Fast Track to Fluency | Linking Words | Although, Even Though, In Spite Of

41,622 views ・ 2017-10-06

Eat Sleep Dream English


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In this mini-series we're going to look at simple steps that we can take to improve our
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spoken fluency. I want to show the things in English that you can focus on to help you
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to communicate your ideas as clearly as possible. Today we're starting with linking words. Don't
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go anywhere!
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Hello, if you haven't met me, my name is Tom and I teach fresh modern British English so
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that you can take your English to the next level and achieve your life goals. Today we're
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looking at linking words and specifically linking words that are going to help us to
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contrast our ideas. Linking words are the words that we use to connect our ideas. They
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also help the listener to follow our thoughts and what we are trying to say. And because
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they help us to join our thoughts and our ideas they are a great way to make us sound
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more fluent.
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Ok, I've got two sentences, let's see what you think. 'My holiday was really expensive.
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I had a good time.' Ok, two sentences not very connected though are they? Two sentences
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relating to the same subject but they don't feel very connected. So what words can we
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use to connect them? Well, we've got a couple of words. Let's have a look. 'My holiday was
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really expensive but I had a good time' 'but I had a good time'. Alright, so we've got
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but, nice informal word. I'm sure most of you have used it before. But I had a good
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time. How about this one? 'My holiday was very expensive however I had a good time'
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'however I had a good time'. Alright, so the same thing, contrasting two ideas. It's the
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same meaning as but, but maybe not quite so informal. Ok, what about slightly more formal
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again? 'My holiday was very expensive nevertheless I had a good time' 'nevertheless i had a good
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time.' So there, same meaning as however but it's slightly more formal, ok? So fantastic,
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we've got three words that are connecting these two ideas. In terms of the position
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in a sentence usually we don't put but at the beginning of a sentence, certainly not
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in written English, in spoken English you might start with but. However can go at the
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beginning or in the middle, sometimes at the end as well. nevertheless also can go in the
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middle, at the beginning, at the end, depending on the situation. If we want to make something
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that we have already said sound less strong then we use these two words 'mind you' and
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'still'. They are both quite informal, usually in spoken English. 'He's always late. Mind
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you so am I' So I'm trying to contrast these two things. He's always late. I'm trying to
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soften that by saying well ok me too. So maybe trying to not sound so strong or I don't want
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to sound mean so yeah he's always late, ok mind you so am I. Maybe we're trying to provide
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some balance to what we are saying here. He's always late but ok mind you so am I. 'I don't
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like my flat. Still the location is pretty good.' So again I'm trying to soften that
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first thing by saying well ok, it's not a nice flat but the location is ok. So I'm trying
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to soften it and balance out what I'm trying to say. Now a great linking word is although
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and we use this to contrast one clause with another clause. Often when maybe there's a
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surprising fact or something unexpected then we'll use although. 'Although I'm shy, I still
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like to meet new people.' So although is contrasting the fact that although I'm shy but surprisingly
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I like to meet new people. So again contrasting two things. So maybe something is slightly
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unexpected or a bit surprising we'll contrast it in that way. 'They really love each other
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although i don't think they are going to get married yet.' Again, contrasting these two
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things. They really love each other but I don't think they'll get married yet. So you
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kind of balance out these two things. We can also use even though in place of although,
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they are synonyms in this situation. 'Even though I'm shy, I like to meet new people.'
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It's the same meaning as although in this situation. If you want to compare two things
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and show that there is a big difference you can use the word 'whereas'. 'Bankers get paid
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millions whereas nurses and teacher get paid nearly nothing.' So whereas is contrasting
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these two ideas and showing how big a difference there is. Millions of pounds for the bankers,
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not a lot of money for the teachers and nurses for example. 'My brother is amazing at football
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whereas I'm terrible.' Again, contrasting the difference between our abilities to play
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football. If we want to show surprise at two contrasting things we can use yet, still or
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in spite of. For example 'I woke up super late today and yet i still managed to get
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to work on time.' So there, it's quite a surprising
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thing, I woke up really late, super late and the surprising thing is that I got to work
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on time. So with yet or still or in spite of we can show that surprise. Let me add in
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spite of to show you how I'd use that. So I'd put that at the beginning and I'd use
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it with an -ing form, ok? So 'In spite of waking up late I got to work on time.' So
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you see it's in spite of and then waking with the -ing form there. 'In spite of waking up
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late I got to work on time.' Alright, so those are some really great linking words to join
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your ideas together and create more fluent sentences. I want to say a particular thank
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you to Ellen and Urara who asked their question about how they can make more fluent sentences
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and sentences that are a little more complicated so not just short sentences but using words
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to join up their sentences to create longer structures. So a little thank you to Ellen
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and Urara who asked that question, I hope you found that useful. I will do more videos
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on linking words because I think they are really useful. We will look at different categories
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of linking words and how best to use them. But today I just wanted to focus on words
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that helped us to contrast different ideas. Alright guys, thank you so much for hanging
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out with me. Remember I've got new videos every Tuesday and every Friday bringing you
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fresh modern British English. This is Tom, the Chief Dreamer, saying goodbye.
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