Speak English Clearly in 90 Minutes: Advanced Vocabulary Lesson

Hello.

Are you ready to use real life English

that real English speakers use every day?

Yes.

Well, you're in the right place.

Hi, I'm Vanessa and in today's English lesson,

you're going to learn vocabulary that English speakers use all the time.

I want you to be able to go out into the real world

and speak confidently and fluently.

To help you totally master all of this vocabulary,

I have created a free PDF worksheet for you

that includes all of today's vocabulary,

plus some bonus sample sentences.

And you can take a 20 question quiz to test yourself

and see if you have really learned this vocabulary

so that you are ready

and armed to go out into the real world

and use it yourself.

How can you get the PDF worksheet and the bonus quiz?

Well, all you need to do is click on the link in the description.

Enter your name and email address and voila, just like that,

the free worksheet and the quiz will land in your email inbox.

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right now?

You never need to sign up for my free PDF worksheets again.

I will automatically send them to you every single week.

All you have to do is sign up once

and I will continue to send them to you.

It is my gift to you.

So, click on the link in the description

and get the free PDF worksheet

and quiz today.

All right, let's get started with the first set of real life English vocabulary

that was used in a conversation between my husband Dan

and I.

Let's go.

Our first real life English expression is to pepper in.

Now, before we talk about this,

I want you to watch part of a clip from the conversation between Dan

and I.

Listen for this expression.

Try to guess what you think it means.

Then we'll talk about it and then we'll watch the clip again.

And that second time,

I guarantee you will understand it in a much deeper way.

All right, let's watch that clip and then we'll talk about it.

I would say we probably go maybe twice a week.

>> Oh, you think that often?

>> Well, once a week for the big shop

and then there's sometimes a little shop peppered in there.

>> You heard us say,

"I'll go to the grocery store once a week for a big shop

and then sometimes there's a little shop peppered in there."

Well, if you have ever added salt and pepper to your food,

you know that you should not add a ton of salt

and a ton of pepper to your food.

You just add a little bit of salt, a little bit of pepper.

That's the idea here.

When you pepper in something, you're adding just a small amount throughout it.

So, for me, I go to the grocery store once a week.

I buy a lot of food, but sometimes I forget something.

Or maybe I need something extremely fresh.

Well, I will pepper in a little shop here and there.

Maybe on Wednesday I'll have to buy two things

and then on Saturday I have to buy three things.

This is just peppering in a little shop.

Let me give you another example of how you can use this wonderful expression.

If you have a presentation at work

and it's the type of environment where you're trying to connect with your clients,

you're trying to make them feel comfortable with you.

Well, a great way to do that is with humor.

So, you might pepper in a few jokes during your presentation.

It of course depends on the situation,

but when you pepper in a few jokes,

you seem more relatable. you can connect with your clients in a better way

and hopefully the presentation will stick with your clients

and they'll remember you

when you pepper in a few jokes.

Okay, let's watch the clip one more time

and I want you to listen for

that expression to pepper in.

Let's watch.

>> I would say we probably go maybe twice a week.

>> Oh, you think that often?

>> Well, once a week for the big shop

and then there's sometimes a little shop peppered in there.

Did you hear to pepper in?

I hope so.

Let's go to our second everyday English phrase,

and that is to strike up a conversation.

To strike up a conversation.

Let's watch the clip, listen for that phrase, and then we'll talk about it.

Let's go.

They'll usually say like, "Oh, how are you doing?

Are you doing anything interesting this afternoon?

Oh, have you ever tried this before?

Where are you from?"

Like, they'll generally strike up a conversation and that's part of the marketing.

Yeah, >> you just heard us say they will strike up a conversation

and that's part of the marketing.

So, there are certain grocery stores in the US

that really want to connect with their customers.

They're trying to connect on a personal level,

not just with good food and good prices.

They want you to enjoy going to the store

because the people who work there will strike up a conversation with you.

What does this mean to strike up a conversation?

It really just means to start a conversation.

The word strike could mean to hit or with a match.

When you want to light a fire, you strike up a match.

That's the kind of figurative idea we're going for here.

When you strike up a conversation, you went from nothing to a little flame,

a little interest, some connection with someone else.

So maybe for you,

it could be a good opportunity to connect with someone else in English

and try to strike up a conversation with them.

If you have an English-speaking co-orker

and you both happen to be drinking coffee in the breakroom at the same

time,

try to strike up a conversation with them.

Ask them, "What did you do last weekend?"

or "Do you have any plans for this coming weekend?"

Great.

This is an excellent and simple way to strike up a conversation.

All right, let's watch that clip again,

and I want you to listen for this expression.

Let's go.

They'll usually say like, "Oh, how are you doing?

Are you doing anything interesting this afternoon?

Oh, have you ever tried this before?

Where are you from?

Like they'll generally strike up a conversation.

And that's part of the marketing.

>> Yeah.

>> Did you hear to strike up a conversation?

I hope so.

Let's go on to our third everyday expression, which is to pick and choose.

This is kind of a strange expression

because both of these words mean the same thing.

So, I want you to listen carefully to the conversation clip

and then we'll talk about it.

Let's go.

>> We don't do it all.

>> Uhhuh.

>> Yeah.

We can't do it all, right?

So, we have to pick and choose a lot of things.

>> I know for me personally,

I've had a lot of hobbies in the past

that I've just had to like cut out of my life.

>> You heard us say, we can't do it all.

We have to pick and choose.

Well, when you have a busy life, you cannot say yes to everything.

Okay, I will help with the school project.

I'm going to help in my community.

Oh, I'm also going to do this and this.

You need to pick and choose.

Well, as I said,

this is a strange expression

because both of these words to pick something

and to choose something mean exactly the same.

So, why do we say them both?

Why can't we just say we need to pick what we do?

We need to choose what we do.

Okay, you can say that.

But for some reason, both of these words are linked together in English.

And this is a common phrase.

I think it's really emphasizing you need to choose.

You really need to carefully pick what you do

because you have a limited amount of time

and energy.

You need to pick and choose.

Now, just to let you know,

you can use this in a negative sense as well.

So, if your kids are misbehaving, for example,

not that my kids would ever misbehave.

If your children are misbehaving, and they say, "H, but it's the weekend,

so I thought that I didn't have to do that."

Some rule at your house, you might say,

"You can't pick and choose which rules to follow.

You have to follow them all.

It's not the child's choice to pick and choose which rules apply to them,

right?

It's the parents decision.

So, you could say this expression,

you can't pick and choose which rules to follow.

You need to follow them during the week and on the weekend.

This is a great way to use this expression in a negative sense.

You can't pick and choose.

All right, let's watch how this was used again in the conversation.

Listen carefully for pick and choose.

Let's go.

We don't do it all.

>> Uhhuh.

>> Yeah.

We can't do it all.

Right.

So, we have to pick and choose a lot of things.

I know for me personally,

I've had a lot of hobbies in the past

that I've just had to like cut out of my life.

>> The fourth real life English expression is gist.

Gist.

Notice that this is not pronounced gist.

GG.

Instead, it's pronounced gist.

Gist.

I want you to listen carefully for this in our conversation

and then we'll talk about it.

Let's go.

>> You have to share stuff really well

and you have to make sacrifices in your own life.

>> That's some really good wisdom.

Yeah, >> that's the gist of it.

>> In the conversation you just heard us say that's the gist of it.

Well, what does this word mean?

It means that's the main idea.

If you're summarizing something, you could end with well that's the gist of it.

You haven't given every single detail, but you're giving an overall main idea.

And this might be something that happens to you as an English learner.

If you're listening to some English speakers have a conversation

and you generally understand what they're saying,

maybe you couldn't participate at that quick level,

but you can generally understand what you're saying.

You could use this expression.

You could say, "I get the gist of it.

I get which means I understand.

I get the gist of it.

And that's okay sometimes, right?

It's important to understand every word in some places.

But if you don't understand, you might just get the gist of it.

All right, let's watch how this was used in our conversation one more time

and listen carefully to

that pronunciation gist.

To get the gist of it, let's watch.

>> You have to share stuff really well

and you have to make sacrifices in your own life.

That's some really good wisdom.

Yeah, >> that's the gist of it.

>> Did you get the gist of that expression?

Let's go on to daily life expression number five,

which is to be all over the place.

Watch it in the real conversation and then we'll talk about it.

So, when I feel hectic and I look back at the day,

I think usually, oh, my brain was all over the place.

There were like 500 things going on

and I couldn't focus on one of them.

In the conversation, we said, "My brain was all over the place.

There were so many things going on, I couldn't focus on one of them."

Well, within that sentence is the definition.

To be all over the place means that you cannot focus.

There are so many things going on

that your brain is going here

and here and here

and here and here

and it's overwhelming.

So usually in life we do not want to be all over the place.

We want to try to focus on the things

that are in front of us.

Focus on our priorities.

So let's imagine that you're at work and one of your co-workers says,

"Hey, you seem to just be a little bit off today.

Something seems to be different.

Are you okay?

You might say, "Sorry, I'm just all over the place today.

There was a problem at my kid's school

and I can't stop thinking about it."

Okay.

Well, your brain is in another place.

You're thinking about the school problem.

You're also trying to work.

So, really, you're going to need to focus.

Forget about the school for a moment and try to focus on your work.

But, this is a great expression you can use in this situation.

All right, let's watch how

that was used one more time

and listen carefully for to be all over the place.

Let's watch.

So, when I feel hectic and I look back at the day,

I think usually, oh, my brain was all over the place.

There were like 500 things going on

and I couldn't focus on one of them.

Well, I hope you are not all over the place right now

because we are going to move on to important daily life English expression number

six.

A can of worms.

GH.

You do not want to go to the grocery store

and buy a can of worms.

What does this mean?

Well, let's watch the conversation clip to get an idea about it

and then we'll talk about it.

Let's watch.

They want more flexibility and I'm very curious what the future holds.

But >> yeah, let's go.

>> There's some give and take there, but you know.

>> Yeah, we'll see.

I never >> This is a can of worms apparently this question.

You just heard us say this question is a can of worms.

What does it mean?

Are we opening a can and there's worms inside?

Those little wriggly guys that live in the dirt?

No.

That would be really gross, right?

Instead, this means that this question sometimes causes more problems

when you try to deal with it.

So, if you open the can of worms,

now you have to deal with all these worms going all over the place.

That's a harder thing than when they were closed up, right?

So, you can use this in a really interesting way.

If you're at the dinner table

and you want to talk about something

that happened in local politics,

maybe a local politician made a decision to use a large amount of money

for something that you don't agree with.

Well, you might say this.

Talking about politics at dinner last night just opened a can of worms.

I thought I was just going to share my opinion,

but everyone wanted to share their opinions

as well and the topic just got out of hand.

It was a can of worms.

And usually talking about politics is a can of worms.

There's the surface topic.

The politician used money in a way that you don't agree with.

And then there are all of the topics that are underneath that as well.

It's just a can of worms to talk about politics, right?

All right, let's watch the original clip

so that you can see how to use this fun expression,

a can of worms.

Let's watch.

They want more flexibility.

And I'm very curious what the future holds.

But >> yeah, let's go.

>> There's some give and take there.

But you know, >> yeah, we'll see.

I know.

>> This is a can of worms apparently, this question.

So, >> I hope that this lesson is not a can of worms.

The next expression is one

that you heard me use at the beginning of this lesson.

It blows my mind.

Let's see how this was used in the original conversation

and then we'll talk about it.

Let's go.

There's a yoga studio near us that's called Asheville Community Yoga

and it's a nonprofit

which means all the teachers are volunteers.

That it blows my mind because some teachers teach there like every day.

You heard us say all the teachers who teach there are volunteers.

It blows my mind.

Some of the teachers teach there every single day.

So, we were talking about a local yoga studio

that runs entirely on volunteer teachers.

That's amazing, isn't it?

And that's the essence of this expression.

When something blows your mind, it's something that amazes you or surprises you.

We usually use this for things that are slightly positive.

So, people are volunteering to teach.

That is really positive, right?

It blows my mind that people are so giving,

that they care so much about the community,

that they would volunteer every day to teach.

How cool is that?

Or you can use it like this.

It blows my mind how fast technology changes.

Right now, there are a lot of changes, especially with AI, artificial intelligence,

and those things change pretty quickly, right?

It can be shocking how fast technology changes.

So, we can use this expression.

It blows my mind how fast technology changes.

Maybe it blows your mind how wonderful these English lessons are.

I hope so.

All right, let's watch how this was used in the original conversation.

There's a yoga studio near us that's called Asheville Community Yoga,

and it's a nonprofit,

which means all the teachers are volunteers.

that it blows my mind

because some teachers teach there like every day.

I hope this lesson blows your mind.

Let's go on to daily life expression number eight

and that is out of the goodness of my heart.

This is a long expression, but it's a lovely one.

All right, let's watch how it was used in the original conversation

and then we'll talk about it.

And they're just doing it out of the goodness of their heart.

And it's it's so cool.

I love that type of giving atmosphere.

But >> I would go there twice a week or so.

You just heard us say they do it out of the goodness of their

heart.

I love that kind of giving atmosphere.

So, talking about those teachers who volunteer every day at the yoga studio,

why do they do it?

It's certainly not for money because they're not getting paid.

It's probably not for career advancement.

Why do they do it?

Well, they do it out of the goodness of their heart.

Yes, they do it just

because they have a big heart

and want to share love with other people.

When you do something kind without expecting anything in return,

you can use this phrase.

So, I could say, "After I had my last baby,

my neighbor brought me food so that my family could eat."

Why did she do it?

Well, I certainly wasn't going to be able to make food to give back

to her.

She gave me food out of the goodness of her heart.

That's so kind.

And I want to say just a quick little grammar note

that the pronoun here out of the goodness of her heart.

The teachers teach out of the goodness of their hearts.

That pronoun has to match the subject.

I do it out of the goodness of my heart.

So, make sure that those match so that you're using this expression correctly.

All right, let's watch how it was used in the original conversation.

And they're just doing it out of the goodness of their heart.

And it's it's so cool.

I love that type of giving atmosphere.

But I would go there twice a week or so.

Daily life expression number nine is a long word.

Accountability.

Accountability.

I want you to listen carefully for this in the conversation

and then we'll talk about it.

I feel like this is the perfect scenario for us

that we have someone across the street who can give us accountability

and can do that for us like can help us.

I just show up.

I don't need to think.

She shows me what to do.

She makes the plan.

It's so lovely.

You heard us say we have someone who can give us accountability

and teach us how to work out.

So what is accountability?

It's when you're responsible for your actions or decisions.

But the truth is, sometimes it's hard to decide to go to the gym.

It's hard to study English every day.

Having the motivation to do those things is just not natural for a lot

of us.

So, we need to get accountability from someone else.

So, for Dan and I, we pay someone to help us work out.

I do not have the internal motivation to go to the gym

and learn how to lift weights.

I don't know how to do that safely.

And to be honest,

I probably wouldn't go to the gym multiple times a week when I'm tired.

It's been a long day.

But when this person is waiting for me at 4:00 to work out,

oo, all of a sudden I have the motivation.

I go there.

I work out.

And I have accountability.

She helps me to have accountability.

We can use another version of this word, but it means the same thing.

You might ask your friend, let's say you have a friend who's learning English.

You might say, could you help me to be accountable?

And you're asking your friend to remind you, hey, have you studied English today?

Oh, do you want to speak English on Saturday with me?

Let's do it.

You want to connect with your friend to help you to be accountable for

your actions,

to be responsible for your actions.

All right, let's watch that clip where we used accountability in our conversation.

Let's watch.

I feel like this is the perfect scenario for us

that we have someone across the street who can give us accountability

and can do that for us,

like can help us.

I just show up.

I don't need to think.

She shows me what to do.

She makes the plan.

It's so lovely.

And our final 10th expression before our bonus expression

that we use in daily conversation is hit

or miss.

Let's take a look at how

that was used and

then we'll talk about it.

>> All right.

I don't know about all Americans.

Let's just talk about us.

>> I think this is pretty hit or miss.

I don't think there's a standard.

You know, >> in this conversation,

we were talking about

if Americans brush their teeth in the morning

or the evening or both,

before or after breakfast.

This is a very interesting question.

I think very cultural idea.

And in the conversation, we said, I think it's pretty hit or miss.

I don't think there's a standard.

Well, there's not a specific thing

that every American knows

and does related to this topic.

So this expression here, hit or miss, has to do with that idea.

Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes the answer is no.

Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.

There's some variability.

So let me give you another example of how you can use hit

or miss.

There's a taco restaurant in my town

that Dan and I like to go to,

but lately we haven't gone there

that much because sometimes the food is hit

or miss.

It's not consistent every time we go there.

Sometimes it's amazing and sometimes it's just kind of cold and not that great.

So, we could say that restaurant is hit or miss.

On a good day, it's amazing.

But if it's not on a good day, it's not the greatest place.

So, it's a little bit hit or miss.

Okay, let's watch how

that was used in the original conversation

and then I'll teach you the bonus phrase.

Let's go.

>> All right.

I don't know about all Americans.

Let's just talk about us.

I think this is pretty hit or miss.

I don't think there's a standard, you know.

>> I hope my English lessons are not hit or miss for you.

I hope everyone is a hit.

I hope you love them all.

All right, our bonus phrase for today is I get it.

And it has to be said in this tone of voice.

I get it.

So, let's see how it was used in the conversation

and then I'll break it down

so that you can use it yourself in your English conversations.

Let's watch.

But I get it.

When you eat kimchi, you need to brush your teeth.

There's little red flexcks of pepper always in your teeth.

You just heard us say, "I get it.

When you eat kimchi, you need to brush your teeth."

Here, I'm using this phrase, I get it, to say, "I understand."

But the tone of voice that I used, I get it.

When you eat kimchi, you need to brush your teeth.

I'm kind of emphasizing, "I get it.

I actually do understand.

I get it.

When you eat kimchi, you need to brush your teeth.

You are letting the other person know with emphasis.

I really do understand.

This is something that I have no hesitations about.

I get it.

So, let me give you another situation when you can use this expression.

If you are at home and let's say like in my house,

uh my husband Dan comes home from work after me.

So, he comes in and he is just exhausted.

The look on his face says, "I had a really busy day today."

And he says to me, "Vanessa, I'm so tired.

I know you've had a busy day, too,

but I just need five minutes to lay down on the couch."

I could use this expression.

I could say, "H, you're tired.

I get it.

Go lay down.

That's no problem."

Oh, great.

So here I am telling him I understand with emphasis

that you've had a tired day

and laying down for five minutes is not long

but it can feel rejuvenating.

So I get it.

Go lay down.

No problem.

Now just a note you can say this with some negativity in your voice.

So let's say I've had a terrible day.

I've had an extremely long day

and my husband comes home

and he asks me,

"Oh, Vanessa, I've had such a long day.

I need an hour to just go lay down.

I'm going to go take a walk for 30 minutes.

I need to do something to help calm my brain and my body."

Well, that means it's an extra 30 minutes

or an extra hour

that I'm with the kids by myself

and I need a break.

So, if I'm a little annoyed, I could still use this expression,

but with an annoyed tone of voice.

I might say, "Ah, you're tired.

I get it.

Okay, go.

Go do what you need to do."

Ooh, it's pretty harsh, right?

But we often are annoyed or frustrated in daily life.

It is a normal human thing.

So, you can use this expression to say, "I understand.

But really, your true feelings are, "I don't want you to do this."

Okay, I get it.

Fine.

Just go.

You understand, but you really don't understand.

All right, let's hear how this was used in the real conversation of final

time.

And listen to my tone of voice.

It's not negative.

I just understand.

Let's watch.

But I get it.

When you eat kimchi, you need to brush your teeth.

There's little red flexcks of pepper always in your teeth.

Great work learning that real life vocabulary.

Let's go to the next segment where you will meet my neighbor Michelle

and learn some real life vocabulary

that we used in our conversation together.

Let's go.

The first expression is outside the box.

I'm going to be telling you what the expression is

and then you're going to see the clip where it was used in the

original conversation with my neighbor Michelle.

This will give you some context

and then we'll talk about the expression

and then you'll watch

that clip again.

I have a feeling that you're going to understand that clip a lot better.

So, your listening skills will grow, your vocabulary skills will grow,

and I hope you'll have a great time.

All right, let's take a look at the clip where we used outside the

box.

Let's watch.

>> And I feel like your garden style is like

so much more outside the box >> than mine.

I've got like raised beds in these orders, these little seed stars,

and you got like snails and bags.

>> That's because I spend too much time on Instagram.

>> In this clip, I said,

"I feel like your garden style is more outside the box than mine."

And it's true.

Michelle's style of gardening is a little more creative or unusual than mine.

Mine is pretty standard.

I have little boxes where I grow each of my plants

and I plant them in my garden beds.

Now, this expression was quite clever, if I do say so myself,

because I was talking about garden boxes.

And here the expression is outside the box.

Great.

Well, let me give you another example of how you can use this.

If you're having a marketing meeting

and you're trying to figure out how to get more customers,

one of your co-workers might say, "Well,

we can spend more on our advertising."

You might say, "Well, I think we need to think outside the box more.

We've tried spending more money on advertising and it didn't lead to more customers."

So, what are you suggesting here?

You're suggesting different, creative, or unusual ways to get more customers.

Let's not think of the usual ways.

Let's think outside the box and come up with some new ways.

All right, let's watch the original clip again when we used outside the box.

I want you to listen for

that expression and understand more than the first time.

Let's go.

And I feel like your garden style is like

so much more outside the box >> than mine.

I've got like raised beds in these orders, these little seed stars,

and you got like snails and bags.

>> That's because I spend too much time on Instagram.

The second real life English phrase is, "I'm cheap.

Are we buying someone?

Is this product cheap?"

Not exactly.

Let's take a look at the original clip and then I'll explain it.

Let's go.

I You've been growing like a lot of these starts at home.

Why don't you just go to the store and buy little tomato plants?

>> Because I am cheap.

>> So, this is cheaper.

>> This is This is a lot cheaper.

>> In this clip, Michelle was explaining

that she likes to grow things from seeds at home by herself

because she said,

"I'm cheap."

It doesn't mean that we're purchasing, Michelle.

A product can be cheap, but also a person can be cheap, too.

And this simply means that you don't like to spend money.

Michelle doesn't want to spend money on buying expensive plants.

She knows that she can try it herself and save money.

I would say that it's best to not call someone else cheap.

If you say you're cheap, it kind of implies that they're stingy.

They're kind of rude and don't want to spend money on necessary things.

But really, you can call yourself cheap and it's totally fine.

I think that goes for a lot of kind of rude things.

You can call yourself that, but you shouldn't call someone else cheap.

If you want a little bonus expression for how we can talk about someone

not wanting to spend money,

but in a nice way, you can use the word frugal.

If you say he's frugal, that means the same thing.

He doesn't like to spend money, but the nuance is that it's positive.

He's careful with his money.

It's not just that he's cheap.

He doesn't want to spend any money.

He wants to keep it for himself.

No, instead he's frugal.

He's careful with his money.

All of these little nuances of the expressions will be included in the PDF

worksheet.

So, make sure that you download it

so that you can remember all of them.

All right, let's watch

that clip one more time

and hear how Michelle said the word cheap.

I You've been growing like a lot of these starts at home.

Why don't you just go to the store and buy little tomato plants?

>> Because I am cheap.

So this is cheaper.

This is this is a lot cheaper.

>> The next expression is kind of an advanced one.

It is the least I could do.

Hm.

I want you to watch the original clip

and then we're going to break down the nuance of this

so that you can use it accurately.

Let's watch.

I released them elsewhere.

One of them accidentally died.

Um and you buried that.

Thank you.

>> I felt like I had this.

The least I could do is bury the groundhog.

But like what's it going to be this year?

>> In this clip, Michelle said,

"I felt like the least I could do was bury the groundhog."

So, we trapped many groundhogs.

I think it was seven groundhogs that were eating our vegetables last summer.

I trapped them.

I relocated almost all of them, but one of them died.

It was pretty sad.

So, what would we do with that?

What should we do with that dead groundhog?

Well, Michelle felt like she owed me.

She felt like she had a debt to me.

I was taking care of the other six groundhogs.

I was doing that work and I was happy to do it,

but she felt a little bit guilty.

So, that's the nuance here.

She used this expression,

it was the least I could do to bury the groundhog

because she felt like she should do more.

She felt like I need to do more than just bury the groundhog.

So, I'm going to do this to kind of make myself feel less guilty.

So, let me give you another scenario for

when you can use this

because you're probably not burying groundhogs,

I imagine.

But, let me give you a common scenario.

So, a couple weeks ago, one of my friends had a new baby.

And I know when you have a new baby,

you have no time to do anything else except for care for that baby.

So, I made her a lot of food.

I made her a couple dinners.

I made her family some muffins, some desserts.

I brought over food several times.

This was my pleasure.

I was so happy to do this for her.

And even though it was my pleasure, she still felt a little bit guilty.

She wanted to do something for me, even though she did not need to.

I told her, "This is just me giving back

because so many people gave to me

when I had my babies.

But even though that was the case,

she still felt like she wanted to do something for me.

So when she gave back the containers of the food after she ate it

and she washed it

and gave it back to me,

she put in there some packets of tea that I love.

This was a little gift for me.

And when I opened it, I said, "Oh,

you didn't need to do this for me."

And she used this expression.

She said it was the least I could do.

She felt a little bit guilty

that I gave her

so much and she was only giving me a little bit in return,

just some tea.

But it was my pleasure.

I was very happy to do it.

I didn't expect anything in return, but she felt a little guilty.

So, that's a great way to use this phrase,

and it's a good way to show I appreciate all your hard work.

It was the least I could do.

I am happy to give you this.

Let's watch that clip one more time

and I want you to hear

that expression.

It was the least I could do.

Let's go.

I released them elsewhere.

One of them accidentally died.

Um, and you buried that.

Thank you.

>> I felt like I had this least I could do is bury the groundhog.

>> But like what's it going to be this year?

The next expression is a fun question

and it has a nuance with the way

that you say it.

What else do you need?

What else do you need?

Notice this excitement. this heightened anticipation.

What else do you need?

I'm not asking this sincerely.

What else do you need?

No.

Instead, this is a rhetorical question.

I am not expecting an answer.

I want you to listen to the way

that it was used in the conversation with Michelle

and then I'll help you use it yourself

as well.

Let's watch.

>> Also, we have lots of extra eggs right now.

>> Extra.

See, think about it.

We got eggs.

We have tomatoes.

Yeah, >> we can make omelets.

It's fine.

What else do you need?

>> True.

>> In the conversation, we were talking about all of the different types of

food that we grow

or have at our houses already.

We have eggs.

We have tomatoes.

We could make an omelette.

It's fine.

What else do you need?

So, here this phrase is implying we don't need anything else.

If you sincerely ask, what else do you need?

It's a question.

You want an answer.

You want to know what else that person needs.

But when you say it like this, what else do you need?

What else do you need?

Notice that inflection, it implies you don't need anything else.

You're not expecting an answer.

This is called a rhetorical question.

You're not expecting an answer.

You're just making this statement as part of the conversation.

So, you might say that about learning English as well.

You might say, "I'm learning English with Vanessa.

What else do I need?

Which implies you don't need anything else.

All you need are my lessons.

All right, let's watch the clip from the original conversation one more time.

I want you to listen for the inflection in our voice.

Let's go.

>> Also, we have lots of extra eggs right now.

>> Extra.

See, think about it.

We got eggs.

We have tomatoes.

We can make omelets.

It's fine.

What else do you need?

>> It's true.

Yeah.

>> Yeah.

The next phrase is rain or shine.

I want you to watch the original clip

and hear about what it's like to have a cow.

Let's watch and then we'll talk about rain or shine.

>> Like it's just every day you milk them, right?

>> Twice a day.

Rain or shine.

They're out there for 30 minutes.

>> Otherwise, they're in pain.

>> The cow's in pain.

You have to milk your cow.

And they even have like a little machine.

In this clip, I was talking about someone I know who has a milk

cow,

and they said they have to milk their cow, rain or shine,

every day for 30 minutes.

Well, yes, they have to do it

if it is raining

or if the sun is shining.

But this has more nuance to it.

This expression is more figurative.

It means if there are bad things happening

or good things happening in their life,

it doesn't matter.

Maybe the farmer has the flu and they can't get out of bed.

They have a fever.

It doesn't matter.

They have to still milk that cow.

Maybe it's a beautiful day and they're so excited to be outside,

they have to milk the cow.

So, it implies it doesn't matter the circumstance, you still have to do it.

Rain or shine.

So, let me give you another example

that doesn't involve going outside

or the weather to show you you can use this expression to not talk

about outside at all.

Well, let's say that you are a mother like me.

You are in charge of feeding your family.

That's me.

Well, your kids and your family are hungry probably three times a day.

So, what does that mean?

You have to cook dinner rain or shine every day.

Okay, who cares about the weather?

You're inside.

That's probably where you make dinner.

Well, if you're feeling not too well, you have to cook dinner.

If you're tired, you have to cook dinner.

If you're busy, you have to cook dinner.

Hopefully, you have some help in your life

so you actually do get a break.

For me, my husband and I often split cooking duties.

He cooks a couple times a week.

I cook a couple times a week,

so he can help if I'm actually really sick.

But in general, my family has to eat dinner every night, rain or shine.

So, I need to cook rain or shine.

All right, let's watch how this was used again in the original conversation,

and I want you to feel empowered to use this yourself.

Let's watch.

>> Like, it's just every day you milk them, right?

>> Twice a day, rain or shine, they're out there for 30 minutes.

>> Otherwise, they're in pain.

>> The cow's in pain.

You have to milk your cow.

>> And they even have like a little machine.

>> The next real life daily expression

that we used in the conversation was I looked into it

or just the phrasal verb to look into something.

To look into something.

Let's watch the original conversation clip and then we'll break it down together.

Let's go.

Someone else would have a cow.

>> Goats would be the same way.

You know, they'd be the same.

And plus, you have to have like a setup to send the goat in

that holds them still

while you're I looked into it.

I'm not doing it.

Yeah.

>> In the conversation, Michelle was talking about having a goat.

She said you have to have a setup for where you milk the goat.

I looked into it and I'm not going to do it.

So, she has researched getting a goat.

What does it mean to have a goat?

How much work is it?

Is it easy?

Is it worth it?

She researched it or she looked into it and she decided, uh-uh,

this is not for me.

So, this phrasal verb to look into something means that you research it.

Simply that.

You could use this to mean I'm looking into the box.

But that's a figurative way.

We use that less often.

Instead, we can use it in a more figurative way to talk about researching

something.

Let me give you another example for how to use to look into it.

Well, if you have ever watched the news,

you know that the media tries to portray everything as big news, infuriating news,

get angry about this, get worked up about this, this is so important.

But often the news

and what goes on in the world is way more complex than the news

really wants to show.

So, if you are talking about the news with your friend,

you might use this phrase and say, "You know what?

I looked into it

and this topic is way more complicated than the media is trying to tell

us.

The media is making it seem like this is the good guy,

this is the bad guy."

But really, I looked into it.

It is so complicated.

And isn't that the truth?

Most topics, especially when it comes to politics, are really complicated.

And if you look into it,

you see there's a lot more nuance than the media would like to portray.

All right, let's watch this clip one more time

so that you can see how to look into it was used.

Let's watch.

Someone else would have a cow.

>> Goats would be the same way.

You know, they'd be the same.

And plus, you have to have like a setup to send the goat in

that holds them still

while you're I looked into it.

I'm not doing it.

Yeah.

>> The next real English phrase is a long one.

You just never know.

This is used often al together as a fixed phrase.

You just never know.

So, let's listen to how it was used in the conversation

and then we'll talk about it together.

>> I would rather if it's available,

buy meat >> and not have to be that person.

I'd rather grow tomatoes

and >> but you want to be able to

if you have to.

You know, you just never know.

And prices are going up.

I mean, I don't know about other parts of the world,

but eggs are seven bucks a >> for a dozen.

Now, >> in the conversation,

we said you need to be able to take care of yourself

because you just never know.

Notice this pronunciation.

The word just is reduced so much,

is said so quickly that it's hardly there.

Listen when I say it.

You just never know.

You just just My lips don't even move.

You just never know.

You just never know.

You just never know.

But it's still important that it's there in the sentence.

You just never know.

You just You just never know.

Here we're talking about scenarios that we can't plan for something unexpected.

So I often say that about recording these English lessons for you.

I have a lot of moving parts in my life.

I have three kids.

Two of them are in school.

One of them is taking a nap right now.

Who knows?

Maybe one of those kids is going to get sick.

Or maybe my child won't take a nap.

How am I going to record this lesson?

Well, I need to record them a little bit in advance

because you just never know.

You never know what's going to happen.

So, when I tell my friends, "Hey, sorry, I can't get together today.

I need to record some lessons for my students."

They might say, "Hey, didn't you just record lessons last week?"

And I would use this phrase.

Well, you just never know.

My kids could be homesick from school tomorrow and then I can't record anything.

So, I need to do it in advance

when I am available

and can because you don't know what's going to happen in the future.

You just never know.

All right, let's watch this clip from the original conversation

so that you can use it yourself.

I would rather, if it's available,

buy meat and not have to be that person.

I'd rather grow tomatoes.

And >> but you want to be able to if you have to, you know,

you just never know.

And prices are going up.

I mean, I don't know about other parts of the world,

but eggs are seven bucks a >> for a dozen.

Now, >> the next real life expression is feels like.

This is often used with temperature.

So, I want you to listen to this clip from our real conversation

and hear how feels like is used with temperature

and then we'll talk about it.

Let's go.

>> During the day, you can't come out here.

>> I know.

The other day I went downtown with the kids

and it said 92 feels like 106.

>> Yes.

Like, what are we doing out here?

>> In this clip, we were talking about the hot hot hot summer weather

and I said I went downtown with my kids

and the temperature said 92. feels like 106.

So here often, especially where I live, it's really humid.

So that means that whatever is the real temperature,

it feels way hotter because of the humidity.

If you live somewhere dry, you probably don't experience this on a daily basis,

but if you travel to somewhere that's humid,

the heat is just a totally different thing.

So, this phrase feels like is often used to talk about what the temperature

actually feels like.

We can also use this in the winter.

So, if there's a lot of wind

and it feels a lot colder than the actual temperature,

it might say, "Well, the weather today, the temperature is 31° F."

Okay.

So, 2° the temperature is 2° feels like -10.

Ugh.

So that means the wind is blowing

so much that it's going to feel

that much colder than the real temperature.

So you can say, well, it's 92, but feels like 106,

whatever that is in Celsius.

I'll put it here.

But it's talking about the difference between the real temperature

and what it feels like.

All right, let's watch

that original clip so

that you can see how this expression was used.

And you can use it, too, to talk about temperature.

Let's go.

During the day, you can't come out here.

>> I know.

The other day I went downtown with the kids

and it said 92 feels like 106.

>> Yes.

Like, what are we doing out here?

>> The next expression is dense.

You have to be careful with this one.

I will teach you how to use it carefully,

but we're going to watch how it was used in the conversation

and then we'll break it down.

Let's go.

>> Let's see.

The one that I just showed you >> is uh vintage wine.

>> Dense this is.

>> And then there's another one called San Marzano.

I know.

I tried I tried to prop them up in the conversation.

We were going on a tour through the garden and said,

"Look how dense this part of the garden is."

When we're talking about a thing,

it is absolutely okay to use the word dense.

It means it's packed together.

So, you might say, "The dense rows of corn were difficult to walk through."

Okay, it's all packed together.

But warning, warning, warning, do not say that someone is dense.

If you use this

or you hear someone use this to talk about a person,

it means they're not smart, they are dumb.

It's not a nice thing, right?

So, if you hear someone say maybe in a movie or a TV show,

"Man, he's so dense."

It's not nice.

I could imagine this used in a scenario where maybe the girl is flirting

with someone and the guy just has no clue.

He says, "Oh yeah,

we're friends and we're going over here

and we're doing this

and the girl is flirting

so much she's trying to make him see,

I like you.

I want to be with you."

But he has no clue.

Well, she might say, "Man, he's so dense.

He doesn't see that I'm trying to flirt with him.

So, it's not a positive thing

when we use dense to talk about a person,

but to talk about something, it's no problem.

All right, let's see how this was used in the original conversation.

I want you to listen for that word dense.

Let's go.

>> Let's see.

The one that I just showed you >> is uh vintage wine.

>> Dense this is.

>> And then there's another one called San Marzano.

I know.

I I tried to prop them up.

>> Our final real life English phrase is as you can see.

There's a little nuance to this phrase.

So, let's watch how it was used in the conversation

and then I'll break it down for you

so you can use it too.

Let's go.

So, yeah.

As you can see,

like a lot of my pathways are taken over

because I don't have good uh planning skills for how big plants get.

>> Me neither.

Me neither.

In this clip, I said, "As you can see,

a lot of my pathways in the garden are taken over by plants."

A lot of the plants by

that point in the summer had grown

so big that we couldn't walk on the pathways

that were planned for us to walk on.

But it's kind of obvious, right?

If you look at it, you can see there's no pathway.

But it's kind of a little bit rude to just say all of the

pathways are covered.

Instead, I want to acknowledge that it's something obvious.

As you can see, all the pathways are covered by plants.

I didn't plan it very well and they just grew so big,

which I guess is a good problem to have, right?

But you can use as you can see when you're pointing out something obvious,

but you want to be polite about it.

So, let's imagine this scenario.

You're having a business meeting and you're showing a graph.

You're showing all of the purchases made for the last quarter

and it goes like this.

It goes up.

Great.

That's a good thing, right?

But if you're talking about this, you might say, "Oh,

our purchases have gone up or our revenue has gone up."

It's fine.

But if you add this expression, it shows, hey,

I know that you're not dense.

You can see that the revenue has gone up.

So, you can add that phrase.

As you can see,

the revenue has gone up because we have been selling more products.

This is just a nice expression to add

when something's obvious and you want to show the other person,

I trust you can see this, but I'm going to say it anyway.

All right, let's watch how

that was used in the clip one more time

so that you can use it yourself.

Let's go.

So, yeah, as you can see,

like a lot of my pathways are taken over cuz I don't have good

uh planning skills for how big plants get.

>> Me neither.

Me neither.

>> Awesome work learning that real life vocabulary.

Let's go to our final segment where you will learn some real life vocabulary

that I used while I was in my kitchen baking bread.

Let's go.

The first phrase that we're going to look at today is lukewarm.

Lukewarm.

This phrase is actually a two for one.

It can mean two different things.

So, let's watch the original clip

while I was making bread

and I used the phrase lukewarm.

Then I'll explain it to you

and then we'll take a look at

that clip again and I want you to see how your listening skills improve,

how you can understand more of the context based on the explanations

that I've shared with you.

So let's watch the clip and then we'll walk through it together.

All right, I'm going to add a tablespoon of salt as well.

And next we're going to add water.

So you want water that's kind of lukewarm.

In this clip, you heard me say you want to add water that's lukewarm.

This is the first most basic meaning for lukewarm when talking about water.

It's not too hot, not too cold.

It is lukewarm.

You can touch it and feel like, "Okay, it's not going to burn me.

It's not freezing.

It's just lukewarm."

Well, what about the second meaning for this phrase?

What if I said, "He's so lukewarm."

Does that mean his skin is not too hot and not too cold?

Nope.

This is a negative thing to say about someone.

If you're talking about a person and you call them lukewarm,

it means that they don't have values or standards or passion.

So, for example, one of the causes in the world

that I care about is caring about the North Korean people.

I used to live in South Korea for a few years

and I did a lot of research

and I met a lot of North Korean people.

It was something that touched me really deeply.

So, it's a part of my life now

that I donate and I participate in some organizations

that help to care for North Korean people.

This is something that is a passion of me of mine personally.

But what if I meet someone

and I start talking about uh North Korean people

and things that can help them

and problems that they face

and that person just says,

"Yeah, well, you know, their leader's crazy."

And well, yesterday I had a sandwich for lunch.

Is that going to kill my passion?

Yes.

In that moment, I would probably feel disappointed.

I might say, "Man,

when I was talking about my passion for helping North Korean people,

he was just so lukewarm.

He didn't care at all.

He wasn't curious.

He didn't even have a heart for them.

He wasn't even empathetic towards them.

He was just lukewarm.

Not a good thing, right?

It doesn't mean you need to have passion about everything,

but when someone is sharing their passion with you, you can at least say,

"Oh, that's really interesting.

Tell me more about it."

Okay, you're connecting with them.

All right, let's watch that clip one more time,

and you're going to see how lukewarm was used in

that original sense to talk about the temperature of water.

Make sure that you don't say this about someone to their face.

You are lukewarm. a little bit negative, right?

All right, let's watch.

All right, I'm gonna add a tablespoon of salt as well.

And next, we're gonna add water.

So, you want water that's kind of lukewarm.

The second phrase is we'll see what happens.

Let's watch the clip and then we'll talk about it.

I have done that before.

Tried to bake bread with cold water.

Doesn't work.

All right, so we're going to put in three of these.

I'm going to put in a little bit less than three.

and we'll see what happens.

In this clip, you heard me say,

"I'll put in a little less than three cups of water

and we'll see what happens."

I want you to notice first the pronunciation of this phrase,

it is we will see what happens.

But when we make the contraction, we will.

It could be we, this is the clear pronunciation, we wheel.

But when we're speaking relatively fast in American English,

we often reduce this and it just sounds like wool.

Wool.

You're almost swallowing that final sound.

Wool.

We'll see what happens.

We'll see what happens.

It's these types of pronunciation tricks

that often make English sound

so fast when you're watching movies

and TV shows.

So, good news. you just learned one pronunciation trick

and that will hopefully help you to understand a little bit better.

So, when would we use this?

We'll see what happens.

This is when you're not exactly sure what the results going to be,

but you're open to figuring it out.

So, for example, today, right now,

my 2-year-old daughter is taking a nap,

but sometimes she decides not to sleep.

And today, I was planning on making this lesson for you.

So, I need her to take a nap so that I can record this.

Well, in the beginning of the day, I saw my neighbor and they asked,

"Well, what are you going to do today?"

I said, "Well, when Matilda takes a nap,

I'm going to try to record some English lessons, but we'll see what happens."

I don't know exactly if she's going to fall asleep.

I don't know exactly if I'll be able to record this lesson for you,

but guess what?

She is napping.

So, hooray, I can film this lesson for you.

So, at the beginning of the day,

I didn't know what was going to happen, but right now,

I do know there was success.

Okay, let's watch this original clip again, and you can hear this phrase.

We'll see what happens.

Listen for that pronunciation as well.

Let's watch.

I have done that before.

Tried to bake bread with cold water.

Doesn't work.

All right, so we're going to put in three of these.

I'm going to put in a little bit less than three,

and we'll see what happens.

The next phrase is a fun one, but you know what?

Who cares?

Let's listen to the original clip from the conversation

and then I'll help you use it yourself.

Let's watch.

Sorry.

I'm very unofficial when it comes to this.

But you know what?

This recipe is so forgiving, who cares?

In this clip, you heard me say,

I'm very unofficial when it comes to this.

But you know what?

This recipe is forgiving, so who cares?

This phrase is used when you're not really worried about something.

Maybe it's something that's small,

like adding the wrong amount of ingredients to a forgiving recipe.

Or maybe it's something else.

You're not worried about it.

So, you might say, "Well, you know what?

Who cares?

I don't care.

So, I'm not going to worry about it."

We could use this in the same example where I'm thinking about,

"I hope my daughter sleeps so that I can record some lessons."

And as I'm thinking about it, well, let's say she does not nap.

She just stays awake.

She is laughing and talking, maybe crying,

and I can't record the lessons that I want to.

Well, I might say, "Well, you know what?

Who cares?

I'll just record them tomorrow

or the next day whenever she takes a nap next."

This is an important mindset.

In the past, I have gotten frustrated

and angry because I thought I would be able to do the plans

that I wanted.

I'd be able to record a lesson.

I'd be able to work.

I'd be able to see friends.

Whatever it was that I wanted to do,

and when the circumstances didn't work out, maybe my kids didn't nap,

maybe it was raining outside, whatever it was, and my plans got cancelled,

instead of getting frustrated or angry, you can use this phrase.

Well, you know what?

Who cares?

I'll do it another time.

Okay, let's see how this was used in the original conversation where I was

baking bread.

And I hope you'll be able to use this too to just shrug off

things that you might be worried about.

Let's watch.

Sorry, I am very unofficial when it comes to this.

But you know what?

This recipe is so forgiving.

Who cares?

The next daily life English phrase is a fun one.

It is blood, sweat, and tears.

This is a fixed phrase that always sticks together.

So, let's watch the original clip

and then I'll break it down with you

so that you can use it yourself.

Let's watch.

You got to put some muscle behind it.

You got to put some not blood, sweat, and tears.

It's not that hard, but you got to mix it up a little bit.

In this clip, I used this phrase in a negative way.

I said you don't have to put blood, sweat, and tears into it.

It's not that hard.

I was trying to explain that that bread recipe is so easy.

And when you're kneading it, when you're mixing it, yeah,

mix it for a few minutes, but you don't have to put blood, sweat,

and tears into it.

This trifold threepart phrase, blood, sweat, tears.

It evokes a sense of working hard.

You have put everything into it.

And I said, for that bread recipe,

you don't need to put everything into it.

Just do a little bit.

You can do the minimal work

and it will still turn out to be a good loaf of bread.

That's my kind of baking.

But when can you use this phrase in a more positive sense?

I want to give you an example about this work that I do,

teaching you English.

I have been working with my business, Speak English with Vanessa,

teaching you English here on YouTube,

and I also make courses

that can help to guide you through your English journey.

For the last almost 12 years, I can't believe it.

And you guessed it, I have put blood, sweat, and tears into this business.

I don't know if I have actually bled.

I have sweat.

I have probably cried.

I have shed tears.

So, here it doesn't need to be literal.

I've literally bled.

I've literally sweat.

I've literally had tears.

I'm talking about this hard effort.

All of the effort that it takes to build a business over 12 years.

If you have ever done this, then you know it takes blood, sweat,

and tears to accomplish successfully.

It's a lot of work, but you guys are worth it.

I love you.

Each and every one of you.

All right, let's watch the original clip

so that you can see how I used blood,

sweat, and tears.

Let's watch.

You got to put some muscle behind it.

You got to put some not blood, sweat, and tears.

It's not that hard, but you got to mix it up a little bit.

The next daily life English phrase is actually a suffix,

which means it goes at the end of many different words,

and it is ish.

Is.

We're going to take a look at how it was used in the original

conversation and then I'm going to read you part of this classic children's book

that uses this phrase a lot.

Let's watch the clip and then I'll talk to you about it.

Let's go.

All right.

I'm going to start mixing it 30 times.

I'm just going to count to myself.

Is 30ish.

I'm trying to They call it develop the gluten.

In this clip, you heard me say, "I'm going to mix this 30 times."

And then I paused and said, "30ish."

You might even use this gesture where you kind of wiggle your hand back

and forth while it's open. 30ish.

You might not even need to sayish.

If you do this motion, you could say,

"I'm going to bake this 30 times."

Okay, I didn't say 30ish, but it implied the same meaning.

What does that mean?

It means about, not exactly.

So, if you mix it 30 times exactly or 34 times,

it doesn't matter for this recipe.

It's not exact.

It's just 30ish.

This is a really fun suffix to add.

It can add some color or flare to your language.

You can use this with so many words.

That pillow is blueish.

It was rainingish outside.

I'm feeling kind of tireish today.

I did some workish today.

It means not exactly work.

You see how so flexible.

Well, I want to read you an excerpt from a book

that I was reading my daughter this morning.

It is called The Lorax.

It's one of my favorite children's books of all time.

It is very deep about caring for the environment.

It is very silly.

It uses so many madeup words, words that are not actually English.

So, if you read this as an English learner,

just know there's a lot of madeup words.

But here is a section where he is the author is describing this little

character.

He's called the Lorax. and he's trying to describe his appearance.

Well, this is an imaginary madeup creature.

So, how do you describe how he looks?

It's kind of hard, but when you have the power of the suffix ish,

all of a sudden, you can describe him.

So, listen to how this creature, the Lorax, is described.

He was shortish and oldish and brownish and mossy.

And he spoke with a voice that was sharpish and bossy.

So here ish is used at the end of so many words.

And how fun is that?

It's poetry.

It's descriptive.

It's a great expression that you can add to your vocabulary as well.

Okay, so let's see how this was used again in the real conversation.

And I challenge you to use ish in your conversations

when you're describing something that's about something.

Let's watch.

All right.

I'm going to start mixing it 30 times.

I'm just going to count to myself.

Is 30ish.

I'm trying to They call it develop the gluten.

The next daily life phrase is hands on.

Hands on.

Let's see how it was used and then we'll talk about it together.

They call it five minute arteasonal bread

because it's about five minutes of hands on work.

In this clip, you heard me say how there's only about 5 minutes of

hands on time.

There's a lot of waiting.

You have to wait for 2 hours.

You have to wait for 35 minutes.

But the amount of hands on time is only about five minutes.

What does this mean?

Well, in the case of baking bread,

it is actually using my hands for five minutes.

It is hands-on for 5 minutes.

But the general sense of this expression is

that it is only five minutes

when you're actively doing something.

So, let me give you another example of how you can use hands-on to

talk about actively doing something.

If you are a parent, if you're a mom or a dad,

or if you're a grandparent, a grandma or a grandpa, well,

when you are with the children,

do you just sit on the couch and watch them play?

Or do you read them books?

Do you play with them?

Do you chase them?