0:00 Can you understand fast English conversations? Do you know if your
0:04 listening skills are beginner, intermediate, or advanced? Have you ever
0:09 turned on an English TV show and after a few minutes you thought, wait, what are
0:15 they saying? They speak so quickly, words blend together, and suddenly
0:20 you're feeling completely lost. Well, never fear, I am here to help you. Today
0:26 we're going to test your listening skills with some real English speakers.
0:30 And I will show you exactly how you can understand fast English conversations
0:35 easier. Let's do it. Hi, I'm Vanessa from speak englishwithvanessa.com
0:41 and for over the past 10 years I have been teaching real life English here on
0:46 my YouTube channel now to more than 7 million of you. I can't believe it.
0:51 Thank you for learning English with me and like always I have created a free
0:56 PDF worksheet that includes everything you're going to learn today plus a
1:01 special bonus. Inside this free worksheet you will have access to a
1:06 bonus 15 minutes of today's real life conversation so that you can continue to
1:12 test your listening skills, see if you can actually understand fast English
1:18 conversations. How can you get this free worksheet plus bonus listening
1:22 conversation? All you need to do is click on the link in the description,
1:26 enter your name and email address and voila, just like that it will land in
1:31 your email inbox. This is my gift to you. So here's how today's lesson is
1:36 going to work. We are going to use my proven conversation breakdown method.
1:41 Number one, you will listen to a short clip from a real life conversation.
1:46 Number two, after the clip I will ask you a question to see if you understood
1:51 what was said in that conversation. And number three, I will teach you an
1:55 important concept that was used in that conversation clip so that you can
2:00 understand fast conversations better. Just a little note, if you have
2:04 subtitles turned on, turn them off right now. I don't want you to use subtitles
2:09 right this moment, not yet. I want you to really test your listening skills.
2:14 You can do it. All right, let's dive in. You're about to meet my friend Sarah who
2:19 is a massage therapist as her job. She is talking about a massage technique.
2:26 So, listen carefully. Are you ready? 3 2 1 Uh massaging with a stone is wonderful. Usually they're a little bit bigger and
2:36 made of basalt. >> Okay, that gray kind of color.
2:39 >> Mhm. B A S A L T, basalt. >> Okay. And those rocks are found in
2:45 northern California or Hawaii. Okay. And um they hold the heat beautifully.
2:50 So, you can heat the rocks in water. And um so, you use the them as a tool up and
2:57 down the back and arms and legs to to massage and warm up the muscle. So,
3:03 you're using them as a tool. And um it feels amazing to be massaged with
3:08 warm rocks, especially in the cold weather. Great work listening. Did you catch all that? Now, I have a challenge question
3:17 for you. What phrase did she use in this sentence? They, basalt rocks, mhm mhm
3:24 mhm beautifully. I'll give you 3 seconds. They hold the heat beautifully. Here she's using the word hold to talk about
3:40 carrying something or containing something. The rocks are able to
3:46 maintain their heat for a long time, which is great for massage. And here
3:51 this fixed phrase we can use in a couple other sentences as well. You might say,
3:56 "This cup doesn't hold the heat for my coffee. It gets cold too easily." So,
4:02 maybe you want to choose something different. Or you could say this, "If
4:06 you put a lid on the pot, it will easily hold the heat after cooking." Here,
4:12 we're using this full fixed phrase, "hold the heat." Let me give you a quick
4:18 example from my personal life. The first year that I was married, we lived in a
4:22 house that did not hold the heat. In fact, there were huge
4:28 icicles that grew inside the window, inside our house in the winter. That
4:34 house did not hold the heat. All right, now that you have listened to the clip,
4:39 you have answered a challenge question about the clip, and we have talked a bit
4:43 about the phrase "hold the heat." Now, it's time to review the clip. We are
4:48 going to watch it one time with subtitles, and one time without
4:53 subtitles. I think that final time, you're going to understand it
4:57 wonderfully. Are you ready? Open your listening ears. Let's go.
5:02 Uh massaging with a stone is wonderful. Usually, they're a little bit bigger and
5:06 made of basalt. Okay, that gray kind of color? B A S A L T, basalt. Okay. And
5:14 those rocks are found in northern California or Hawaii. And they hold the heat beautifully, so you
5:21 can heat the rocks in water. Uh massaging with a stone is wonderful.
5:26 Usually, they're a little bit bigger and made of basalt. Okay, that gray kind of
5:31 color? B A S A L T, basalt. Okay. And those rocks are found in northern
5:38 California or Hawaii. And they hold the heat beautifully, so you can heat the
5:44 rocks in water. Well, great work. How did you do? This
5:48 was our beginner English conversation. Next, we're going to take a look at an
5:53 intermediate conversation. But, before we do, I want to tell you something. If
5:58 you enjoy this type of real English conversation lesson, I want to invite
6:02 you to join me in the Fearless Fluency Club, which is just $5 for the first
6:08 month if you join right now. You'll practice understanding fast real English
6:13 speakers just like Sarah and others you're about to see, including over 45
6:20 other speakers. And I will help you to break down those real-life conversations
6:25 in detail, just like we're doing today with the conversation breakdown method.
6:29 I'll tell you a little bit more about that later, but if you'd like to join me
6:32 now, you can click on the link in the description, and I would love to be your
6:36 teacher. All right, are you ready to a level up to the intermediate
6:40 conversation? You're about to meet James, who knows a lot about martial
6:46 arts. I want you to listen to this conversation. I will ask you a
6:50 conversation question, and then we'll break down some important details. Are
6:54 you ready? 3 2 1. Completely different styles. >> Sure, some people might think martial arts are
7:02 Right. >> similar, but they're probably a lot different. >> a lot of people think that kung fu is
7:05 karate. Everybody Oh, oh, you know karate? And no, actually this is like
7:10 Muay Thai, you know, but So different than it is.
7:12 >> There's a right. There's always that karate thing. Like when they came out
7:15 with the new Karate Kid. That's what everyone's familiar with.
7:18 That's not That wasn't even karate that he learned. That was kung fu that he was
7:21 learning. And experts know that. >> >> They can pick that out.
7:26 >> Exactly. So, Great job listening to this intermediate conversation clip with James. Now, I have a challenge question for you.
7:34 How did James pronounce this word? Did he say karate? Did he say karate or did he say karate? I want you to think about this
7:48 for just a minute. James said karate. Karate. That final T changed to a D
7:59 sound. This is exceedingly typical in American English when there is a T
8:04 surrounded by vowel sounds, it's going to change into a D sound. Karate. Let me
8:10 give you a bunch of other examples so that you can use this yourself and you
8:15 can understand this in fast conversations. I'll say each sentence
8:18 one time and I want you to repeat it the second time with me. Are you ready?
8:24 There's a little bottle of orange juice sitting on the
8:31 counter. All right, one more time. There's a little bottle of orange juice sitting on the counter. All right, one more
8:42 sentence. Listen to this sentence one time and then we'll practice it
8:45 together. Later, we'll buy enough water when we get to the city. We have three
8:53 words here. Later, water, city. All three of those words have that T in the
9:00 middle changed to a D. This is a typical sound in American English and once you
9:05 recognize that this is used a lot, you'll be able to hear it when you're
9:09 listening to fast English conversations and I bet you'll be able to use it
9:13 yourself, too. So, let's practice our pronunciation. I want you to say this
9:17 sentence out loud with me right now. Are you ready?
9:20 Later, we'll buy enough water when we get to the city. Great work. All right,
9:27 now that you have listened to the clip, you have answered a challenge question
9:31 about the clip and we have talked a bit about the phrase. Now it's time to
9:36 review the clip. Are you ready? Open your listening ears. Let's go.
9:41 Completely different styles. >> Sure, some people might think martial
9:44 arts are s- Right. >> similar, but they're probably a lot different.
9:47 >> Right. And a lot of people think that kung fu is karate. Everybody Oh, oh, you
9:50 know karate? And no, actually this is like Muay Thai, you know, but So
9:54 different that I think >> There's always right. There's always
9:56 that karate thing. Completely different styles. >> Sure, some people might think martial arts are s-
10:02 Right. >> similar, but they're probably a lot different. >> Right. And a lot of people think that
10:05 kung fu is karate. Everybody Oh, oh, you know karate? And no, actually this is
10:09 like Muay Thai, you know, but So different that I think
10:11 >> There's always right. There's always that karate thing. If you got that
10:15 challenge pronunciation question correct, congratulations. You have an intermediate listening level. But are you ready to take it to the next
10:25 level? Our final level, advanced listening skills. You're about to meet
10:30 Bree, who has a specific eating style that she follows. She is vegan. You're
10:37 going to hear us talk about this briefly during our conversation. I want you to
10:41 listen carefully, and then we'll talk about it together. Let's listen in 3 2
10:47 1. Do you find that most of your friends are also vegans? Um >> Are you like just attracted to people
10:55 who are also vegans? I I do have I would say it's about
10:58 50/50, but most of my friends aren't even vegan. A lot of them are just
11:02 vegetarian. Okay. >> Um and that just happened by circumstance with my job. Um Um everybody that works at the coffee
11:10 place, um all of us are vegetarian or vegan. And
11:13 it just happened. I mean, I wasn't looking for it. I got this job and they
11:16 were. Um but no, most of the people in my
11:19 close circle, like Heather, Liz, you guys, like none of you guys are even
11:23 vegetarian. Great job listening to this advanced conversation clip. Here is my challenge question for you. I asked Bree, "Are
11:32 most of your friends vegan?" And she said this. Which phrase did she use in
11:39 her sentence? I would say it's about but most of my friends aren't even vegan. I
11:45 want you to think about it. She said, "I would say it's about 50/50, but most of my friends aren't even
11:56 vegan." So, here she's talking about 50% of her friends are vegan or vegetarian
12:04 of some sort, but 50% are not at all. Not only is this phrase 50/50 an
12:11 excellent vocabulary phrase, but it uses a pronunciation concept that we just
12:15 talked about. Do you remember that T changing to a D?
12:21 50 50 Do you hear that D at the end? Often times when we have TY, it's going to
12:31 sound like D, just like the word 50 or party.
12:39 50 Let me give you a little personal example using this phrase 50/50. Sometimes my friends ask me, "Vanessa,
12:47 do more men or women watch your YouTube channel?" And do you know what I tell
12:52 them? Actually, it's about 50/50. This means it's an even split. There are almost exactly the same amount of men and women
13:02 who learn English with me, which I think is pretty cool. So, I could say it's
13:06 about 50/50. There are an equal number of men and
13:11 women. But to challenge you a little bit more, let's take a look at a couple
13:14 other numbers that use this D sound at the end. Let's take a look at this
13:20 sentence. I'm going to invite 30 people to the dinner. 30
13:28 Can you say that with me? 30. Let's say the full sentence. I'm going to invite
13:34 30 people to the dinner. What about this sentence? Last week I went to a party
13:40 that had 80 people. Here we have two words, party, which I briefly mentioned
13:46 before, and 80. Both of these words, 30 from before and
13:53 80 in this sentence, plus 50, all end in that dy sound. Let's try to say this
14:00 sentence together. I want you to use your voice, speak out loud. It's great
14:04 to listen to me, but it's more important that you speak and you hear your voice.
14:08 So, try to say this sentence with me. Last week I went to a party that had 80
14:14 people. Great work. All right, now that you have listened to the clip, you have
14:18 answered a challenge question about the clip, and we have talked a bit about the
14:22 phrase. Now it's time to review the clip. Are you ready? Open your listening
14:28 ears. Let's go. Do you find that most of your friends
14:32 are also vegans? Um >> Are you like just attracted to people
14:36 who are also vegans? Um I I do have I would say it's about 50/50,
14:41 but most of my friends aren't even vegan. A lot of them are just
14:43 vegetarian. Okay. >> Um and that just happened by circumstance with my job. Do you find that most of your friends
14:51 are also vegans? Um >> just attracted to people who
14:56 are also vegans? Um I I do have I would say it's about
15:00 50/50, but most of my friends aren't even vegan. A lot of them are just
15:03 vegetarian. Okay. >> Um and that just happened by circumstance with my job. If you got this a vocabulary and
15:11 pronunciation question correct from the conversation with Bree, congratulations, you have an advanced English listening level. And if you enjoyed today's
15:21 lesson, I want to invite you to join me and thousands of other motivated English
15:27 learners in the Fearless Fluency Club. My student Ildiko from Hungary said,
15:32 "This course is fantastic. I like the most that you teach us real English." My
15:37 student Yuko from Japan said, "I think there is no other course which deals
15:42 with the real conversations of ordinary people." And my student Matija said,
15:47 "The Fearless Fluency Club is just the best seen. The good part is that you teach us real English which makes you the best
15:56 English teacher ever." Aw, thank you for your kind words. So, the Fearless
16:01 Fluency Club has worked for Ildiko, Yuko, and Matija, but can it work for
16:06 you? Let's find out. I want you to meet a special guest. My student Snizhana
16:11 joined the Fearless Fluency Club six months ago and has joined the speaking
16:16 groups within the course community. Let's see if her experience is similar
16:21 to yours. Let's watch. I hope very happy to learn English with you and with other
16:28 wonderful, kind, and supportive people from this group. And yes, I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Snizhana and I'm from Belarus
16:41 and I joined this group last year on the 1st of October.
16:48 And at the end of October, I started participate in Zoom meetings that are organized by Poi and Kaori and I really
16:58 liked those meetings because it it is such a nice opportunity
17:03 to talk to people and it for the first time it took guts to step out of my
17:11 comfort zone and start to participate in meetings like this and it was a
17:18 completely a new experience for me to talk from people to people from
17:24 different countries. And yes, I really appreciate this opportunity that you provide for us. I
17:33 think that for a long time I was studying English
17:38 in a passive way because I was just memorizing some words, vocabulary,
17:44 grammar rules, but I didn't practice it so much. But now I
17:51 decided to try to speak more and to improve my
17:55 speaking skills. So join me in the Fearless Fluency Club
18:00 right now for a trial of only $5 for your first month. Get started
18:06 understanding fast English conversations and speaking real English. So how can
18:11 you join? All you need to do is click on the link in the description to join me
18:15 in the Fearless Fluency Club for this discounted rate for a limited time. And
18:20 of course, don't forget to download today's a special PDF worksheet which
18:24 includes all of the conversations that you saw today plus a bonus 15 minutes of
18:31 a conversation extended version plus a transcript so that you can continue to
18:36 test your listening skills. This is the goal to be able to understand fast
18:41 English conversations. So how can you get this PDF worksheet? All you need to
18:45 do is click on the link in the description, enter your name and email
18:49 address, and voila, just like that the worksheet and extended listening bonus
18:54 will land in your email inbox. It is my gift to you. Well, thank you so much for
18:59 learning English with me and I'll see you again next Friday for a new lesson
19:04 here on my YouTube channel. Bye. But wait, do you want more? I recommend
19:09 watching this video next where you will meet my neighbors and test your
19:13 listening skills. Can you understand our fast English conversation? We're going
19:19 to be talking about moving from the big city to the country and why would
19:24 someone do that? Well, I'll see you in that conversation to find out.
