How To Use THE Like A Native English Speaker

have any issues with connectivity it always takes  me a while to draw these so I think we're good  

all right as we welcome new people here I am  Drew Badger the founder of englishanyone.com  

and the English fluency guide today I thought  I would make an interesting video for you about  

the word the and how to use it like a native  speaker I wanted to make this video because a  

while ago I got a video from Viviana this is a  student in fluent for life and she used a lot  

of great native uses of the which really made  her sound like a native speaker I was impressed  

about that and so I thought I would share a lot  of those and many more in this video [Music]  

so pardon me is that erase these over here  let me know if chat is working so you can  

just comment tell me where you're from  or if you have any questions that kind  

of thing I'll try to be quick as usual  and then I'll stay around I don't have  

that much time for this video today but I will  do my best to answer any questions people have

but let's get into it what let's see uh okasa  from Indonesia nice to see you there all right  

well let's get rolling I will come back and check  uh questions later and then we'll see how we do  

so as I mentioned this is about the word the and  the basic meaning you've probably seen videos or  

you've learned about this in school and you've  probably used it many times the is about seven  

percent of written text so you might have like  five percent seven percent around that so it's  

the most commonly used word in English but I'd  really like to help you use it more like a native  

speaker because the definitions or the examples  of it that you usually get in textbooks are not  

they're kind of incomplete really natives actually  use the the word in in many ways and we'll cover  

a lot of those in the video we won't be able to  cover all of them because there are really too  

many but the point of this video really is to help  you think and speak more like a native especially  

using this very important word uh so just to give  a very quick lesson about the the common uses of  

it uh so this is the definite article and we have  the indefinite articles as well so we have a and  

an and the only time we're really talking about  the difference between these is when something  

is specific or when something is not so as an  example and and I just want to cover this very  

quickly because you're probably familiar with  these rules already but just in case so we have  

a and and we're talking about something uh kind  of unspecific like a marker could you give me a  

marker could you give me a marker so in that  case you're being not specific unspecific you  

don't care about which marker so this is a marker  this is a marker this is a marker this is one of  

the first lessons that you learn uh when learning  English so this is a marker we use a or uh when  

we're talking about like a marker a book something  like that where it's easy to say the word so a  

marker a book but if we have an eraser so we  have the word e over here so the Eraser eraser

the sound of it and eraser sounds  much easier than if we just have a  

eye eraser oh eraser okay so we have and here  just to make it easier to say everybody should be  

familiar with these rules of the uh a and versus  the over here now basically these two are exactly  

the same it's just for pronunciation purposes and  which is easier to say so if we have a word like  

umbrella and umbrella is easier to say but if  we're talking about a specific one like I want  

the black marker we want this thing and not the  other one so we're not talking about a marker we  

want the marker all right so these are the basic  fundamental rules about a and so these are the  

indefinite articles versus the definite article  these are all determiners as well and I won't  

even go into like all of the different determiners  you could use this video really is just about the  

but I want to make sure everybody has a basic  understanding just for these things that you  

might find in like other videos or textbooks  this is is a regular textbook definition and  

of course there are more meanings or more uses  of it where we talk about specific types of  

water like the Mississippi River or the something  like that you can find those rules very clearly  

but let's get into the native uses all right so  oh no look at that the bottom of that fell out  

but I've got my spare over here look at that  I came prepared I came prepared all right  

so uh and and we're going to  forget about those right now  

and I'm actually well I'm going to put them  let's see I'll put oh and and over here just  

as a contrast so uh and then we've got the like  the regular uses of the over here so something  

non-specific versus something specific but  natives are actually using the language or  

this specific word the in a more kind of specific  and non-specific way at the same time all right  

so it's almost like a middle between a and the uh  between so between a or n and the this is the way  

natives are using the language and so that's what  we're going to talk about right now so as I as I  

give you a bunch of examples of these you have  probably heard some of these before maybe some  

of these will be new but the goal really is to  help you sound much more conversational in your  

conversations all right so let's go we're going to  start with places for these I've got a whole list  

of them already because I'm not going to remember  all of these I try to be you know a good teacher  

and remember as many of these as I can but uh  hopefully this should be more entertaining for you  

so we're going to talk about places first and how  natives use this word so we'll talk about places

p-l-a-c-e-s places all right so  on the most the basic level we  

might talk about places people are  very frequently like uh the office

or the store all right so when we're talking  about places uh natives will say if you're  

talking about where you work so if I'm on the  phone with a friend of mine he says oh where are  

you right now I could say I'm at the office  I'm at the office now we're being specific  

using the word the and he probably knows I  mean my own office like I'm not saying I'm  

in just like some random office but it's the  kind of thing where we're being non-specific  

and specific at the same time isn't that  weird but this is a conversational way  

of saying this like you could say I'm at  my office I'm at my office right now but  

conversationally the office will just sound much  more natural yeah I'm at the office right now  

oh where are you calling me from yeah I'm calling  you from the office calling you from the office  

so there's even a TV show about that like the  office and this is the native understanding of  

it's a specific office we're talking about but  it's kind of like a general thing as well like  

that could be any office anywhere all right but  in this sense we're talking about the office like  

my office my office all right so hopefully this  makes sense it should be pretty easy we're going  

to cover a bunch of examples and that will  be a little bit easier than just trying to  

remember some rules about it but let's think  of some more and if you think of anything in  

the comments so specific places we might use  like this so we've got the office just think  

about the at the beginning of all these so the  office uh the store we might have the gas station

whoops so the gas station or the train station as  well so just we'll just put station here so if I  

talk with a friend of mine he says where are you  oh I'm at the station right now I'm at the station  

the station now it might not matter what station  I'm at so maybe I'm talking with him if I'm trying  

to meet him or her for some purpose oh yes I'm at  the train station right now or I'm at the airport  

I'm at the airport all right we would never say  I'm at an airport right now it's logically or  

grammatically possible to use this but it would  be very it would just sound kind of unnative  

or non-native I guess so if if I'm talking with  a friend of mine and I have no like connection  

or anything about what we're doing today we're  not meeting for any reason I just say oh I'm at  

the airport or I'm at the station like where are  you right now this is where I am but we use the  

because we're talking about a specific thing and  it's specific to me even if it's not specific to  

the other person now from there we might go into  more like oh what station are you at or where  

specifically what station specifically okay but in  general this is how we're describing these things  

in a regular conversation conversationally I'm at  the store the gas station okay we might have the  

the park so yesterday I was at the park  with my children my children my kids I  

was at the park I was at the park were  you at the park did you go to the park  

now I might be obviously at a specific Park but  nobody really cares what park I'm talking about  

unless maybe they have a question about that and  they ask me which park or what park did you go  

to all right but in general if I'm just at a park  uh it would be it would sound a little bit odd if  

a friend of mine asks me oh where are you right  now and I say oh I am at I'm at a park right now  

that would sound almost like too formal for the  conversation it would be correct English I am at  

a park right now like I am in a building right now  but the park sounds a lot more conversational I'm  

at the park all right now an interesting thing  I think somebody just mentioned uh uh I'm at  

home yeah yeah so if you can be at home now this  is an interesting one you could be at the house

I'm at the house right now I'm at the house  so I'm not at the office I'm at the house  

it's again correct and perfectly fine to  say my house so I can say I'm at my house  

right now but I can also say I'm at the  house I'm at the house I'm at the house  

all right now here's a quick question for you  just to test this uh we'll see if you can give  

me some native answers this should be pretty  easy but if you were very hot and you would  

like to go for a swim where might you go and how  would you say that like a native should be very  

easy just comment right in the chat right now if  you are very hot so it's a hot summer day maybe  

it's getting it's getting pretty warm over here as  well it's very hot today and I want to go swimming  

where might I go where might I go all right I'll  give you a second I'll give a few more examples up  

here uh but just post that in the comments let me  know where you would go if it's hot and you want  

to go swimming should be very easy all right  so other places we might go I am at the bank

or I'm at the post office [Music]

so notice these are all well I'm going to the  pool bam I'm going to the beach excellent all  

right so the pool where the beach I'm at the  beach all right so right now I'm enjoying the  

weather I'm enjoying the beautiful weather we'll  talk about some of those words in a minute but  

I'm enjoying the beautiful weather at the beach  the beach okay now A friend of mine might ask me  

what beach okay again yes you might go very  good it's about going to the pool the pool  

all right artero is back so the pool the beach  the post office the store the gas station so any  

place around town you could go to you would  really be talking about it doesn't matter if  

if it's like if it's if uh like a specific  store like I am at the Whole Foods or the  

specific grocery store name on this street most  people don't care in conversations unless it's  

important to share more information uh about that  particular thing okay so you can say hey let's go  

to the pool let's go to the pool let's go to the  beach let's go to the park now we might not know  

what park we want to go to but we begin with just  the idea of the park anyway all right all right  

any questions about that all right so hopefully  these are just basic things any place around town  

now where might you go another quick question  for you where might you go where would you go  

where might you go if you want to get your hair  done so there's a typical place maybe men use  

this vocabulary more and women use this other  vocabulary so there are two things if you're a  

man or a woman where might you go to get your  hair done to get your hair maybe get a haircut  

get your hair shampooed or whatever where would  you go where would you go someone asked me if  

I've been doing more exercise I do the same amount  of exercise usually or boom Andres says going to  

the barber shop very good going to the barber shop  now where might I go if I'm if I'm a woman usually  

like the ladies plays what's the name of that  I might go to the so we have the so barber shop  

so you could just save the barber also yeah  you could say the barber so you could again  

like it's correct to say I go to uh Barber go to  a barber but conversationally we just say yeah  

I'm at the barber I'll go to the barber  Okay so we've got hairdresser very good

now hairdresser is a slightly older expression  

people do still use this you can  also call this the hair salon

the hair salon yeah I'm going to the hair salon  look at that oh that's nice and fancy and modern  

the hair salon the hair salon so if again a  friend you're talking with them and it's not  

important what specific hair salon or Barber  or whatever whatever the particular location  

is you're just being conversational okay so  again to the station go to Supercuts okay  

yes so if you go to a specific place then we would  say oh I go to the Super Cuts on this street or  

if you just want to talk about the name of that  company and it doesn't matter which which location  

I go to Super Cuts all right so Barber yeah you  can say it doesn't matter Barbara or Barbershop  

both of those are fun I need to go to the barber  so I'm thinking oh no my hair is getting a little  

bit long I'm talking with my friends I I think  I need to go to the barber I haven't been to the  

barber in a while of course I mean any Barber I  could say I haven't been to any or I haven't been  

to a barber in a while but most people would just  say the barber okay so it's it's again it's like  

the idea of that thing even though we're being  again specific but General at the same time but  

this is the conversational way we talk about  that it's almost like an idea of what a barber  

shop is okay even if we're not talking about  a specific place so I might move to a new city  

all right I might move to a new city and I don't  know a good barber shop I don't know about like  

a good record store so I don't know maybe where  I should go so I'm looking for a good place do  

you know of like a good record store so I can ask  people logically grammatically I can use uh like  

that like a record store a record shop or a barber  shop or a park a station a gas station a store  

so do you know of a good store around here but  if I'm saying like you know I need to go to the  

grocery store right now I need to get some eggs  I need to go to the grocery store so maybe I'm  

thinking of a specific store but it doesn't really  matter most people don't care so that's why we can  

use the without going into more details about  it okay any questions about that so these are  

all basic places and we can talk about a general  place or even a specific place but it just sounds  

more casual and conversational with the with uh  all right nice to see more comments here people  

uh I'm not trying to ignore people I want to get  through these because we have a lot of examples  

and it's really through the examples that you will  understand this more like a native so native kids  

are listening to these examples all the time so  Mom says oh I need to go to the store I need to  

go to the hardware store I need to go to the  park I need to go to this place to that place  

all right so as they hear those examples they feel  more kind of used to that or they understand that  

people are using that in a conversational way all  right so if you can think of any more you can put  

them down in uh just down in the chat and then  again we can cover those if you like but these  

are general just places again we've got uh you  might even have a specific place like the corner  

so I meet my friends or I met my friends at  the corner yesterday so just like the corner of  

some street and maybe I don't even care uh what  specific Corner you're talking about obviously  

there are many corners in a street so a street  corner but I'm talking I'm thinking of a specific  

one so I met them on the corner yesterday and then  we went to the airport then we went to the concert  

okay so now we'll talk a little bit more about  uh other specific not necessarily places but  

things and so we can connect these as well  we've already had a few examples of them but  

I'm going to erase places and we'll talk about  some things the things if you can think of any  

I don't really like this eraser and use my  one that fell on the ground over here try  

this one again what's nice you can kind of  flip this one over see if that erases better

that's pretty good

all right so we're going to  coin uh continue over here  

let's say I like to uh on a Sunday  morning I like to read the paper

I like to read the paper what am I talking about  if I like to read the paper now it's obviously  

it's specific for me but it's non-specific for  other people but people generally have the idea  

of reading the paper as what I'm sure some of  you know what this is even if you're using uh  

the internet now but everybody should know  the paper means the newspaper okay very good  

Jay comes in there yes and the psychotic  American teacher as well oh my goodness  

you're psychotic you should seek help hopefully  you are doing all right the paper as in newspaper  

yes that's correct so I'm reading the paper  I like to read the paper I like to read the  

and this is a uh if you guys know you look  stronger okay all right people here focus  

focus on the board focus on the board all right so  read the paper now there's a word for the comics  

so the comics [Music] so the comics inside  that we can also refer to that that as the

f-u-n-n-i-e-s the funnies yeah I was reading  the funnies isn't that weird this is kind of  

an older expression you can talk about the comics  section of a newspaper this is where the cartoons  

are uh but this section is also called the funnies  the funnies I know teaching made you psychology  

I know the feeling I know the  feeling it can get crazy sometimes it  

all right you need to read the funnies  hopefully that will calm you down all right  

so when I'm reading the paper I like to read the  comics I like to read the funnies I might read  

the sports section I might read the editorials  or the editorials okay and that's just for the  

newspaper so I'm talking about a specific section  but I don't even know or maybe you don't know  

what specific paper I'm talking about maybe I  read I don't know whatever local paper for my  

local area or a national paper or something else  okay but this is what I mean I like to read the  

paper and then someone might ask me oh what  paper do you like what paper are you reading  

okay what newspaper do you like and then we can  go into more detail about that but generally we  

can start with this you will hear me repeating  this again and again because I want to make it  

very clear we're just being conversational without  trying to be too specific unless it matters and  

in that case we would get more information from  someone else all right next we've also got the

the energy I don't really have the  energy uh to teach people today I'm  

very I'm feeling very uh feeling  very tired I don't have the energy  

to teach you so we don't even know specifically  how much how much energy are we talking about  

okay the energy I don't have the  energy we might also not have the  

the time the time could you give us quickly  explanation about the pronunciation of the yes  

so you will hear me it's much better rather than  getting a like a pronunciation rule about this  

just to hear my examples so sometimes if we hear  a word like so there is a movie like the planet  

of the Apes now you might hear like just because  the is connected with p over here like the planet  

the planet the planet so this sounds easily  uh kind of flows easily together the planet  

the planet if I say the planet it sounds a little  bit it's a little bit extra effort to say that the  

planet but the Planet of the Apes so Vapes it's  almost like it's it's too connected Vibes so it  

might say the plant of the Apes Planet of the Apes  the Planet of the Apes so really the pronunciation  

of the is connected to the next word following it  all right and rather than uh try to try to think  

of a rule for this it's better just to listen to  lots of examples which you will hear in this video  

so I'm going to the store the store the beach  the playground the park uh the bank I've got  

the energy all right so again we've got the if I  say the I don't have the energy the energy it's a  

little it's a little harder to say that because  the sound is basically the same the energy it  

sounds like one thing the energy so we would say  the the energy I don't have the energy to say this  

okay so again rather than trying to go through a  list of rules what we really want to do is give  

you lots of examples and that's how you hear it  all right all right let's see so V Energy V8s

listen for the sound of the word listen carefully  to native speakers okay hopefully that makes sense  

all right so we've got the paper the time  the energy I might be talking about people  

as well uh tomorrow I've got the family  coming over tomorrow I've got the family

I've got the family coming over now what might  this mean it usually means like my extended  

family so if I have my sister and her family or my  brother and his family other people coming to my  

house for the holidays [Music] the holidays the  holidays okay now the holidays typically refers  

to a specific time at the end of the year but it's  usually for a group of people so I have like the  

Christmas or New Year's or whatever the particular  holiday is near the end of the year this is  

typically what we talk about as the holidays  we're not talking about Valentine's Day or  

President's Day or something in the United States  it's usually where we have a lot of holidays at  

the same time yeah so the family is coming over  for a family gathering I might have the parents

I could again even be talking about my own  parents I could say my parents are coming to  

my house uh for dinner tomorrow or I could sound  again just being a bit more casual conversational  

the parents are coming over for dinner so people  understand I'm talking about my parents it's okay  

to say my it's not a bad thing again it's just  this is another example and I want you to be  

prepared for when you hear other natives say that  like what do you mean the parents or what parents  

are you talking about you mean your own parents  so I might also have the in laws the in-laws  

the in-laws so notice the pronunciation again  here so we've got it it if I have the in-law  

the in-laws it's a little bit more difficult to  say the in-laws that's why we say the in-laws  

be in laws so it's the same word pronunciation  just changes a little bit to make it easier to say  

if there's a rule you need to think of I call this  really the one rule for pronunciation that I teach  

more uh and speak like me but this is the basic  idea where it's just meant to be easier to say  

vegan laws the in-laws so the parents the  parents the in-laws the parents the in-laws  

all right of course we mentioned  this earlier we've got the weather

another common usage oh how's the weather today  so if we're asking questions about these things  

as well how's the weather how's the weather of  course I'm talking about the weather where you  

are or the weather where I will be tomorrow so if  I'm traveling Oh how is the weather in Tokyo how  

is the weather in Sao Paulo how is the weather in  Texas how is the weather in whatever all right so  

we're talking about that specific thing but in  general like we can also as I'll mention in a  

little bit we can talk about the weather generally  in a place like uh the weather in Alaska is nice  

in the summertime and very cold in winter so  the weather in that particular place the weather  

okay pretty simple examples but again I want  you to just I really really want you to get  

you thinking more like a native by using  these examples of the rather than uh or  

Anne or something even if that's grammatically  correct so the these are not grammatically  

incorrect examples these are correct as  well they just sound more conversational

all right next let me clear some space

we might also have the problem

what's the problem what's the problem what's the  problem uh what's my I think someone just adds  

here let's see how our sister's husbands called  in English that would be my brother-in-law my  

brother-in-law my brother-in-law so  what's the problem what's the issue

what's the reason

if we're getting talking about something  specific and we want to know or at least  

uh like I might have like you know I'm  worried about something and someone  

just asked me hey what's the problem yep  what's the matter Salim a good example  

what's the matter what's the matter  what's the matter or the situation

so if I come into a room and it looks like people  are arguing with each other or there's a problem  

or something I always say what's what's the  situation what's the situation so it's another  

way of asking what's happening what's going on  in this situation in this room what's happening  

what's the situation all right and now we'll  have a few quick examples about time the native  

speakers use these are uh longer phrases but  these are very useful and you will hear them a lot

the good old days the good old days so  we're talking about so we have the good  

old days so if I'm thinking remembering  uh remembering years ago when I used to  

be a kid and play with my friends and go  to the park or go to the local restaurant  

or whatever those are or those were  the good old days the good old days  

the good old days so I'm talking about a specific  time but yet it's still General The Glory Days

The Glory Days yeah so again we're  talking about sometime probably when  

I was a kid or maybe when I was  in college or something like that  

yep the bad weekend you can talk about  specific time periods like that as well

we can also talk about the other day

now this is a native casual conversation yes  back in the day is another one as well I'm back  

in the day now back in the day is a more modern  expression so you will hear people using this like  

younger Generations you typically wouldn't hear  it's like the good old days is it like an older  

expression and back in the day is a younger  expression but you can notice they're still  

talking about the so back in the day back in  the day back in the day back in the day you  

know things have changed a lot back in the day I  used to I had to type on a typewriter rather than  

use a computer so back in the day or in the good  old days in the good old days the good old days  

all right I'm old 38 years  young yes yeah that's Young  

all right and we also had one last  example here for the time being

b-e-i-n-g time being for the time being it just  means right now but again we're talking casually  

conversationally for the time being we just mean  right now for the time being so maybe I'm uh I'm  

working at a job I don't like very much and  someone says oh you should get a different  

job and I say well this is okay for the time  being it's okay for now for the time being for  

the time being all right but again all of these  are using the in a very casual conversational  

way being specific but not specific at the same  time I know that sounds weird but just imagine it  

like it's like someone could be thinking about  a specific time but it doesn't really matter  

in the meantime as well yeah you could  use that as well so in the meantime

all right so some more examples more examples  look at that you guys get lots of examples today  

now let's say I am enjoying I like watching  baseball on Saturday so I might tell people what  

I enjoy what so I'm watching baseball  or football or basketball or whatever  

or soccer I have a particular sport  I enjoy so I like watching the game

so again this is another thing this is a a  really a conversational very common expression  

for just watching some kind of sporting event so  I like in general to watch the game on Saturday  

or I like meeting my friends to go to the game  

okay it's a game so it could be watching a game  and we're not even talking specifically about a  

particular game or a particular sport but usually  people have an idea of what that is and if the  

listener cares they can ask oh what do you mean  what game are you talking about but usually people  

people like they they have a connection already  where they understand these things without needing  

to explain that so my friend already knows I  like baseball or basketball or something and  

I say yeah I really I can't go I'm watching the  game on Sunday night so he probably means all like  

probably some basketball game or my home teams  game or whatever so I'm thinking of a specific  

thing even though I can generally use this so  some people like to watch the game on Sunday  

we don't know what game it is but it usually means  some kind of sporting event and if you care if you  

like knowing or if you want to ask someone hey  would you like to come watch the game with me  

and then they will say oh what do you  mean a game of chess or something and  

native speakers would understand ah  you're talking about a sporting event

yes pronunciation will also differ depending on  where you are in the United States that's true  

oh yeah so we might have uh the plan [Music]  

so what's the plan for Saturday what's the plan so  I might ask my wife hey what's the plan for today  

what's the plan what's the plan for today what's  the plan do we have a plan for today I can ask  

that as well but I can also say what's the plan  what's the plan what's the plan so there are many  

ways to use this the again it just lets us express  it in a very casual and conversational way what's  

the plan all right so I think we covered a few  more of those we've already gone half an hour  

into this video my goodness I'll give you a few  chores I'll give you another chance to answer  

some questions can you think of any chores  let me erase this here kid are also using the

what are some chores that we might do  so I have to do some things maybe I  

don't want to do them I don't like  doing them these things are called  

chores a chore can you think of any I'll  start you off with one we have take out

the take out the trash

can you think of any more wash the  dishes very good wash the dishes

wash the dishes

let's see so you could say do the dishes wash  the dishes wash the dishes do the dishes as  

well I have to do the dishes so people aren't  asking what specific dishes am I talking about  

all right so you might in this  case that's a good example make  

the bed I've got to make the bed I make the  bed after I wake up I make the bed of course  

I'm talking about my bed and I can say that but  really it sounds just a little less conversational  

every morning I wake up and I make my bed I have  to make my bed make my bed yes what the this  

another good example so I'm  talking about something specific  

all right so you can so these things you will hear  as you hear different examples of them you will  

think okay is it make something or do something  it's just it's better not to remember a bunch of  

rules about that often the rules can be broken  anyway so just like young kids that are learning  

the language you want to just get many examples  get many examples so we gotta make the bed or  

we could have again do or wash the dishes take  out the trash see if we had any more over here  

what do you call your wife's your wife's sister's  husband yeah he'd also be my my brother-in-law  

so if I'm if if I'm married and I have uh my  wife's sister and she's married her husband  

would still be my brother-in-law so my wife  is or my wife's sister is my sister-in-law  

and her husband is my brother-in-law all right  so the mopping that's right so you could do I  

think British English uh do the dishes they  call that the washing up the washing up but  

you'll notice they still use the the washing  up to do the laundry that's right the laundry

to do the laundry to do the laundry to do  the laundry of course I'm talking about my  

laundry all right so every Saturday I do  my laundry you will very rarely hear that  

every Saturday I do the laundry I do the  laundry much more casual and conversational  

I dust every other day so you could do the

the dusting so any kind of cleaning like I  do the cleaning the dusting the vacuuming  

or I walk walk the dog I walk the dog  

so there's an L in here I walk the dog I walk the  dog I don't like to do the laundry very good I  

don't like to do the laundry yeah a lot of people  don't like to do the laundry they don't like to  

do the ironing the cleaning okay the ironing  you hear the difference in my pronunciation the  

ironing or the dusting the ironing the dusting all  right so you can hear why that is so iron begins  

with that I sound the ironing the ironing sounds a  little hard to say so the ironing is easier to say  

all right so like running errands do you like  let's see uh lessons about YouTube that talk about  

IELTS exam do you have any lessons on uh no I do  not cover the IELTS specifically you should find  

other people who do you can easily search YouTube  for that all right yes some people do love to do  

the irony or the washing or whatever the laundry  some people like to do that all right and that's  

okay I like to fold the laundry I don't like to do  the laundry I like to fold the laundry the laundry  

okay any questions about this so more chores  especially walking the dog of course you can  

talk about my dog I have to walk my dog today  but people will often just say I have to walk  

the dog and you'll notice part of it it's  being casual and conversational but it's  

also faster and smoother to say this so let's  try walk walk my dog so walk my dog and walk  

the walk of the dog so if I say walk my dog this  transition here from the K to the m walk my dog  

it takes a little bit more time to say that walk  my dog but walk the dog much faster walk the dog

I don't like to do nothing well you you mean  William I think you mean I don't like to do  

anything I don't like to do anything all  right or you would say I like doing nothing  

I like doing nothing yes if you pay for other  people to do these for you that's fine as well  

can we see can we say the brooming we wouldn't  use broom as a verb like that but we could use  

the sweeping I like to do the sweeping or sweeping  up all right V sounds like Shakespearean language  

it's just the pronunciation is a little bit  easier that way but that's why we have these  

different pronunciations yes make the bed so  we've got that up here as well make the bed  

all right two more examples uh depending on  if you have these where you are so we have cut  

the grass and mo the law so there are others maybe  for gardening or things like that you might have  

like to weed the flower beds to walk the children  I guess you could walk the children if you're  

exercising them or something like you walk the  children to school walk the children to school  

and again that's another good example of you're  talking about probably your children specifically  

to mow the lawn to mow the lawn so I could mow  the lawn with a lawnmower clean the house okay  

so again I'm talking about my house people will  generally understand I'm cleaning my house not  

just houses in my area all right so broom is a is  a noun like the physical thing this is a broom and  

the action is the sweeping so you don't you don't  broom something you sweep you sweep with a broom  

all right all right I think we have a few  more examples here I don't want to make  

this too long but I thought this last set  uh would be particularly valuable because  

it might not be known by many people  so we'll move on from chores over here

and this is something I don't hear from non-native  speakers as often which is why I want to cover it

really strong markers all right say thanks  I don't like to do anything there you go but  

yes if you've got a better time or you want  to spend your time doing something else and  

you can hire people to do work for you that's  perfectly fine you can do that as well it's  

pretty smart actually uh all right so let's  talk about like if you're doing something or  

talking about something in a particular  place so as an example uh the fishing

so if I let me I'm going to get people in the  comments complaining about my bad handwriting I  

know it so let me be a bit more clear here so the  fishing in uh or let's just say the fishing here  

make it easy the fishing here is great what do I  mean by that the fishing here is great the fishing  

here is great so this means usually I can catch  a lot of fish or it's fun to fish or it's easy  

to fish in a particular place so if I'm in a pond  you imagine a pond like this this place right here  

oh the fishing over here is great so the fishing  here is great but the fishing over here oh that's  

terrible the fishing over here is terrible so we  can talk about something in a particular place  

very useful uh way of creating some very simple  phrases but this is how natives usually speak  

about things like this so we're talking about a  location or something happening or some attribute  

of something like that okay so typically a place  so the fishing here is great or the fishing here  

is terrible all right so we can use this same  pattern when we talk about really any location  

and we can talk about anything related to that  so if I'm going skiing I might say the snow  

the snow here and it could be like it doesn't  mean only here I could say the snow on that  

mountain is great the snow on that mountain is  great or the snow on that mountain is not so good  

so I can talk about a particular thing  at a place and describe how it is  

all right maybe like the teaching in this video is  not so good someone could say that so the teaching  

here or the teaching in this video is not so good  or they could say the teaching is excellent all  

right so you're talking about a particular  thing like a verb you're doing something  

or I could talk about a noun in this  way and still describe it all right so  

this becomes a noun like the fishing  I'm talking about a specific thing  

okay the fishing the Snowman all right  now let's say I go to a restaurant and  

I'm asking a chef here or I'm asking my  waiter I might say oh what do you recommend

so I'm asking a question what do you recommend  and the person says oh like the the lobster  

is excellent

a lobster is excellent all right so the  teaching in this video is great you're too kind  

all right so the lobster is excellent  I'm talking about a thing in a place  

so of course like the lobster means like the dish  the food that we make the lobster whatever we do  

we're not talking about one Lobster with a name  and a personality we're just talking in general  

about that so again the has this interesting uses  the usage of specific and general at the same time  

the lobster is excellent or you could say I love  

so I love the fish at this restaurant I love the  hamburger but stay away from this other thing  

all right so the lobster is expensive so if you're  talking again like you want to be like the Lobster  

at this place that's the meaning the lobster  is uh is excellent the lobster is expensive  

so if I'm sitting with my friend at a seafood  restaurant I say oh you should get uh the tuna  

the tuna is a great value the tuna is a great  value the tuna is a great value or you can say  

the tuna has a great value either one so the tuna  is a great value but the lobster is expensive  

the lobster is expensive all right do you like  uh Mexican food Italian or Chinese I like all  

those actually I like lots of lots of different  kinds of food it's interesting Japanese is not  

my favorite kind of food actually but it's nice  I can get other things occasionally Mexican or  

Thai or Indian food a lot of Indian food in  in Japan as well so the lobster is excellent  

uh or I could be talking about a group  of people like the the staff is nice  

so the staff at this hotel is nice the staff  at the hotel is nice the staff is nice so I'm  

talking generally about people there might be  some bad people but generally I could say yeah  

the staff the staff is nice so the people who  work at the hotel are nice the staff is nice

or like the employees are good look Colombia  in the house says Richard hello welcome  

so Richard is in the house Richardson  Richard is in the house the house  

all right so if I talk about like  let's say I'm traveling and a friend  

usually people will will get off the  airplane and they say how was the food

so how was the food on the  airplane how was the food  

people always wanted to know  how the food is on the airplane  

so how was the food on the airplane people might  not even say how was the food on the airplane but  

usually someone is taking a long trip they're on  an airplane I would say hey how was the food how  

was the food and they understand I'm talking  about the food on the airplane the airplane  

how was the food and they might say something  like oh like the food like the the chicken was  

great but uh the dessert was not so good so the  chicken was good but the dessert was not so good

so the food was delicious on the airplane  okay so maybe some of it was good or as the  

uh as a psychotic person might say the  food was balls if it was really awful  

oh my goodness all right any questions about that  pretty easy all right so I can talk about a place  

again like I mentioned the fishing is good here or  I could talk about like going to Australia and say  

wow this surfing is really great in Australia the  surfing is really great in Australia okay so I'm  

speaking generally even though there's probably  some specific thing I have in mind all right

all right and I think we've covered let's  see all right it's been 50 minutes already  

oh my goodness that's a long time uh but  hopefully you guys get this and as you get  

more examples in your listening uh to more  of these and you will kind of keep your ears  

open for these things uh as you hear them  all stay uh for a little bit and answer  

uh you have to try Arabian food yeah I've actually  tried I've tried food from all over the place many  

different places I've had Arabian food like  different I'm sure they're even like different  

kinds of that uh but yeah had lots of different  kinds of food all right so when you're thinking  

about these listen carefully to how natives are  using them listen carefully to the different  

pronunciation and why we do this again generally  it's just to make sure things are easier to say  

all right so the Planet of the Apes the Planet  of the Apes the Planet of the Apes all right  

from Kyrgyzstan nice to see everybody there all  right well that's it for this video uh if you are  

a member of fluent for life you will find a lot  more uh goes into much greater detail about this  

uh in the I believe it is the a new life lesson  set in the program if you're not in the program  

yet you can click on the link in the description  to learn more about that where we go into a lot  

more a lot more uses of determiners so these  are some of them right here but there are many  

many more uh that we talk about so uh if you  are already a member of the program I highly  

recommend you go back and review that lesson set  it will help you do these uh and also hear natives  

using these expressions in a real conversation all  right so I'll go back uh and check let's see here  

questions comments to see if anybody has anything  

let's see here I don't know this is going to be  too difficult to go back through all of these  

but everyone did a good job look at that  you guys did a good job all right let's see  

actually I think here if anybody has any any  new comments post them now because that will  

be easier uh than me trying to go back and look  through all of these give a hug to Brazil says  

Eduardo I can all right you go hug for you guys  how to speak native English not a bookish English  

so this is one example uh as I just gave it's  much better to focus on a particular thing and  

learn that really well and now that you've you've  heard all of these examples you will be listening  

for them uh much more in your conversations or  while you're watching movies and and TV shows  

that kind of thing so if you want to sound more  natural you have to follow more of what native  

speakers are doing it is what we do in fluent for  Life the whole point of that program is to train  

you from speaking like a student to speaking  like a native and understanding natives all  

right what about a hug for Mexico yes everybody  gets a hug out here hug for a hug for everybody  

a hug for Mexico all right but it looks like let's  see uh do I have an opinion on nfts do you mean  

nfts or I don't know what nfts is if that's one  thing if you mean nfts I don't know much about  

that I mean it's you're talking about like the  non-fungible tokens or whatever that whatever the  

acronym is if not if nfts means something else  then I don't know all right yes a great hug so  

no I do not I do not know about that uh and yes I  would not be the the person to ask about that as  

well I believe I can understand English now also  I can speak French Italian and Spanish very good  

all right let's see oh it looks like there's  some uh uh Chinese up there which I can't read  

but it looks like learning English I understand  that part but I can't read the uh the Chinese  

that's a nice thing about learning Japanese I  can understand uh some of the characters for  

for learning that and what do I think about Chad  GPD so I'm also not an expert in chat gbt I think  

you can find Value in chat GPT if you're trying  to learn English or just answer questions uh but  

um I don't know from the little I know about  it so from the little that I know about  

it meaning I don't know much about chat GPT  actually um I would I've heard that like it's  

it's like politically biased which sounds really  weird so this is like you're trying to train an  

AI uh to give you answers about things but  it's giving people like biased answers which  

is really unfortunate so I'm seeing examples  of that um but yeah I don't know much about it  

but certainly you can for for basic things  if you're trying to get answers about like  

what is this grammar point or whatever I would  use chat gbt to get naturally varied review so  

it's one way to get a certainly text examples of  sentences you can also do that with Google though  

so I don't know what additional benefit you would  get from that because you still need to hear lots  

of real examples of actual native speaking  but we'll see where where AI goes from that  

uh let's see okay Jay says I recently subscribed  to your channel and you're helping me tons in  

learning English thank you it's my pleasure speak  English outside is embarrassing and discomforting  

in non-english speaking countries what to do about  any tips let me know what your name is because I  

can't read the Cyrillic but in general what I  tell people is that the good news is you don't  

have to speak in order to improve your fluency I  know this may sound shocking to people especially  

if you've been told this all your life you need  to speak in order to improve but a lot of people  

number one they don't have speaking opportunities  number two if they do have speaking opportunities  

they are very shy number three even if they do try  to speak and they're they're like not shy about it  

they're still not using the language correctly  so there are lots of good reasons to not do that  

but really the fourth and most important reason is  that it's just not necessary so you don't actually  

have to speak in order to improve and that's  because the Improvement comes from understanding  

the language better so this is why I focus on  things like giving you a bunch of examples in a  

lesson rather than trying to give you uh like a  bunch of rules and telling you to remember that  

really like in this example we've got the just the  word the and we're covering lots of conversational  

examples of that and so now you will be listening  for even more of those examples in your everyday  

conversations but the point is when you understand  like a native which is what we're trying to do  

here when you understand like a native you will  think more like a native so you will speak more  

like a native as well so you don't have to worry  about being embarrassed or shy or anything all you  

need is more input so this is exactly what we do  in fluent for life you can obviously do this by  

yourself if you like but if you need some help and  you'd love to have someone that's just prepared  

everything for you and made it nice and easy  that's what we do in fluent for life all right uh

all right so when people say the game in the U.S  which game they usually refer to uh it could be  

basketball baseball um hockey any of the like  the four major sports uh so usually some kind  

of sporting event like that you wouldn't call  racing like car racing that would not be the  

game that would be probably the race so I like  watching the race or watching the racing uh on  

on weekends but you can ask people if they if  someone says yeah I can't meet or where I would  

like to go but I'm watching the game on Saturday  you can say oh what game are you watching that's  

a that's a perfectly fine question but people  often just they will just say the game because  

maybe some people will not care and it's faster  to just say the game than say oh I am watching  

a baseball game between this team and that  team you will rarely ever hear people say that  

uh it's only and they're just they're just being  faster and more conversational pretty girl says  

from 2015 I'm following you sir you are my big  inspiration with a big heart well glad to hear  

it hopefully you are improving so Matt says you  are a perfect teacher thank you to kind sounds  

free no copyright music that's an interesting  name let's see which way would you say it is  

best to improve faster because I have a specific  goal which is to be fluent I'm watching a ton of  

native content nowadays uh so number one uh you're  doing the right thing by watching native content  

but you really should be focusing on a particular  thing I made a video recently where I was talking  

about different ways of making espresso and so  this is one example of naturally varied review  

what people will do often is they will they will  like read a long novel or watch a few different  

movies but they don't review that content in any  way so they're not learning systematically and  

it's the systematic learning of native content  that gets you fluent in the fastest so rather  

than trying to watch a bunch of random movies  and there might be some overlap so as an example

maybe I watch uh I don't know watch it like an  action movie and I watch another action movie over  

here there's going to be some vocabulary that's  used in both of those like the word the obviously  

but other things there might be some words and  expressions that are used uh but a lot of it will  

be different and so you're not getting much review  of that you really want to get a lot of overlap so  

what I recommend is getting obviously something  where I'm watching like I did in that espresso  

video here's one person making espresso here's  another video of somebody making espresso here's  

another version like of another video person  making an espresso and so this vocabulary you know  

that really well this vocabulary you will know  that a little bit better and maybe some things  

you might still forget them but it's much better  and this is more systematic and so if you want to  

get fluent faster that's how you would do it so  you want to spend more time on less information  

more time on less information and again  this is one example of naturally varied  

review others would be hearing it at different  times different speeds or from different speech  

different speakers so I hear like a British  English person or an American English speaker  

or different places in America these are all  things we do in fluent for life all right uh

my name Fridays really your name is Fridays that's  an interesting name or affirmative something I  

can't I can't read over here okay furtives  fertives nice to meet you there all right  

uh so let's see good morning watching from the  Philippines is it because the company is more left  

uh uh well there's a I think there are lots of  reasons why that happens if you're talking about  

chat GPT but in general the the culture in America  is more like certainly recently more left leaning  

uh let's see is listening good enough to become  a good English student I want to make it clear I  

I often get this question about listening the  point is not just listening it's understanding  

the language and so you understand the language  best with lots of different kinds of input so not  

just listening to something you want to see it  like if I'm teaching my children if I'm teaching  

my children the word marker and I don't show them  what a marker is I only have them listen to that  

they're not going to know what a marker is so I  could describe it like oh a marker is like a long  

thing you write with it and I can explain what  it is but it's much faster just to show them the  

marker so it's not about just listening to it  I want to see it I want to write it myself so  

if I want to practice writing it like me if I'm  practicing Japanese I want to do like reading  

Japanese writing Japanese listening to it uh and  then speaking is a small part of that but most of  

the practice is done by yourself as you get more  information so that's what you should be doing to  

get fluent especially if you want to become fluent  as fast as possible I think it's uh I think in  

some sentences with defaults and grammar this  is a good way to learn English better or is it  

important to learn grammar in the same moment  so remember Eduardo uh good question you're  

talking about grammar like it like it's kind of  a separate thing from the vocabulary what we've  

learned here this is examples of how natives learn  the vocabulary so they're actually learning the  

grammar and pronunciation and grammar at the same  time so the vocabulary grammar pronunciation all  

these things you're actually learning them if you  learn them like a native that's how you learn them  

so all these things are connected and you don't  have to worry about like like oh no am I am I  

like studying some grammar rules over here because  you're getting all of that naturally as you get  

more examples so this is how natives learn this  is how you learned uh your native language as well  

uh let's see all right so William says I have  a big problem I can read and understand English  

basically when people speak but I can speak but  I can speak well my pronunciation is terrible  

yeah William you should get Frederick if you do  not have that already you can click on the link  

in the description to get that so this is our  app we developed for teaching pronunciation  

the same way native speakers are learning it  uh obviously we can't cover every accent but  

if you're listening to my pronunciation and you  learn the different individual sounds of English  

and you learn how to put them together  in sentences you will become much better  

at listening and pronouncing a language yoy  uses why do some teachers still teach English  

through translation since it's not effective I  think because it's faster I talk I talk about  

this uh in many videos but often like if you  look at this the speed for learning a language

so if you have to learn for a test very quickly  then it's it's okay to translate something you're  

going to not remember most of that but if we  think about like people spending time learning  

vocabulary so this is let's say this is like  number of words and this is how much time just  

put a little a clock right there so if you think  about spending more time the traditional way  

people learn with translations I could give you  like let's say uh 10 words a day and give you the  

translations for those but the problem is like  the vocabulary would never really increase uh  

it's certainly not the vocabulary that you could  use fluently because you're learning something new  

and then you forget something so each day you  like learn some new words but then you forget  

others and so you kind of go like this but the uh  the native way you're learning it's like a little  

bit slower because you're spending more time on  fewer words but you move up to fluency much faster  

so while you start higher up here just by  knowing more words because I'm I'm trying  

to make you memorize a bunch of things but again  you just forget it so what most people do is they  

get stuck here and for they can they can be stuck  here for many years while native speakers like a  

native child born today will be a better speaker  in like three years than many people who start  

English as an adult and learn it for three years  and that's just because of how they're learning so  

they're spending a lot more time getting more  review of fewer things and then their fluency  

takes off all right so you remember more words and  you're able to use them fluently over time foreign

let's see so I can read but I can't speak  yeah so that's the same kind of thing uh  

that I was just talking about could you do a  lesson on how a native speculates what do you  

mean unless I don't have a native speculates  I don't know what that means Carl uh uh let's  

see so I'd like to know the streaming days and  times yes I don't have a specific schedule for  

this lately I've been doing them around this time  on Monday and Thursday so that's uh Japanese time  

but I like my I enjoy my freedom and so I  know that's probably less convenient for  

people but I do make the videos available  for people to watch anytime they'd like  

Lewis is writing in paper in your opinion what do  you mean writing in paper like you mean writing  

like yeah like like physically right right by  hand you can certainly write on a computer but  

you can learn better by physically writing stuff  on a on a piece of paper with a pen or a pencil  

so let's imagine you are learning my language  Uzbek and how would you learn to speak it without  

moving and living in Uzbekistan well first I'd  need to get some input so I don't need to be in  

it there's nothing magical about like the the dirt  where I am so it's like if I'm in Japan right now  

um if I pick up some dirt from Japan do I  magically become fluent because I'm I'm holding  

some dirt from Japan it's the people that get me  fluent and it's not even really the people it's  

just the input from the people that get me fluent  so this is why I can be in the United States and  

become a fluent speaker of Japanese I might not  know a lot of cultural things but certainly being  

able to communicate in the language I would  be able to do that pretty easily but the way  

I would do it is learning the same way children  do and this just means like like I can give you  

a Japanese lesson right now I'll maybe I'll try  to give like a little bit more difficult one  

for some people I'll do this quickly I don't  have much time left but if I'm going to teach  

you Japanese so you are in Uzbekistan right now  you are not in Japan but I can still teach you

or marker marker marker marker awimaka kudos

[ __ ]

foreign

so if I gave you a lesson like that every  day and I taught you a little bit more you  

would learn to speak Japanese even in your own  country okay so it's not it's not where you live  

it's how you learn that gets you fluent in the  language does that make sense so this is what we  

do for especially people in fluent for life we  essentially want to retrain your brain so that  

you stop thinking through your native language  and you start understanding English the same way  

native speakers do and you do that by getting  lots of examples in naturally varied review  

so you notice I'm just using three markers here  to teach some Japanese but you're learning some  

adjectives you're learning some verbs you're  learning sentence structure pronunciation all  

those different things but the point is your  brain really likes learning that way because  

it's like a puzzle so your brain is trying to  figure out what's happening if I just tell you  

the answer your brain gets bored by that but if I  present information in such a way that you would  

learn ah like now I get it then you feel very  confident you feel very very strong and you  

remember that information okay uh let's see so I  would say I've been studying this topic recently  

so confused for Spanish speakers things all right  so I would say that music is very good funny  

and effective way even if you don't live in the  country yeah so that's another thing you can do  

canning from Ukraine so I have to leave you here  and head to work okay that's fine let's see thanks  

for joining us I've been learning a lot thanks  to you I'm guessing Marcos it's my pleasure so  

Sunday night here in Montreal hi from Brazil keep  up the good work what do you think about using  

chat GPT learning which I think somebody else  asked me earlier uh hi hola hola todos I would  

love to learn Japanese from you please pretty  please you teach me there are lots of people  

that teach Japanese on YouTube already although  I don't know of anyone I don't really watch any  

Japanese learning videos on YouTube but you can  probably find somebody and there might be some  

people that teach like that but the better thing  to do would be to watch understandable content for  

Japanese native kids rather than things that  are teaching you the language but if you feel  

excited like wow look at that I understood what  he said that's the way you should be learning the  

language because that's the way you learned your  native language at home all right so wonderful  

chat gbt yes uh if it if it helps you then  fantastic so just bought fluency guide asking

pardon my poor pronunciation actually thank  you very much it's nice to see you in the  

program hi from Jakarta Indonesia lovely  teaching but I'm not uh Everything Chad  

GPT informs everything I know but I'm  not everything but not everything okay  

yes uh so chat GPT can be helpful and I think  other people have already talked about how GPT can  

use or be used uh for language learning but again  whatever particular thing you might be using you  

should be understanding the language like a native  that's what's going to help you speak so there's  

always new tools and new apps and other things  like that but a lot of them just give you the  

same kind of textbook lessons that you would get  anywhere else so hi from the Ukraine I know five  

languages you are a good teacher all right glad  to hear it very nice very powerful lessons we're  

all learning there are many flaws and they're  robotic wow wow all right I have to shut it down  

now but it has been a pleasure and hopefully  you got the message you got the message today  

all right so remember if you want to get fluent  like a native you don't want to get stuck in  

this you really should be learning more like a  native just like today we're only focusing on the  

word the so that's one example of how you would  focus on something to learn it really well but  

your personality style and methodology is great  for learning you're awesome glad to hear it yes  

well again uh I would still I think I would still  recommend like learning from a native speaker but  

uh you could you should be learning from multiple  people as long as they can give you native input  

all right Carl says thank you a good note to  end on have a fantastic day if you would like  

to learn more about both pronunciation and also  learning like a native you can click on the links  

Below in this video so Frederick is really great  for helping you uh or whether your pronunciation  

and listening are already good but you'd like to  help your kids learn the language like a native  

that's how you can do it and thanks from Hungary  nice to see you there all right have a fantastic  

day again if you're in fluent for life and you'd  like to learn more about the specific topic we  

covered today you can go to the in uh a new life  lesson set you'll find that information in that  

lesson seven a new life uh really interesting  lesson set about moving to Australia and so  

you hear lots of examples of the and also other  determiners so good evening for everybody else  

yes have a fantastic evening or day wherever you  are and I'll see you in the next video bye-bye