0:00 What do you do this weekend?
0:01 If I asked you this question,
0:03 would you know how to respond or would your heart start to beat fast?
0:08 Your palms get a little sweaty?
0:10 Well, never fear.
0:11 Today, I'm going to help you learn how to think
0:14 and speak in English
0:16 so that you can respond to this question.
0:18 What did you do last weekend?
0:20 With no fear, no hesitation, and lots of confidence.
0:25 Hi, I'm Vanessa from speakenglishwithvanessa.com
0:29 and for over the past 10 years to over 7 million of you here
0:34 on YouTube,
0:34 I have been teaching real life English
0:37 that real speakers use in everyday conversations
0:41 and that's what you are going to learn today.
0:42 Plus, because I am your teacher and I love to make you extra help,
0:47 I have created a free PDF worksheet
0:50 that includes all of today's important lesson material plus two extra bonuses
0:56 that you cannot get in this video.
0:58 The first one is a quiz to test yourself.
1:02 See if you can remember what you learned today
1:04 and the second one is a downloadable speaking practice.
1:08 Many of you have said
1:09 that you love these downloadable speaking practices
1:12 and I want to help you have more speaking practice.
1:15 So, when you get the PDF worksheet,
1:17 you can click on the link that will give you the speaking practice.
1:21 You can carry it wherever you go and practice speaking in English.
1:25 So, how can you get this worksheet plus quiz and speaking practice?
1:29 All you have to do is click on the link in the description,
1:32 enter your name and email address, and voila, just like that,
1:36 it will land in your email inbox.
1:37 It is my gift to you.
1:39 So, let's get started by talking about your weekend plans.
1:44 I'm going to tell you a little story about what happened to me last
1:48 weekend.
1:49 Hint, it was very busy.
1:51 I'm going to include a lot of phrases
1:53 that you can also use to describe your weekend plans
1:56 and this is going to help you build on your vocabulary
1:59 and your speaking skills
2:01 so that it sticks in your head
2:02 and you can think
2:03 and speak in English.
2:05 Are you ready?
2:05 Listen carefully to what happened to me last weekend
2:08 and then we'll break down the vocabulary.
2:11 I'm not one to have busy weekends.
2:13 In fact, I don't like to overload my schedule with many activities.
2:17 I try to keep it simple by going for hikes with my family
2:21 or just having some friends over to our house.
2:24 Take a look at this first phrase.
2:26 I'm not one to This means it doesn't usually happen.
2:30 I'm not one to have busy weekends.
2:33 Or we could say, "I'm not one to complain,
2:37 but the service in this restaurant is horrible."
2:41 So, this is not something natural for you, but it's happening anyway.
2:45 The second word overload feels really heavy, right?
2:50 That's the idea here is there is too much going on.
2:54 I don't like to overload my weekends or my schedule, but sometimes it happens.
2:59 You might say, "Ugh,
3:00 I overloaded my work schedule this week
3:02 and I don't know how I'm going to possibly do it all."
3:07 The opposite of overload is this, to keep it simple.
3:11 Keep it simple.
3:12 There is a famous phrase in English, "KISS, keep it simple, stupid."
3:18 Not the nicest phrase.
3:21 But, you could use this to say, "Ugh,
3:22 I really just need to keep it simple this weekend.
3:26 I've had such a busy week."
3:28 Or you might say to your teacher, "Vanessa, Vanessa, please keep it simple.
3:32 There's too much in English that I need to learn.
3:35 Don't speak in long, complicated sentences with too much difficult vocabulary.
3:40 Please, just keep it simple."
3:43 All right, let's go to the next part of my story.
3:45 But, some weekends become more hectic than others.
3:48 Last Sunday was one of those days.
3:52 This word hectic means busy and chaotic.
3:55 Some weekends are more hectic than others.
3:59 I prefer to have weekends that are not hectic, but sometimes that happens.
4:04 Let me know in the comments, was your weekend hectic last weekend?
4:08 This phrase one of those days hides a hidden meaning.
4:13 If I say, "Oh, yesterday was one of those days."
4:17 The phrase itself doesn't clue you in to the kind of day it was.
4:22 Was it a good day or a bad day?
4:24 But I bet you're smart enough.
4:26 You can tell actually how my day was by my tone of voice.
4:31 Yesterday was one of those days.
4:34 Do you think it was a good day?
4:35 Absolutely not.
4:37 So if you use one of those days,
4:40 you are implying that it was not the kind of day
4:44 that you wanted to have.
4:46 You might say, "Yesterday was just one of those days.
4:49 I was late to work, I lost my keys,
4:51 then I forgot my lunch at home.
4:52 Ugh, one of those days."
4:55 Okay, let's move on.
4:56 With the change in weather,
4:57 it's about that time to start thinking about what to plant in the garden.
5:01 That's what inspired me to plan a get-together at my house last week for
5:05 a seed exchange.
5:06 Ideally, everyone brings some seeds to share
5:09 so we can all plant new things in our gardens.
5:12 This phrase "it's about
5:13 that time to" plus a verb can be used in
5:17 so many situations.
5:18 So let's imagine that for you,
5:21 your friend is having a baby
5:24 and you cannot wait to go baby clothes shopping with her.
5:28 And her baby's going to be due in maybe two three months.
5:32 Well, you might say, "It's about time to go baby clothes shopping.
5:38 Do you want to do it this weekend?"
5:39 It's about that time to.
5:42 Great phrase.
5:43 This phrase "a get-together" is a great example of a time
5:47 when a verb can be used
5:49 as a noun in a slightly different context.
5:52 So, here I said, "I had a small get-together."
5:56 We could say, "Do you want to get together?"
5:59 That's a verb.
6:00 "Do you want to get together at my house?"
6:03 But, I used it as a noun and I said,
6:05 "I planned a get-together at my house."
6:09 A get-together.
6:10 And it simply means that we are getting together.
6:13 Simple, right?
6:15 Let's move on.
6:15 I sent out text reminders, prepped food and drinks, tidied up the house.
6:20 I also reminded my kids to be on their best behavior.
6:24 I wanted to highlight this first phrasal verb here, "I sent out text reminders."
6:30 To send out.
6:31 We could say, "I sent text reminders."
6:34 Totally fine, absolutely acceptable, but sometimes in daily conversational English,
6:40 we will choose to use the phrasal verb because it sounds more conversational.
6:45 "I sent out text reminders."
6:48 So, here it has the exact same meaning,
6:50 but it just sounds a little more natural.
6:53 This word, "I prepped food and drinks."
6:56 To prep something is shortened for prepare.
7:01 "I need to prep some food and drinks before people come over."
7:05 Do you ever prep food and drinks before people come over to your house?
7:10 Probably so.
7:11 You could say I prepared, but it's a little more conversational to say prep.
7:16 And then we have this lovely phrasal verb to tidy up.
7:19 This is something essential to do.
7:21 I think it is within our nature that when guests come to our house,
7:26 we can't stop ourselves.
7:27 We have to tidy up.
7:29 If people come to your house and you don't tidy up, well,
7:34 maybe you are not human.
7:36 It is within our human nature to want to tidy up
7:39 when guests come over.
7:40 It simply means you put away all of the mess,
7:43 maybe you shove it in a closet or another room,
7:46 or maybe you actually clean it up.
7:48 And you make sure that your house looks nice and tidy.
7:51 And this final phrase here,
7:53 I told my kids to be on their best behavior,
7:56 is a full fixed phrase that we use all together.
8:00 It's often used for children because children often misbehave,
8:05 but we can also use this for adults as well.
8:08 Let's imagine that you are going on a first date with someone.
8:12 You've never talked with them before in real life.
8:15 You're going on a first date with them, and they're kind of rude.
8:19 Well, you probably won't want to go on a second date with them
8:23 because on your first date,
8:26 you should be on your best behavior.
8:28 If you're rude on the first date, well,
8:32 it's only going to go downhill after that, right?
8:35 So, you should be on your best behavior on your first date,
8:39 and kids should also be on their best behavior when you have guests over.
8:42 That's the ideal, right?
8:44 Okay, let's move on.
8:45 My two oldest children have their own garden beds,
8:48 so they were pretty hyped about sharing some seeds with the neighbors.
8:53 I want to introduce a very specific vocabulary phrase, a garden bed.
8:57 I have several videos on this channel where I have shown you my garden,
9:01 watched through the garden,
9:02 you've even met one of my lovely neighbors who also has a great garden.
9:07 This phrase, a garden bed, is usually a rectangular area where you plant vegetables,
9:15 sometimes you plant flowers in a garden bed as well,
9:18 but it is a contained area.
9:21 This is helpful, especially if you have weeds that want to come in,
9:25 you can make sure
9:25 that the soil in the garden bed is really nicely kept.
9:29 And what about this phrase, to be hyped?
9:34 My kids were hyped about the garden club meeting,
9:37 so we could say they were excited.
9:39 It is simply a synonym for excited.
9:41 They were hyped about the meeting, and we could say,
9:44 "I'm hyped for every trip that I go on.
9:47 I'm really excited to travel, and I get hyped before a trip."
9:52 Maybe you get hyped
9:54 when you realize there's going to be a new Speak English with Vanessa lesson
9:58 out.
9:58 Oh, a Friday's coming.
10:00 I'm so excited.
10:01 You are hyped for the new lesson.
10:03 Great.
10:04 Let's move on.
10:05 Eight of my neighbors showed up.
10:07 Several people brought over packets of seeds to share,
10:10 and some brought seeds that they had saved directly from their plants last summer.
10:15 It was such a good opportunity to bond with my neighbors.
10:19 This phrasal verb, to show up, means to arrive.
10:24 Yes, this is the direct meaning,
10:26 but it also has a slight nuance to it.
10:29 It means you're not exactly sure how many people are going to show up,
10:36 but you don't need to say, "I don't know."
10:38 It means there's an element of surprise or unknown.
10:42 So, you might ask, "How many people showed up to the meeting?"
10:47 Well, if you were expecting 50 people, you might say, "Well,
10:51 actually only 20 people showed up.
10:53 I was kind of surprised."
10:55 So, here it is implying
10:57 that you don't exactly know how many people are actually going to be coming.
11:02 How many people showed up?
11:03 Well, at my gathering, there were eight people.
11:06 This phrase, to bond with someone, is a very kind phrase.
11:10 Here I talked about bonding with my neighbors.
11:13 I'm talking about creating a closer relationship.
11:17 We are growing our friendship bonds.
11:21 You can also bond, for example, with your children.
11:24 You might say something like,
11:25 "I tried to bond with my kids by listening to the type of music
11:30 that they enjoy."
11:31 Well, as your kids get older,
11:33 it might be more difficult to connect with them,
11:35 so listening to music together could be a way to bond in a deeper
11:39 way.
11:40 All right, let's continue.
11:41 A few hours later,
11:42 everyone headed home and I had a moment to catch my breath before the
11:46 next event.
11:47 Yes, there was a next event.
11:49 This lovely phrase is one that I use all the time,
11:52 but I don't see English learners using
11:54 that often and I want to make sure you can use it.
11:57 To head home means simply to go home,
12:01 but we use this verb to head to talk about simply starting the journey.
12:06 So, you could say, "Well, I think I need to head home.
12:09 It's getting late."
12:10 This is commonly used all the time.
12:13 You could say I need to go home, totally acceptable,
12:16 but when you use this phrase to head home, you are elevating your English.
12:20 I love it.
12:22 What about this phrase, to catch my breath?
12:25 No, I'm not actually catching my breath.
12:28 It's more figurative than that.
12:30 I said I had a little bit of time to catch my breath before
12:34 the next event.
12:35 It wasn't that I couldn't breathe.
12:37 This means I just have a few minutes to try to recover,
12:43 gather my thoughts, relax a little bit.
12:47 I could finally catch my breath before the next thing.
12:50 So, if you've had a busy day at work, you might say,
12:53 "When I got in the car after work,
12:55 I had a few minutes to catch my breath before I went home."
13:00 Okay, let's go on.
13:01 I made an early dinner, kissed my kids goodnight,
13:04 and headed out to my friend's book club meeting at a fun rooftop bar.
13:09 I wanted to show you this phrase, to kiss my kids goodnight,
13:13 because it can also be used in a couple other ways as well.
13:17 When I was saying goodnight to my kids, what did I do?
13:19 I gave them a kiss and said goodnight.
13:23 But, I reduced all of these ideas to just I kissed my kids good
13:28 night.
13:29 You might say this about your partner, I kissed him good night.
13:34 Or you might say this at the end of a date,
13:37 I kissed him goodbye.
13:39 Okay.
13:40 There are some famous songs as well that are rather ironic, I would say.
13:47 They're trying to use this in a clever way
13:49 when they say I kissed him goodbye.
13:52 That means goodbye, good riddance, I don't want to see you anymore.
13:56 I kissed him goodbye.
13:57 So if you look up some songs about kissed him goodbye, they're quite funny.
14:03 I think a lot of these are kind of country songs.
14:06 But you'll get the sense of this phrase.
14:08 We can just kiss someone good night, kiss someone goodbye,
14:11 or we can kiss them goodbye.
14:14 Do you recognize this word to head?
14:17 Here we're using it as a phrasal verb, to head out.
14:20 Earlier you heard to head home, and now we're talking about leaving.
14:25 And we're using that same verb again,
14:27 this time as a phrasal verb with the word out.
14:30 I'm heading out, or you could say for example,
14:33 I'm heading out to the store.
14:34 Do you need me to get you anything?
14:36 I'm heading out to my book club meeting.
14:39 I'm going out, but we're leveling it up and saying heading out.
14:43 Let's go on.
14:45 We spent the evening discussing the characters and how the book turned out.
14:50 I want to stop after just this phrase and explain this phrasal verb,
14:54 to turn out.
14:55 We're talking about the ending of the book, what happened in the end,
14:59 but there's a slight nuance here.
15:01 We're talking about how the book turned out.
15:04 There's a bit of surprise here.
15:06 We don't know what's going to happen at the end of the story.
15:09 So and you don't know what's going to happen at the end of my
15:12 story about my day.
15:14 So you don't know how it's going to turn out.
15:17 And in the book we talked about how the book turned out.
15:21 We talked about the ending, the unknown ending.
15:24 That's how we're using to turn out here.
15:27 You can use this in a business situation as well.
15:30 Maybe you're having a big meeting where you're trying to get some new clients,
15:33 and you think that the meeting went well, but you're not quite sure.
15:37 You might say to your friends later, "I think the meeting went well,
15:41 but I don't really know how it's going to turn out.
15:44 I'll find out next week."
15:46 Okay, there's a lot of unknowns here.
15:48 You don't know the conclusion yet, but you're hoping it will be good.
15:52 Okay, let's move on.
15:53 To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of the book we were discussing.
15:57 Turns out my friends didn't like it either,
15:59 but it's always nice having some me time,
16:02 especially when it involves a rooftop bar.
16:05 You probably recognize this phrase, "Turns out."
16:08 We just talked about it.
16:10 Here I'm using it as a little bit of a transition.
16:14 Turns out my friends didn't like the book either.
16:17 So, we're talking about that surprising or unknown conclusion.
16:22 I'm telling you what happened at the end.
16:25 So, here I didn't enjoy the book,
16:28 and I found out it turns out my friends didn't like it either.
16:33 We're using the same phrasal verb, but in a way to show the conclusion.
16:37 I love this.
16:38 So, let's imagine that you're walking along the streets of your hometown,
16:42 and there is a foreign traveler walking along looking lost, and you think, "Uh,
16:47 I should probably help them."
16:50 But, can I speak in English?
16:51 Can I really help them in English?
16:53 I don't know if I can do it.
16:54 Then you approach them, ask if they need help, and you actually help them.
16:58 Well, you might tell me, "Vanessa, it turns out I can actually use English.
17:04 I did it."
17:06 Here you were telling me the conclusion.
17:08 It turns out I actually can do it.
17:12 Good for you.
17:13 This next expression, "me time", is a fun one,
17:16 and it's simply what it looks like.
17:18 It's time spent for only you.
17:20 Something that you enjoy doing.
17:22 You are not giving to others.
17:24 You are not working.
17:25 You are doing something that you love.
17:27 And going to book club with my friends in a rooftop bar,
17:31 this is absolutely something that is me time.
17:34 It's something that I enjoy.
17:35 So, tell me in the comments,
17:37 what do you like to do for your me time?
17:40 Okay, let's move on to the final two sections of my story where you're
17:44 going to learn five final phrases.
17:47 By the time I got home, it was already 10:00 p.m.
17:50 I was socially exhausted and just crashed.
17:55 This phrase by the time is an interesting one
17:58 because it's talking about a timeline.
18:00 When something happens, another event is also happening.
18:04 By the time I got home, I was exhausted.
18:07 So, here two things happened at the same time.
18:10 I got home and I was exhausted.
18:12 By the time I got home, I'm feeling quite tired.
18:17 This phrase socially exhausted is a great one to use
18:21 when maybe you haven't done a lot of physical activity,
18:24 but if you have talked to so many people for so long, all day.
18:29 You had garden club seed exchange with eight neighbors,
18:31 then you had a rooftop bar book club with your friends.
18:35 You have been talking and socializing so much, ah, it can be really exhausting,
18:40 especially if you're a more introverted person.
18:43 A little bit of social stimulation will be even more exhausting for you.
18:47 So, you could say, ah,
18:49 I was just socially exhausted after talking with clients all day.
18:55 It's probably true.
18:56 This next word, to crash, is not talking about a car crash.
19:00 Instead, it's talking about your body.
19:04 At the end of the day,
19:05 what are you going to do if you are exhausted?
19:08 You're going to flop down on the couch or in your bed and crash.
19:13 It just means that your body is
19:15 so exhausted that you're just going to lay there.
19:17 You're not going to do anything necessarily productive.
19:21 You're just going to lie there and crash.
19:25 So, if someone says, "Hey, what are your plans for this weekend?"
19:28 You could use this phrase if you have had a really busy exhausting week.
19:32 Uh, I had such a busy week.
19:34 This weekend I'm just going to crash.
19:36 Maybe you'll just watch Netflix all weekend.
19:39 Okay, let's go to the final part of the story and the final phrases.
19:44 In my ideal world, I wouldn't be cramming two events into the same day,
19:48 but I pushed myself because I knew I would have a good time,
19:51 and I did.
19:53 In my ideal world is a great phrase for talking about this dream of
19:58 a way that you wish the world was.
20:01 So, let's think about this for your English goals.
20:04 In your ideal worlds, what do you wish you could do with English?
20:08 So, you might say, "In my ideal world,
20:11 I would be able to communicate easily with clients.
20:14 In my ideal world,
20:16 I wish that I could travel to the US
20:19 and just easily talk with people."
20:21 Okay, here you're talking about the dream.
20:24 This dream, in my opinion, is not unrealistic.
20:27 It is achievable.
20:28 You're here on the right path trying to make this happen,
20:32 but we can use this phrase to talk about a goal.
20:34 In my ideal world, this is what would happen.
20:37 And our final phrase is a great phrasal verb
20:39 that unfortunately happens to many of us,
20:42 to cram into.
20:45 When you were studying in school,
20:47 did you study a week ahead of time for an exam,
20:51 or were you someone who tried to cram all of your studying into the
20:56 last few days,
20:57 maybe the last few hours before the exam?
21:02 Well, unfortunately, human nature is such
21:04 that we often cram things into the last few days before we have to
21:09 do something.
21:10 So, we can use this to talk about our daily lives.
21:14 I try not to cram everything into the last few minutes,
21:18 but I sometimes do.
21:20 And even though I crammed those two big events into one day,
21:24 I still had a good time.
21:25 Sometimes you can just push yourself and make it happen.
21:29 Well, great work practicing thinking and speaking in English today.
21:33 The next step is to download today's free PDF worksheet.
21:37 This is a 13-page worksheet that includes everything you learned today,
21:42 plus a bonus quiz.
21:43 Test yourself and see if you can really remember all these phrases,
21:47 plus a bonus speaking practice.
21:50 I want to help you speak.
21:52 Today you listened, you learned new vocabulary,
21:56 and it will become your chance to speak
21:58 and practice this when you download this worksheet.
22:01 You will be able to download the bonus speaking practice
22:05 so that you can use it anywhere you go
22:08 and level up your English skills.
22:09 How can you get this worksheet?
22:11 Just click on the link in the description, enter your name and email address,
22:15 and voila, just like that it will land in your email inbox.
22:18 It is my gift to you.
22:20 Well, thank you so much for learning English with me.
22:23 I want to ask you a question.
22:25 Let me know in the comments, what did you do last weekend?
22:28 Try to use some of the phrases that you learned in today's lesson,
22:32 and I will see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on
22:36 my YouTube channel.
22:37 Bye.
22:38 But wait, do you want more?
22:40 I recommend watching this video next where you will continue to learn to think
22:45 and speak in English
22:47 while talking about technology.
22:50 This is a very relevant topic
22:51 and you need to be able to speak about this in daily life.
22:55 I'll see you there.
