Essential Expressions for English Fluency

- Hi there!

I'm your English coach Christina,

and welcome to Speak English with Christina,

where you'll learn about American culture

and business know-how

to become confident in English.

You're learning American English.

Of course you're eager to build your vocabulary.

However, students often overlook

the most common and essential phrases

or chunks of words

that can drastically improve your fluency.

These chunks of words in English

may be referred to as "formulaic expressions."

Now, I know it sounds fancy,

but it's quite simple.

Formulaic expressions are usually fixed.

That means that the words in the phrase

cannot change, otherwise

the meaning behind the expression

wouldn't make sense.

Well, guess what?

Even if you exclusively studied

vocabulary and grammar,

you would still miss the meaning

of these types of expressions.

Why?

Well, because they can't be translated

directly in your mother tongue.

They're figurative.

And such expressions are not translatable

word for word.

And surprise!

These chunks make up between 30% and 50%

of the English language.

So, if you haven't already

started learning these expressions,

perhaps now is a good time.

After all, these essential chunks in English

are truly "insider secrets"

into speaking American English.

Are you ready to learn how to say them

and become more fluent?

Let's go!

One of the most exciting experiences

language learners have is that moment

when you speak without thinking.

This is one of the best things about my job,

being able to see my American English students

spontaneously speak in English

without translating in their native language.

And that's why I created

the Master Real American English program.

In this program, students learn

the techniques to speak spontaneously

with improved pronunciation

so they're understood the first time.

This 3-month course is personally tailored

to your skill level.

After an evaluation, you work one-on-one with a teacher

each week to strengthen your skills.

You also meet with your coach and other students

in the program for a weekly group coaching session.

In addition to that, you get access

for three months of live conversation practice

in my Faster Fluency conversation club,

and of course many more benefits.

The program is a terrific way

to master American English

faster than you ever thought possible.

Let's start with dessert.

Learning essential chunks in American English

will have you sounding fluent fast.

And best of all, it's a piece of cake.

You see what I did there?

This common phrase simply means

"it's easy."

You might say, "Uh, my homework,

"it was a piece of cake."

Or, "That test?

"Piece of cake."

Eating a piece of cake is so simple,

because it's so good,

that you don't even have to think about it.

So when you use this phrase,

"it's like a piece of cake,"

you're saying that the task was very simple.

Similar phrases that you can use

instead of "it's a piece of cake"

are "it's a cinch."

It's a cinch.

Or "it's a walk in the park."

It's a walk in the park.

And these phrases have the same meaning

and of course are interchangeable.

Sounds good.

Or, "sounds good to me."

Like most American English speakers,

I say this expression a lot.

If you've ever worked with me,

you have heard this expression.

And you may already know what these two words mean.

Sounds are the noises that you hear

and good means something of high quality.

But sometimes when I use this phrase

with new English speakers,

they think that I'm commenting on their accent

or their language skills.

However, that is not the case at all.

"Sounds good" simply implies agreement.

It means "yeah, that's right,"

or "let's do that,"

or "I agree,"

or "I like your suggestion."

And "sounds good" is more colloquial,

more natural, more casual

and more friendly than "I agree."

The expression to "cut corners" means

to take a shortcut or to skip steps

that might reduce the quality

of the finished product.

For example.

"I know that they really cut corners

"when they created that product

"and in the result, the product

"was really not that great."

So that means that,

when they created the product,

maybe they used cheaper materials,

they didn't invest in so much research and development,

they used, you know, inexperienced workers

to build the product, and in the end,

cutting corners meant that they had

a bad quality product.

Now, you can cut corners in a lot of different things,

like you can cut corners on a recipe

by not adding all of the ingredients

or using bad quality ingredients.

Or you can cut corners when you are

filing your taxes, for example,

but I wouldn't recommend that!

"No worries" is a very common colloquial phrase

in American English.

It means "everything's fine,"

or "no harm done."

How would you use "no worries"?

Well, if your friend is late meeting you

they may say, "Oh, sorry I'm late!

"The bus was running late."

A typical response is "no worries."

Or if you, like, bump into someone on the subway

and you might say, "Oh, sorry"

and the other person says, "No worries."

"No worries" is a slang phrase

that you would use in very informal situations,

with friends, acquaintances, or strangers.

However, depending on your work

and your relationship, it might not be

appropriate with clients or with your boss.

It depends.

But use your best judgment.

Now, the last two common expressions

that I'm gonna talk about

are more flexible than the other examples.

You can change the pronouns

depending on the subject.

For example, "on my way"

is very common in American English.

It means that you are in the process

of going from one place to another.

And you may say "on my way back from work."

Or "on her way back from work."

Or "on his way back from work."

You can also say "on the way to work."

Or, "We're on our way."

And there are lots of possibilities with this one.

And if you can master it,

you will be on your way

to better fluency.

"Take your time" is also very flexible

and very common.

It implies not hurrying something.

"Take your time" is the same as saying

"don't worry, you don't need to rush."

So you might say to a client,

"I'll send you a quote right after this call."

and they might say, "Yeah sure, take your time,

"there is no rush!"

Other examples.

You can take your time on a phone call.

She can take her time at the gym.

They can take their time shopping.

Really, the possibilities are endless

with this one.

Now, how about you?

What other common expressions,

or chunks, or formulaic expressions,

do you already know in English

and that you've heard many times

from Americans or other native speakers?

Share your ideas in the comments below.

And you can actually teach someone else

something in English.

And, remember, if you're a busy professional

who needs to level up your fluency,

but you find it difficult to do it alone,

let me help you, with Master Real American English.

It's a 3-month coaching program

in which my team and I empower you

to express yourself fluently and naturally,

so that people focus on your professional skills

and your expertise, not on your level of English.

For more information, click on the link below

in the show notes, where you can apply

to join this program today.

Thank you so much for learning English

with Speak English with Christina,

and I'll see you next time!