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ask Alicia the weekly series where you
ask me questions and I answer them maybe
first question this week comes from a
new rag Pratap Singh high on rock on
Arad says hey Alisha this is an arrival
India hello could you please tell me the
use of these types of marks question
mark exclamation point and so on used in
combination together could you give some
examples
take care mmm yeah these combinations of
question marks and exclamation points
are used in very casual messages like
texts
Edge’s or on social media or maybe in
very casual emails so we use these
together like a question mark and an
exclamation point together when we want
to express surprise and shock and a
question all at the same time so some
mixture of those feelings so some
examples of when you might use this
could be you forgot my wedding rings on
my wedding day or you crashed my car so
in those kinds of situations you want to
communicate like shock or a really
strong anger and you want to ask a
question so in those cases we combine
our exclamation point with a question
mark so it doesn’t matter if you use
exclamation point question mark or the
reverse you can choose the order that
you like some people also choose for
example to use like exclamation
exclamation exclamation question or
maybe they do a question question
question exclamation that’s up to you so
they do that for emphasis they feel I
want to emphasize the question part more
or I want to emphasize the shock or
surprise more so that’s up to you but
just keep in mind that this is very
casual this is not something that’s
officially recognized in style guides
it’s not something that you typically
see in like a professionally edited book
or in a magazine it’s used in very
casual situations but this is very
common so if you want to communicate a
question and some kind of shock or
surprise or other extreme feeling you
can use these two marks together so I
hope that that helps you thanks very
much for the question okay let’s move
along to your next question next
question comes from Peter hi Peter
Peter says hi I have two questions okay
first what’s the difference between
replace with and replace by for example
one people replace computers by phones
two people replace computers with phones
three computers are being replaced by or
with phones okay let’s stop here let’s
start with your first
question then we use replace width when
we’re talking about getting a substitute
for something that is old for something
that is broken for something that just
requires an upgrade I replaced my old
iPhone with a new iPhone or we replaced
our TV with a projector screen so in
each of those examples situation
something old or maybe something that
needed an upgrade got replaced with
something new so we use replaced with or
to replace with in these cases when
something is like old or broken we use
replace by when something is filling the
role of another thing so this is
commonly used when people change their
jobs or they change their position in
some way in society so when we use a
pattern like person a was replaced by
person B it means person a went away and
person B took person A’s place the
president was replaced by the vice
president after the scandal company
managers have been replaced by robots so
in both of these examples sentences we
see one person or a group of people
being replaced by
something else so that means this
something else is taking the position or
is taking the role of the person or
people mentioned at the beginning of the
sentence
so this is the difference with replaced
with or replaced by your final example
sentence was kind of interesting it was
computers are being replaced by or with
phones so it kind of depends on the
nuance that you want to give here I
personally would use computers are being
replaced by phones because I feel that
that kind of communicates that the role
of the computer can be done by a phone
now so maybe like a very old computer
can do the same things that a new phone
can do so we could suggest that a phone
can do those things a phone can be in
the role of an old computer so I think I
would probably use by in this case
computers can be replace
by phones or computers are being
replaced by phones as a near example
sentence so thanks very much for that
question let’s go on to the second part
of your question which was which is
correct or is more natural
for example people replace their
computer by a phone people replace their
computers by phones you should send an
email through the Gmail app you should
send emails through the Gmail app ok
good question and the answer really
depends on the goal of your
communication in general when you’re
trying to decide between using the
singular and the plural form in cases
like these if you’re speaking generally
use the plural form so to go back to
your example sentence people are
replacing computers with phones would be
correct or send emails using the Gmail
app so using the sentence send an email
with the Gmail app would be ok if you
are talking about one specific email
case like hmm you need to email your
client why don’t you send an email with
the Gmail app like test it out try it
out one time if you’re talking about a
company rule though send emails meaning
all of your emails please send all of
your emails with the Gmail app so using
the singular means one time using the
plural form means generally speaking
send emails so I hope that this helps
you understand the differences between
using the plural and the singular form
in these cases thanks very much for the
question ok let’s move on to your next
question next question comes from
Mohammed Al Daley hey Mahmoud Mohamed
says transistors proved vital in
creating the practical lasers if I want
to translate the verb proved here
would it be correct to understand it as
meaning tested or are there other
possibilities great question
yeah the verb to prove means to show
evidence for something or to show
evidence that something is true so
another way to say
this part of the sentence this
transistors proved vital would be
transistors were shown to be vital or
like we learned that transistors were
vital so vital means very important and
transistors refers to a part of a
machine so that’s not so important for
understanding the focus of this question
the verb proved so proof doesn’t really
mean test no to answer your question
although it is used in test situations
so in testing situations or like in
experiment situations or when you’re
trying something new you need to test
things and ultimately in the end you
want to prove something to show evidence
for something so if you’re doing an
experiment you want to explain the
results of your experiment so what did
you learn you can use the verb proved in
cases like these for example the new
software proved useful for our project
our new lessons proved popular among
students so in these sentences proved
means was shown to be or were shown to
be so in the first example sentence the
new software proved useful for our
project means the new software was shown
to be useful or we learned that the new
software was useful for our project in
the second example sentence about
classes proving popular among students
proved there again means shown to be so
our new classes were shown to be popular
among students or we learned that our
new classes were popular among students
so this is what proof is used to do keep
in mind though that this use of proof
tends to sound a little bit more formal
we don’t use this so much in everyday
speech you may hear it from time to time
but using proved in this way makes your
speech sound a little more businesslike
so I hope that this helps you with your
understanding of the verb proof thanks
very much for the question ok let’s move
on to your next question next question
comes from Daniel
hello again Daniel Daniel says hi
Leisha what’s the difference between to
get yourself killed and to kill yourself
oh man this is a great question if it’s
a little bit on the dark side let’s
start with get yourself killed to get
yourself killed
refers to dying because you put yourself
in a situation with a high risk of death
so the death comes from outside you
something else kills you in this
situation another person or maybe a
natural disaster something from outside
you kills you that’s very bad so to get
yourself killed means you put yourself
in a situation where there was a high
risk of death occurring some examples
don’t take the boat out in this storm
you’re gonna get yourself killed
or if you’re a character in an action
movie don’t go alone you’ll get yourself
killed so in this situation get yourself
killed
means something from outside your body
is going to kill you in the first
example situation it’s a storm and the
advice is don’t take the boat out in the
storm you’ll get yourself killed
meaning the bad weather may cause you to
die it’s a high risk situation in a
second example sentence from something
like an action movie don’t go alone
you’ll get yourself killed
means if you go by yourself there’s a
high risk of death you may die so let’s
compare this then to the expression kill
oneself or in your example to kill
yourself to kill yourself means to take
your own life
so that means to use something in order
to end your own life so this is a very
dark expression yes this is commonly
referred to as suicide so this verb is
used reflexively or rather this
expression is used reflexively this
means that the subject and the object of
the verb are the same for example he
kills himself so he is the subject and
himself is the object kill is the verb
that means he is causing himself to die
so this verb is reflexively used here
this is kind of a dark one to make some
example sentences about
let’s take a look at a couple if you’re
having thoughts about killing yourself
please reach out for help and he killed
himself due to high stress in his life
so in sum this is the difference between
to get yourself killed and to kill
yourself to get yourself killed refers
to being in a situation that has a high
risk of death and to kill oneself refers
to taking one’s own life so I hope that
this helps you understand this thanks
very much for the question
okay let’s move on to your next question
next question comes from Anurag hi again
on arago I have two questions from you
in this one okay
anuraag says hi Alicia could you please
tell me the difference between suppose
to and supposed to and their
pronunciation while speaking do we have
to use the IDI sound while saying
supposed to in sentences yeah good
question and the difference between
suppose to and supposed to is that
supposed to does not exist we don’t say
I’m supposed to we always say supposed
to do so the pronunciation here may be
the issue here is that supposed which
ends with Adi is connecting to the sound
in to so supposed to slowly but in fast
speech we connect the T and the D sounds
together to make supposed to I’m
supposed to go to the store today I’m
supposed to go to the bank later I’m
supposed to meet with my friend so it
doesn’t sound like supposed to we do not
make those sounds clearly and distinctly
we connect them actually so when you are
speaking as well you can do the same
thing supposed to supposed to so don’t
worry about saying supposed to we don’t
say that you is supposed to supposed to
so I hope that this helps you thanks
very much for the question hi everybody
welcome back to ask Alicia the weekly
series where you ask me questions and I
answer them
Nady first question this week comes from
I’m at June 80 I am on am on says hi
Alicia what’s the difference between
afraid and scared I’m a little confused
thank you okay sure if you are talking
about fear
afraid and scared mean the same thing
when you’re using them as adjectives so
I’m afraid and I’m scared mean the same
thing we’re talking about our emotions
we’re talking about fear in different
situations however these words can be
used in different ways let’s talk about
scare first scare can be used as a verb
to scare someone or to scare something
means to cause someone to feel fear for
example what you scared me or you scared
the cat so that means you caused fear in
someone else
past tense it’s scared as used in these
examples we cannot use afraid in this
way afraid however can be used in a way
that’s scared cannot afraid can be used
in very formal situations like business
situations as an apology for example I’m
afraid I don’t have time to meet with
you today or I’m afraid we don’t have
that item right now so this afraid
doesn’t mean I’m scared
it means I’m very sorry but so I’m very
sorry but we don’t have that item in
stock right now or I’m very sorry but I
don’t have time to meet with you so I’m
afraid is like a short polite way to say
that so these are the differences
between afraid and scared 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 Bruno
Maria hello Bruno Bruno says hi Alicia
can you tell me the difference between
the words commitment and compromise
please okay sure
think about commitment as a promise or
as an agreement so a commitment is
something you agree to with another
person or with a group of people as a
verb we say commit to commit to
something so a commitment is something
you agree upon with other people some
examples I made a commitment to do my
best in this job he’s afraid of
commitment so the second example sent
is actually a common kind of complaint
in romantic relationships he’s afraid of
commitment or she’s afraid of commitment
you may hear it in situations other than
romantic relationships but it generally
refers to someone who is afraid to enter
into a kind of agreement like a romantic
agreement to date or to be in a
relationship with one person for a long
time so that’s the nuance of the second
example there more generally however
commitment usually refers to agreements
and they can be in business situations
let’s compare this now to compromise
compromise so a compromise is a
situation in which two sides have
different proposals for something and
they each make changes to those
proposals to arrive at this middle point
this middle point is called a compromise
so as a noun this point is called a
compromise so side a and side B have
different ideas they change their ideas
slightly slightly slightly and find an
agreement so that agreeing point is the
compromise point as a verb it’s to
compromise so let’s look at some example
sentences with compromise our team
members reached a compromise after
discussing the project my friends wanted
to go bowling but I wanted to play video
games so we compromised and went to an
arcade so in the second example sentence
I’ve used compromise as a verb in the
past tense we compromise that means each
side changed the plan just a little bit
and we found this middle solution so in
some commitment is an agreement a
compromise you can think of as like a
type of agreement in which both sides
change their ideas slightly so I hope
that this helps you thanks for the
question okay let’s move on to your next
question next question comes from Patti
Renee hello pattern a pattern a says hi
Alicia what is the difference between
supposed to and meant to in terms of
meaning nothing supposed to and meant to
have the same meaning the only
difference here is that
- is used in British English and we
don’t use meant to in American English
for example I’m supposed to go to a
company event this weekend and I’m meant
to go to a company event this weekend an
American English speaker would use the
first example sentence I’m supposed to
go to an event this weekend a British
English speaker would use the second
sentence I meant to go to a company
event this weekend for me as an American
English speaker
the second example sentence feels a bit
unnatural to say it’s not something that
we use in American English but these two
sentences communicate the same idea so
if you are studying American English
great I recommend using supposed to if
you’re studying British English great
use mint - it’ll sound more natural I
hope that this helps you thanks for the
question
ok let’s move on to your next question
next question comes from Reuben Hagen
Reuben Reuben says hi Alicia is there
any difference between loose and lose
I’m also confused with the words
uninterested and disinterested I think
they have the same meaning but I’m not
sure yes great question there are key
differences let’s start by talking about
loose and lose loose with two O’s is the
opposite of tight so for example huh my
ring is loose or wow my pants are loose
so this means the opposite of tight
something tight is like under pressure
or it’s kind of you can imagine it in
like this shape something that is tight
something that is loose is not that
there’s not so much pressure it’s easy
to move it’s flexible so loose is an
adjective
lose on the other hand is a verb which
means to no longer have ownership of
something or to not win something as in
sports so for example I lost my cat in
the forest or I think we’re going to
lose the basketball game today so loose
and loose may seem to have similar
pronunciations and similar spellings but
they do have very different meanings
also different parts of speech lose
is a verb and loose is an adjective so
keep these in mind and be careful of
your spellings when using these words
let’s move on now to your second point
about the difference between
uninterested and disinterested in many
cases today we use uninterested and
disinterested to mean the same thing
which is having no interest in something
like we just don’t care we don’t have
positive feelings or negative feelings
it’s just there we’re very neutral so
many people use these two words to mean
the same thing however disinterested can
have a couple of other meanings one of
these is unbiased so for example
politicians should make disinterested
decisions so that means politicians
should make decisions without bias so
bias means having an opinion in one way
or another about something so a
disinterested decision means an unbiased
decision we can use disinterested in
this way we can also use disinterested
to mean no longer interested in
something so something you at one time
were interested in but you are no longer
interested in can be described as
something you are now disinterested in
for example I’ve become disinterested in
my hobbies compare this then to a couple
of example sentences that use
uninterested I told my friend about a
concert I went to last week but he was
uninterested we’re so tired of having
uninterested people at our events so
please keep in mind as I said many
people use uninterested and
disinterested to mean the same thing
when the meaning is about not having any
emotions or not having any attention
focused on something if however you want
to talk about losing interest in
something or about not being biased with
regard to something use disinterested so
I hope that this helps you thanks for
the question ok let’s move on to your
next question next question comes from
Cecilia hi Cecilia Cecilia says hi
Alicia I
that sometimes there is a comma before
and and sometimes not
when should I add a comma before and
thanks okay yes you should add a comma
before and when you are joining two
independent clauses an independent
clause is an idea or a phrase that can
stand alone so it doesn’t need any extra
information it’s a complete idea a
complete thought let’s take a look at a
few examples that show different types
of clauses together on Saturday I’m
going to the mountains and on Sunday I’m
going to the beach I told my mother I
loved her cooking and I told my father I
love his music I’m tired and hungry I
missed my train and forgot my wallet so
the first two example sentences here use
a comma before and this is because if we
remove the comma and and the two ideas
can be separated with a period and
there’s no communication problem the
statements remain the same on Saturday
I’m going to the mountains on Sunday I’m
going to the beach there’s no error
there the second example sentence is
similar I told my mother I loved her
cooking I told my dad I loved his music
if we remove the comma and and the
sentences are okay because they are
called independent clauses they’re
complete ideas they don’t need any more
information in the last two example
sentences though we cannot remove and
because the parts that it joins are not
independent so I’m tired and hungry if
we remove and it becomes I’m tired
hungry in the last example sentence I
missed my train and forgot my wallet I
missed my train forgot my wallet that’s
not a grammatical sentence so this is a
good way to test whether you’re and is
connecting independent ideas or not try
removing it from the sentence if the
sentence remains grammatical perhaps you
have an independent clause and you can
use the comma and there this is one way
to use a comma before in and the other
case where you may see a comma before an
and is in the last item in a list for
example I bought bread fruit and milk I
saw my family friends and neighbors
sober
for the final item in each of these
lists there’s an end and there’s a comma
before the and this is what’s known as
the serial comma or the Oxford comma so
some people choose to use this type of
comma and some people choose not to
there are some good reasons I feel for
using the Oxford comma and I’m a person
who believes that this is a good comma
to use because it can help prevent
confusion when you’re reading for
example I need to buy bread fruits and
vegetables and a meat and cheese plate
there are many ands in that sentence
there are three ands in that sentence
and using commas to separate each
individual item helps the reader
understand what they should be looking
for what is one item here a comma helps
us identify those things in another
example we might say this weekend I’m
excited to see my friends Beyonce and
Justin Timberlake so a way to interpret
this sentence without an Oxford comma is
that Beyonce and Justin Timberlake are
my friends but they’re not actually my
friends the Oxford comma helps prevent
this kind of confusion this weekend I’m
excited to see my friends Beyonce and
Justin Timberlake so it sounds like
those are three different things that
are not necessarily related so the
Oxford comma helps prevent this kind of
confusion for that reason I’m a big fan
of it the cases where you might see the
Oxford comma purposely not used are in
journalism really so in newspapers in
magazines for example those publications
and the style guides that they follow
typically do not advocate or do not
suggest the use of the Oxford comma you
will see the Oxford comma however in
novels and in short stories and other
things like that so in those cases you
may see it used this is another reason
why you may sometimes see a comma before
an and and you may sometimes not see it
there are a couple of different reasons
so in some one reason is related to
independent clauses and connecting those
with a conjunction and in this case and
a comma the other is related perhaps to
the use of the Oxford comma or the
serial comma so I hope that this helps
you to ask Alisha the weekly series
where you ask me questions and I answer
them maybe let’s get to your first
question this week first question this
week comes from Amer Ibrahim hi Omer
Omer says what is the difference between
- and into a great question yeah
generally we use into when we’re talking
about movement from one place inside of
another place - is used generally to
talk about moving from point A to point
B so let’s take a look at a few examples
first let’s jump into the pool he walked
into the store we drove into the carwash
so in each of these example sentences
there’s an object or a person moving
inside of a location so they’re going
from outside a location to inside of a
location we use in - to show that the
movement is happening and to show that
that object or that person is being
enclosed in something else let’s compare
this then to the same sentences with -
instead of in - for example let’s jump
to the pool he walked to the store we
drove to the carwash these sentences are
all grammatically correct but they don’t
show movement from something outside a
place or outside of a situation inside
something else actually these sentences
Express the method by which we travel so
in the first sentence let’s jump to the
pool it means like let’s travel by
jumping to the pool like to the area
next to the pool for example in the
second example sentence he walked to the
store it means he traveled to the store
by walking in the third example sentence
we drove to the carwash
it means the speaker’s used a car to
travel to the carwash so into actually
means going inside something to means
like the method by which we travel to a
location so this is a key
point of difference you’ll notice that
just changing the preposition in these
example sentences totally changes the
meaning of the sentence so please try to
keep this in mind when you’re choosing
between into and to into is used to talk
about moving inside of something else
and to is used to talk about like the
actual part where you’re moving to a
location so you’re moving from point A
to point B not necessarily being
enclosed in something so this is a quick
and general rough guide for the
difference between these two I hope that
it helps you thanks for the question
okay let’s move on to your next question
next question comes from alexei k hi
Alexei Alexei says hi Alicia I can’t
understand the difference between be use
to and get used to especially in the
past tense because there’s no continuous
tense in Russian can you give me some
advice in a couple of examples yeah a
nice question and it does depend a
little bit on the sentence especially
for be used to so just a reminder we can
use be used to or be used to they have
the same spelling in different ways so
we use be used to to talk about some
things purpose for example this printer
is used to print models and we also use
used to or used to depending on the
sentence to talk about things we are
accustomed to doing so as in the example
like I’m used to having a busy schedule
so please keep in mind that although the
Spelling’s are the same the meanings are
different depending on the sentence I
want to focus on the second type that I
introduced here this I’m used to having
a busy schedule so as a refresher we use
this kind of pattern when we want to
talk about something we’re accustomed to
doing I’m used to having a busy schedule
in present tense past tense and future
tense however we tend to use get used to
get used to so for example I got used to
having a busy schedule or I’ll get used
to
having a busy schedule we can also use
it in present perfect tense as in I’ve
gotten used to having a busy schedule
you could use it with the progressive
tense - I’m getting used to having a
busy schedule so what’s the difference
here with all of these sorts of things
we don’t use that present tense I am
used to or I am not used to unless we
want to talk about the current situation
something that’s true now or something
that’s not true now with the negative
for example I’m used to making Q&A
videos or I’m not used to making Q&A
videos those refer to something that is
true now we use get used to to talk
about things in the past or in the
future or which are currently in
progress as with the progressive form
I’m getting used to having a busy
schedule that means I’m in the process
of being accustomed to having a busy
schedule let’s look a little bit more at
the other forms I talked about I got
used to I got used to having a busy
schedule means I’m now accustomed to it
that part is finished that’s okay for me
in future tense I will get used to
having a busy schedule or I’ll get used
to having a busy schedule it means I’m
not used to it now I’m not accustom now
but in the future I will be so it will
become okay is what it means in the
perfect tense I’ve gotten used to having
a busy schedule means over time I have
gradually become accustomed to having a
busy schedule so in some when you want
to talk about something that’s true now
use the be used to structure or not used
to structure as I talked about before if
you want to talk about the past or about
the future or if you want to talk about
something that started in the past and
affects the present you can use the get
used to pattern these sound a little bit
more natural so I hope that this helps
you it’s may be a lot of information but
it’s a small point that I think will
help you to sound a little more fluent
with this pattern so thanks very much
for the question all right let’s move on
to your next question next question
comes
ivenn hi Ivan Ivan says hi Alicia what’s
the difference between past simple and
present perfect for example I lost my
keys versus I’ve lost my keys or I
bought a new car versus I’ve bought a
new car Thanks okay yeah a nice question
basically when we use simple past tense
we’re talking about an action that
started and finished in the past when we
use simple past tense it’s like we’re
reporting information so I lost my keys
or I bought a new car or I sold my house
so it’s like a fact a quick fact a
simple report it’s done when we want to
communicate that some past action has an
effect on the present we can use the
present perfect tense so for example
I’ve lost my keys or I’ve bought a new
house or I’ve sold my car so what could
the effect be there in the first example
I’ve lost my keys it’s like at some
point in the past I don’t know when but
at some point in the past I lost my keys
now I cannot find my keys I still cannot
find my keys so this is the effect the
negative effect on me right now is like
I can’t use my car or maybe I can’t go
home like I have to find my keys so
there’s some effect from this past
situation losing your keys in the other
examples which were like I’ve bought a
house or I’ve sold my car maybe the
effects are like you have a lot of money
or you have to move to a new house or
now you have a new car that you can use
to drive around so when we use the
present perfect tense here we want to
communicate that there’s some kind of
effect from this past action when we’re
using simple past tense it’s like we’re
giving a quick report something is done
or we don’t feel it’s so important to
talk about an effect we just want to
like to give this information I lost my
keys so it’s a little bit quicker yes
and it’s also just kind of like more
direct we don’t think about the effects
so much of that action so that’s a
really quick guide to maybe why we would
choose to use
present perfect tense as opposed to
simple past tense I hope that this helps
you thanks for the question okay let’s
move on to your next question next
question comes from Sergei hi Sergei
Sergei says hi Alicia what is the
difference between consist of and
include in what situations can I use
these words yeah you can think of
consists of two mean is made of when we
use consist of it’s like a more formal
way of saying something is made of
something else for example this cake
consists of flour eggs butter and sugar
or today’s tour consists of a bus ride
lunch and a guided walk around the
Eiffel Tower so in each of these cases
we’re talking about all of the things
that make up the subject of the sentence
so in these cases the subjects were the
cake and the tour for the day so
consists of means is made of this thing
is made of these various parts include
on the other hand is used when we want
to like highlight something that’s
especially important so we don’t list
everything inside something we it’s like
we’re choosing maybe some category or
we’re choosing some important feature of
something so we might say like the
ingredients for this cake include eggs
and butter so maybe we need to include
that for like allergy reasons or like
today’s tour includes lunch so maybe
there’s some key information we want to
include we want to share that there for
some reason
so consists of is like made of we talked
about all of the things used to make
something includes is used to highlight
something or to share a feature of
something it does not necessarily mean
that’s everything like today’s tour
includes lunch doesn’t mean the tour is
only lunch it means that inside today’s
tour there is also lunch so this is the
difference between consists of and
includes I hope that this helps you
thanks
the question okay let’s move on to your
next question next question comes from
Pedro Henrique a hi Pedro Pedro says
what’s the expression have a blast mean
Oh have a blast means to have fun it
means to enjoy yourself to have a great
time it’s a very casual friendly phrase
that you can use with your friends or
with your family we tend to use it for
things we expect are going to be super
super exciting like going to an
amusement park or seeing a concert or
traveling to another country so you can
use it in present tense you can use it
in past tense whatever if you go to a
concert and you want to tell your friend
about it you can say I had a blast or
the concert was a blast if you want to
wish your friend an exciting time you
can say have a blast before they go or
if you want to talk about a future plan
your friend is traveling somewhere you
can say oh wow you’re gonna have a blast
on your trip to Europe so to have a
blast means to have a great time I hope
that this helps you now let’s take a
look at some conversational phrases
listen to the dialogue what do you do
I’m an artist
listen to it again what do you do I’m an
artist
first of all you need to learn how to
say what do you do what do you do listen
to it again what do you do what do you
do
now how do you answer this question this
is the pattern you’ll need I’m a I’m n
your
occupation
I’m a an your occupation for example I’m
an artist I’m an artist I’m an artist
he
here are a few more professions you can
use with the same pattern
police officer
police officer
police officer
teacher teacher
teacher
doctor doctor
doctor
engineer engineer
engineer
now listen to some examples what do you
do I’m a teacher
what do you do I’m a doctor
what do you do I am an engineer
okay now it’s your turn
do you remember how to say what do you
do
what do you do
imagine you’re a doctor do you remember
how to say doctor
doctor doctor
say I’m a doctor
I’m a doctor now answer the question
saying that you are a doctor what do you
do
I’m a doctor
now imagine you’re a teacher do you
remember how to say teacher
teacher teacher
say I’m a teacher
I’m a teacher now answer the question
saying that you are a teacher what do
you do
I’m a teacher
now imagine you’re an engineer do you
remember how to say engineer
engineer
engineer
say I’m an engineer
I am an engineer now answer the question
saying that you are an engineer what do
you do
I am an engineer
well done in this lesson you learn new
occupation related vocabulary and
phrases you can use in your everyday
life you are now able to talk about your
job like a native speaker hi everybody
my name is Alisha in this lesson I’m
going to give an introduction to English
tenses for this lesson I’m going to give
a short introduction to when to use each
of the English tenses I’m also going to
share an example of what that tense
looks like in a sentence or in a
question so this is just a quick guide
if you want more information about any
of these tenses you can try searching
the youtube channel or our web site for
a video specifically about one of these
tenses so I hope this is helpful for you
okay so let’s get started the first
group of tenses I want to look at is the
present tense so for today’s lesson I’ve
organized it into three categories
present past and future tenses so let’s
begin
with the present tense so in each
category I have four different tenses I
have simple continuous perfect and
perfect continuous you might know
continuous as progressive if they mean
the same thing continuous and
progressive mean the same thing for this
lesson so let’s begin with the present
simple tense present simple tense it’s a
tense we use for general facts for
regular actions and for schedules so
this is stuff that doesn’t change like
he speaks English for example she
doesn’t speak Spanish that’s a simple
fact for regular action so things you do
every day or every week for example and
schedules so that means like a bus or an
airplane or at maybe a car schedule
something that maintains a regular
schedule an example two examples of
using the present simple tense first I
work on Mondays so here work is my verb
I work on Monday simple present tense a
negative I don’t eat lunch at 2:00
o’clock so these are simple present
tense
Eggman’s in this case they’re just
simple statements of fact really okay so
let’s continue to the next one the
second tense is the present continuous
tense if the present continuous tense so
present continuous tense we use for
continuing actions and that means
actions that are happening now so for
example I’m teaching I’m standing I’m
speaking those are actions happening now
so we use it for continuing actions now
like physical actions we also use it for
trends so things happening in your
society right now for example so
examples would be like that TV show is
becoming popular or the world is getting
warmer for example so these are things
happening now also we can use it for
one-time actions as well and this
relates a little bit to future tense
which I’m going to talk about later too
but something happening just one time in
the future we can use the continuous
form to describe that so for example I’m
working this Saturday so sometimes
students ask what’s the difference why
is it I’m working this Saturday and I
work this Saturday remember
we talked about the present simple tense
we use that for regular actions for
general facts so if you usually work on
Saturdays you should use the present
simple tense I work on Saturdays if
however this Saturday is special and you
don’t usually work on Saturdays you
should use the continuous tense I’m
working this Saturday so it sounds like
that’s not a typical thing for you I’m
working this Saturday okay let’s go on
to the third tense the third tense is
the present perfect tense the present
perfect tense so we use the present
perfect tense for general life
experience or lack thereof so lack
thereof means no no life experience not
having a life experience so something
that you did in the past but not at a
specific point in time the specific
point in time is
so important here or maybe we don’t know
so example a negative example he has
never been to Spain he has never been to
Spain in this case no life experience of
going to Spain is what this means so
this is an example of present perfect
tense here we have he has remember we
need to attach has or have before our
past participle verb form here so for
more information about this tense you
can check the channel there’s more
information there so let’s continue on
to the next tense now the next tense is
the present perfect continuous tense
present perfect continuous we use this
tense for actions that started in the
past and continue to the present so
something you started doing in the past
some point in the past it’s not always
important when but that action continues
so you use this a lot to talk about your
study is for example we use words like
for and since and maybe a go with this
as well so an example of this
I’ve been studying English for two years
so here we see I’ve been this I’ve is
the contracted the reduced form of I
have I have been studying so this is the
continuous or the progressive form in
this case I’ve used the word for I’ve
used for because I’m using two years
which is a length of time we can use
since for example I’ve been studying
English since 2016 so we use since
before a specific point in time we can
use a go as well usually we pair it with
since I’ve been studying English since
two years ago you’ll notice when we use
a go however we change from using in my
first example 2016 to a length of time
since two years ago so there are a few
different changes you need to make there
but you can check the other video on the
channel for more information about that
grammar point okay let’s move on to the
second group for today which is the past
tense
look at the four points in the past
tense here first one is the past simple
or just simple past tense simple past
tense is used for actions that started
and finished in the past so for example
I taught simple present tense earlier so
I used the past tense
I taught simple present tense because
the action started and finished in the
past another example I worked all night
I worked all night so work is my verb I
use simple past tense worked because the
action started and finished in the past
another example a negative
they didn’t come they didn’t come to the
party they didn’t come to the office the
action was in the past it refers to
something that did not happen in the
past so there was no action in the past
but it’s over it’s finished so we use
simple past tense to talk about these
simple actions that started and finished
in the past okay let’s go on to the past
continuous tense then past continuous is
for actions that were continuing in the
past so this one is when we often use
with a specific point in time along with
it
so let’s look at an example first we
were listening to music we were
listening to music yesterday or we were
listening to music at 8:00 p.m. when
were you listening to music when was
that action continuing at 8:00 p.m. or
yesterday so it’s common to include a
point in time with this grammar point
another example like I was doing
something something ing form there so
this is one that’s some people have
questions about like why should I use
that when should I use that it’s
typically used in response to someone’s
questions like what were you doing last
night for example or what were you doing
this morning so you want to know
someone’s activities at a specific point
in time you can use this grammar point
to respond to that question okay let’s
move along to the past perfect tense our
next one past perfect tense is for
actions that were completed or not
completed
non-specific point in the past and a
non-specific point in the past so this
one is kind of difficult and it’s
perhaps not used quite so much in
everyday conversation this is used a bit
more in writing this is a grammar point
that’s especially helpful when we want
to show kind of a time line in our
writing to show that an action happened
before another action in the past we can
use the past perfect tense so here’s a
couple of examples first one they hadn’t
departed yet so here hadn’t is their
reduced form of had not they hadn’t
departed yet and I had taken my lunch
break so we would use sentences like
these if we’re telling a story so we’re
telling a story about the past and we
want to show that one action happened
before another action when we want to
talk about the earlier action so the
thing that happened earlier likes more
in the past we use the past perfect
tense then we can use the simple past
tense to explain the action that
happened closer to the present so for
example I had taken my lunch break when
I saw the delivery man came or something
like that so you can see my second point
there that’s kind of a strange example
but you see that my second point there
it uses the simple past tense
I saw the delivery man came so I had
taken my lunch break further in the past
when I saw the delivery man came so
that’s simple past tense so this is
probably more common in writing but it
is used in speaking as well too so this
is what we use a past perfect tense to
do okay let’s move on then to another
challenging point past perfect
continuous tense past perfect continuous
these these are sentences or questions
for actions that started in the past and
continued to like an unspecified point
in the past so the action has finished
as well that’s a key difference with the
present perfect continuous with present
perfect continuous the action is
happening now still that behavior still
continues key point though with past
perfect continuous is that the action
started at some point in the past and
then continued and finished as well but
it’s some unspecified point so maybe we
don’t know exactly when the action
finished but it’s done it’s complete so
let’s look at an example they had been
waiting since 3 p.m. so here they had
been waiting this shows us that there
was some waiting period so the the
waiting started at 3 p.m. and the
waiting continued and continued and
continued we don’t know when the waiting
finished but this grammar point shows us
that the waiting has finished were
finished waiting that’s done we wanted
to talk only about this period of time
the people were waiting in the past so
this is the grammar point that we use to
talk about things that were happening
over a period of time in the past and
then finished so this is something again
we use when telling stories were showing
a sequence of events actually ok let’s
move along then to the last group for
today’s lesson the future tense future
tense let’s start with the future simple
tense future simple tense this is for
actions that are planned or unplanned
for the future there are actually a lot
of different things we can do to make
the future simple tense some very common
ways of making future simple are through
using will and won’t and going to and
not going to and earlier in this lesson
I mentioned using the continuous tense
the present continuous tense the ing
form of a verb to make statements about
the future also so there are many ways
to make a simple future statements let’s
look at a couple of examples first I’ll
have a glass of wine this uses will
aisle aisle is the reduced form of I
will have a glass of wine that’s a
future statement also he’s going to cook
dinner in this one I’ve used going to to
express them so these are just simple
things about planned or perhaps
unplanned like he’s not going to cook
dinner would be an unplanned
in the future or something that’s not
going to happen in the future either
okay so let’s go on to the future
continuous tense now future continuous
tense this is for actions you think will
or will not be continuing in the future
in the future something you think will
be continuously happening in the future
let’s look at an example I’m not going
to be working at company a I’m not going
to be working at company a so here you
can see we have going to I’m not going
to plus we have a verb in the continuous
tense I’m not going to be working at
company a meaning in other words I’m not
going to have a job at Company A or I’m
not going to continue my position at
Company A in the future that’s my
thought now in the present about the
future so at that time in the future
like in one year for example I will not
be working at that company or I’m not
going to be working at company a so
that’s the idea behind other future
continuous tense okay let’s move along
to the future perfect tense then so so
future perfect tense refers to actions
that you think will have started some
point in the future so remember you’re
thinking in the present right now but
this grammar point is used to talk about
something something you imagine in the
future that starts at some point and you
think might be continuing into the
future maybe something started and maybe
continues this is the idea here so let’s
look at an example I will have lived in
China for two years I will have lived in
China so here I’m using will to show
it’s a future tense statement I will
Plus have lived this is the same thing
that we use for the present perfect
tense that we talked about earlier that
past participle plus have or has but
we’re attaching it to a future tense
will I will have
lived in China for two years so when
would we use this so if for example
someone asks you a question about your
future you and they say like mmm so
where do you see yourself in like 2020
for example or where do you imagine
you’re going to live in 2020 for example
you could say oh I will have lived in
China for two years so meaning at that
time in 2020 I will have lived in China
for two years so that means not now but
in the future at that point in time in
the future I will have started living in
China and that will have continued for
two years so that’s what that means
that’s a guess about the future a future
time period that something will have
continued in the future so again quite a
challenge in grammar point but something
definitely to look into so again not
used perhaps as much as the present
perfect tense but great for storytelling
and for imagining your future - okay so
let’s move on to the last point for
today’s lesson the future perfect
continuous tense future perfect
continuous this is a tense that you use
as similar to the last one but for
actions you think will or won’t have
started and will be continuing
so something that’s going to have
started again in the future something
started and the action will have
continued into the future example I
won’t have been eating meat for three
months I won’t have been eating meat for
three months so for this one let’s
imagine that you decided last month to
stop eating meat so that’s fine actually
for this for this sentence that’s okay
you made a decision last month to stop
eating meat then someone asks you about
your progress like how is it going like
what are you going to do next month and
you can say to yourself hmm
well at that point next month by next
month in the future
you can use the sentence I won’t so
won’t negative will not
I won’t have been eating meat for three
months for three months so that means
from the point in time I started it in
the past until this point in the future
so not present but into the future this
entire time my behavior not eating meat
that’s going to have continued so you’re
making a guess about the future so at
this future point in time that behavior
I started in the past will have
continued and continued and continued
and at this point it will be three
months three months total for that
behavior so we use this to talk about
something some future thing that will
have continued or will be continuing
into the future so we’ll have continued
meaning something that started in the
past and continues into the future or
will be continuing meaning it’s still
going into the future as well so there
are a couple of like very very subtle
grammar points to consider there too so
that those are a couple of may be tough
grammar points but there are really good
for storytelling and for talking about
your future as well
okay so I know that this was a lot of
information in this lesson if you have
some questions about where to find more
details about any of these grammar
points you can check the YouTube channel
our YouTube channel has some resources
for these grammar points there’s also
some information on the website if you
don’t see it on the website or on the
YouTube channel yet please have a little
bit of patience we are making new stuff
all the time and we’ll hopefully have
this available for you soon so please
keep checking back in hi everybody my
name is Alisha in this lesson I’m going
to talk about some common idioms these
are common American English idioms for
your reference an idiom is a set
expression that doesn’t mean exactly
what the words in the expression means
it actually has a special meaning these
are set phrases with special meanings so
today I’m going to introduce a few let’s
get started okay the first expression
the first idiom is the expression I feel
under the weather
I feel under the weather this means I
don’t feel
I don’t feel well so you use this when
you feel sick like I’m feeling under the
weather today or he’s feeling under the
weather today you can also change this
verb to look if you want to make a guess
about the way someone else feels you can
say you look under the weather like in
this example sentence you’re looking a
bit under the weather a bit means a
little and here you’re looking means
like it seems that right now your
appearance now suggests that you don’t
feel well but this is a friendly and
casual expression you can use to say are
you okay you look a little sick so feel
under the weather to feel under the
weather or to look under the weather if
you’re just guessing based on someone’s
appearance means that you don’t feel
well or someone seems like they might be
sick okay let’s move on to the next
idiom the next idiom is I’ve put in
parentheses here I’m so hungry
but we dropped this part sometimes I
could eat a horse I could eat a horse
so here you see could suggesting
possibility this part we often drop so
sometimes we just say I could eat a
horse or maybe a different large animal
like I could eat an elephant for example
basically this idiom means I’m very
hungry that’s all so in other words I’m
so hungry it’s possible for me to eat a
large animal an animal as large as a
horse or as an elephant or something we
don’t really change the animal so much
you could say elephant I suppose but
typically people say horse this is a
little bit of an old-fashioned
expression now you might just hear I’m
starving but that’s kind of an extreme
I’m really really hungry expression but
if you use this
it’s okay people will understand it
means you’re very very hungry ok let’s
move on to the third idiom for this
lesson this one is it’s raining cats and
dogs it’s raining cats and dogs this one
also is a little bit old-fashioned but
you might still hear it you
from time to time it’s raining cats and
dogs just means it’s raining heavily
it’s raining a lot there’s a lot of
water coming down so it’s raining cats
and dogs this does not mean there are
cats and dogs in the street or coming
down it just means heavy rain heavy rain
okay let’s go on to another one that’s a
little more commonly used this
expression this idiom is that or it or
these those whatever that costs an arm
and a leg an arm and a leg physically
body parts an arm and a leg that costs
an arm in the leg
this expression means that’s very
expensive we use this for something that
is extremely expensive or perhaps more
expensive than we expected so an example
of this would be my new phone
cost me an arm and a leg my new phone
cost me an arm and a leg so I paid a lot
of money for my new phone here cost is
actually in past-tense
cost here it’s in present tense that
costs an arm and a leg here this is the
past tense expression my new phone cost
me an arm and the leg means I paid a lot
of money for my new phone so an arm in
the leg these are key parts of our body
so we use them in this expression to
show that something was really really
expensive we had to give a lot of
ourselves a lot of our resources to pay
for this item so something costs an arm
and a leg means something is really
expensive we always use arm and leg we
don’t use arm or leg only we use them
together always for this expression okay
let’s go along to the next one also uses
leg this expression this idiom is to
pull someone’s chain or to pull
someone’s leg you also hear the verb
yank used here so pull is this motion
yank is like a quick short pull toe to
yank something but to pull is a little
more like smooth but to pull someone’s
chain or she yanked someone’s chain or
leg these expressions all
mean to be joking it means you’re just
telling a joke you are kidding kidding
is a word that means joking so when
you’re joking with someone like in a
conversation and you want to show I’m
don’t mean anything by it I’m just
joking you can say I’m just pulling your
leg like if you’re telling a story if
you’re lying to someone for a joke you
can use this expression so here sorry
I’m just pulling your leg sorry I’m just
pulling your leg sorry I’m just yanking
your chain this means I’m just joking
I’m just kidding don’t be serious don’t
take what I’m saying seriously it’s a
joke in other words so sometimes people
like to use this to like finish a
conversation if the other person is
getting angry and then they can say I’m
just joking I’m just pulling your leg
okay let’s go on to the next one the
next idiom is to hit the road to hit the
road this does not mean physically hit
the road outside this means to leave to
leave it’s as a casual expression which
means to leave your current position and
go somewhere else to hit the road an
example it’s late let’s hit the road so
in other words it’s late let’s go let’s
leave this place okay onward to the next
expression the next idiom is kill two
birds with one stone so a stone is a
rock small a rock two birds with one
stone this expression means to
accomplish two things with one action to
do so one thing you do one thing but you
accomplish two things of course you
could do multiple things I suppose three
birds with one stone maybe but we tend
to use it two birds one stone an example
met friends and checked out a new
restaurant I killed two birds with one
stone so I wanted to see my friends and
I wanted to visit a new restaurant I did
them both at the same time I killed two
birds with one stone so I accomplished
two things in one action there this is
quite a common Express
two birds one stone it’s always that
that Perry okay
onward to the next one the next idiom is
piece of cake piece of cake like that’s
a piece of cake or it’s a piece of cake
or that was a piece of cake
it means very easy piece of cake means
easy also be careful of your spelling
this should mean piece like one part of
something it’s not PE a sieepiess
like peace on earth peace around the
world but piece of cake part of cake it
means very easy this is an expression
that means very easy an example making
coffee is a piece of cake so some
activity some action is easy to do we
say piece of cake so actually we don’t
always clearly state the action or the
activity that’s easy sometimes we get
like a request like can you make this or
can you do that and the response is just
piece of cake no problem I can do that
that’s easy for me so quite a common one
- okay let’s go along to the next idiom
which is put all your eggs in one basket
to put all your eggs in one basket this
is an idiom that’s usually used for
advice and we usually say don’t put all
your eggs in one basket
this means to rely on only one thing for
your needs to rely on one thing so let’s
look at an example of this don’t invest
in just one company don’t put all your
eggs in one basket so the image here is
that we need eggs in this example we
need eggs to eat for something for
breakfast let’s say if we put all of the
eggs we need in one basket and we drop
the basket or the basket is stolen or
there’s some other problem the eggs are
destroyed or they disappear or whatever
we have nothing we have no resources so
this is a life advice idiom that
suggests if you have some resources you
should spread them to different places
so don’t put everything that you have in
one little
if something happens then you’re in
trouble
so it means spread out your resources
spread out the things that you need in
case something happens so here too don’t
invest in just one company try to spread
your investments out is what this really
means so this is quite a common
expression don’t put all your eggs in
one basket okay let’s go on to the last
one the last one is a special idiom it
is hair of the dog that bit you I have
this in parentheses because we often
remove we often drop this part hair of
the dog that bit you this is an idiom
that we use particularly the day after
we’ve had alcohol so hair of the dog
this is a suggestion for a hangover cure
so hangover means that sick bad feeling
you have after drinking too much alcohol
so we feel like a headache
we have a headache we have a stomachache
we’re slow it’s difficult to do things
that’s hangover so hair of the dog that
bit you
so we’re suggesting here that alcohol is
a dog that’s what there’s kind of a
small story here alcohol is a dog and
the dog bit you so because the alcohol
like harmed you damaged you you feel
sick
so the idea here is if you take like
like medicine kind of if you take part
of the dog a hair from the dog that bit
you you will be cured it’s like a
treatment kind of or a suggestion for
treatment so example hangover how about
a little hair of the dog in other words
this means if you drink a little bit of
alcohol then maybe you will feel better
it’s suggesting not to drink a lot but
have a little bit of alcohol and then
your body will be better it will improve
I don’t know if it’s true or not maybe
for some people but that’s what this
expression means hair of the dog and we
often drop that you there so how
about some hair of the dog that bit you
that could work alright 10 words for
using computers and email
to save the first word is to save to
save to save a file to save a document
to save means to keep something like you
you save the file you keep it on your
computer to use or open later or to send
later so to save the file is to keep it
to hold it on your computer in a
sentence did you save the file to undo
the next word is to undo to undo this is
a verb so here we have undo so unmeaning
at so it’s a negative prefix do is to do
something like to take action so to undo
can be used in many different programs
so it means to remove the last thing you
did to take back to go a step back in
your activities in your document so you
can undo changes you can undo I don’t
know something in Photoshop you can undo
also you can you can undo for example
like jewelry to undo a clasp clasp is
the little like piece that holds jewelry
together so to undo it is to remove it
to take it off you can use undo for
computers also in a sentence I have to
undo these changes to edit the next word
is to edit to edit means to fix or to
change to revise something to make
something different than it was before
so to edit something means to make
changes to something so there’s usually
an edit menu in like a Microsoft Word or
iTunes or something like that many menus
have an edit sub section so you could
edit within the edit section there are
many different things that you can
change or settings that you can change
for example you can also use edit
outside of computers for example to edit
a document or to maybe edit information
in your phone I don’t know
and but yeah you can use edit to mean
change something or to update or revise
in a sentence he edited the file last
night to rename a file the next
expression is to rename a file to rename
so here we have renamed as our primary
verb the main verb is rename name means
to call something to name a file to give
a name to something
REE means again so to rename a file
means to give a file a different name
and new name so in a sentence I renamed
all the files in the folder to restart a
computer the next expression is to
restart a computer to restart a computer
so you turn off the computer one time
and it automatically turns back on so
that’s called restarting to restart a
computer again we see this re prefix re
again and start restart a computer in a
sentence I need to restart to my
computer to attach a file ok the next
expression very useful for email is to
attach a file to attach a file means to
to attach a file to an email really or
to a message so usually there’s like a
paperclip icon or you just you can just
attach I don’t know you you connect a
file to a message we say that’s
attaching making an attachment is the
noun form an attachment in a sentence
the file is attached to this email to
send a file the next word is to send a
file to send a file or to send an email
as well so to send something as you
would use the same verb for mail like to
send a package or to send a letter we
use to send a file to so in a sentence I
sent you a file with all the information
yesterday to receive the next word is to
receive to receive means to get so
someone sends a file you receive the
file you get the information someone has
sent you that’s to receive in a sentence
did you receive my email about the
project to shut down a computer the next
expression is to shut down a computer to
shut down a computer usually computers
say shut down means turn off to turn off
or to cut power so to stop using the
computer the computer is off we say shut
down a computer in a sentence I shut
down my computer every day to unplug
finally some word that some students
have trouble with it’s kind of strange
to unplug to unplug so here we have
again as we talked about with undo
meaning remove or not and plug so so to
remove plug means to take the plug I
don’t have one
kandi that’s ok so headphones these are
huge so headphone when they’re plugged
in we say to plug in we can use this for
any kind of power using device anything
when you’re finished with it however we
just say to unplug that thing so we say
but we don’t say plug we don’t say to
plug I need to plug my bla bla bla we
say it like we use plug that plug we use
from marketing words like I’m here to
plug my book I’m here to plug my new
movie so when you remove it’s to unplug
like to unplug my headphones to unplug
my computer but when you put it in its
to plug in something we do not say plug
out isn’t this a weird word like a weird
pair and be careful so like to plug in
those are two separate words - well in
the infinitive form plug plus in but be
careful a plug in as a noun is a
different thing like unlike a wordpress
template or like in a software that you
use plug in is all one word there’s no
space between plugging in that’s the
noun form plug-in however is the verb
form all kinds of bonus words here so
see is an example sentence unplug your
device’s when you are finished with work
we’re gonna uh plug this camera after
the system so those are ten words that
you can use for talking about computers
and email if there’s another word that
you’re not sure about or if you have any
questions or comments please be sure to
let us know in the comment section below
this video
let’s talk about the basic definition of
the verb bite it means to use your teeth
to cut or tear or something examples I
hate it when I bite my tongue
you shouldn’t bite your nails let’s look
at the conjugations for this verb
present bite bites past bit past
participle bit progressive biting
let’s talk about some additional
meanings for this verb the first one is
one that we use when we go fishing
which means for fish to eat bait we use
the verb bite for this examples the fish
aren’t biting today I think something
bit my lure so bite refers to fish
eating bait so baits meaning edible
things or lure as in the second example
sentence kind of a shiny metal or
plastic object that attracts fish it
looks like food but there are hooks in
it in so we use bite to talk about the
fish trying to eat that thing or
actually swallowing that thing so the
reason I introduced that we’ll talk
about with the second additional meaning
for this verb so this leads into the
second additional meeting for this verb
the second additional meaning for this
verb is to show interest in something to
show interest in something examples
alright I’ll bite what’s the secret the
new clients didn’t bite on the deal so
here a bite means show interest so the
reason that I introduced this as the
second meaning after the fish bait
eating introduction is because we can
imagine that when we’re showing our
interest in something it’s similar to
the way fish bite a lure fish tried to
bite food so when we’re interested in
some information like a secret as in the
first example or a special deal as in
the second example we want to bite it we
want to get that thing so this means to
show interest yes but it means we’re
kind of going after we’re trying to
chase that thing so we can get it and
enjoy it
perhaps so two bite can mean to show
interest in something the third
additional meaning for this verb is to
be bad or to be unappealing examples
this lunch bites your boss bites so here
we’re using bites in the first example
your lunch bites it doesn’t mean your
lunch like a sandwich physically bites
you it means your lunch is not very good
your lunch is bad your lunch is
unappealing in the second example your
boss bites it doesn’t mean your boss is
a person who bites people it means your
boss is bad your boss is not a good
person your boss is not a good
boss for example this is a slang term
that means not good unappealing
however the fourth additional meaning
for this verb is to have a habit of
biting so someone or something that has
a habit of biting things we can use the
verb bite to talk about them examples
watch out for that dog he bites careful
I heard that kid bites generally this
use of the verb bite is used for animals
and for kids so in other words creatures
or small people who have not yet learned
or don’t know that it’s wrong to bite
someone so this is not used for adults
so you probably won’t confuse this
meaning with meaning number three of
like your boss fights because your boss
as an adult has learned not to bite
people so this is probably only going to
be used with animals and maybe kids so
people or creatures who don’t know
let’s move along to some variations of
this verb the first one is to come back
to bite somebody to come back to bite
somebody
this refers to a problem that if not
handled now could cause a bigger problem
in the future
examples I didn’t put gas in the car
yesterday I hope that doesn’t come back
to bite me she didn’t stay updated on
the project progress and it came back to
bite er so these examples refer to a
problem that’s not properly handled at
the right time in the first example
sentence a person did not put gas in his
or her car yesterday so the idea is that
perhaps they’re going to run out of gas
in the future they should have put gas
in the car yesterday but they did not
they should have and it might cause a
bigger problem in the future in the
second example sentence it’s a past
tense situation a person the she in the
situation did not stay updated on the
project progress and thus there was a
negative effect in the future because
she did not properly handle the
situation so for something to come back
and bite you means you didn’t take care
at the present time and in the future it
caused a bigger problem so be careful of
this one let’s go on to the second
variation which is to bite someone’s
head off this is quite a strange
expression but to bite someone’s head
off means usually too quickly and
angrily say something and it can often
be for something very very small not
necessarily for a huge problem but maybe
just a quick show of anger sometimes
over a small point examples my mom bit
my head off for coming home ten minutes
late last night he made one small
mistake you don’t have to bite his head
off
so of course this doesn’t literally mean
biting someone’s head off of their body
but it just means making a really quick
and angry comment or series of comments
to somebody because of something small
usually in the first example sentence
it’s a ten minute delay so one person is
ten minutes late getting home and the
speaker’s mother bit his or her head off
meaning was very angry at them for a
short period of time for that mistake in
the second example sentence he made one
small mistake you
have to bite his head off that means
that you don’t need to be so angry at
this person for a small mistake
so to bite someone’s head off is a quick
show of anger refers to that the third
variation is to bite the bullet to bite
the bullet refers to doing something
that you don’t want to do but maybe
you’re forced to do it or it’s really
not appealing you don’t want to do it
but you decide you have to or there’s
some other reason that you’re pushed to
do it you bite the bullet and do it
so examples I think I have to bite the
bullet and take the boring day job we
bit the bullet and applied for a
mortgage so these are maybe examples of
things the speaker’s don’t want to do
but they decide they need to do for some
reason or they’re forced to do for some
reason so those are a few new ways I
hope that you can use the verb bite
there are quite a few interesting
meanings to this verb for sure of course
if you know a different meaning if you
want to try to make an example sentence
or if you have any questions please let
us know in the comment section of this
video
the basic definition of the verb rise is
to move upwards some examples the
balloon rose in the air the Sun rises
every morning okay now let’s look at the
conjugations for the spurt present rise
Rises past rose past participle risen
aggressive rising
now let’s talk about some additional
meanings for this verb the first one
means to become successful or to achieve
a higher position some examples the
group rose to power in 2016 our channel
has risen in popularity over the years
so these example sentences both refer to
kind of improving your rank or improving
your level of success becoming more
successful in the first one we see the
group rose to power rose to power means
became gradually more successful like
gradually gained more power rose to
power like kind of leveled up you can
imagine in the second example sentence
our channel has risen in popularity we
see them we’re becoming more and more
successful more and more popular over
the years so this refers to gradually
gaining some kind of success or
achieving a higher rank in some way okay
let’s go on to the second additional
meaning for this firm the second
variation is to increase to increase
some examples temperatures are rising
around the world our electrical bill
seems to rise every year so this just
refers to a simple increase perhaps the
easiest way to think of this as numbers
going up so in the first example
sentence temperatures increasing
temperatures are increasing around the
world means temperatures are going up
temperatures are rising in the second
example sentence it’s an electrical bill
so the cost goes up every year the cost
rises every year
so we use rise to prefer two simple
increases as well okay let’s go on to
the third additional meaning for this
one the third additional meaning for
this verb is to oppose a bad ruler so
this can mean like a king or a queen or
a government or someone who is like in a
managerial or administrative role
someone who’s ruling over other people
or controlling other people examples the
people rose up against the government
his troops began to rise up against him
so here you can see rise up against and
then we follow that with the person or
the ruler or the government that’s
causing the problems for the people who
are
posing so in the first example sentence
the people the people are rising up
against a government in the second
example sentence troops members of the
military are rising up against someone
who is in control of them
so we commonly see rise against or rise
up against in this case
let’s continue on to some variations of
this verb the first variation is to rise
above this means to not allow something
to affect you negatively so examples of
this he’s trying to rise above all the
drama at the office they rose above the
ignorance in the community so rise above
refers to not letting some kind of
negativity affect you in the first
example sentence he’s trying to rise
above the drama in the office means he’s
trying not to let drama in the office
affect him negatively in the second
example situation it’s a community
situation they rose above the ignorance
in the community so perhaps there is
ignorance in the community that could
potentially create a negative situation
but they decide not to let that affect
them so they tried to go beyond it this
has a positive image actually rising
above something that could create a
negative situation okay let’s go on to
the next one
the next expression is to rise from the
dead or to rise from the grave this
means coming back to life after being
dead or we can use it to talk about
someone who wakes up after a long long
sleep in a very casual situation
examples zombies are humans risen from
the dead whoa look who’s risen from the
dead so in the first example sentence
it’s a fantasy situation about zombies
so zombies are kind of humans like
monsters humans that died and now they
are back they’re sort of risen from the
dead they’re back and walking around so
risen from the dead in the second
example sentence it’s about a person who
probably just woke up whoa look who’s
risen from the dead look who has risen
from the dead
meaning not literally you died and then
came back but instead you’ve been
sleeping for a long time so long it
seemed like you died but now you’re back
you’re risen from the dead so we can use
this in most cases to talk about like
zombie movies or people who sleep for a
long time so perhaps there are other
situations too especially in some
religious situations as well where we
can use this expression okay so those
are hopefully a few new ways that you
can use the verb rise of course if you
have any questions
or other ways that you want to try to
use Rhys please feel free to do so in
the comment section most people don’t
like to hear this but consistent
hardwork is one of the biggest factors
in your language learning success the
course or method you choose makes a
difference too but at the end of the day
you write or die by the work you put in
the quantity of time spent studying
language doesn’t necessarily determine
the quality of your study spending three
hours a day watching movies doesn’t help
you learn much if you’re not actively
engaging with the language in this video
we’ll talk about three ways to actively
engage your mind while studying a new
language number one think of your brain
as a muscle you’re probably familiar
with the phrase feel the burn
or maybe no pain no gain if you’ve been
to your local gym recently there’s a
chance you might have heard one of these
phrases or seen them plastered on a wall
there’s an idea in the world of sports
and workouts that the discomfort you
feel when running pumping iron or doing
some other physical activity is what
brings results during a healthy workout
the muscles of the body are effective at
a microscopic level the discomfort you
feel is your muscles being pushed to
their limit it’s the limit pushing that
strengthens your muscles so that over
time your performance increases in the
context of language learning it’s
helpful to think of your brain as a
muscle just as we need to push our
physical limits when exercising we also
need to push our mental limits when
learning a foreign language
have you ever studied or practiced your
target language in a way that left you
tired or even exhausted if so you’ve
experienced what it’s like to push your
brain out of its linguistic comfort zone
number two practice active listening one
of the easiest ways to push your
language skills is to practice active
listening active listening is when you
listen to someone speaking your target
language and you do your best to
understand what you hear the best way to
accomplish this is by using audio that
you can’t completely understand on the
first listen preferably you want to use
audio that has subtitles or transcripts
for you to double-check your understand
after you listen to it you can use
movies YouTube clips or even our
language program which has very useful
transcripts for each lesson during a
practice session you should listen to
the audios several times the first time
around it’s okay if little to no words
stick out to you simply make a mental
note of any words or sounds you
recognise the second time you listen
you’re likely to recognize a little more
than you did the previous time expect
similar results with your third or even
fourth time listening after you’ve hit
the ceiling of words you can decipher go
ahead and look at the language subtitles
or transcripts listen to the audio again
reading along with the text odds are
that you will see words in the text you
know but didn’t hear correctly you’re
also likely to encounter words that are
new to you completely as you play back
the audio and read along try to guess
what these words mean from the context
of the words around them after you have
read along a couple times feel free to
look up the remaining unfamiliar words
in a dictionary or translator app this
active listening exercise routine is a
great way to increase your listening and
comprehension skills while picking up
some new vocabulary along the way it
also allows you to learn new words in
context which itself is a powerful
method to help you retain what you study
number three practicing with native
speakers practicing with native speakers
is the epitome of pushing your language
skills using what you know to
communicate in real time is where the
rubber really meets the road try to
connect with a native speaker on a
weekly basis regularity is what makes
the difference when you’re learning a
foreign language if you live in a large
metropolitan area then there’s a
significant chance that there are some
local native speakers nearby try hitting
up a local language exchange or meetup
group to make the necessary connections
if you’re unable to find a practice
partner locally then you can take your
search online there are a number of
sites out there that help you find and
connect with other language learners
from around the world
there are tons of language learners
around the world who have learned or are
learning a second
which you’re likely to find someone who
knows your target language and is
looking to improve their own language
skills as well learning a new language
isn’t always easy
but it’s the discomfort that comes with
pushing your ability in the language
that produces results in your studies
don’t be afraid to step outside of your
comfort zone the further away you get
from your native language the closer
you’ll be to attaining fluency also
remember that language learning is in
every way a lot like an adventure there
will be fun times and times when it
feels like you’re swimming up the
proverbial stream it’s by keeping your
head up long enough through these ups
and downs that you will experience the
priceless satisfaction that comes from
learning a foreign language just keep
moving forward let’s be honest it’s
difficult to learn a new language if
you’re new to a language it’s going to
take consistent and concentrated effort
to start using the language fluently
however this fact shouldn’t discourage
you while learning a new language is
hard it’s far from impossible in this
video will outline five tips you can use
to jumpstart your language learning
follow these pointers to learn your
target language in a way that is
efficient and effective number one limit
your native language use when practicing
the idea here is that when you practice
with native speakers you do your best to
refrain from using your native language
this is generally harder the less you
know but if you can manage to stick to
this rule you’ll reap some huge rewards
if you commit to a no native language
practice session it’s not going to be
easy most likely there will be some
frustrating if not painstakingly
difficult moments where you either have
trouble understanding the person you’re
talking to or you can’t say what you
want to say it’s precisely in these
moments that your language learning
muscles are built up to capacity the
process really isn’t all that different
from working out in the gym just replace
the physical burn of lifting weights for
the mental burn of thinking in a new
language in the end if there’s no pain
there’s no gain obviously this no native
language rule doesn’t have to be written
in stone there are times when it’s more
beneficial to break out of the target
language box and have something
explained to you in your native language
however this should definitely be the
exception
rather
than the standard number to have set
times to practice speaking throughout
the week now that we’ve discussed a good
way to practice speaking let’s delve a
bit into when to speak one of the best
commitments you can keep while learning
a new language is to set aside specific
times to practice speaking the language
on a weekly basis ideally these speaking
sessions are on set days at specific
times and form part of your weekly
routine if you don’t make it a point to
set aside specific practice times you
run the risk of your language practice
falling through the cracks of your busy
schedule I recommend writing down your
practice times and hanging it somewhere
you can always see it you could also
input the time than to your phone and
set an alarm the point is to remind
yourself of your commitment every day so
that it doesn’t fall by the wayside
number three get picky about vocabulary
whether you practice with a podcast a
friend at a coffee shop or a teacher
you’re going to run into a flood of new
and unfamiliar vocabulary despite your
best efforts it’s unlikely that you’ll
be able to pin down every new word or
phrase you hear and study it later thus
you should pick and choose which new
words you focus on the defining quality
of each new word you learned should be
its practicality the more useful a word
or phrase is to you in a conversation
the more important it is that you learn
it don’t feel like you have to cram the
entirety of your target language into
one week of study take it one step at a
time a few practical words here some
more there before you know it you’ll see
your vocabulary improved number four
write and practice short monologues this
tip can be a lot of fun begin by
selecting a topic you enjoy discussing
then simply write out a short monologue
or speech on the subject in your target
language the first thing you’ll notice
while doing this will likely be the
holes in your grammar and vocabulary but
when you try to write out your thoughts
in a foreign language you might
inevitably hit roadblocks you might not
be able to think of a word or know how
to formulate a specific idea or opinion
yet this can be great because these
holes are the exact areas where you
should focus your studies you can bring
up these problem areas in your next
lesson or browse through your favorite
which course or textbook in order to
find the answer the constant process of
finding these language holes and filling
them is what keeps you moving along the
path to fluency once you finish your
short text it’s a great idea to practice
reciting it or even memorizing it the
memorization will help you internalize
the new grammar and vocabulary you’ve
learned reciting it will get your tongue
and mouth used to the sounds number five
keep an up-to-date list on what you want
to learn throughout your studies you
should always have a sort of language
shopping list as you practice and study
you will most likely come across things
you’d like to be able to say but don’t
know how to yet especially if you follow
our previous tip write this wish list
down it’s one thing to learn the
vocabulary you pick up via a course or
podcast both of which are great it’s a
bit different when your vocabulary gets
personal learn the words that matter to
you either because they’re practical or
because you simply find them interesting
the more relevant the vocabulary the
more likely you are to retain it some
people might tell you it’s impossible to
learn a new language for whatever reason
but it’s important to remember that the
way you study and engage with a language
greatly affects how quickly or
effectively you learn it being able to
speak freely with native speakers is an
amazing ability in itself but being able
to speak freely to a whole new group of
people opens you up to possible new
relationships most people don’t realize
that spending the time to build
relationships in a foreign language can
actually help you improve your language
skills dramatically in this video we
look at how making relationships in a
foreign language can help you learn the
language faster the benefits of having
friends and partners who speak a foreign
language first its motivational one of
the greatest struggles for anyone
learning a second language is motivation
nine times out of ten learners start out
their language learning journey with
loads of enthusiasm only to see it
gradually wane over time try as they may
it’s difficult to maintain the spark
they once shared with their new language
so why not borrow energy from a
different part of your life when you
make relationships with people in your
target language all the excitement of a
new relationship carries directly over
in
you’re learning suddenly you have a very
rewarding reason to improve your skills
and keep practicing as your partner or
your friends get involved you will also
have the advantage of a constant source
of support and encouragement second it
makes language learning practical
studying vocabulary and grammar is a
vital part of language learning whether
you use a podcast textbook app or find
yourself in a classroom
however as great as studying is a
language really only starts to come
alive once you start using it in
everyday life there’s a huge difference
between a scripted conversation in a
lesson plan and a real-life conversation
with a native speaker building
relationships with native speakers will
give you the chance to talk in your
target language often furthermore it
will be in a way that feels natural
you’ll learn the words in the context
which is hugely important third it’s fun
one of the greatest benefits is that it
allows you to practice without having it
feel like practice oftentimes you’ll
find yourself so wrapped up in the
conversation that you forget you’re
using a foreign language this takes a
lot of the pressure off and helps you
focus on communication over trying to
speak absolutely perfectly you also get
to learn about a whole new culture from
your partner or friends so you’re not
only learning language skills but also
about the cultures that surround your
target language the risks of having
friends and partners who speak a foreign
language first it’s easy to miss
communicate when it comes to
relationships humans can easily
misunderstand each other so it can be
hard when building relationships in your
target language when you or your
partner’s lack of ability in each
other’s respective native tongue can
lead to miscommunications that would
otherwise be avoidable depending on the
language you’re speaking
a simple mistranslation or mispronounced
word can drastically change the meaning
of a sentence as long as you can afford
each other some extra patience and the
benefit of the doubt then you should be
able to overcome this pitfall second
your language skills could suffer if
your relationships don’t work out if all
your language practice is wrapped up in
one person and your relationship with
that person doesn’t work out then your
language learning could take
big hit so it’s best not to put all your
hopes for language growth on one area
relationship or otherwise you don’t want
to risk losing motivation so try to find
it in many different areas an idea for
building relationships in a foreign
language make games out of getting to
know one another sometimes opening up in
any new friendship or partnership can be
hard
add in the added struggle of a new
language and it can feel impossible to
share your true feelings with others so
instead of trying to take first
interactions so seriously and talking
about the usual things like the weather
or work try to ask new interesting
questions try to figure out what the
other person’s hobbies are without
asking directly or what kind of job they
have this will give you a chance to
stretch your language skills in a new
way and you’ll probably get some funny
answers out of it too being comfortable
being silly or making language mistakes
is a great way to bond with someone even
if you’ve just met relationships in a
foreign language have a lot more
benefits to offer than drawbacks don’t
be scared to open up to people and make
mistakes hey everyone welcome to the
monthly review the monthly show on
language learning how to finally learn
language in 2020 your new year’s
resolution solution today you’re going
to learn one three reasons most goals
fail - the three rules for successful
goal-setting and three we’re going to
set you up with your first language goal
for 2020 so if you’ve failed with your
goals or New Year’s resolutions before
then this lesson is for you you’ll be
able to finally learn your target
language make measurable progress and
reach every goal you set but first
listen up here are this month’s new
lessons and resources first be making a
phone call a cheat sheet want to be able
to talk on the phone in your target
language
then this conversation cheat sheet will
help you do just that you’ll learn all
the basic phrases questions and answers
you’ll need when making a phone call
second want to know the learning hacks
motivational tips and success strategies
for learning a language in 2020 then
you’ll want this exclusive 52 page ebook
download it now for free before we take
it down
third words and phrases for the dentist
learn how to schedule a checkup talk
about a toothache and much more with
this one-minute vocab lesson fourth can
you talk about your zodiac sign if not
then this next one minute lesson is for
you you’ll learn how to say the 12 signs
in your target language fifth the 32
words you need for language learning
noun verb adjective sentence grammar can
you say these in your target language if
not you’ll want this quick one-minute
lesson 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
finally learn language in 2020 your new
year’s resolution solution so January is
over but let me ask you a question have
you set a resolution for this year if
you haven’t it’s understandable most
people end up failing with their
resolutions you set one you try to do it
in January and by February there’s no
progress doing it is no longer fun or
you get sidelined by something else
so you quit and put it off until next
year or whenever the guilt of quitting
your goals comes back to haunt you so
what’s the problem with setting
resolutions why do we keep failing
first of all regardless of what most
people say about New Year’s resolutions
setting goals whether on January 1st or
any other time of the year is a good
thing you have to know where you’re
going and what you want to achieve
otherwise you’ll be floating around
aimlessly from one language app to
another and have nothing to show for
your time spent but the problem lies
with the goals that people set for
example most people set goals like I
want to master Chinese or I want to lose
weight or I want to be fluent in
Japanese and based on these kinds of
goals here are three reasons why 90% of
New Year’s resolutions fail first
resolutions fail because they are not
specific and not measurable take a goal
like I want to master Chinese this year
the problem is that’s a very vague goal
what do you mean by master do you want
to speak about the economy or do you
just want to have everyday conversations
and can you really measure how much
progress you need to master
the language the second reason is they
are unrealistic you might think but
isn’t it good to set huge goals and aim
for the stars it’s not bad but if you
say I want to be fluent by September is
that realistic for you are you ready to
commit yourself to nothing but language
learning six to eight hours a day
non-stop the answer is no for most
people the third one is there’s no
action plan the problem is you’ll still
fail even with a specific and realistic
goal if you don’t know when and how
you’re going to do it for example when
will you study how long will you study
every day and how will you study so now
you know why most people fail with their
New Year’s resolutions then how do we
set new year’s resolutions and actually
succeed here are the three rules for
successful goal-setting remember your
goals must be one specific and
measurable - realistic and three they
must have an action plan yes the
complete opposite of everything you
heard earlier for example let’s say
you’re learning Italian this year
instead of saying my goal is to learn
Italian this year set a specific
measurable realistic goal for the month
like speak 3 minutes of conversation by
February 28th and you can also set a
yearly goal like 30 minutes of
conversation and work towards that the
whole point is 3 minutes is measurable
you set a timer time yourself and know
when you reach it it’s realistic instead
of saying I want to learn the whole
language you’re just aiming for 3
minutes for the month and maybe 30
minutes for the year so ask yourself do
I have time to learn enough of the
language to speak for 3 minutes that
will vary from learner to learner but 3
minutes sounds much more realistic than
I want to master a language finally you
still need an action plan for your goal
and for that you need to answer these
questions
when will you study how long will you
study every day where do you plan to
study how will you study what is your
study schedule this is the most
important part because this tells you
when and how to study if you don’t
answer these questions you’ll have no
idea what to do and you’ll quit because
you have no routine to stick to so for
example when will you study
study at 9 p.m. on weekdays how long
will you study everyday I’ll study for
20 minutes where do you plan to study
I’ll study at home in the living room on
my computer
how will you study I’ll listen to one
audio lesson a day for five days what is
your study schedule from Monday to
Friday with audio lessons I’ll listen to
the lesson then go through the lesson
notes for 20 minutes each day here are a
few more things you can do to improve
your chances of success reward yourself
after hitting a goal studies have shown
that giving yourself a reward after
reaching a goal is crucial to creating
lasting habits and continuing to conquer
more goals write down your small
measurable goal and put it somewhere
you’ll see it often now that you know
why New Year’s resolutions fail and you
know what to do differently it’s time to
set your goal so thank you for watching
this episode of monthly review see you
next time bye
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