Meaning of HARDER THAN IT LOOKS and HARDER THAN IT SEEMS - A Short English Lesson with Subtitles

4,490 views ・ 2020-02-10

Bob's Short English Lessons


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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So have you ever watched someone do something
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and thought, that looks pretty easy,
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I think I could do it and then when you try to do it
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you realize that it is harder than it looks?
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In English when we say that something is harder
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than it looks, it means that it looks easy,
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but then when you try it yourself,
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it's actually a lot harder.
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Sometimes we say this about things like playing the piano.
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Sometimes you'll see someone play a song on the piano
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and it will seem relatively simple
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and you'll think to yourself, I could play that song
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and then when you sit at the piano
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you realize that it is harder than it looks
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to play that song.
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So again, we have this sometimes in teaching.
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Sometimes people think that teachers
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have a really easy job.
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After all, we just stand in front of a classroom
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and talk to students all day.
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It looks pretty easy, but I'll tell you this much,
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it is harder than it looks.
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You should give it a try some time and see
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how hard it is.
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We have another phrase in English that means exactly
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the same thing and that's the phrase
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that something is harder than it seems
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and it we can use the same examples here.
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Maybe you see someone play a song on the piano
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and you think, I can play that song.
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That looks easy.
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And when you sit down at the piano
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it is harder than it seems.
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And we can say the same thing about teaching.
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I don't mean to make it sound like teachers
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work really hard, but I would say that
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if you watch a teacher who is really good at their job,
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they make it look easy,
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but it is harder than it seems.
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So again, if something is harder than it looks,
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or if something is harder than it seems,
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it just means that it's a lot more difficult to do
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than what it looks like when you watch someone do it.
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Anyways, Bob the Canadian here
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and you're learning English with me here on YouTube
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and Facebook and Instagram.
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There's a little glimpse of Oscar for you for today.
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Anyways, have a good day, I'll see you tomorrow.
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