Easy English Conversation: How to Ask for and Give Instructions

Hi, everybody. Welcome to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. Today's lesson

is a bit of a beginner lesson. So, not too difficult, but still good practice

for everyone to listen and make sure you review some old material; maybe learn a

few new words or expressions here and there. So, what we're going to learn

today is how to ask for and give instructions. For example, if you want

to use something or if you want to do something, but you're not sure how, you

can ask someone to basically show you or teach you how to use it. And they're

going to give you step-by-step instructions. So, we're gonna start with

the general questions. Again, remember: Native-English speakers might find many

other ways to ask, but these are the basics. These are the ones that you can

use in any situation to ask for help with something. So, "How can I do"

whatever you need to do. "How can I turn on the computer?", "How can I print

something?", "How can I use the printer?"

"How do I". "How can I", "How do I" essentially means the same thing. "How

can I...?", like: "How will I be able to?", "How do I" or "How do you", "How

do you do this?" Same idea. "How do I do this?" Same idea. Means just take the

action itself; that's the necessary action. "Do you know how to work this

camera?", "Do you know how to use this pencil?" Like, a automatic penci. "Do

you know how to, basically, submit an assignment?" Okay. "Do you know how to

write an email?" Lots of things. Whatever the action is, just use the

verb, the infinitive. Now, again, in... in most English-speaking countries —

like Canada, UK, Australia — people tend to be a little bit more polite in asking

a question, so they're not very direct. So, you can also create an indirect

question by starting with "Can". "Can you", "Can I", etcetera. "Can you help

me with this?" Like, you have a... something in front of you, you don't

know how to use it or how to work it, you can ask someone: "Can you help me

with this?" Or, if the thing you need help with is somewhere else: "Can you

help me with the copier upstairs? I don't know how to use it." Right? So,

"Can you help me with" whatever you need help with.

Now, "Can you show me how to use this thing?" Or: "Can you show me how to use

the printer upstairs?", "Can you show me how to do this?" You want to do a

particular action. So, use a machine for example; do an action to someone, for

someone, or just generally in the office, for example. "Can you show me

how to work this thing?" Here, don't be confused with "work" as job. "How to

work" means how to make this thing work; how to make it operate, how to make it

function. That's what "work" here means. So, "How do you work this?" That's

another question you can ask. "How do you work this thing?" means: How does it

work? The same idea. This is very informal; very casual English. Or: "Can

you show me how this works?" basically, or: "how to use this?" Depending how

to... the same idea. I'm just using: "how this works", because native-English

speakers will use this verb a lot, so you should be very comfortable with it,

and it has nothing to do with a job. Okay? And that's where English becomes a

little tricky. Some words have many uses; many... in many different

contexts. But I digress; I'm getting off topic. So, now we have the questions.

Let's see how you might get the answer. Okay?

Okay. So, now, we're gonna learn how to give instructions. Now, if you're giving

instructions and it's just a one-step thing — just one thing to do — then

that's very straightforward. "Just do this." But when you're looking at a

process — something that has a few steps — then you need to be a little bit more

organized. Right? So, a process or something that... step by step. So,

something that... something that requires a few steps, you want to break

it down into the step-by-step process. You want to show them: "Do this, do

this, do this, do that." But you want to make sure that the person understands

the order; because if you just do things randomly, it might not work. If you do

things in the order that they're supposed to be done, you will be much

more successful. So, one of the first things you're gonna do is you're going

to establish an order. The easiest way is just to say: "Okay. First, do this.

Second, do that. Third, fourth", etcetera.

Now, normally, when we give instructions, we don't generally go into

third and fourth; we... we leave these because it just generally gets a little

bit boring. It's not wrong. You could say: "First, second, third, fourth,

fifth", finished. But, again, most people don't say that; they will start

with maybe first and second, or they'll say: "First, then". "Then" means next

step or next; means the same thing. "First, then do". "First do this, then

do that. Next, do this", etcetera. So, again, we're just going in the correct

order. "After that". So, "then", "next", and "after that" essentially mean the

same thing. "That" refers to the previous step. So, "First; after that

step, do this step", and go on, and so forth. When you get to the last step,

you would say: "Lastly" or "Finally". This indicates to the person that you're

giving the instructions to that he or she is almost finished; that the process

is almost complete. And hopefully, they can see that they're going to be

successful. Okay? So, that's one thing; that's organization. Then you can also

organize it in a different way. "Once that's done" — "So, first, do this. Once

that is done" — once that step is completed, do the next thing, or: "go on

to the next step, which is" and then you explain the next step.

Now, while somebody is doing something, they may have some problems. Right? Even

if you gave them the step-by-step instructions, in the middle, there may

be complications, there may be problems; maybe they didn't understand something;

or maybe they did it correctly, but it still doesn't work. Right? So, you

should anticipate that. When you're giving instructions, you should

anticipate. You should a little bit guess what problems might come up.

Right? So, if that doesn't work, so if step three doesn't work, try doing

something else. Try a different approach. Try a different way of doing

the... whatever the step is. Then, if you're still having problems... you've

tried... you follow the instructions; you did one, two, three. "If you're

having problems, please ask someone for help or please come back to me for more

help." Okay? "Don't be afraid to ask." Don't be afraid to ask for help; don't

be shy. Right? Always ask for help if you need it.

Now, having said all this — if you want to make it very, very simple, you can

say: "There are a few steps to whatever you need to do. One, do this. Two, do

this", and just make a list of all the steps that are necessary to do it. Okay?

So, I'm going to give you a very basic instruction. I'm going to tell you how

to make mashed potatoes. You know, like soft potatoes that you can just eat with

gravy or ketchup, or whatever you like. So, first — first thing you're going to

do — you're going to peel or you're gonna wash your potatoes first. Wash

your potatoes. Then peel your potatoes; take the skin off. After that, cut the

potatoes into small, even pieces. Meanwhile, while you're... I guess not

"why"; you can't cut with a knife. After you cut your potatoes or even before you

started anything, boil some water. So, let's go back. First, boil some water.

Second, wash your potatoes. Then peel the potatoes. After they're peeled, cut

them into equal pieces. When the water is boiling, put the pieces in the

boiling water, and just let... let it cook for five/ten minutes. Once the

potatoes are cooked, so... where are we? Once that's done or once the... you can

specify: "Once the potatoes are cooked, pour out the water and keep the potatoes

in the pot. Take a potato masher, and mash, mash, mash, mash, mash, mash,

mash. And then, lastly, add whatever flavorings you want. You can add salt,

pepper — egg yolk is very nice, if you like that; fried onions are very nice,

if you like that — and then you're finished." Right?

So, very simple. Now, if you really want to get good practice with instructions,

especially reading instructions: Get a cookbook. A cookbook, every... every

recipe comes with instructions of how to prepare the... the dish. That's a very

good way to practice instructions or the language of instructions, so you can

follow something step by step. Okay? And that it. Very simple vocab here. Very

important to understand the order of things. So, make sure you... you know

the order and make it... make it very clear to the person you're speaking to

what the order is, and they should be able to do anything you tell them to do.

Okay? Now, if you have any questions about this, please go to www.engvid.com;

there's a comment section, you can ask me questions. There's also a quiz to

make sure you understand all of this new vocabulary or reviewed vocabulary. And I

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expressions, and all that other good stuff. See you soon. Bye.