoos classified so quick intro to
that all right some others are using
this started pattern fantastic I started
taking Conte classes jr. hey jr. cool
really is that true you started taking
karate classes awesome okay many people
are saying I started taking English
classes good great I started taking
boxing classes as someone okay cool I
started taking Photoshop classes oh
that’s a good idea I want to take
actually I’m gonna use this here I want
to take a class on After Effects
actually I’m interested in animation
lately I want to take a class on After
Effects so that’s our next pattern so
more from you I started taking your
English classes today
wow thanks cool I started taking Atari
games classes is that true is that real
okay I started taking a dj'‘q course
asli’s oh cool
okay others I started taking an online
photography class very nice very nice
okay there are lots of good examples
here fantastic let’s move on then to the
last pattern for this lesson the last
pattern I just used is I want to take a
class on topic I want to take a class on
topic in my example I said I want to
take a class on After Effects so After
Effects is a software I want to study
that software so you have not started
the class you are not taking the class
now but you want to the next thing you
want to study you can say I want to take
a class on
topic I want to take a class on After
Effects I wanted to get class on
photography I want to take a class on
cooking I want to take a class on
something Luke says I want to take a
class on Java Java language Oh
programming mmm nice I want to take
speaking classes okay nice very nice
someone says it’s the first time to see
us live hey thanks for joining sorry I
can’t reach your name I can’t read
Korean I started taking okay I want to
take a class on business very nice
okay others don’t see yet lots of people
are saying hello I want to take a class
on Oh Luke I saw your comment earlier
Java good I want to take a class on
guitar good good good I want to take a
class on blender he’s going to her
software I’m not familiar I want to take
a class on scuba diving very nice
someone says I wanted to take a sleep
lesson can you do that I don’t know okay
anyway this is the first part of our
lesson about how to explain your classes
and your topics of study so we’ll take
one quick break I want to introduce this
week of course as always free stuff for
you we’ll go to this camera over here
this one I’m gonna show you is the back
to school it says back to school yes so
there are some classroom phrases that
you can use these are vocabulary words
for the classroom so if you are a
student now maybe you can check this but
on the back right here right now I’m
talking about classes focus on classes
these are some very common class name so
art music biology chemistry history and
so on if you want to refresh a few
common vocabulary words for class names
you can take a look at this PDF the
back-to-school PDF you can find this and
others many others lots of others which
I’ll try to show later lots of other
free study resources from the link below
the video on youtube or above the video
on Facebook if you’re watching on
Instagram please check the links on you
or Facebook for this free step we have
Instagram back this week yeah okay
alright so let’s continue to the second
part of today’s lesson the second part
of today’s lesson is about your degree
and your goals so if you’re just joining
today’s topic is about how to talk about
your studies and your education if you
have not already don’t forget to like
and share today’s lesson so others can
find it ok let’s move on to part 2 -
part 2 part 2 for today explaining your
degree and explaining your goals so if
you are a university student or college
student you typically need to explain
the degree you are studying for this
word degree so your degree is the level
of like studies certification your study
level at in college so usually four
years of study after four years of study
you get a bachelor’s degree a bachelor’s
degree after a bachelor’s degree usually
like another two years of study gets you
a master’s degree a master’s degree
finally after masters if you want to
continue studying
maybe another three years or perhaps two
depending on the program you can get a
PhD a PhD so these are the three
graduate I’m sorry these are this is an
undergraduate degree this is called an
undergraduate degree they like base
level of college education and masters
and PhD are called graduate degrees
graduate degrees so these are like the
next levels of university study so to
explain your degree if you are in school
now if you are in university now you can
say I’m studying for my bachelor’s in
subject I’m studying for my bachelor’s
in psychology
studying for my bachelor’s in
communication I’m studying for my
bachelor’s in English literature I’m
studying for my bachelor’s and Japanese
cinema whatever your topic is whatever
your subject is put it here
your preposition in in I’m studying for
my so my and here we use Bachelor
apostrophe s bachelors you can use
degree here and here
master’s degree but we do not really use
PhD degree we just say PhD so to use
masters and PhD I’m studying for my
master’s degree in architecture I’m
studying for my master’s degree in
computer science I’m studying for my PhD
and something very specific
so PhDs tend to be about like kind of
more specific subjects so maybe some of
you are studying now someone says I’m
studying for my bachelor’s in math very
nice
someone said I’m studying for my be a
great yeah so thank you to Zakaria on
Facebook for that BA someone has just
used be a so you might see be a and be s
used on like job application forms and
similar what do these mean the be in be
a or b s means bachelor bachelor then
here the a means art and the s means
science here we usually read the space
as of so be a is read as Bachelor of
Arts BS is read as Bachelor of Science
so universities according to the
category of your studies will give you a
Bachelor of Arts or they’ll give you a
Bachelor of Science so for example if
you study math
chemistry biology physics one of those
topics
that’s a Bachelor of Science if you
study language music art you’ll receive
a Bachelor of art Bachelor apart so you
may see ba or BS BA heat says I’m
studying for my MA in architecture
architecture good this point the subject
should be a noun a noun so don’t use an
adjective or an adverb or something
this should subject should be a noun
your subject should be in now okay
then if you have finished your studies
don’t use this progressive studying here
you can say if you finished I have a I
have a bachelor’s in subject I have a
master’s in subject I have a PhD in
subject I have I have someone also said
I’m I finished I finished my bachelor’s
in something something okay
good examples I’m studying for my
master’s in medicine Wow
cool I’m studying for my master’s in
industrial engineering industrial
engineering that would be the noun form
industry engineer is the job title we
want the subject the topic itself
how about medicine ei or BS I think it’s
probably BS I think medicine is probably
Bachelor of Science Junior what does
play hookie mean yes to play hooky means
to skip school to skip school it’s kind
of an old-fashioned phrase to playing
the kids in the YouTube chat I’ll put it
here to play hooky means to skip school
to skip school so we don’t use this very
much we’ll just say skip school or skip
class yeah on Facebook I’m studying for
my PhD in economics in economics make
sure this preposition is in I’m studying
for my master’s don’t forget this
apostrophe s my master’s in IT good I’m
studying for my bachelors
in politics at a political concert I’m
not sure what that one is what about a
bachelor in paradise I don’t know what
that means I have a bachelor’s degree in
physical education very nice very nice I
have a Bachelor of Science in physics
very nice grapes lots of good examples
here everybody I’m studying for my PhD
in microbiology is that true we have so
many interesting topics in our chat
that’s cool
ok then let’s move on to another kind of
study if you’re not a university student
you’re not a college student you’re not
in high school but you are taking the
class for a hobby or to receive a
certification this is a key word here
I’m studying for a certification in
topic so a certification means like a
license or it means you are recognized
so like a group of people experts
recognize you and they say ok this
person has enough skill to do something
for example I’m studying for a
certification in first aid first aid so
first aid means like how to help people
injured people how to save lives so a
certification in first aid means like
you can correctly help people who are
injured I have a certification in
something is also okay to use with this
one so I’m studying for a certification
in what like Japanese cooking maybe or
I’m studying for a certification in
teaching English as a foreign language
for some people so a certification means
you are recognized for having a certain
skill level a certification in something
so again our preposition here is in I’m
studying for a certification in
okay whatever that might be I’m studying
for a certification of C and a that’s a
nursing assistant right I’m studying for
a certification in English linguistics
great Hassan says I’ve got a
certification in Chinese whoa cool I’m
studying for a certification in music
very nice okay
I’m studying for a certification in
English very good I’m studying for a
certification in community health I’m
studying for a certification in
networking fantastic very nice example
it’s very nice let’s finish then again
if you are not studying now but there’s
something you want to practice in the
future something you want to study use
this I want to learn how to learn I want
to learn how to work I want to learn how
to speak English I want to learn how to
speak French so native speed sounds like
I want to learn how to something I want
to learn how to speak English I want to
learn how to cook I want to learn how to
do karate so we can use many different
activities here I want to learn how to
take good photos I want to learn how to
make animations so please use I want to
learn how to something I must to learn
how to something I want to learn how to
I really do want to learn how to use
After Effects I think that’s on my mind
lately I also want to learn how to use a
camera in a better way I want to learn
how to do laundry this up I don’t think
you need to take a class to learn how to
do laundry I think you can probably
learn how to do the laundry pretty
quickly with a quick google search if
you don’t already know to do laundry
good luck with that good luck with that
I want to learn how to speak English
fluently very nice good many people do I
want to learn how to speak fluently good
I want to learn how to be an anime maker
ah like an illustrator in anime
straighter cool I want to learn how to
improve my English good I want to learn
how to make youtube videos very nice
I want to learn how to speak English yes
yes many people I want to learn how to
earn a lot of money I think many people
have this same goal on Facebook I want
to learn how to take pictures great
great I want to learn why we are here we
are here to study English this week oh
maybe on this earth that’s a bigger
question other points I want to learn
how to play pipes like bagpipes so it’s
very interesting okay let’s move on to
the last point for today asking
questions just a couple patterns if you
missed it earlier I will quickly show
because we’re running out of time I will
quickly show this I showed this PDF
earlier we always have free stuff but
I’ll show you a couple more for this
point in particular for if I want to
learn how to do something this is a good
one you can use for your hobbies so for
example if you like shopping you can say
I want to learn how to shop in English
for example so lots of you are saying
like I want to learn how to speak
fluently in English or whatever I want
to learn how to travel in English for
example I want to learn how to do
something so if there’s a topic or a
hobby that you are interested in you can
take a look at these PDFs we have on the
website from the link below the video if
you’re watching on YouTube or above the
video if you’re watching it’s to get
these and more there’s a lot actually
here some of you mentioned music there
is one about music and talking about
music in English so please check this
out from the link below the video on
YouTube above the video on Facebook
Instagram if you’re watching on
Instagram check YouTube or Facebook for
the link ok let’s finish up today’s
lesson with asking questions the last
topic for today’s lesson
asking questions from your teacher so a
something that’s important to do with
these patterns I’m going to introduce is
to give your teacher the specific
question you have something that was
really challenging for me like something
that is challenging when my student
doesn’t understand something sometimes
they say I don’t understand and as the
teacher I don’t know which part
I should explain more like I want to
help you so please tell me which part
you don’t understand to do that during
your class these are some patterns you
can use first during the lesson you can
use this pattern could you please
explain a bit more about something could
you please explain a bit more about
bachelor’s degrees could you please
explain a bit more about your study
goals could you please explain a bit
more about present perfect done
could you please explain a bit more
about this vocabulary word could you
please explain a bit more about
something so this especially for your
language classes will help your teacher
to give you the information that will
help you because if you just say I don’t
understand like the teacher might not
know exactly which point to talk about
so could you please explain a bit more
about something could you please explain
a bit more about something another one I
didn’t this is longer may be leveled up
for some of you I didn’t quite
understand specific point I didn’t quite
understand specific point could you talk
a little bit more about that
so that here refers to this specific
point this specific point I didn’t quite
understand the present perfect tense
could you talk a little bit more about
that I didn’t quite understand a
bachelor’s degree could you talk a
little bit more about that so this tells
your teacher exactly what to explain of
course if it’s not about language that’s
fine too I didn’t quite understand this
I don’t know part in my chemistry lesson
and so on but try to be specific with
your teacher so your teacher can give
you specific help ok onward this one
this is a very common way that students
our learners send questions for ask
Alicia this is a very common pattern for
look for our viewers when they have
vocabulary related questions but this is
very useful in many situations what’s
the difference between a and B what’s
the difference between a and B what’s
the difference between present perfect
tense and simple past tense what’s the
difference between house and home what’s
the difference between a and B so this
will help your teacher again to
understand the part that’s challenging
for you what’s the difference between a
and B you could use three things what’s
the difference between a B and C is also
okay good
some of you are sending examples I’m not
sure if they’re examples or real
questions because you please explain a
bit more about master’s degrees is that
a real question or is that or is that
just an example sentence I don’t know I
don’t know could you okay I’m not sure
if these are real questions or examples
some of these are just general questions
and I will try to answer them in another
video let’s finish today’s lesson with
this point so how to ask your teacher a
question via email via email so to ask a
question via email again you need to be
specific you need to be specific so that
means beginning with your teacher’s name
dear mister
Ms mrs. so the difference between miz
and miz’s is we use missus for married
women and Ms for unmarried women or if
we don’t know we use ms we use the last
name for more formal situations so dear
mr. Smith dear mrs. Smith
this sounds more formal so we use this
with like university professors or in
more casual situations where you have a
close relationship with your teacher
just use dear first name so if you for
example we’re in my class like I I try
to use first name it feels too strange
to use last names for me we use first
names in my lessons so dear Elisha is
how you would write a message then
identify yourself that means tell me who
you are tell your teacher who you are
like if I’m a teacher which I am like I
get a lot of messages that’s true like I
get a lot of messages I don’t know who
everybody is the teacher your teacher
might have many students so first who
are you my name is your name my name is
my name is Risa sorry reason my name is
Risa and I’m a student in your English
class on Thursdays at 11 o’clock
I’m writing to ask about bachelor’s
degree so I’m writing to ask about this
assignment so give your name what topic
or what class are you in what day of the
week what time give this basic
information and then ask your question
you can introduce with I’m writing to
ask about this I’m writing to ask about
this week’s homework assignment I’m
writing to ask about the reading for
this week I’m writing to ask about the
schedule for this week so again include
a specific topic here a specific
question to ask I’m writing to ask about
something and for university students
especially make sure you check these
syllabus the
this is syllabus syllabus is spelled sy
ll a B us the syllabus is your course
outline you usually receive a syllabus
on the first day of your lesson in
universities it will give you the course
schedule all of the course reading
materials a list of your textbooks it
will give you the grading information it
will give you information about the
course like a general introduction to
the course
it will tell you your teachers email
address office hours and so on so many
professors will ask you to check the
syllabus check the syllabus because
sometimes that things are answered in
the syllabus oh so that was a lot I have
to finish I’m very late yes so finish
there for today that is everything for
this lesson about how to talk about your
studies and your education so we’ll
finish there for today but we’ll be back
next week next week we will be back to
talk about adverbs of frequency adverbs
of frequency a very popular topic if you
don’t know adverbs of frequency for
example our words like sometimes always
never occasionally rarely seldom and so
on so next week’s lesson will be about
how to use these naturally I want to
talk about different sentence positions
for those words and kind of the most
common ones that you can expect it to
hear so join us next week May 15th for
adverbs of frequency that will be 10
p.m. Eastern Standard Time New York City
time if you don’t know your local time
Google it or just on YouTube hit the
bell notification to get notified or on
Facebook click the event tab there’s an
event for each live stream so you can
get a notification
when we begin the stream so please join
us next week for adverbs of frequency in
the meantime enjoy your studies and make
sure to pick up all your free stuff from
the link below the video on youtube or
above the video on Facebook and also
send us your audio and video submissions
or our monthly review or upcoming
monthly review so thank you as always
from watching this week’s live stream
have a great week I will see you again
soon
you