Your Monthly Dose of English Best of January 2020
happy new year access your first free
language gifts of the year right now
here’s what you’re getting this month
first the national holidays cheat sheet
want to know more about national
holidays in the country you love this
conversation cheat sheet will not only
give you the dates but will also teach
you all the words and phrases to talk
about these holidays second do you know
seven tested ways to learn language fast
with this ebook you’ll learn how to
speak better remember more words and
improve fast download it for free right
now
third do you have allergies and want to
be able to read food packaging check out
the most useful words and phrases you
should know when reading food packaging
from nutritional value to allergens
fourth want to be able to talk about the
world around you then this next one
minute lesson is for you
you’ll learn common geography vocab fast
fifth want to play video games and your
target language you’ll learn the basic
video game words and phrases with this
one-minute lesson six want to learn the
language on your phone then download our
innovative language 101 app for free
for the Android iPhone and iPad you’ll
learn fast and start speaking in minutes
and finally the deal of the month if you
want to finally master the language with
lessons by real teachers and our
complete language learning program take
the 12 month challenge and get 12 months
of premium or premium plus at up to 45%
off to get your gifts and language
learning resources click the link in the
description below download them right
now before they expire hi everybody
welcome back to ask Alicia the weekly
series where you ask me questions and I
answer them
maybe first question this week comes
from Stefan hi Stefan Stefan says hi
Alicia what is the meaning of the phrase
to get used to doing something does it
refer to a completed action or not and
can we use it in present simple like I
get used to getting up early yeah yeah
okay to get used to doing something
means to become accustomed to doing
something we tend to use it more
simple past tense as in your example I
got used to getting up early or I got
used to waking up early when we use it
in the past tense the past tense got
instead of present tense get it means
that the speaker has already become
accustomed to doing that thing so in the
sentence I got used to waking up early
it means the speaker is now accustomed
to getting up early they’re fine we can
however as you suggest use it in the
present tense as well like I need to get
used to getting up early that’s an
expression for like a desire to be able
to get up early which means that the
speaker is not now able to get up early
or they’re not accustomed to getting up
early so yes you can use it
in present tense but it’s probably going
to be used in a situation where the
speaker is expressing a desire or some
kind of need for a new behavior for some
kind of new behavior to be learned if
it’s in a conversation a speaker might
say like ah don’t worry about your new
job you’ll get used to getting up early
so it’s you’ll get used to in that case
it’s a future tense expression like you
are going to get used to getting up
early through this job or another way of
saying that is you will become
accustomed to getting up early through
this job so to get used to something
means to take time and practice to get
accustomed to something to become
accustomed to something we use it all
the time when we’re learning new things
like you’ll get used to learning English
or you’ll get used to speaking English
or you’ll get used to talking in front
of a camera all of these different
things that take some time and practice
to do we can describe those with get
used to or once we’ve become accustomed
to them got used to so 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 Assuan
hi us when Oswin says what’s the
difference between do you didyou and are
you when I ask questions ok first let’s
talk about do you and also does he or
does she
so this do and does pattern we use these
do and does patterns
when we’re making simple present tense
questions like do you have a pen or does
he exercise everyday or do you know my
bag is so we’re asking these simple
yes-or-no questions with a simple
present tense verb so we could answer
yes or no to all of these questions so
let’s compare this then to did did so
did is just the past tense of do we use
did in the same way as do but when we’re
asking simple past tense questions for
example did you just call me or did he
forget his wallet or did we buy enough
food so these are all simple past tense
questions we don’t conjugate the verb
that comes after do rather we conjugate
did so did is the past form of do
finally let’s compare this with ru or
for example is he or is she when we
begin sentences with is or are we’re
typically using them with an adjective
or with the progressive tense verb so
we’re asking simple questions again
yes-or-no questions but the thing that
follows is or R is an adjective or is a
verb in the ing form as in is he
sleeping or are you okay or is he at the
office
so these yes-or-no questions don’t use
simple present tense verbs in the part
that comes after the is or R so to recap
do and does are used in present tense or
past tense with simple present tense
verbs and ru or is he is she are used
with adjectives and with verbs in the
progressive form so these all are ways
of making yes-or-no questions but the
grammar and the structure of the
sentence just changes a little bit 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 Anderson C’s
again hi Anderson Anderson says hi
Alicia I’m a bit confused with the
difference between the present perfect
and the present perfect continuous if I
want to say that I live in some place
and have lived there for some time which
one should I use okay you can
either for example I have lived in
Portland for three years and I’ve been
living in Portland for three years so at
base these two sentences have exactly
the same meaning they mean exactly the
same thing the only thing that changes
here is perhaps the situations in which
we might use these let’s take a look at
the first example here to begin with
let’s imagine that you’re at a
going-away party a farewell party for
yourself it’s your party you are leaving
the city of Portland you might say to
your friend at the party I have lived in
Portland for three years it’s been great
to live here but I’m excited about my
next step so in that case present
perfect tense not using the continuous
sounds quite normal because you want to
talk about this period of time you’ve
spent in Portland it started three years
ago it continued till now at this party
in Portland right now and so you want to
emphasize like yes this has been a
continued experience up until this point
in time but it would sound strange to
say I lived in Portland for three years
because actually at the party you’re
still in Portland maybe you have a few
days or another week or so so it would
sound strange to use simple past tense
here we don’t want to use the continuous
tense here because the continuous tense
really emphasizes that something is
going to continue after the conversation
perhaps so in this case just using
present perfect tense without the
continuous form sounds the most natural
let’s compare this then to another
situation in this situation you are in
Portland and you’re at a networking
event for your job you meet someone
there and you’re talking about like
basic things where you live and so on
you might say I’ve been living in
Portland for three years it’s a great
place to live so in this case we’re
using the present perfect continuous we
choose this it sounds most natural
because we want to emphasize that we are
going to remain in Portland I’m going to
continue the condition of living in
Portland so this sounds a little bit
more natural and it sounds like it’s
more emphasis
on my continued presence in Portland
which we want to emphasize here because
we might be making a new business
connection so in sum these two sentences
communicate exactly the same thing yes
but there are just some small
differences that depend on the situation
and that’s the reason that we might
choose to use simple present perfect
tense as opposed to the present perfect
continuous so try to keep these sorts of
situations in mind when you’re choosing
between these two 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 Nene young I
hope I said that right hi Nene Nene says
what does can’t help plus the
progressive form mean okay yeah this is
like saying I can’t control this
behavior so a great example is if you’re
watching a funny movie and when you try
to explain your feelings about the movie
you might say I can’t help laughing at
this scene can’t help laughing means I
can’t control the behavior of laughing
you might also hear I can’t help but and
then the simple present tense form of
the verb as in I can’t help but laugh so
I can’t help but laugh and I can’t help
laughing both communicate this loss of
control I’m not able to control this
thing we tend to use this sort of
pattern when we’re talking about
emotions so in this case it’s about
laughter you might also hear it used to
talk about feelings like I can’t help
feeling angry or I can’t help feeling
worried about this situation I can’t
help feeling means I don’t have any
control over this emotion or this action
we tend to use this pattern for like
emotional and mental state verbs we
might use it for some other kind of like
bodily related verbs like I can’t help
watching or I can’t help looking and so
on so it’s like these sorts of actions
that maybe we don’t even think about
doing and that we just do automatically
if we see something interesting or
exciting or if something smells terrible
whatever that is it’s like some
situation where we lose control somehow
for a moment we can express that with
can’t help plus the progressive form or
I can’t help but blah blah blah
some examples can’t help but laugh or
can’t help laughing I can’t help but
feel and can’t help feeling or I can’t
help but look or can’t help looking so
there’s not really a difference in
meaning between present tense and the
progressive tense there but I would say
personally I feel that that can’t help
but present tense sounds a little bit
more formal so I hope that this helps
you understand the meaning of this can’t
help plus the progressive form of a verb
thanks very much for the question okay
let’s move on to your next question next
question comes from Kitty hi cutie cutie
says hi what is the difference between
half 2 and must alright must is used for
official rules and strong advice very
strong personal advice so for official
rules you might see in the airport
passengers must show their passports to
immigration or for strong advice a
doctor might say to a patient you must
stop smoking or you’re going to die so
in these very serious official
situations must sounds very appropriate
must sounds too official for everyday
speech we don’t use it so much for
giving advice or for talking about rules
in everyday speech however you might see
it in something like your company’s
rules like your corporate policy like
employees must wear business shirts to
work for example let’s compare this then
to have two we use half-jew to talk
about our responsibilities and we also
use half two to talk about friendly
advice or rather to give friendly advice
that also sounds a bit strong for
example you have to try this dessert
it’s so good or I have to go to the bank
today so have to for advice sounds
friendly and strong but it’s not used
for very serious things like we did with
must so please keep this in mind when
you’re choosing between these two also
if you would like some more information
about have to end must there is a live
stream about this exact topic on the
channel so please check out our channel
archives for some more information about
this there is also a whiteboard about
this topic coming up soon so please keep
an eye out for that too I hope that this
quick introduction helps you and
definitely check out the other resources
on our channel thanks very much for the
okay that is everything that I have for
this week thank you as always for
sending your questions remember you can
send them to me at English class 101.com
slash ask - Alicia thanks very much for
watching this week’s episode of ask
Alicia and I will see you again next
week bye bye hi everybody my name is
Alicia in this lesson we’re going to
talk about reporting speech in English
I’m going to talk about the verbs we use
and a couple of grammar points that you
can think about so let’s get started the
first type of speech reporting I want to
introduce is reporting statements so
statements are just simple things simple
sentences that people said so this can
be direct dialogue exactly the thing
someone said or it can be a summary of
something someone said so keep in mind
these are not questions I’m going to
talk about questions later let’s look at
the verbs and the other expressions we
use to report simple statements the
first one is the very very neutral said
I said said is the past tense form of
say so we use say and past tense said as
the most basic way to share something
someone else said so we can use this for
direct reports meaning exactly the
things someone said we do this we use
quotes to indicate direct speech or we
can just use it as I have here to
introduce a summary of something in this
example sentence I said I had to work so
this is just a simple summary I said
something similar in the past perhaps
but this is maybe not a direct report of
my speech we can use said in most cases
just to report information this was said
by someone the speaker is here the
subject so I in this case I said I had
to work we could change it - he said he
had to work is fine they said they had
to work so this is the most basic verb
we can use to report speech let’s move
on to a couple of the
let’s look at this told here I’m using
the verb till but I’m using past tense
told so here the speaker is indicated at
the beginning of the sentence he and
then the person receiving the
information in this case me follows the
verb so he told me in this case the
train was late he told me the train was
late so this is a past situation I
received information from him the
information was this he told me the
train was late
so you can change the person speaking
and the person receiving by changing
these two parts on either side of the
verb my mother told my brother to clean
his room for example so keep in mind
when you use the verb tell or in this
case past tense told the idea is that
it’s more one-way communication it’s not
really a conversation in this case he
told me so meaning information is coming
this way only I’m not sharing
information with him really he’s just
sharing something with me it’s one way
so we use told to communicate that of
course we could use said here he said
the train was late
using tell or in this case past tense
told just makes the feeling of one-way
communication stronger he told me ok now
I want to go on to some very casual
expressions that you see for reporting
direct speech especially in American
English the first one is this was all
was also I’ve used this in past tense
here you may hear this in present tense
she’s all as in this example but was all
is quite common too so was all is a very
casual way of using a verb like said
however we use this to report direct
speech so these quotes show this is
exactly the thing someone said these
little quotation marks in this case she
was all you’re not gonna believe this
so this is the exact
statement the speaker she said in the
past she said exactly this we know this
because we’ve used this reporting
expression and in this case in the
written words we see that the quotation
marks here so when you’re speaking or
when you’re listening for this
you won’t hear she was all you’ll hear
she was all so she was all you’re not
gonna believe this
it’s quite fast she was all she was all
so sometimes this W sound is very
difficult to hear you might just hear
she’s all she’s all in which case it
sounds like present tense but in both
cases the basic meaning of just
communicating speech remains so don’t
worry too much about catching this W
sound so this she’s all is fine to
understand what’s going on another one
that uses this same was pattern is using
like another very casual way to report
direct speech so in this case who is
speaking my mom so my mom was like you
can’t go out this weekend so in this
sentence to these words here are exactly
the words my mother said but we use was
like here so you’ll notice that these
two expressions was all and was like
well they’re very very casual they’re
used to kind of report something that’s
maybe shocking or surprising or maybe a
little bit gossipy in this case maybe
the speaker is complaining so it’s very
very casual situations that we use these
expressions and my mom was like so again
this w sound my mom was like this kind
of disappears a little bit we can also
use it in present tense my mom is like
but my mom was like is good for a clear
past tense report okay so we use the
next pair went and go to report speech
very casually so you can see here there
is past tense went present tense go we
use them in the same way again just as
with was all and was like we use these
to communicate direct quotes these are
exact quote
things people actually said so they went
we’re leaving so again we could say they
said we’re leaving
but using went again has this sort of
very casual maybe gossipy like there’s a
little bit of exciting information there
perhaps same thing with go so I go fine
I’m leaving too so we use these two
together in very casual situations that
have kind of a quick conversational feel
about them we can say these things very
quickly in a pair they went we’re
leaving so I go fine I’m leaving too
so having this kind of went and go match
together feels very natural I think to
native speakers same thing here
she was all and my mom was like using
these together in the same kind of
dialogue rapport sounds quite natural
I think but generally using a mix of all
of these two rapport statements is a
really good idea if you use the exact
same expression to report report report
all the time it sounds a little bit
unnatural kind of stiff okay so these
are all four statements these are all
four statements let’s look at two
patterns for questions now so here I
have the past tense asked and inquired
used here I chose these two just because
asked is kind of the casual or the
everyday verb we can use for questions
inquired just sounds more formal it’s a
more formal way of saying asked so some
examples of this are I asked about the
menu and I asked if there were any
vacancies these are two common patterns
I asked about some topic or I asked if
and then there’s some kind of inquiry
point here I asked if there were any
vacancies here same thing we can do with
inquired he inquired about the company
so we see this same about plus a topic
point we can also with the verb asked
use a direct quote - so for example I
asked what are you doing that’s also
okay we can use ask with
a direct quote you can also use it with
inquired as well if you like but perhaps
this one is a little bit more useful for
everyday conversations and everyday
questions so throughout this lesson I’ve
talked about using the past tense and
the present tense for reporting but
what’s the difference so I want to talk
a little bit about that here to finish
that so past tense and present tense
both used to report speech both fine to
report speech here I’ve used simple past
and simple present tense you might also
hear progressive tense in the past or in
the present tense but the difference
between them
present tense if you use present tense
it feels like the story is happening now
so if I’m using present tense to report
speech and maybe to share the points in
the story as well it sounds like the
story is happening now it’s present its
present tense it’s happening in the
present so if I want my story to feel
kind of lively and more exciting I can
use present tense to tell my story
if however past tense is used it sounds
more like just a simple report it’s like
you’re just telling facts what happened
there’s not really like a feeling of
excitement necessarily it’s just simple
reporting so we see past tense and
simple past tense story reporting in the
news for example so in the news it’s
simple reports affect what happened on
that day you’ll see simple past tense
used in English news reports so this is
kind of a key difference that you can
think about when you’re telling stories
and you’re reporting information as well
all right
that’s everything for this lesson I hope
that it was useful for you if you liked
the video please make sure to give us a
thumbs up subscribe to the channel if
you haven’t already and check us out at
English class 101.com for other good
study tools of course please feel free
to drop us a message in the comments as
well thanks very much for watching this
episode and I will see you again next
time bye hi everybody my name is Alisha
in this lesson I’m going to talk about
borrowing and lending expressions I’m
going to share some sample requests you
can use for borrowing and lend
and I’m going to introduce some time
expressions you can use with these
requests to make more specific questions
so let’s begin okay first I want to look
at a category for expressions you can
use when you want something so you want
to receive something in other words
let’s look at the first sentence here
then
so it’s will you lend me your car here
we’re using the verb lend and the person
receiving the item follows the verb lend
so in this case me who is receiving it
me I am receiving it the item I’m
receiving your car comes after the
person receiving it so in this case lend
is used but let’s look at the kind of
opposite of this question can I borrow
some money
so here the verb borrow is being used
but the person receiving in this case
money the person receiving the item is
the subject here can I borrow some money
so here we’re not saying can i browse
some money from you you can include can
I borrow some money from you that’s okay
but here it’s understood we understand
the speaker wants to borrow money from
the listener so this is a key difference
when the verb used is lend the person
receiving the item is the object of the
verb however when the verb is borrow the
person receiving the item is the subject
so this is something to keep in mind
let’s look at some other examples here
I’m not using the word lend and I’m not
using the word borrow here I’m using use
can I use some item for a minute so this
specifically includes a verb what am I
going to do I’m going to use the item so
can I use your pen for a minute can I
use your computer for a minute can I use
your phone for a minute for a minute
means a short period of time literally
it means 60 seconds but this indicates
just a short period of time about a
minute perhaps another one if you don’t
want to use a
or can you can also use just a simple
please statement so this is not a
question but please lend me something
something something so please lend me
your car please lend me your pen this
sounds quite formal actually please lend
me keep in mind though we cannot use
please borrow we can’t say please borrow
me that’s incorrect we can only use lend
here please lend me something okay let’s
go though to the next category here
which is borrowing and lending for
someone else
so in these sentences I’ve included you
and me as the basic pattern however if
you’re talking about someone else or you
want to ask person a for something for
person B how do you explain that let’s
look at these examples first similar to
this will you lend person your item so
this is very similar to this pattern
here I’ve replaced me with person here
so will you lend your classmate your
pencil will you lend your teacher at the
paper so something you want comes at the
end of the sentence here and the person
follows the verb right here we can do
the same thing when we’re using the verb
borrow as we did in this example
sentence here we’ve replaced I in the
original sentence with person so can
person borrow your item so again because
we’re using borrow the person receiving
the item is the subject of the verb so
can my roommate borrow your car can my
parents borrow your house for the
weekend for example so just keep in mind
that these two verbs always follow this
same rule about the positioning of the
subject and the object and the person
receiving or giving the item let’s look
at one more example though this is quite
a complex situation because the person
lending the item and the person
receiving the item are not participating
in the conversation the speaker and the
listener are talking about some other
group of people for example here I
wonder if person a
can borrow item from person B so here we
need specifically to describe who is
person a and who is person B they’re not
participating in the conversation so I
wonder if my dad can borrow a tool from
my uncle for example so these two people
are not participating in the
conversation but we’re discussing the
possibility this is how we would do it
this is one example of them all right so
just to recap them these are kind of the
simple requests that I’m using and that
you can use when you’re doing borrowing
and lending conversation practice so can
I will you and please you’ll notice
please is not made as a question please
it’s just a statement can i and will you
are actual questions there so just
remember
can I borrow will you lend because the
subjects of the sentence indicate
different people are receiving and
giving the item also just to review as
well this is a key point from this
lesson when you’re using the verb lend
the person receiving the item is the
object of the verb as in here please
lend me your car will you lend me your
car me is the object here when you’re
using the verb borrow the person
receiving the item is the subject of the
verb as we saw here can I borrow some
money I is the subject I am receiving
the money in this case okay so with that
I want to look at some time expressions
that you can add to your request so I
talked about it in this point here can I
use something for a minute that’s an
example of a time expression we can use
to make our requests a little more
specific so I’ve used two kind of
patterns here the first group uses for
the second group uses until so remember
we use for for a period of time a time
period a length of time in other words
here for a minute I talked about before
for a bit is a casual way to say a short
period of time
for a sec a sec is short for a second a
second also a very short period of time
literally not a second one second but
very short period of time here
specifically for a week and for a year
so these are just some examples of
lengths of time you can use to add to
your request in the other group until
here we see some situations that might
happen that would cause the speaker to
return the item they have borrowed or to
return the item they have been lended so
can I borrow your car until I get a new
one for example or can I borrow your
calculator until I find mine so these
sentences or rather these time
expressions show for example can I
borrow your calculator until I find mine
means at the point in time I find my
calculator I will return your calculator
to you so until I find mine shows that
another one until I can pay you back
this would be used for money so we
talked about here can I borrow some
money until I can pay you back it’s
quite a risky question perhaps but until
I can pay you back is one example here
are some more specific ones with time
until tomorrow so until this point in
time until the test so again a specific
point in time so we can use until and
for with our requests for borrowing and
lending I hope that that helps you make
some more specific questions anyway
those are all the things that I want to
talk about for this lesson if you have
any questions comments or would like to
practice making sentences or requests
please feel free to do so in the comment
section of this video of course if you
like the video don’t forget to give us a
thumbs up subscribe to our Channel and
come check us out at English class
101.com for other good study tools
thanks very much for watching this
lesson and I will see you again soon bye
hi everybody welcome back to top words
my name is Alisha and today we’re going
to talk about ten past perfect
continuous patterns so before we start
today’s episode of top words this is
just a
a review of a grammar point so using
I’ve been I’m going to use I’ve been to
introduce each of these so for a little
bit of grammar review this means I have
been plus a progressive form of the verb
meaning I started at some point in the
past and it continues to the current
point in time when we are speaking so
all of the sentences all of the patterns
I’m going to introduce in this lesson
follow that pattern then I’ll try to use
some example sentences with different
subjects as well so let’s look I’ve been
thinking all right the first sentence is
I’ve been thinking I’ve been thinking so
something that you started thinking
about in the past and you have continued
you may be started thinking I don’t know
two weeks ago and you thought about the
week ago and you thought about a few
days ago so and now you’re thinking
about it you can say I’ve been thinking
you could say I’ve been thinking thought
that thought and continue to a new idea
you can say I’ve been thinking about and
then you continue with the gerund form
of the verb so like I’ve been thinking
about changing jobs I’ve been thinking
about moving to a new apartment we use
the gerund form they’re moving so
another example sentence I’ve been
thinking about starting a new hobby I’ve
been worrying the next pattern is I’ve
been worrying I’ve been worrying so
something that you thought about in the
past that caused you to worry and you
continued to worry about until the
present time I’ve been worrying about
bla bla bla I’ve been worrying about my
brother my mother says she’s been
worrying about me for a long time or my
boss has been worrying about this
project so always this has been or have
been plus worrying about something I’ve
been worrying about something okay
in another sentence I’ve been worrying
about you all night I’ve been wanting
then the next pattern is I’ve been
wanting I’ve been wanting so wanting
means something you started like you
wanted it for the first time in the past
like I think I used this in a live a
live video I said I’ve been wanting to
see that movie like I’ve been wanting to
see the new Blade Runner I think I said
that means I started wanting I for the
first time I thought I wanted to do that
or I wanted some object and I didn’t get
it at that time maybe the next day and
the day after that and the day after
that I still wanted that thing so I can
say I’ve been wanting that I’ve been
wanting that so for example in my
sentence I’ve been wanting to see that
movie for a long time or he’s been
wanting to take a day off for ages or
they’ve been wanting to travel the world
for 50 years something like that in
another example sentence yeah I’ve been
wanting to see that movie I’ve been
studying the next pattern is I’ve been
studying I’ve been studying this is a
pattern that’s probably very useful for
many people who are watching I’ve been
studying means you started studying in
the past and you continued to study for
a number of years or a number of months
or maybe just a few days I don’t know
I’ve been studying so this is a pattern
that you can use actually all of these
are patterns that you can use with for
and since before the period of time or
the length of time so for example I’ve
been studying English for three years or
she’s been studying accounting her whole
life or they’ve been studying gardening
for the last six months for example so
talking about a thing you have studied
for a period of time you can refer to
that continuously with the progressive
form or the continuous form in another
sentence I’ve been studying English for
a year I’ve been hearing about ah the
next one the next pattern is I’ve been
hearing about I’ve been hearing about
this is useful for gossip or for news
maybe you can use it to talk about like
a new restaurant or a new bar or just
something interesting some interesting
little piece of information
you continue to hear about so you heard
it once or maybe you heard about it
again a few days later something that
here and there you you heard about a few
times you can say I’ve been hearing
about
bla bla bla like I’ve been hearing about
this new restaurant that opened recently
or I’ve been hearing about the upcoming
policy changes at work or he said he’s
been hearing about some bad weather
that’s gonna come this summer but
something that you’ve been hearing
something that you heard news about in
the past multiple times you can say I’ve
been hearing about
bla bla bla in a sentence I’ve been
hearing about our new manager okay I’ve
been listening to next one is also may
be useful for your studies but um I
think useful for your hobbies it’s I’ve
been listening to I’ve been listening to
so something that began and again began
in the past continues to the present
that happened regularly so this can mean
like music that you like or maybe a news
program or a podcast that you enjoy or
maybe I don’t know even this video
series for example so I’ve been
listening to that artist for many years
or he’s been listening to his boss’s
advice for the whole day or she’s been
listening to her mother shout for three
hours I don’t know but these are things
we’ve we are we have listened to
continuously for a period of time I’ve
been listening to something else
continuously in another sentence I’ve
been listening to a lot of jazz lately
I’ve been talking a lot with the next
pattern is I’ve been talking a lot with
I’ve been talking a lot with or you can
say I’ve been talking a lot to it’s also
all right but I’ve been talking a lot
with means over an extended period of
time or maybe recently there’s a person
or a group of people or an organization
perhaps you have had many conversations
with you
spoken to that person many times so for
example he’s been talking a lot with a
counselor recently or they’ve been
talking a lot with upper management
about the future of the company for
example or I’ve been talking a lot with
my neighbors lately it’s been great so
talking a lot with is another pattern
that’s useful in this grammar point I
think in a sentence I’ve been talking a
lot with my parents this month I’ve been
living next one is a commonly confused
when I think the next one is I’ve been
living I’ve been living here or I’ve
been living in city or country name for
or since blah blah blah so I’ve been
living in the USA for 87 years or she’s
been living in that city for three
months or they’ve been living here for
almost a year
I think so been living a lot of people
say like can I say like I have lived
here for one year or I’ve been living
here for one year they mean the same
thing really like especially with the
verb to live like I have lived here for
five years and I’ve been living here for
five years they’re to me they’re very
similar in meaning I think I’ve been
living here I feel both there they’re
both perfectly acceptable
really I would I would use either like I
would say I’ve lived here for five years
or I’ve been living here for five years
if I suppose the continuous nature is a
little bit stronger with the continuous
tense but they really communicate the
same idea so you can use either to talk
about the place where you live really so
one more example I’ve been living in
Bangkok for three years now I’ve been
working next pattern is I’ve been
working I’ve been working this is one
you can use to talk about your job or
perhaps a project that you’re doing so
you can use I’ve been working at a
certain company you can say I’ve been
working as plus a job title with your
extra information so I’ve been working
as a teacher for 18 years or I’ve been
working as a doctor
for three months for example you can say
I’ve been working on plus a project name
like I’ve been working on a new
promotion or I’ve been working on a new
book for example so depending on the
preposition that you use after this
expression you can change sort of the
information you want to present
so to recap I’ve been working in ABC
company for five years I’ve been working
as a doctor for five years or I’ve been
working on a new project for five years
so these are a few patterns that you can
use with the verb working here to talk
about a continuous thing in your past
and your present as well so in another
sentence I’ve been working in this
department for six months I’ve been
planning the last one is I’ve been
planning I’ve been planning so this
refers to perhaps a future plan
something that you started thinking
about in the past but it has not
happened yet maybe something that you
are planning even now but you started
planning it in the past so this is
something maybe it has not happened yet
it’s going to happen in the future so
I’ve been planning a birthday party for
my friend or he’s been planning to find
a new job or they’ve been planning a
month-long vacation for example so
something it hasn’t happened yet but
it’s going to happen in the future we
can use I’ve been planning they’ve been
planning she’s been playing in another
sentence I’ve been planning a barbeque
all summer so those are ten past perfect
continuous patterns I hope that those
are helpful those are a few examples of
some ways that we use at least in
American English the past perfect
continuous or the past perfect
progressive tense so I hope that these
are helpful for you as you kind of build
some sentences and kind of get a feel
for the way that some of these verbs are
commonly used of course if there’s
another pattern that you like to use
with the continuous or the progressive
tense please let us know in the comment
section if you like the video please
make sure to give it a thumbs up it
helps us a lot
check us out at English class 101.com
for some extra resources and of course
subscribe to the channel if you haven’t
already thank you very much for watching
this episode of top words and I’ll see
you again soon
hi everybody welcome back to top words
my name is Alisha and today we’re going
to talk about ten expressions for
business emails let’s go to whom it may
concern the first expression is to whom
it may concern to whom it may concern
this is a very classic email opener so
it may sound a little bit old-fashioned
to some people but this is used when you
don’t know the name of the person you
are right into so perhaps you’re writing
to a company or you’re writing just to a
general enquiries email account and you
don’t know who to address your letter to
you don’t know anything about who is
going to receive the email but you can
use the Express
to whom it may concern' meaning in other
words this message is for the person
related to this inquiry I don’t know who
they are but this is a polite way to
begin that message to whom it may
concern in a sentence to whom it may
concern at ABC company didn’t I’m
writing today regarding the next
expression is I’m writing today
regarding I’m writing today regarding
this is a formal way of saying I’m
writing today about blah blah blah so
you can introduce the purpose of your
message with this expression I’m writing
today regarding an inquiry I have or I’m
writing today regarding a problem with
my order I’m writing today regarding a
recent video that I saw on your channel
for example so in another sentence I’m
writing today regarding an order we
received recently would you be available
the next expression is would you be
available would you be available would
you be available is an expression that
we use to ask about someone else’s
schedule so we want to know what their
schedule is like at a specific day or at
a specific time usually for like a
meeting or perhaps for a conference call
something that you need to do with that
person we use would you be available
it’s a more polite way to ask instead of
are you available would you be available
sounds a little more formal so like
would you be available for a meeting
next week or would you be available for
lunch tomorrow these are much more
polite ways to ask for someone’s
schedule than just can you meet me so
try to use would you be available in
your business emails in a sentence would
you be available for a meeting next week
would it be possible for you to the next
expression is would it be possible for
you to so would it be possible for you
to is a very polite way to make a
request so you want something from the
other person but you need to request
that politely so would it be possible
for you to send me that file or would it
be possible for you to meet me tomorrow
would it be possible for you to call our
clients in the morning for example so
you’re making a request of the other
person something you want them to give
you something you want them to do for
you would it be possible
for you to verb phrase alright in
another example sentence would it be
possible for you to send the updated
files we’d like to request the next
expression is we’d like to request we’d
like to request so here you can see I’m
using this we’d we’d like we’d like so
not we like but we’d like meaning we
would like so this is a formal request
we would like to request bla bla bla in
this case I’ve used we’d just for an
example but we can use I’d like to
request too if you’re writing on behalf
of your company or on behalf of your
department for example you can change
I’d - we’d if you like so we’d like to
request a new copy machine for example
or we’d like to request a maintenance
person come visit us for example so when
you’re making a request this is another
way to do that we’d like to request Bob
Loblaw so it’s a it’s a polite but
direct request that you can make in
another example sentence we’d like to
request your attendance at the seminar
next month we’d like to inquire about
the next expression is we’d like to
inquire about we’d like to inquire about
this is when you have a question this is
something that you can use if you have a
question about a specific detail or
something that you just don’t know the
answer to so this is an expression that
you can use to ask a question so we’d
like to inquire about your menu or we’d
like to inquire about your prices we’d
like to inquire about your plans for the
next quarter for example so you can use
this just to introduce a question in
your email in another example sentence
we’d like to inquire about a recent
purchase if you can be so kind as to the
next one is if you could be so kind as
to this is an interesting one if you
could be so kind as to verb phrase if
you could be so kind as to send me that
file or if you could be so kind as to
return my call at your earliest
convenience this is quite a polite
request if you could be so kind
meaning kind to me as to as to so in
other words you are so kind you will do
this thing for me this is sort of the
level of formality
this expression so if you could be so
kind as to order me a pizza I don’t know
so of course that’s a very casual
situation but if you are trying to make
a formal polite request you could try
using this especially towards the end of
an email I feel this is good so in an
example sentence you could say if you
could be so kind as to email the data it
would be greatly appreciated I look
forward to hearing from you again soon
so the next expression is I look forward
to hearing from you soon or I look
forward to hearing from you again soon
so you can include again if you are
already in touch with that person if you
are already contacting that person you
can drop again if you are not in touch
with that person if you’re not
contacting that person so this just
means you are expecting a response and
maybe you are happily expecting that
response I look forward to hearing from
you I look forward to receiving a
response from you soon is what this
means this is very nice at the end of
your business email in a sentence thank
you for all your help I look forward to
hearing from you again soon I look
forward to working with you the next
expression is I look forward to working
with you I look forward to working with
you this is an expression that you can
use when you are introduced to a new
colleague or a new client or you have
just begun a new partnership with
someone this is a very positive
expression that you can use to end an
email as well I look forward to working
with you very positive very nice it’s a
good way to begin a business
relationship I feel in a sentence I look
forward to working with you on this
project
sincerely warm regards best the last one
is actually a few different ways to
close your message or a few different
ways to end your message so some of my
favorites are sincerely warm regards and
best sincerely is typically very good
for more polite situations or where you
don’t know the other person will warm
regards is maybe for a kind of friendly
yet business maybe like a business
casual email you could use warm regards
so it has kind of like a warm feeling
like you recognize that there’s a good
relationship and you want to express
that you can use warm regard
another one you can use is best so best
means like my best are like all the best
like I wish you the best sort of but in
one expression I like to use best
actually
so best Alicia for example or sincerely
Alicia or sincerely Megan whoever you
are so you can choose the level of
formality so sincerely is quite polite
if you don’t know the other party warm
regards is kind of a business casual
feeling best is fairly casual but just
straightforward and direct so in an
example sincerely Alicia that’s
everything for this episode so those are
ten expressions for business emails I
hope that those were useful for you and
I hope that you can use them right away
in your business emails and another
polite email and writing related
situations if you have any questions or
if there’s another expression that you
like to use in your business emails
please let us know in the comments if
you liked the video of course as always
please please please give us a thumbs up
subscribe to us as well if you haven’t
already and you can check us out at
English class 101.com
for more good resources - thank you very
much for watching this episode of top
words and I will see you again soon
sincerely Alicia hi MA very professional
that’s our job to be very professional
on the internet that’s recording okay
business emails the musical by English
class 101.com to human main concern I’m
writing today regarding a request I’m
gonna stop hi everybody welcome back to
top words my name is Alisha and today
we’re going to talk about ten words for
the airport let’s go
check-in the first word is check-in
check-in so to check-in this is a verb a
phrasal verb to check-in means to check
into your flight to essentially say yes
I am here I’m going to get on the plane
I am checking in we can use the same
expression for hotels actually to check
in to your hotel to check in to your
flight so to check in means to confirm
you are going to fly on the plane in a
sentence check in for international
flights is two hours before departure
immigration the next word is immigrant
immigration so this is passport check
essentially when you are traveling
internationally you may need to well you
do need to show your passport to the
immigration staff so they are checking
the people who are coming and going in
and out of the country that processed
that area of the airport that area may
be of border control as well is called
immigration we call it immigration in a
sentence
make sure your passport is ready when
you go to immigration customs the next
word is customs customs is the next word
so customs is the part of the airport or
the international travel experience
where the items you have purchased or
the items you are bringing into the
country may be the amount of cash that
you have on you or it may be any
dangerous items or any kind of like
specific items that you need to declare
that you need to announce you are
carrying those things are checked that’s
the place in the airport where that sort
of thing is covered so there’s usually
there’s usually a form that you fill out
when you enter a country and it’ll say
do you need to declare anything so to
declare means to announce there’s
something you are carrying or something
you need to explain to the people who
are in the country to the border staff
the custom staff in the country you are
going to so that whole area of the
airport of the travel experience is
called customs customs in ascendance do
you have anything to declare with
customs departure gate the next
expression is departure gate departure
gate so depart means to leave a place
your departure gate is the gauge the
airport gate from which you leave the
airport your departure gate the place
your plane leaves from in the airport is
called your departure gate your
departure gate all right in a sentence
my departure gate is a five baggage
claim okay next one the next expression
is baggage claim baggage claim so bag or
baggage meaning your luggage your
suitcase and claim so claim means you
say that’s mine in other words to claim
something to retrieve something to pick
up something
baggage claim suit
case pickup is essentially what it means
baggage claim
so you might hear baggage claim carousel
so carousel is that that machine that
goes around in a circle and it moves
bags and move suitcases that’s a baggage
claim carousel in the airport baggage
claim in a sentence pick up your luggage
at baggage claim carousel number three
currency exchange the next expression is
currency exchange currency exchange so
currency means type of money currency so
yen is a currency dollar is a currency
euro is a currency type of money and
exchange so for example if you need to
change yen to euro you do it at a
currency exchange location where you can
change your money to a different type of
money so if the country that you’re
coming from has different money than the
country you’re going to which is likely
the case you may need to change your
money at a currency exchange location so
in a sentence I need to stop at a
currency exchange disc boarding pass the
next expression is boarding pass
boarding pass your boarding pass is a
piece of paper or now I suppose we have
them digitally on our smart phones a
boarding pass a boarding pass is the
documentation digital or physical that
shows the flight attendants that shows
the staff from the airline that you are
allowed to get on the plane that you
have a seat you are allowed to board the
plane so boarding means getting on the
plane and pass means permission so
boarding permission essentially allowed
to get on the plane paperwork is what
you could think of this as so a boarding
pass very important of course in a
sentence do you have your boarding pass
seat assignment the next expression is
seat assignment seat assignment so seat
meaning of the place where you sit your
chair your your assignment then is the
place that the airline has chosen for
you to sit the seat the airline has
chosen for you is your seat assignment
or maybe you chose your seat assignment
but that’s the place you are supposed to
sit on the airplane in a sentence I’d
like to change my seat assignment first
class business class so the next
expression is first
or business class so these refer to a
couple different levels of service on an
airplane the basic level of service is
called economy service or we also call
it coach coach so Koecher economy is the
basic level after that would be business
class which usually has slightly larger
seats maybe a little bit more delicious
food maybe more drink options for
example and then there’s first class
which is the highest level of service
and is also the most expensive level
service so a first class business class
economy class these are the three levels
on an airplane so it’s typically
considered a nice experience to fly
business class or first class somewhere
in a sentence
are there any seats available in
business class layover
the next word is layover layover a
layover is a period of time between two
flights presumably at an airport so if
you are flying for example from like I
don’t know from Singapore to London
maybe maybe you have to transfer at an
airport you fly from like Singapore to I
don’t know
Los Angeles maybe or like Chicago maybe
and then you have to wait there for your
next flight to London your connecting
flight that period of time between your
two flights is called a layover so
typically people want to have a short
layover a fairly short layover so they
have time to transfer to their next
flight or maybe they want to take a
break from being on a plane so a layover
typically a short layover is good
typically long layover ZAR bad but you
might have a cheap flight if that’s the
case so a layover is the period of time
between two flights in a sentence I have
a long layover in Bangkok so those are
10 words for the airport I hope that was
useful for you of course if there are
some other words or other phrases that
you have heard or that you find useful
please let us know in the comments if
you liked the video give us a thumbs up
subscribe to the channel and check us
out at English class 101.com for some
other good resources thank you very much
for watching this episode of top boards
and I will see you again soon bye bye
in a sentence pick up your luggage at
baguettes and baguette cells
[Laughter]
bag is selling to call it from now on
bag of sell claim seven oh my god pick
up your luggage at baggage claim Karen
sorry hi everybody welcome back to top
words my name is Alisha and today we’re
going to talk about ten words to express
appreciation so let’s go Thanks
the first word is thanks thanks thanks
is a very casual very common way to
express your appreciation for someone
it’s so easy to use Thanks Thanks
so if usually for something small
someone else has done for you or has
given to you just say thanks so in a
sentence yeah thanks that really helped
thank you the next expression is thank
you thank you so thank you is like a
step above Thanks so thanks is the most
casual one I think and then thank you is
like the next step up thank you thank
you so you can again use this in casual
situations and in more polite situations
if you’re ever unsure if you ever don’t
know you can just use a thank you as
your default as your basic greeting
thank you in a sentence thank you for
the book thanks a lot the next
expression is thanks a lot thanks a lot
so with this expression please make sure
to use thanks a lot we don’t say thank
you a lot we say thanks a lot so please
be careful with that
thanks a lot so this is a little bit
casual we use thanks here but to express
a little bit more a little bit of a
stronger appreciation you can say thanks
a lot thanks a lot in a sentence thanks
a lot for all your help this week I
really appreciate it
the next expression is I really
appreciate it I really appreciate it so
this expression is a little bit more
formal I really appreciate it so we’re
using the word appreciate which means
like to show to express your
appreciation to Express
a thankful feeling a grateful feeling so
to say I really appreciate it expresses
a strong feeling so I really appreciate
it is for a slightly more formal a
slightly more polite
situation in a sentence thank you for
the support I really appreciate it
you’re a lifesaver the next expression
is you’re a lifesaver you’re a lifesaver
so a lifesaver is this word actually
refers to a piece of equipment used to
save people who are drowning so there’s
there’s like a circle and inflatable or
like a floating circle that people can
catch if they’re like drowning or having
trouble swimming in the ocean and a
lifeguard can throw them of lifesaver
something it’s a round thing that floats
so the person can hold on to it or put
it around their body but that’s called a
lifesaver in this expression you’re a
lifesaver
means in other words you saved my life
similar to the way that a lifesaver
would save like a person drowning so
you’re a lifesaver means you really
helped me a lot you saved me from
something terrible you did something
really great for me you’re a lifesaver
so in a sentence you found my keys
you’re a lifesaver I’m so grateful the
next expression is I’m so grateful I’m
so grateful so this is one that you can
use for more serious situation so maybe
you receive a nice gift or maybe you get
a special honor or maybe you receive
some kind of recognition in a more
formal situation you can say I’m so
grateful I’m so grateful in a sentence
your recommendation got me into college
I’m so grateful your kindness is greatly
appreciated your kindness is greatly
appreciated your kindness is greatly
appreciated this is one you might use to
finish a formal letter you could use
this perhaps to finish a formal speech I
suppose - or to end a more formal
discussion I suppose but your kindness
is greatly appreciated kind of implies
that you want to receive something from
the other person or they have given you
something so maybe if you receive a
donor
of money for example or if you receive a
lot of like volunteer support you could
say your kindness is greatly appreciated
so it’s a formal and sincere expression
in a sentence thank you for the donation
your kindness is greatly appreciated you
rock the next expression is you rock you
rock so this is a very casual expression
it means like you rock this rock means
like you are awesome you are great you
are cool I think you’re awesome amazing
fantastic so it’s a very casual
expression it doesn’t directly mean
thank you but rather you are awesome I
think you are great so it’s a compliment
we can use this expression as a
compliment when someone helps you or
someone does something for you that’s
great
you really are happy about that and you
appreciate that you can say you rock or
you can substitute with any of the other
words I just said you’re great so we can
use you rock or you’re amazing or you
are awesome those those are pretty good
casual expressions to tell somebody you
think they’re great
and to give them a compliment that means
thank you so in a sentence you already
finish the paperwork you rock thank you
so much the next expression is thank you
so much thank you so much so this sounds
like a very positive yet casual and
strong way to express your appreciation
to emphasize it even more you can draw
out that so sound thank you so much if
it’s too much of an extension though it
will sound insincere if you say thank
you so much it doesn’t sound so sincere
so kind of think about how long you want
to make that sound thank you so much is
pretty good so you can express casual
strong appreciation with this phrase
thank you so much in a sentence all
right this birthday cake is amazing
thank you so much Cheers
the next expression is cheers Cheers so
I included cheers on this list because
it’s a word that you might hear in
British and perhaps Australian English
it’s a word that means sort of like
thank you in advance
for something we don’t use this word
very much in American English in u.s.
English in US English we typically use
Cheers when we’re enjoying drinks with
somebody we touch glasses together and
say Cheers when we’re drinking but in
other types of English you might hear
Cheers used to mean thank you in advance
for something so if we agree to maybe do
a project together or we agreed to make
I don’t know to plan a birthday party
together and you say okay well I’ll book
the restaurant and I say okay I’ll send
invitations to everybody Cheers
it means thank you in advance for what
you are going to do for me thank you in
advance so Cheers is a nice casual way
to say thank you in advance for
something in a sentence Cheers see you
at the event tomorrow so those are 10
words to express your appreciation I
hope that those were useful for you if
there’s another word that you’ve heard
of or another expression let us know in
the comments for sure thank you very
much for watching this episode of top
words give us a thumbs up if you liked
the video check us out at English class
101.com for other resources and make
sure to subscribe to our channel if you
haven’t already I will see you again in
the next episode soon bye bye
in a sentence in an expense that’s right
I tried to say expressing in sentences
that ones do you like before it was bag
of sell now it is expense yeah I am this
is how a new language is born surely
alright you are so good at sitting Meg
I saw I was like oh there it is I
haven’t used that much
that’s our running joke telling giving
each other compliments for everyday
actions likes hi everybody welcome back
to know your verbs my name is Alicia and
in this lesson we’re going to talk about
the verb play let’s begin
let’s begin with the basic deaf
of this firm it’s to engage in a game
sport or activity examples we play
soccer every week let’s play a board
game now let’s look at the conjugations
for this verb present play plays past
played past participle played
progressive playing
okay so now let’s talk about some
additional meanings for this verb the
first additional meaning to spend time
doing something fun this use of the verb
is typically used among children we use
this for children and to talk about the
activities of children examples we used
to play with the kids in our
neighborhood do you like playing with
dolls in these example sentences we’re
talking about the activities that kids
do things that kids do like playing with
their friends playing with dolls playing
with trucks playing with cars so when we
use playing with it’s like there’s some
kind of enjoyable activity going on and
it has a very youthful sound to it it
sounds like something kids do a mistake
that I hear adult learners make
sometimes is they say I played with my
friends last weekend as adults we don’t
use the verb play we’ll use it to refer
to a sport or to a game but we do not
use it to talk about spending time with
friends as adults especially American
English speakers we can say for example
I hung out with my friends last weekend
or I got together with my friends last
weekend that’s fine we do not use the
verb play as adults for kids great I
played with my friends when I was little
I played with dolls when I was little
okay let’s go on to the second
additional meaning the second additional
meaning is to perform as a character
this can mean theater it can mean movies
it can mean any kind of performance
examples Keanu Reeves played neo in the
matrix series I want to play a dramatic
role someday so here in my first example
sentence I’ve got Keanu Reeves as my
example Keanu Reeves played neo in the
matrix series so he performed in the
role of neo he performed in the role of
is shortened to played there in the
second example sentence I want to play a
dramatic role someday play means perform
in I want to perform in a dramatic role
someday so this means perform to play
okay let’s move on to the third
additional meaning for the sperm it is
to pretend to be a certain way
to pretend to exhibit a certain behavior
a key here is pretending pretending
examples he’s playing dumb he knows the
answer I taught my dog to play dead okay
so here we see play in the first example
sentence he’s playing dumb
that means he’s pretending not to know
that’s what this sentence means he’s
playing dumb playing dumb is it quite a
common phrase like don’t play dumb means
don’t pretend not to know something in
the second example sentence I taught my
dog to play dead means I taught my dog
to pretend to be dead or I taught my dog
to act like he or she is dead so to play
means to pretend something
so the fourth additional meaning here is
to perform music to perform music
examples the DJ played a lot of great
music last night have you ever played
this on piano so this is quite simple it
just means to perform music like you you
cause music to be heard by other people
so a DJ can play music through a sound
system of course we can play instruments
like playing the piano or playing the
heart playing the flute so we can use
play to mean performing music or like
sharing music some way
alright let’s talk about some variations
for this verb now there are a lot of
variations for the verb play these are
just a few that I’m going to introduce
of course if you want to know more I
highly recommend checking a dictionary
ok let’s take a look at the first one
for this lesson to play something by ear
to play something by ear this means to
do something without a plan it means to
make decisions in the moment so examples
we have no plans for the day we’re just
gonna play it by ear I don’t want to
plan my travels too much I prefer to
play things by ear so both of these use
the expression play it by ear play
things by ear meaning I don’t want to
make plans like I just want to see how
things go if things are feeling one way
I’ll do that if things are feeling
another way I’ll make a different
decision so why do we say playing by ear
imagine then if you play an instrument
maybe this is useful for you but imagine
you’re trying to play the piano and
you’re trying to play a melody you’re
trying to find a melody you don’t know
it but you listen to each note as you
play and gradually you can find the
melody you’re looking for so we call
that playing physically playing
performing a song by ear so using your
ear to listen to the melody and find the
correct melody that way we use the same
idea for our activities so playing an
activity by ear according to our
feelings we make decisions for the next
step to play it by ear let’s go on to
the second variation for this verb it is
to play with fire to play with fire
means to do something dangerous or to do
something that’s a bit risky for example
examples you want to confront the CEO
about her mistakes don’t play with fire
he’s trying to date three people at the
same time he’s playing with fire
okay so both of these share may be a
risky or possibly dangerous situation in
the first example sentence confronting a
CEO about her mistakes that sounds like
it could be dangerous for someone
potentially if they don’t want to lose
their job at the company so the speaker
recommends don’t play with fire in other
words don’t do something risky don’t do
something dangerous suggesting that the
previous point confronting the CEO is a
risky or dangerous behavior don’t do
that in the second example sentence we
see it in the progressive tense he’s
playing with fire by dating three women
at the same time so that could be risky
it could be dangerous he could cause
fights he could cause problems we don’t
know but we’re saying he’s playing with
fire he’s doing something that is risky
or dangerous okay let’s move on to the
third variation of this verb the third
variation is to play up to play up this
is kind of a slang expression this is an
expression that means to make something
seem better than it actually is
so maybe the true level is here but when
we play something up we exaggerate it we
improve it but only with our words it’s
not truly here it’s still here we make
it sound better examples my parents
always play up my achievements be
careful not to play yourself up on your
resume it might cause problems in the
future so here we see play up being used
to describe someone’s life or someone’s
activities being exaggerated so in the
first example my parents always play up
my achievements it means my parents make
my achievements sound better than they
actually are so maybe I had some nice
achievement great but perhaps my parents
make it sound like the achievement is
even better even bigger than it truly is
like as parents do fine but to play up
something means it’s not truly at that
level in the second example sentence be
careful not to play yourself up on your
resume it means don’t make yourself
sound better than you actually are on
your resume because it might cause
problems in the future so to play up
means to improve the apparent quality or
the apparent value of something
but it’s not true okay so those are a
few new ways to use the word play I hope
of course as I said there are lots and
lots of ways to use this word so I
highly recommend checking a dictionary
to see all of them of course if you have
any questions or comments or if you want
to practice using this verb please feel
free to do so in the comment section of
this video of course also if you liked
the video don’t forget to give us a
thumbs up subscribe to the channel and
check us out at English class 101.com
thanks very much for watching this
episode of know your verbs and we’ll see
you again next time hey Mike hi
everybody my name is Alicia welcome back
to know your verbs in this episode we’re
going to talk about the verb use let’s
get started
the basic definition of the verb to use
is to put something to a purpose
examples we used our iPhones to make a
video use your time wisely let’s look at
the conjugations for this verb present
use uses past used past participle used
progressive using
let’s talk about some additional
meanings for this verb the first
additional meaning for the verb use is
to consume to consume like for example
eating or taking all of something and
applying it so that all of it goes away
you’re consuming it somehow examples you
used all the butter we’ve used almost
all the toilet paper so here these are
items which we can gradually get rid of
like in the case of butter in the first
example we eat butter and so we consume
it by eating so it goes away toilet
paper we use for cleaning purposes and
so gradually it goes away we consume it
but we use the word use instead okay
let’s go on to these second additional
meanings the second one is a slang term
which means to take drugs to take drugs
as like a habit examples of this use I
heard he’s using again they haven’t used
in years so here you don’t hear any drug
there’s no word drug being used or no
specific drug name but we use the verb
use to refer to taking drugs so when
someone says he’s using again it means
he’s using drugs again but saying drugs
is quite direct and kind of strong so
instead we say using alone we don’t
specifically say what he is using but it
refers to drugs so this use of the word
use refers to drug use actually okay the
third additional meaning of the verb use
is to exploit a person or to exploit a
situation exploit means to take
advantage of someone or to take
advantage of a situation examples he’s
just using you for money don’t let them
use you for your ideas so in both of
these examples sentences use refers to
someone being taken advantage of for a
different reason so in the first example
sentence he’s just using you for money
it means the he in the situation is
taking advantage of the listener because
he wants money from the list
so he’s taking advantage of the listener
and getting money in the second example
sentence it’s the person’s ideas so one
person has a lot of ideas and a group of
people are taking those ideas from the
other person so taking advantage of
someone or taking advantage of a
situation it has a negative image
let’s move on to some variations of this
verb the first expression is could use
something could use something it means
that that thing might be useful in some
way might be a good idea in some way
examples I could use a break you look
like you could use a vacation so these
just mean that the item talked about
seems like it could be useful or might
be useful so in the first example
sentence I could use a break we see
could this is actually used in the
second example sentence 2 I could use a
break
meaning it would be possible for me to
use a break like that seems like a good
idea to me right now in the second
example sentence you look like you could
use a vacation it means it seems based
on your appearance you need a vacation
it would be useful for you to have a
vacation so could use something means it
seems like that thing might be good for
you so this expression is used tip is
used in positive statements you look
like you could use something it means
that thing might be useful for you or it
might be a good idea for you ok let’s
move along to the second variation which
is to use up to use up so this means to
consume completely to consume completely
in the alternate definitions for this
verb we saw it means to consume to use
means to consume but to consume
completely we use the word use up to
refer to this examples she used up all
of her sunblock at the beach
used up all the wood for the fire so
here you’ll see in both of these
examples sentences I included the word
all she used up all of her sunblock at
the beach we used up all the wood for
the fire
so all shows everything completely
consuming that thing so when you want to
talk about using everything you can use
use up use up she used up all her
sunblock we used up all the wood you can
also exchange verbs here like for
example we drank up all the wine or we
drank up all the beer or we ate up all
the pizza you can use it in a couple
other situations relating to consumption
too but use up is used for like
resources of some kind so those are a
few hopefully new ways for you to use
the word use I hope that you found
something new of course if you know a
different way to use this verb or if you
have any questions or comments please
feel free to let us know in the comment
section of this video of course don’t
forget to give us a thumbs up subscribe
to the channel and come and check us out
at English class 101.com for other
things you can use for your English to
study thanks very much for watching this
episode of know your verbs and we’ll see
you again soon bye might I use the Force
use the Force
that’s obviously the best example
sentence from this lesson when learning
a new language we sometimes have a hard
time with things like procrastination
discouragement or failure but don’t
panic with a good strategy you’ll be
able to overcome these difficulties are
you ready to discover the four habits of
successful learners number one optimise
your time when learning a language it’s
important to dedicate time peer studies
regularly even if sometimes it’s
difficult you’re busy with school work
family or friends but you can spread out
your learning throughout the day study
whenever you have small gaps of time and
your busy schedule this can be when
you’re on the Metro on your lunch break
or while you’re exercising our podcast
learning format fits perfectly into your
tight schedule
number two consistency with your chosen
method
there are a lot of options when it comes
to courses and learning materials
switching from one method to another can
confuse you and disrupt your progress
focusing on one learning method will
make a difference our method has been
created and optimized by real teachers
so you can stick to it with confidence
number 3 use your language background
many languages share some commonalities
you can find words that look or sound
similar or even share the same grammar
structure a little bit of language
background will give you an edge while
learning number 4 study continuously
people are excited when they start
learning a new language the enthusiasm
usually lasts until the first roadblock
this can lead to discouragement and
procrastination but don’t burn yourself
out learning a language is a marathon
not a sprint
don’t try to learn it all at once break
things down into more digestible chunks
learning step by step might feel slow
but it’s an efficient way to learn a
language with patience motivation and
good resources you’ll master the
language do you want to crash your
language learning goals and overcome
setbacks on the road to mastering a new
language in this video you’ll discover
why learning goals are so vital to
learning a new language and overcoming
the inevitable setbacks you’ll encounter
on your way to mastering the language
here are some useful strategies you can
use to crush your goals first switch to
strategic goals rather than general
internal motivations people are
motivated to learn a second language for
any number of reasons including personal
enrichment better career opportunities
or even meeting new people
however unlike simpler goals which may
only take a week or two to complete
learning a new language takes time and
there will be occasional setbacks and
failures so to reach your overall
objective of mastering a new language
you need to learn how to motivate
yourself and stay focused on the bigger
picture to do so it is vital to set
specific strategic goals with an action
plan second reasons learning goals are
vital to success learning an entire
language well enough to carry on full
conversations with native speakers is
certainly a goal but with this as your
primary objective there’s a long period
of time between the time the goal is set
when it can be realistically attained
the problem is that a failure to achieve
an objective creates stress that can
build until you either reach the
learning goal or quit the solution is to
set more realistic strategic learning
objectives that are easier to attain but
still keep you on track to learning here
are some examples of strategic learning
objectives that you might set on your
way to mastering a new language study
for 10 minutes every day complete one
lesson or chapter each week learn 20 new
words each week or even learn one new
word each day the key here is that your
learning goals and objectives need to be
very concise attainable and relevant to
your overall objective as long as you
can see progress towards your learning
goal your stress levels will be lower
and you’re far more likely to succeed
next to learn a new language or
virtually any new skill you’ll need to
make adjustments to your routine simply
telling yourself that you want to be
able to speak fluently probably won’t
force you to alter your daily or weekly
routines but when your strategic goals
include learning a new word each day or
a lesson every week you’re forced to
alter your schedule to reach the goal or
risk certain failure although altering
your schedule may cause some minor
degree of stress at first the added
motivation you get from achieving goals
quickly eliminates any initial
discomfort and the more strategic goals
you complete each day or week the faster
you can achieve your larger goal of
mastering the language the key to
achieving goals includes learning how to
deal with the inevitable setbacks and
failures the great part about setting
smaller attainable strategic learning
goals is that you can occasionally miss
your objective but quickly make up for
it so if you can’t finish a lesson one
week it’s entirely possible to either
learn the lesson the following week or
even do two lessons to make up for the
initial failure the point is that
failing to achieve smaller strategic
learning goals won’t kill your
motivation or derail your overall
objectives there are many ways to crush
your language learning goals using our
program first check out our custom
learning paths which are based on your
specific goals learning paths are
designed to help you reach your specific
learning objectives by providing you
with step-by-step strategic goals
so imagine you’re about to travel and
just wanted to learn enough essential
language to navigate any potential
emergency situations you might encounter
our language learning program has
created a custom learning path for your
goal that includes just ten lessons or
strategic learning objectives once you
complete the ten lessons your larger
overall learning goal is complete
learning paths are one of the most
powerful features at our website and
help you quickly and efficiently achieve
larger learning goals and objectives for
premium and Premium Plus members our
website offers more than 20 advanced
learning tools to make it easier than
ever to reach and achieve your goals
these include teacher feedback and
comments for every lesson full lesson
transcripts and review tracks voice
recording tools to perfect your
pronunciation lesson review quizzes and
much more our language learning program
makes it easier and more convenient to
achieve your smaller strategic goals so
you can quickly reach your larger
overall objectives in less time and with
less stress without setting realistic
and attainable learning objectives and
goals your larger dream of mastering a
new language might never be realized
specifically strategic objectives help
to reduce stress adjust your daily
routine and make it far easier to deal
with the inevitable setbacks on your way
to mastering a language we’ve made it
simple and easy for you to set and
attain your strategic goals so you can
successfully reach the larger goal of
mastering your target language today’s
topic is how to double your speaking
time in your target language today
you’re going to learn one why it’s hard
for many learners to make progress with
their speaking skills and two how you
can double your speaking time if you’ve
always wanted to speak more of your
target language then this episode is for
you
[Music]
but first listen up here are this
month’s new lessons and resources first
the movies and TV shows cheat sheet want
to be able to talk about your favorite
shows and films this conversation cheat
sheet teaches you 50 plus words and
phrases to help you do just that
second the ultimate listening video
master course
how are your listening skills sharpen
them up with this video master course
download it right now
third 20 phrases you’ll need for the
doctor learn how to schedule
appointments talk about your symptoms
and much more this one-minute lesson
gives you 20 must know phrases fourth
want to be able to handle everyday tasks
in your target language like sending and
receiving mail then this next 1 minute
lesson is for you
you’ll learn most of the words and
phrases you’ll need at the post office
fifth learn how to impress native
speakers with this one-minute lesson
learn how to give natural compliments
like the food is delicious and this is a
beautiful country 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 how to double your
speaking time in your target language
okay let’s get into part one
why is real speaking progress so hard to
make let’s say you’ve studied the
language for a few months and now you
finally have a chance to practice
speaking maybe you have a tutor or a
native speaker friend who is willing to
practice with you you start talking and
your friend helps you improve bits and
pieces of your speaking like
pronunciation and grammar and maybe you
can talk about your day and common
topics but without proper preparation on
both sides the person learning and the
person teaching that’s it you’re limited
to what you can talk about you don’t
know enough of the language to keep
going and they aren’t prepared to help
you speak more of the language so if you
try to have an open-ended conversation
you’ll fall flat at some point you’ll
run out of things to say and talk about
you’ll run out of words and topics and
this is true outside of language
learning you
easy for conversations to die when you
run out of things to talk about a
freestyle approach to conversation is
nice for advanced learners or people who
do serious preparation but it’s not so
great for beginners this is one reason
it’s hard to make real progress with
speaking you run out of things to say
but there is a way to double your
speaking time even if you’re an absolute
beginner even if you’re low on words and
grammar and that’s by adding structure
that you’ll find in our lessons let’s
get into that part to how you can double
your speaking time with our audio and
video lessons let’s say you’re having a
practice conversation with that same
friend except this time both of you have
a list of topics to follow then your
conversations won’t die out as quickly
the point is if you have a structure to
follow like a lesson there’s always
something for you to fall back on and if
you’re already using our audio and video
lessons you get just that so here’s how
you can use our lessons to double your
speaking time 1 make sure to listen to
and review your current audio or video
lessons why
each lesson conversation is based on a
certain topic like talking about the
weather
talking about family ordering food and
so on so by simply taking a lesson you
learn a conversation around a certain
topic lessons will give you a lot of
topics to talk about along with the
relevant grammar and vocabulary which
many beginners might not have think
about it if you wanted to talk about a
vacation you’d need to know where it’s
like vacation cruise and holiday in your
target language you’d also need the
right grammar points to help you express
ideas our audio and video lessons will
provide you with all of these so listen
to the lessons and prepare ahead of time
to use the dialogue presented in the
lesson in other words you can memorize
the lines from the lesson dialogue
you’re already learning conversations in
the lesson so you may as well use them
for yourself and doing this will help
prepare you for future conversations
think about it we often use lines like
where are you from what’s your name my
name is how was your weekend I went out
last weekend
once you memorize these expressions you
can and will use them over and over as
an example imagine you do a few lessons
about the weather you’ll master a few
conversations about it the next time
that topic pops up in real life you’ll
be able to talk about it and three each
lesson comes with cultural insights what
does that mean for you it gives you more
things to talk about with a native
speaker so if you bring up a cultural
point in a conversation with a native
speaker you’ll likely get a good
reaction and extend the conversation
because you’re talking about what they
know best their culture so today you
learn one why it’s hard for many
learners to make progress with their
speaking skills it’s because we tend to
run out of things to say and to how you
can double your speaking time accomplish
this by taking our lessons memorizing
the dialogues and using the cultural
insights today traditional classrooms
are no longer the only or even best
place to learn a new language more and
more people are finding that they can
easily learn a language just about
anywhere they have a few minutes of
spare time including their daily commute
to work according to the US Census
Bureau the average American spends over
50 minutes a day commuting to and from
work or over three hundred hours a year
but rather than simply sitting in
traffic and wasting the time you can
instead use your daily commute to
literally learn a new language in just a
few short months our language learning
program has specialized learning tools
that you can use on your commute to and
from the office to master a language in
your spare time what are some reasons
traditional classroom settings just
aren’t the best option for most people
in today’s fast-paced world difficulty
getting to and from class learning on
someone else’s schedule very expensive
and may cost thousands of dollars to
complete can take years to finally
complete classes and learn the language
the simple truth is the traditional
classroom instruction is simply not a
viable option for most people in today’s
very fast-paced time-starved world now
let’s examine how you can learn a
language faster more easily and at far
less expense than traditional classes
altering your commute to work and back
home again three reasons your daily
commute can help you master a language
in the next year on average Americans
spend more than 300 hours per year
commuting during the commute to and from
work over six hours a week is completely
wasted the time isn’t used to help you
reach any goals or objectives but thanks
to online language learning platforms
with audio books and other resources
that you can access during your commute
you can easily transform wasted time
into progress toward learning a new
language with over 300 hours available
annually your daily commute could
provide you with enough time to gain
significant skills in a new language
each and every year increase your
earning potential while commuting to
work how would you like to transform all
those spare commuting hours each week
into more money for a new car house or
even a dream vacation according to
research someone making $30,000 per year
can boost their annual income by $600 or
more per year by learning a second
language over the course of a lifetime
that’s a significant amount how from
work at home translation jobs to working
overseas there are many ways to leverage
your second language into more money in
your bank account so instead of wasting
your precious time you can make your
commute more productive and eventually
profitable the more languages you learn
the higher your income potential
repetition is key to mastering a new
language not sure if it’s practical to
learn another language while commuting
to and from work each day well not only
is it possible learning in your car on
the way to and from work each day can
actually help you learn and master any
language quickly the simple truth is
that repetition is absolutely vital to
truly internalizing and mastering any
language so if you listen to audio books
or even audio lessons on your commute to
work and then repeat the same lesson
your commute home the information is
more likely to be locked into your
long-term memory our language learning
program has been helping people learn
and master language in the comfort of
their home during their daily commute or
any place they have a few spare minutes
of time here are five features of our
program that make it easy to learn a new
language while commuting to and from
work first the largest collection of
audio lessons on the planet by native
speaker instructors every single week
native speaker instructors create new
audio lessons all lessons are short to
the point and guaranteed to improve your
mastery of a language second the word of
the day simply exposing yourself to new
information and vocabulary terms helps
increase your fluency and mastery of
your target language so every single day
check out the word of the day and
memorize it during your commute it’s a
quick and easy way to boost your
vocabulary every day third daily dose
mini lessons have a short commute to
work but still want to make progress
towards learning more than just
vocabulary not a problem our daily dose
mini lessons are one minute or less and
are designed to improve your grammar
conversations and pronunciation fourth
all content is available on a convenient
mobile app you don’t need a PC or tablet
to learn during your daily commute
instead all of our lessons tools and
resources are available 24/7 via our
mobile app that means you can access all
of our audio lessons and other tools
during your commute to work or anytime
you have a few spare minutes fifth audio
books and other supplemental resources
in addition to the world’s largest
online collection of HD audio lessons
our language learning program has audio
books to enhance your understanding and
make it more convenient than ever to
learn a language during your commute the
average commute time of most Americans
is over 300 hours each year and it’s the
perfect opportunity to learn and master
a new language use the dead time during
your daily commute to learn a new
language and potentially boost your
lifetime earnings
whatever your motivation our language
learning program has the tools and
resources necessary to help you learn a
new language each year during your
commute to and from work immersion is
often hailed as the most efficient and
effective way to learn a foreign
language in many ways it’s true with all
the language learning methods out there
nothing else comes close to having to
think and interact with your environment
in the language you’re learning
unfortunately though most language
learners wrongly assumed that the only
way to experience language immersion is
to pack up and move to a foreign country
but not everyone can afford to spend a
summer abroad just to learn a foreign
language luckily there are other ways to
immerse yourself
these methods are less obvious but they
are effective in this video we’ll take a
look at five steps you can take
for the ultimate language immersion
experience at home number one transform
your digital world into your target
language technology is an indispensable
part of modern life we interact with
phones computers tablets and other
electronic devices throughout the day
why not take these interactions and use
them to practice your target language
most devices give you the option of
switching the language of the operating
system switching your phone or laptop
interface to your target language won’t
make you fluent but it will help you
engage with the language in a very
practical way multiple times every day
another way to transform your digital
life is to check which sites you use on
a daily basis and use them in your
target language also a great example of
this is switching your version of Google
using Google in your target language
will allow you to search for things in
that language and you’re more likely to
get results in that language as well
so if you’re looking for a popular band
the show or food something that’s
usually written in your target language
it will actually be easier to find
information about it if you switch your
version of Google of course you can also
change popular social networks like
Facebook or Twitter you can even go to
news sites for your fill of global news
do you like podcasts try listening to a
couple popular podcasts in your target
language number two write out a speech
or conversation
in your target language a surefire way
to increase your ability in a foreign
language is to write out a mock
conversation or speech in that language
pretend you have to give a speech on one
of your favorite topics it could be
anything from sports hobbies or even
your favorite movie genre now take some
time to write out your fictitious speech
inevitably you will hit some roadblocks
but when you get stuck research the
words or grammar points you don’t know
this is a highly effective and practical
way to increase your vocabulary and
it’ll help you practice thinking in a
different language writing a long
connected train of thoughts exposes the
gaps and weaknesses in your language
studying once you know what these are
you’re free to practice them and use
them to continue on with your speech
this is also a great way to learn new
words in the context of your entire
speech context is king when you’re
learning a language learning words in
the context of other words and sentences
helps you surmise what new words mean it
also helps you get comfortable with how
these words are practically used not to
mention context helps you to remember
and recall new information more easily
number three practice with native
speakers there are a lot of great
learning resources out there for anyone
learning a new language however nothing
quite comes close to practicing the
language with a real person if you live
in or around a large metropolitan area
there’s a chance that there are some
native speakers nearby check and see if
your area has any local language
exchanges or language speaking groups
you’re likely to find a native speaker
there if you can’t make a connection
locally you can search online just as
there are language exchanges in the real
world there are also online ones most of
which are free number four connect with
other language learners native speakers
aren’t the only people who can aid you
on your language learning journey
practicing with other learners is also
helpful don’t worry if you practice with
someone who has a higher or lower level
in the language than you if you’re the
more advanced learner you can learn a
lot by teaching someone else as you help
someone else understand difficult words
or grammatical concepts you’ll find that
you start to better understand them
yourself if you’re
learning partner has a higher level they
can be the one to help you overcome the
hurdles you encounter as a beginner
after all what better way to learn them
from someone who as a language learner
has been in your shoes number five
reward yourself in your target language
at the end of a busy day we all love a
little relaxation and me time one of the
most enjoyable and effective ways to
develop your language skills is to kick
back and enjoy the language while doing
leisure activities whether it’s
listening to music watching a movie or
TV show reading a book or even enjoying
a good online video binge even spending
just an extra thirty minutes a day doing
something you love in your target
language can yield some serious
long-term results if you’re a beginner
start with more basic content you might
have to start out listening to simple
songs or even watching children’s shows
after a while though you’ll be able to
dive into the meteor stuff and more
engaging stuff as your proficiency
increases learning a foreign language
doesn’t mean you have to spend your days
straining over grammar rules or
textbooks anyway that you can take your
learning off the page and make it more
enjoyable will help you learn faster
immersion is a powerful way to learn a
foreign language and now more than ever
the immersion experience isn’t limited
to just world travelers with the little
creativity and the right resources you
can experience the language without ever
having to leave your hometown 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