What Fluent English Speakers REALLY Study (That Most Students Don't)

all right we should be working in  just a moment YouTube always takes  

a little bit of time to fire up let's go  YouTube let's see if we're working over

here hopefully everybody's doing well out  there if you can see this post something in  

the chat and we should get started momentarily  all right right I think that's looking pretty

good all right I think we're working now I am  Drew Badger the founder of englishanyone.com  

and the English fluency guide and in this video  we're going to be as always helping you become  

a more confident fluent English speaker uh and  today I want to talk about what fluent speakers  

really study uh so this is again the people  who get fluent typically do things different  

L than what most Learners do and that's  why they become fluent speakers so there no

surprise it should be an enter uh entertaining  interesting helpful video excuse me uh and as  

always if you have any questions you can just post  them in the comments I'll keep my eye on this uh  

this is kind of a special video I had not planned  on doing this today but something happened to me  

yesterday uh and I thought I would just tell this  story and create a lesson out of this uh but also  

the other reason is because I'm always asked by  Learners um how they can continue speaking and  

why they get stuck in conversations uh and a big  part of this is because of how they learn and I'm  

going to talk more about that specifically so  how Learners so typically English Learners who  

know a lot of English but they still struggle  to speak uh and then we also have the fluent  

speakers and these could be fluent speakers like  native speakers so they grow up in an english-  

speaking country uh or anyone else who's just  learning English and they become fluent uh so  

I wanted to talk about how these two groups are  different what they do uh and specifically helping  

people with this problem of not being able to  find the right words in conversations even if  

they study these words a lot uh so let me check  chat right quick make sure we're working uh Pina  

nice to see you there Dragon let's see from  morago nice to see you there drma it's been a  

while drma nice to see you again let's see Renee  from Brazil Maria thank you for uh sharing your  

time and your knowledge it's my pleasure I know  what it's like to struggle to speak so I'm always  

here to help people get fluent so when I was  coming to Japan or even many years before that  

trying to learn different languages and still not  being able to speak I knew how frustrating uh that  

was I could feel that uh every day when I would  try to communicate and I couldn't like the right  

words just wouldn't come to me uh so that's why I  make these videos and courses and the other things  

I do uh Pina says thank you so much for you would  would say thank you so much for teaching us thank  

you for teaching Alex nice to see you there from  China are people in China able to watch this with  

a VPN or something how are you watching on YouTube  or maybe you're just able to do that Savannah from  

Brazil Triano nice to see you there and FICO  from Haiti freder Rico all right uh so let me  

begin with a quick story as I often do this was an  interesting thing that happened uh but I think it  

it illustrates it shows it it kind of reveals or  describes the like the pain that a lot of people  

have but actually how we can deal with that uh so  there's a a restaurant in Nagasaki that I go to uh  

pretty frequently and at this restaurant they have  uh like a drink a drink corner so a drink a drink  

area you can go get drinks by yourself just like  they have a few some tea and water and and this  

other stuff that I drink it's uh it's basically  buckwheat water it's called SOA U uh in Japanese  

but it's just it's basically like water with  kind of soba uh like buckwheat kind of noodle I  

don't even know what you call it in English uh  but that's the that's basically what it is uh  

so they have this drink counter uh and before at  this drink counter they used to have these uh it  

was like a pretty large mug cup that you could  get and pour your your drink into so they have  

a drink counter with the tea and water and stuff  uh and then they also have um this like this just  

little bit of Cups over there uh but not long ago  they replaced these these uh bigger mug cups with  

a much smaller little kind of teacup thing and I  don't know why they did it I I didn't I and this  

is an interesting thing about Japan I probably  would not get a direct answer if I asked them  

uh but I did say hey like can you bring back the  the the larger cup because uh it's it's like a you  

know you get this tiny cup and you have to go back  and and like uh and go to uh like you go sit down  

and go back and get it again it's really annoying  so I missed these uh these larger cups now I guess  

the reason they they stopped using these larger  ones and they started using these smaller ones  

is maybe people were being wasteful so people  would because this is these are just free drinks  

over here so you can get as much tea or water or  whatever as you like uh and so you can get tea  

and you would like fill up this whole fill up this  whole thing uh usually I go and I would get two of  

these and then bring them back to the table so I  could drink for a while then I would go get more  

if I wanted uh so they got rid of this one to  get rid of it this some good English right here  

to get rid of so they get rid or in the past tense  they got so they got rid of these uh these larger  

ones and now they only have these smaller ones and  again I'm guessing it's because people were just  

wasting they would take take a lot of water or  tea or whatever and not drink it all um so I asked  

them I said hey can you bring the other ones back  and they were just in a very Japanese way just  

like yeah I'm sorry we don't have those anymore so  I'm sure they're probably back there somewhere uh  

but they they wouldn't bring them out now near  that uh there's another table with plates and  

bowls and other things so what did I do I just  got a bowl so here's like a kind of larger bowl  

and I'm just using that now so the these bowls  they can't really take them away because people  

need these for for eating or whatever and it's not  it's not like a giant Bowl it actually looks like  

a large Japanese tea Bowl it's just much bigger  than these you could put maybe two and a half of  

these in one of these bowls but it doesn't look  bad it's not like a giant salad bowl or something  

like that so uh I was able to solve my problem  with just uh replacing like this cup with this one  

instead all right now why am I telling this story  as I usually do when I tell these stories there's  

a there's a message message uh here for all of my  students uh and this is that there's a situation  

here the situation here is I want to have a larger  container for my drink so I don't have to go back  

and and get this like tiny uh like tiny cup and  bring it back or and it's it's actually hard  

to carry it because it's so small and you could  spill the tea or whatever uh so they got rid of  

this and so again they got rid of this one and  they replaced it with this one but I just said  

okay I'm going to use this other bowl over here  instead and they can't take that one away from  

me now I don't think they were doing this just  for me I'm sure lots of other people are uh are  

doing this uh but uh I'm pretty sure I'm probably  the only one who is now using a bowl uh to get my  

tea like I usually drink or my my uh my buckwheat  water all right uh so again the the interesting  

thing here is is like the the cup this is this  is a it's a tricky story uh because the the  

connection here to l anguage learning it's it's  a little bit hard to see at first uh but you can  

think about these individual things like words  all right so imagine like this is one word uh  

let's just say this one is like uh big and this  word is large over here okay now like I'm just  

using these for words this is not about sizes of  anything it's just two different words that you  

can use uh but the point is like in this situation  you could use like one of these two things but I  

don't want to use these I want to use something  else and because I'm not I'm not thinking about  

words it's like okay they they took my uh my  word big and now I have to use something else  

so I'm not thinking about the vocabulary I'm not  thinking about well well I guess I have to drink  

out of this one I'm thinking about the situation  okay so in this situation there are actually many  

things that could solve this problem for me so  the problem is how do I get a larger container  

so I don't have to use this smaller one okay so  I'm not thinking like At first I just tried using  

this I said okay they're giving me that one but  then I saw oh well we have these other bowls over  

here so I'll just use one of those instead and now  that's what I do okay so uh the way my mind thinks  

and the reason like a big reason I'm now able to  speak fluent Japanese is because I'm not really  

thinking about words the words are not are not  like the thing I'm studying and I I'll explain  

more about that in a moment uh what I'm really  doing is paying attention to or studying very  

closely situations okay so the situation is I need  to drink something and I want a larger container  

okay so it's not about having like a particular  cup the problem is I just want to have a larger  

container so that is the situation and this  thing solves that situation now what usually  

happens with uh language Learners or English  Learners in particular since we're talking  

about English Learners here is that people will  Begin by focusing on Words and so if they can't  

find a word or they can't remember the word they  like then they get stuck okay so if they if they  

try to think of a word in a conversation but they  can't remember what it is it doesn't come to them  

quickly enough uh they forget what they want to  say okay but a fluent speaker because they're  

thinking about trying to express a situation  they're typically able to think of some other  

way to speak all right so instead of studying  words what I'm recommending here is studying  

situations and so how I do this uh for learning  Japanese and how I recommend this in the way  

I teach in my programs is focusing on a kind of  situation it could be uh like it could be anything  

really like praising children as an example let's  just take that one so let's say I've got kids

and uh and they do a good job so here's uh I  don't know maybe my uh one of my daughters so  

I have two girls one of my daughters brings  home like a good so here's like the the test  

and you got like a A+ very good on that uh they  actually don't have this grading scale in Japan  

but you get the idea uh so she's very happy  uh look at that I got a very good score on my  

test over here uh there are many different ways  that I could Praise My daughter so to praise to  

praise her there are actually many different  ways to do this so I'm not focusing on just  

a particular word I should use uh I'm thinking  about what is the general situation and the way  

I learn how to do this is by watching lots of  other people in that same situation okay so I  

see people talking about that you can post  something in the chat right now but when  

you're thinking about praising someone different  ways you could say this are maybe good job great

work

excellent well done you did

it okay you get the idea so when a native  speaker and when I what I call a native speaker  

it's really just someone who learns English as a  first language rather than learning it through a  

different Lang language uh so young children when  they're learning what they're doing is really  

watching their parents or other people or people  on TV shows or whatever but they're getting all  

of this input that's helping them understand that  oh in this situation there are lots of different  

ways you could express yourself there are lots of  different ways you could express yourself now I'm  

going to pause right quick just so I can take a  look at chat maybe there are some questions there  

um but the basic idea here is is that the people  who can speak fluently are thinking and really  

studying this over here and so the vocabulary is  actually the second thing it's secondary it's less  

important than just really understanding what's  happening okay I'll explain why that is in just  

a moment uh but let me go look at chat see if  anybody looks like we have uh some questions  

over here all right I'm going to try to go through  this quickly so we can keep moving restoring all  

nice to see you there Jefferson Evangelina Pina  okay I got you guys already Toano uh let's see  

mimu from Thailand oh from Algeria Morocco  Bridget nice to see you there all right uh  

Alex yes use a VPN to learn and to escape oh  no s says morning what do you think about the

recent um it's it's it's it's baffling to me uh so  baffling this a like a good word baffling like to  

be baffled by someone or by something like you're  you're you're really kind of like surprised by it  

so it's baffling to me uh that that the Yen would  not be stronger Japan is still doing well I guess  

maybe the dollar is it's not really that like the  yen is so weak such as the so much as the dollar  

is stronger I guess um I wish I could talk more  about it I don't know the particulars of it uh  

but yeah certainly prices are more expensive um  over here uh but yeah it's it's it's unfortunate  

for people in Japan uh but I think like people  that do like selling things abroad or whatever  

they're able to do uh do quite well with the  with the reduced currency value uh Rome Ville  

from Illinois let's see oh oh yeah from Illinois  look at that uh Johnny Lopez I drew and everyone  

talks effect hello I speak Spanish I have a  question how do they say in English the beds  

that are one downstairs and one bed upstairs it's  for a task yeah that's a bunk bed I think someone  

answered that already order says hi what would my  level be if I can understand what you're saying uh  

I'll probably talk about this in in my next video  just because people continue to ask this question  

about how do I check my English level um but the  the reality is there are different communication  

skills uh and I think I haven't talked about  this in a while so it's probably a good thing  

to review but there are different communication  skills you have and you can be good in one skill  

but not so good in another so even if you can  understand what I'm saying right now it's even  

a different thing to understand Natives and them  speaking maybe different accents or they're faster  

or using vocabulary that I'm not using so in in  a kind of typical like English teaching lesson I  

want to be understandable because my job is to  make the language understandable but there are  

different levels of that so the the first level is  just making sure I'm clear so you can understand  

what I'm saying but then we want to take you  up to higher levels where you can understand  

native speakers and and so like like in terms  of thinking about what your level is uh there  

you could be good at like reading but not good at  speaking okay so there are different skills that  

you have and and your job really is to eliminate  the doubt that stops you from speaking that's  

really the number one thing that stops people  from expressing themselves so if you can get  

rid of any doubt you have then that will help  you speak all right uh let's see okay I think  

answer that one from Wellington from South Paulo  is good morning from Tokyo it's a national holiday  

today yeah it looks like we have a couple of uh  nion Jing in the audience today some Japanese  

people Ordo says okay you're asking me that out  credit let's see Nicholas good evening everyone  

okay now now remember if I if I don't answer your  question immediately don't spam the chat just ask  

it one time and and I should be able to uh to  go back and uh and check that okay look at that  

all right let's see uh I love the way you explain  the situations teacher glad to hear it Sonia says  

hello Sonia I'm from Colombia but I live in New  Jersey for many years unfortunately I didn't learn  

how to speak English I'm just trying to learn how  to speak fluently and found you welcome to the  

party well that's what we help you do uh basically  the idea is that people can know a lot of English  

but still struggle to speak because they still  have doubts about the language it could be doubts  

about vocabulary or grammar or whatever but as  you eliminate those doubts as you understand the  

language better you speak so most people think you  become a fluent speaker by just repeating words or  

I'm trying to study more but you actually become  better as you feel more confident by understanding  

the language so you kind of acquire the language  you develop fluency and then you speak okay  

that's the the way things really work and if you  look at children and how they learn that's what  

they're doing so they spend a lot more time just  listening and watching what other people do uh so  

the exact same thing like this so my daughters and  I also just to give my daughters uh like all these  

different examples I because they don't maybe  have so much uh experience with English uh because  

we live in Japan so I have to give them this  naturally varied review so sometimes I will say  

good job sometimes I say great work excellent well  done you did it other things like that okay we'll  

come back to this in just a moment uh but this  is how native speakers are learning the language  

and again I I I really want to repeat uh you're  not born a native you become a native because  

you learn English as a first language instead of  learning it through translations or the kind of  

typical grammar study that people do um so my uh  my lessons here are are helping people do that so  

Sonia that's how you get fluent all right uh green  from what somebody else John there from Colombia  

as well all right Tech and skills from Bangladesh  like your teaching method a lot glad to hear it uh  

if you guys enjoy what I do uh do like the video  and recommend it to other people so we can help  

more people uh do I teach Japanese too uh no  I don't um I mean I I I will use some Japanese  

sometimes with my kids but I speak mostly with  them in English all right uh hi Drew says Shang uh  

how are you doing I'm uh Weber H Weber from Taiwan  okay I have a question about formality could you  

please explain or please give examples of using  language in a formal informal and neutral way uh  

that's that's beyond the scope of this video but  uh we do have that influent for life where we're  

talking about different like levels of politeness  uh and you will see this depending on the person  

you're speaking with um maybe I will cover this in  another video but you can also search my channel  

and probably other people have covered this  as well lots of this stuff has already been  

covered um it says let's say I have daughters for  example uh uh it's it's more like like like for  

example so if you're if you're saying like let's  just imagine uh this situation like let's say I  

live on the moon okay so right now we are going  to imagine that situation like let's say I'm  

praising my kid what would I do okay so it's it's  a another way of saying like if I'm doing this or  

let's imagine uh and you would say like let's  like shim show let's all right so I'm I'm even  

being a bad teacher using some Japanese explaining  it but the point is is like let us like we shall  

we shall do this thing together okay so let's  let's imagine Let's Pretend let's say uh those  

are different ways of expressing this same thing  so here again this is another example of we have  

a situation so I want to uh we would call this  like an imaginary thing or like a hypothetical

hypothetical so a hypothetical situation is one  it's not real it's not actually happening but we  

could imagine that so let's say I'm praising  my dog all right I don't have a dog but we  

can imagine that we can uh just imagine that  scenario it's just a hypothetical situation  

so it's not really happening but we can imagine  it happening so let's say uh we do this so let's  

imagine something all right that's what we're  saying but notice again there are different ways  

of saying that let's say let's imagine uh what if  okay so what if I'm praising my daughter okay what  

if just imagine that all right so I try to give  these different ways of expressing this so you  

feel more comfortable oh okay there's actually  uh many ways to say this and again I just used  

some incorrect grammar there did you hear that I  said there there's many examples but it should be  

there are okay so even uh natives we will use  kind of incorrect grammar like that uh and if  

you're listening if you're paying attention for  those situations you will know when it's okay to  

use incorrect grammar all right did I okay I think  I got everybody there all right uh how can I sound  

you would say how can I sound like native speakers  you have to learn what they do you have to learn  

what they do and learn how they learn that's  how you do it so that's how anybody like if  

you move to the United States uh you don't have  to do that but to the point is to be surrounded  

by lots of input and focusing on situations so  one situation we're just talking about here is  

praising someone so praising a child or praising  uh like a teammate on a sports team or praising  

someone at work all these things are are perfectly  fine to say in that situation but this is just one  

example but we could have another situation what  if I'm angry at someone okay why did you do that  

what's wrong with you what were you thinking these  are things that you will hear uh maybe when we're  

scolding someone when we're angry at them okay but  there are different ways of saying this and not  

everyone will do it the same way but the point is  because kids are are thinking about the situation  

they're actually learning all of this different  vocabulary that could be used for that now maybe  

people will have like one or two or three phrases  that they use most of the time but interesting  

thing is they're actually able to understand all  of these things and you see after we we come from  

the situation to the different vocabulary or the  different phrases and that's where we really start  

to understand what individual words mean okay  so you begin with the situation then you start  

to understand words because the word by itself  doesn't mean anything if I just put the word  

uh let's say uh did on a on a flash card or  something it's not really very helpful for me  

it's like okay what does did mean if you imagine  a child they don't really understand the grammar  

or maybe they're not they're not trying to think  logically about that uh or we talk about well so  

if I if I use the word well and I put that on a  flash card by itself what does that word really  

mean actually it depends on the situation okay  so if we look at a well like what is a well if I  

just have the word well on a flash card like an  example could be uh let me draw just make sure  

we fit this over here so here is like uh like a  little water well you know with a little bucket  

on there so this is a well also well so this is a  noun the well where we're going to take a bucket  

and drop it down into some water and pull up some  water we call that a well okay so this is why uh  

students are typically doing the opposite from  what fluent speakers do students begin with words  

and then they get confused with what those words  mean because words don't really mean anything by  

themselves okay so just like the example of the  uh the cups at the restaurant I'm not I don't care  

about the specific cup I'm trying to solve the  situation trying to solve the problem and there  

are many ways I could solve that and one way is  just using a bowl that's it looks basically like  

a tea bowl and drink from that instead and nobody  stops anything so the staff is still happy because  

people aren't wasting things and I'm happy because  I can drink without going to refill my little tiny  

cups all the time okay so the the main difference  here uh like the the focus of this video is really  

helping you understand that the thing to study is  the situation and by study the situation I mean  

you need to get lots of examples by seeing like  what people do in a particular situation and the  

situation can be very simple it can be praising  a child or ordering a drink or uh how you ask  

for maybe some help on the phone or something like  that or it could be maybe a bigger situation like  

uh giving a presentation but typically you have  kind of smaller pieces of those things smaller  

situations Within a a larger thing like that so in  a presentation a presentation you might have like  

how do you start a presentation how do you how do  you move from one topic to another these are all  

things that have General patterns but there are  different ways of expressing these things so if  

you want to understand and find the words you  need you need to begin with the situation and  

then go to the vocabulary okay let me give you  another example of this so instead of thinking  

about uh like words like this just imagine it  maybe with sounds all right uh I think someone  

has asked about grammar I'll come back to that in  a [Music] moment so uh if you think about I think  

there's like five yeah five lines and four spaces  on music staff I'm not going to draw this very  

well but let's say I just have a note like this  so this is one note of music I'm not going to I  

don't even remember how to draw the uh the treble  cleff on there you you know what I'm talking about  

right so this is a some sheet music and then we  have one note and we're trying to think about what  

does this note mean what does that note mean it's  I and I actually don't know what this note is uh  

because I I I know very little about music theory  and reading music um but let's imagine the note is  

like ding I guess just imagine that all right  let's let's say let's say let's imagine Let's  

Pretend uh hypothetically uh that this note is is  like ding oh D okay well I even see look even if  

you tell me it's a d I don't I don't I don't know  if that's what you're referring to but even if you  

say oh that's a d that doesn't mean anything to me  I don't know what a d is I guess what a like a b  

c d d i I don't know what a d what a d is now if  someone played that for me I could I could get it  

but the important thing is here one note by itself  doesn't really mean anything so people might say  

oh is that like a happy note or a sad note I  suppose you have like major chords and minor  

chords and some notes like maybe sound a little  bit maybe happier or brighter or something but in  

general you don't really learn much from one note  because it doesn't give you very much information  

all right but you start putting a bunch of notes  together and different instruments and now you  

actually have something you can understand okay  so if you begin with a note just like if you begin  

with a word it's more difficult to understand all  right I know it's seems like it would it would  

like it seems like you should just learn this  way like you begin with a word list of a bunch  

of words but the opposite is true you actually  should begin with a situation because it's much  

easier for the brain to understand that okay so  if you listen to a song that's much easier to  

remember okay so I even though like the song might  be complex I can remember a long song or a speech  

or something like that it's actually many words or  many notes all right one last example of this just  

to make sure uh this is clear so instead of doing  music which I don't know much about I mean other  

than just listening to music uh if we begin with  a sound and we'll just have like let's say we have  

the letter T like T what do I mean by that t t  now it probably doesn't mean anything maybe we add  

some a bit more information okay cat cat but what  do I really mean by cat do I mean the animal or am  

I talking about like slang for like a person like  look at that cat over there do I mean a cat like  

the animal or like a guy okay it could mean either  of those all right so this is when when when you  

start trying to like V understand vocabulary in  this way it becomes a lot more difficult because  

you trying to think of um like only one way to  understand something and this is is typically  

when you have to use uh translation from your  native language so you begin with a word that  

you already know in your native language and then  you try to learn that in English but then the word  

doesn't come to you in conversations because you  didn't really understand it like a native so what  

happens when we when we get vocabulary like this  like we have good job well done uh good work as  

soon as we hear like a word like well [Music] we  make we make that same that same connection like  

if someone says well done well done all right like  good job well done so they understand that in this  

situation the words can mean like I'm praising you  you you did something well you did something well  

so even if you don't really understand the grammar  you're starting to understand okay we put these  

two words together and it gives us this meaning  of uh like praising someone else uh but let's say  

like I go in in school as just another example  uh so like someone says to me you write well you  

write well and maybe I don't let's just imagine  I don't really understand the language very much  

I'm just hearing these examples oh someone says  well done and then someone says you write well  

but I understand the situation they're saying  my writing is good like oh that's interesting  

so the as you get more examples you start to make  the connection like between these words uh it's  

almost like there's a kind of hidden core meaning  for both of these and as you get more examples you  

think like oh someone like did something a lot  or it was a good thing that they did and then  

you start to understand what well means or at  least uh this usage or this meaning of well  

like a native okay so as you get more examples of  vocabulary and we usually get these examples from  

situations so if you study the situation first  and again by study the situation I mean you take  

a situation and try to get lots of examples of  people talking about that thing okay so rather  

than beginning with a word like well and trying to  learn every use of that thing you actually begin  

with something that is a lot more just natural to  us which is what do we say in different situations  

so what do I say when I need to make a phone call  how do I begin that phone call so children they're  

watching their parents and the parent picks up the  phone says hello but in Japan they say MH MOS so  

it depends on the situation all right but little  kids they they look at their parents and then  

they start copying that and so they're playing you  know I have like a pretend phone here mushy mush  

hello so if I'm watching my parents I'm going  to learn in this situation this is what we say  

when we answer the phone but if you ask someone  like what does like hello mean they might think  

oh well it's it's like a greeting I guess and  you would think about when you would when you  

would say that thing okay so this is why we don't  begin with the vocabulary we actually begin with  

situations it's a lot easier to learn that way  so I made a video uh that just gives an example  

of this I have many of these but this specific  video about how to make espresso if you have not  

seen that on my channel you should go watch that  uh but that is the situation of making an espresso  

but having different people do it so you will hear  different ways of making that thing some of the  

vocabulary is the same but some of the vocabulary  is different just like in the real world all right  

so when you focus on a situation it's something  at first maybe you don't quite understand it just  

like the first time you hear a word maybe you  don't quite understand it but as you get more  

examples oh look at that we did well done maybe we  go to a steak restaurant and someone orders like  

let me get my steak well done and now this is like  a slightly different meaning of it but you can see  

a connection there there's there is a connection  here with a kind of core meaning of doing  

something a lot or really doing it okay so instead  of having a raw steak that's not very cooked we  

have a well done steak that's really cooked well  okay everybody getting it hopefully uh this is  

starting to make more sense so when you just learn  a word if I put a word like well on a flash card  

and I try to repeat that word again and again it's  not going to help me use it more fluently because  

I'm not really connecting that with a situation  and we speak in situations okay so when something  

happens what do we say so we begin with the  situation we study the situation and this is how  

I get fluent in Japanese as well so the same thing  I'm teaching teaching you it's the same thing I do  

so I focus on something I will like I will go to  a park with my kids and maybe other people will  

be there and I will just listen what are other  people saying like like if you get mad at your  

kids what do you say and there are different ways  of doing this or if you're stretching what do you  

say or if you're playing a game what do you say  all right so these are all different situations  

and the vocabulary comes from that because you're  able to understand it the same way a native would  

and a native just means that they're understanding  from the situation not through another language  

okay all right let me go back and check chat  hopefully that let me know if this idea makes  

sense uh again the basic the basic thing I want  you to understand is if you struggle to remember  

words when you speak it's probably because you're  trying to vocab or trying to remember vocabulary  

the traditional way all right so either you're  translating or you get a definition and you're  

looking looking at vocabulary uh but you're not  like those words aren't very memorable you don't  

recall them easily in conversations uh so maybe  your mind goes blank you can't remember what to  

say but if you're focusing on situations and you  get lots of examples of these things you really  

start to understand and you really feel confident  about different ways that you can express yourself  

and even if you forget one of those things you  can easily switch to something else okay so just  

like we're talking about praising children good  job nice work fantastic excellent amazing well  

done there's so many different ways we could  do that just like we could express really any  

situation in many different ways all right so  if you have any questions about this idea let  

me know I want to go back and check chat uh  but let's see here if I have anything that I

missed all right uh okay answered that one Jane  from Hong Kong you got me my written English is  

okay but I don't speak much yes uh and this is  the the typical thing probably you learned uh  

maybe through Chinese uh or something else but  if whatever you're you're learning with your  

native language uh if you're learning English  as a second language it will be more difficult  

for you to speak because you're really trying to  think from vocabulary instead of understanding a  

situation and thinking what do natives say what do  people normally say in this situation and that's  

how you should think about vocabulary so if you if  you watch my videos are really anybody's videos um  

or even just any people walking around but just  to give the example from uh from my lessons you  

can see how like if I'm thinking what do I say  so if I pause or I give an example or something  

that's how you should be watching these lessons  so the lesson is not about you know even one idea  

or two or three vocabulary words you're paying  attention like and this is the reason I do these  

videos live rather than as a recording because  if I'm recording maybe I I I slow down my speech  

or I say something different um I want to give you  examples of how like what fluent speech looks like  

so that you can you can copy that thing all right  but you won't get it uh only from me you will also  

uh if you watch more people that's exactly why we  structure fluent for life that way so you can get  

lots of examples of different people saying things  all right uh let's see who did I where did I stop  

off okay uh Tech skills make video about uses  am to is to and so on have to well just search  

search our channel for that we've covered lots  of those things already hi from Indonesian I  

see you there Nicholas what would you recommend  me to understand fasinating speakers uh so if  

you want to apply this to understanding uh more  difficult native speakers you need to focus on uh  

those particular speakers so I would get uh easier  examples of the language so a slower speaker like  

myself and then listen to someone else speaking  about that same thing but faster okay and then  

get a range of that so this is what we do INF  fluent for life so the point of the program is  

to give you exposure to lots of different kinds  of speakers so you will understand the language  

better if you learn it clearly first then you will  be more prepared when you hear faster uh Blended  

versions of that same spe speech so an example I  give uh in the program for people and you can do  

this even just with YouTube uh is listen to the  same speech given by different people or listen  

to the same song sung by different people and  so as you focus like the the situation is that  

song and you will hear different people singing it  and oh I I I'm now uh getting my ears more used to  

understanding that kind of speech okay that's how  you do that so it's this same idea gets applied  

across everything for understanding grammar or  pronunciation or improving your listening the  

whole idea is to eliminate doubt and you eliminate  doubt by getting more examples okay so you don't  

we don't take a word like well and repeat that  again and again what we do is get lots of examples  

of how we use well so we understand the situation  we feel confident that we understand then we can  

speak all right so most people they don't speak  because they don't feel confident and they don't  

feel confident because they don't really know what  they're what they're learning they don't really  

understand it very well all right so this is why  you can understand something enough to maybe you  

can follow what I'm saying but if you still have  doubts that's what will stop you from speaking  

uh let's see Wellington could you explain the  difference between end it in and and so end it  

in and end it up uh well to end in just like you  I mean you could and and this is another one of  

those things when people ask me questions about  um like particular vocabulary it's important to  

understand when you're using that all right so  rather than just give an explanation of what of  

what something means because it really means  something in a situation so if we talk about  

like I'm driving a car and we ended in uh ended  in Boston okay so we're driving we we start here  

and we end in this place over here okay okay so a  very basic usage of it but when we typically when  

natives are using to end up doing something it's  like an accidental thing so this is again why it's  

important to pay attention to situations so here  uh if I'm if I'm describing this so the the native  

way the way I would explain this to my daughters  is just them getting examples of me talking about  

it so let's say I'm in a car uh here's my my car  over here I'm driving this way so I started here  

uh I am at a and I'm going to B so I'm driving uh  very simply I ended to end in or you can say end  

at B okay so both of those are fine so we're going  from here to this place over here so I'm going I'm  

ending the trip over here all right so very simple  now end up in typically means what I'm driving and  

wh now I end up here okay so as I'm explaining  this by showing you a situation it becomes a  

lot easier to understand the situation so we don't  just take words by themselves okay here's a phrase  

end in and here's another one over here we got  end up see uh what I'm explaining in this video is  

that we don't we don't start with the vocabulary  I know sometimes you have to do that and if you're  

asking questions about the vocabulary the  best thing to do is get lots of examples of  

it okay so rather than try to get a definition or  a translation of something look at the difference  

in the situation well we ended in Boston oh we  ended up in Chicago all right it becomes a bit  

more clear now doesn't it all right so as you feel  more confident oh like we ended up here so we were  

going this way but oh I don't know how like a  tornado picked us up and put us in a different  

place we ended up in a different location all  right and so as you understand the situation  

and a similar situation would be uh if I'm if  I'm like having a conversation about something  

maybe I end up talking about something else all  right so we're we have a plan we're going to start  

talking about this we talk about uh we could keep  talking and then end talking about this all right  

yes so Mike is giving like the kind of definition  of it but the point is I'm trying to get you to  

see there's like the core me meaning is is it's  almost hidden it's there and if I just tell you  

what the meaning is it's a little less powerful  for you so if you say oh what does end up mean  

I just say oh it means this but really it could  depend on the situation for lots of vocabulary but  

in this case you feel much more confident because  of the way I teach it all right so I'm not giving  

you the answer I'm trying to help you understand  the situation and then by comparing these two  

it becomes easy to understand all right so I'm  driving or I'm talking about something but now  

what the conversation changed and we start talking  about something else and we ended up talking about  

some different topic okay so the same idea so if  you have vocabulary and you're trying to compare  

different things you don't understand I would go  to chat GPT or Google or something probably Google  

would be even better but just type in like a  sentence using that that you can think of and look  

at the different examples that you get all right  and so when you see people talking about this and  

you say huh that's interesting the situation is  like people just talk about going somewhere or  

that's the result of something but when people end  up doing something that's interesting they it's  

like a surprising thing or an unexpected thing  somewhere they didn't intend okay does that make  

sense so this is why I I keep reminding you that  the thing that natives are doing and again again  

again I keep repeating this what it means to be  a native just means you're learning English as  

a first language so the only thing you can do  as a first language is connect vocabulary with  

situations okay so what's happening or when  something happens what do you say that's it  

so the other way to learn a language is what do  you say in this language and what do you say in  

this language that's where you translate and  you start getting stuck because you're trying  

to connect vocabulary in one language with  vocabulary in another and like it might not  

work out that way like as an example I could do  like the Japanese word uh for free like what do  

you mean by free do you mean not having a price  or do you mean like Freedom where you can uh go  

do things that you like okay so it depends on the  particular meaning of the word and that's why it's  

so important you really if you pay attention  if you watch what kids are doing as they're  

learning they're really paying attention to watch  what other people say in different situations so  

when people see this what do they do pretty simple  okay so it becomes much easier and I know it seems  

like uh it seems like more work or like you're  not getting directly to the vocabulary but most  

people when they try to do the direct vocabulary  way they spend years studying and they still can't  

speak fluently but little children very quickly  because they're focusing on situations and they  

get so many examples that help them understand  different ways to speak so the the first benefit  

is they understand different ways to speak the  second benefit is they learn the meanings of these  

words automatically okay so just by comparing all  of these different words it's like a it's like a  

big puzzle look at that we got well here well here  well here it's like oh I did something well so now  

I could apply that myself I understand the word  I feel more confident so like I can do something  

well like I can swim well or I can play the guitar  very well and that's how they understand the uh  

uh the basic meaning of vocabulary so they use  it fluently all right let me hit up some more  

uh some more questions over here so that was kind  of a long uh a long response to that but uh let's

see uh where did I where did I Go's oh okay here  we Hussein says I'm subscribed in your program  

Frederick and I want to know is the subscribe to  get expired by time what do you mean if you're  

talking about like so so the app Frederick this  is for people who don't know this is uh you can  

find it at the link uh or via the link in the  description below this video uh and it will teach  

you pronunciation listening uh help you understand  vocabulary in this same kind of way uh but we have  

let's see the the sub expire date or expire time  well we have a you can get a discount on the app  

if when you install it uh if you if you upgrade to  get the whole app uh then it's much cheaper than  

uh waiting if that's what you mean but that that  expires in about 30 minutes so you can get into  

the app you can try it out if you like it then  upgrade to get the whole thing it's over 2,000  

words and sentences all right hello from Brazil  men Wang says I always cannot speak more High  

Lev words to express myself even though I can  recognize them yes so hopefully this explains  

why you can understand vocabulary but not use  it fluently does everybody understand why that  

is I see people keep making this video on YouTube  about why you can understand but not speak but I  

really my Learners you know the people who are  watching my videos I repeat this over and over  

again again the reason and it's it's it's such  an important big idea uh I'll repeat it here

again remember that people think you think or  you believe people think that you become uent  

by learning vocabulary and then repeating it  again and again but what actually happens is  

you're really understanding vocabulary better and  I'm showing you how to do that all right so if you  

think about here's a a little just a very simple  uh chart of how much you understand let's say this  

is a 100% understanding of some vocabulary  and this is 0% understanding typically you  

can learn something you can memorize some words  and you can learn this way and it will help you  

maybe get to this point here so you understand  it well enough to recognize things you can hear  

people you can watch some movies uh and maybe  even understand some faster native speakers  

but all of this area over here it's doubts that  you have about that vocabulary because you don't  

really understand it 100% you don't understand it  well enough there's that word well again well so  

well enough so not just well I mean well enough  to use it well enough to to use that vocabulary  

okay so this is understanding we'll just put  a u over here and this is we'll put a big D  

for doubt and it could be doubt about anything  you might be worried about how to say the word  

or what the pronunciation is or are you using it  correctly is your accent funny or something all  

of these different doubts and worries will stop  you from speaking but you can still understand  

all right so this whole lesson today talking about  understanding uh different situations and focusing  

on that this will clear the doubt so you don't  you don't typically uh get rid of this doubt by  

repeating things again and again because repeating  things doesn't help you learn more it doesn't help  

you understand better I could repeat the word  well 100 times or I could write it 100 times or  

listen to someone else say it to me 100 times but  I'm not going to use it more confidently because  

I don't understand it better all right but what  will help me understand understand it better so  

I use it fluently is getting lots of examples  understanding how it works in situations okay  

hopefully that makes sense so this is why you  can understand but not understand well enough to  

speak it's doubt that stops you it's doubt that  gives you the worries or the nervousness about  

fears or whatever uh that you'll make a mistake  so clear the doubt just get rid of the doubt by  

understanding the language better and the great  news is you can do that all by yourself you don't  

need to have a practice partner to do this you  don't even need to say anything to other people  

or to yourself you just need to get a lot more  examples that really help you understand that  

language well okay just think about how you do  this in your native language you watch TV shows  

you listen to books or whatever read things uh all  of that is just something you're doing by yourself  

without speaking but you're still learning  you're still improving you're still eliminating  

doubt and once you have no more doubt then you  speak uh do I understand British people sure  

there might be a word or two that maybe I don't  understand but in general I do all right uh let's

see okay I think I got that one all right uh Polo  says Hi teacher I understand the idea of learning  

English in English but I have kids and at some  point I need my kids to understand English words  

or expressions both in English and Spanish  well you can teach them you can teach them  

both I teach my kids Japanese and uh and English  it's not like one or the other but typically I'm  

teaching them English in English and I'm teaching  them Spanish or not Spanish Japanese in Japanese  

so you can do both all right Dan says greetings  from Brazil uh grammar is important but it's not  

that important says far well like this is grammar  you understand the grammar from the situation so  

the same way that you learn vocabulary that's also  how you learn grammar okay the point is you don't  

you don't take a grammar point and just say like  okay today we're going to study the past perfect  

you don't think about it like that way because  a native doesn't think about it like that way  

they don't think about it like that either if you  ask a native speaker what is the present perfect  

or the past perfect they won't be able to tell  you most people would not know how how to like  

explain what that is but they can use it okay and  they use it because they understand the situation  

and I did a video recently like specifically about  this grammar Point that's why I'm thinking of it  

uh but when you understand it like a native you  think oh and now I understand why people say it  

that way and so you understand again you improve  your level of understanding and that's what allows  

you to speak if you don't feel confident you won't  speak that's it it doesn't matter where you live  

doesn't matter how old you are uh how many like  people you try to meet with or or whatever some  

speaking practice Partners or how much time you  study if you don't feel confident you won't speak  

fluently it just means you don't understand the  language but the good news is it's very easy to  

do this because you can do it by yourself okay  so you can get someone like me to help you like  

I do in these videos or we do in our programs  or you just get examples from anywhere that's  

same way I learn Japanese so I don't even I don't  have anyone to teach me Japanese I don't have a  

teacher even my own wife I was just I was I  was complaining to my wife yesterday I said  

people think I can speak Japanese well because I'm  married to a Japanese Japanese woman uh and and  

I I always explain them like she doesn't teach me  anything she doesn't have any time uh but the way  

I I kind of get uh like a secret lesson from my  wife is just listening to her talk about things  

so if she's talking with somebody else I'd just  listen to that so I'm paying attention to the  

situation when she's talking about this what does  she say and so that's how I get uh the these good  

examples and I'm not only listening to her I'm  listening to various people and so the point is I  

eliminate the doubt and that's what enables me to  speak all right uh let's see so James says I like  

your idea of finding situation to express things  in English yes so again the point is you begin  

with a situation and it's much easier to focus  on that so in this situation what do people say  

that's really the the question so we don't begin  with the vocabulary because the vocabulary can  

mean different things in different situations I  know this is a complicated topic but this is why  

most people learn languages through translation  because they're trying to take a word in their  

native language and then and then translate it  into English but it could have a different meaning  

and so it's it's much better to understand those  things in English that's what allows you to speak  

fluently uh let's see fabrio from Brazil Mike is  there again and raino nice to see you there Sol I  

moved to Australia lately you could say I moved  recently I can understand UK and US English but  

I found Australian accent is trickier I can't  fully so I tried to watch some local TV shows  

and see if it'll help yes so that will help again  if you if you are around some people if I go into  

a different part of the United States that has a a  really different accent from mine maybe it will be  

hard for me to understand but I would figure that  out uh it's interesting like like if you look at  

parents with very young children like one-year-old  2 year 2 years old uh and the and the kids can't  

really speak very well but the parent understands  what the child is saying so as an example my my  

younger sister has two younger uh two little  girls they're I think two or three years old  

now um but when they were a little bit younger  like one or two and they just started speaking  

they would say something and I didn't understand  what they were saying saying but my sister did so  

she's used to the way they speak she understands  that because she's heard them speak and they they  

they spend a lot of time together so that's I mean  that's that's the secret really it's just I don't  

understand them very well because they have their  own kind of code or language that they're able to  

use but as they become better speakers then they  will understand and be able to communicate better  

with a wider number of people so if you if you  can understand me but you would like to understand  

some different kind of people then spend more  time with that uh again this is why we put that  

into fluent for life so I'm not the only person  teaching in fluent for life you got many many many  

different people many different people from all  over the place that give you examples of English  

so Australian speakers Canadians uh even people  from different countries that are speaking English  

all right uh red goat says my biggest problem  is whenever I spoke to a native so whenever I  

speak to a native they also think I'm a native  and just thinking about it puts a big load on  

my mind do you think I should put it in the front  I'm not native uh my biggest problem is whenever  

I spoke to a native they also think I'm a native  I like it sounds unlikely just from your writing  

here I'd be surprised if people were listening to  you speak and they would think oh you're a native  

but like if you if you really speak very well I  then I don't I don't see what the what the problem  

is yeah you're you're nervous about that like um  yeah like it it doesn't doesn't sound like that's  

like a good problem I guess all Mike says that  reminds me you would say that reminds me of Don  

Hector the character of Breaking Bad Don Hector  all right uh Nudo C I don't know what that means  

and hi Drew does the phrase I hate to cook but I  love cooking makes sense to show contrast in the  

use of the verb's meaning uh well I mean if you're  talking about like it's it's a confusing example  

if you're talking about understanding what that  means but you could like you could I would I would  

take two different examples probably and use that  but yes you could you logically uh it might sound  

funny but grammatically it's correct so you could  say I hate cooking but I or I hate I hate cooking  

but I love I don't know eating or something like  that uh or I hate to cook uh but I love cooking  

but you I mean you could express that in different  ways so you could say um I hate like I hate to do  

something but I love to do this other thing over  here so some of those we have a whole lesson set  

about this influent for life so I'm not going to  cover it now uh but in general you will learn the  

patterns as you get more examples so rather than  taking one example get 10 or 20 or 100 and you  

will feel a lot more confident about it uh let's  see Diamond says hi die from Japan Tokyo I can't  

speak English very much but I always listen to  English one channel well English any one channel  

well welcome uh yeah we have I guess everybody  is off work today so they can watch my video I I  

am I am working over here you guys can enjoy your  day Koo nice to see you there would it be okay to  

say Well done to your teacher uh or like someone  older than you yes you could you could say that  

like you did a you did a good job I suppose a even  more polite way if you're worried about like in in  

uh in Japan it's a bit more strict about that uh  you know that already but like for if you have  

like an English teacher in Japan you say oh like  that was a good explanation well done or something  

you could you could say that that wouldn't be  bad or offensive Dale says uh have you done some  

class about preposition at the end of a phrase I  have a difficulty in this uh we talk about this  

influent for life and I've given examples lots of  examples with prepositions on the channel if you  

just search the word preposition uh on our Channel  you will find it R says very much to explain that  

you don't speak English well I bet it's incorrect  very much to explain that you don't speak English  

well I bet it's correct very much on that yeah  yes it's incorrect to say very much to explain I  

don't understand what you're trying to say excuse  me re rephrase that and and let me know if you  

have a specific question about a word use Alandra  says greetings from Mexico Adrian I remember when  

I talked with customers over the phone I used  to say even though I didn't know why but it's  

like it was an unnecessary filter it came out of  my mouth automatically well there's nothing even  

though is fine there's nothing wrong with that  even though I guess it depends on when you're  

using it but uh yeah like that's correct English  thank you uh Alex says I got it situation yes so  

think about how you're learning whatever your  language is if it's uh I don't know I'm trying  

to think I always use like a couple different  languages like Spanish or Portuguese or Thai or  

I always say swah cuz I I remember when I came to  Japan um and I was teaching in a classroom there  

was a lesson in the English textbook about kids  learning a different language and I thought what  

what are they doing here they're actually putting  three different languages in the same textbook  

for beginning Learners I just thought that was  crazy but I remember it and like all the kids are  

saying like Jambo which is hello in Swahili  this like it's an English class and they're  

learning to say hello in Swahili and I just I  thought that was kind of a waste of time but um  

anyway uh let's see I downloaded Frederick which  is an excellent app for people who want to be more  

articulate would it be possible to have a function  for users to type some words in the app and listen  

to it directly uh we'll probably put uh again  thank you first of all for for getting the app  

hopefully you upgraded to the whole thing so you  have the whole app uh solar but I recommend uh  

we don't have like a search feature yet that's  something we'd like to put in the app but if  

you know how to spell the word uh if you've gone  through the app and you know how to spell it you  

should be able to go to that particular section  so uh as an example like let's say if you want  

to review uh words with last letter e like magic  e or silent E this would be level eight so you  

would go there and that's how you would find the  vocabulary so you have to think about it a little  

bit uh we'll probably put a search feature in  there at some point uh but yes I'm glad you enjoy  

the app if you know other people who would like it  please recommend it all right B say in the end of  

the day food must be delicious yeah here we  would say at at the end of the day uh because  

we're talking about like a it's kind of like a  general uh time period so and this is a this is  

a tricky thing about learning prepositions like  that because again the meaning or use of a word  

changes depending on the situation so people  do say in the end like what happens like uh  

like in the end of the story or at the end you  could say both of those things but typically  

um like the phrase at the end of the day that  specific phrase that situation talking about the  

end of the day um we typically use at for that and  if you're ever curious if you if you do a Google  

search uh you could type in the end of the day and  see how many search results you get and then at  

the end of the day and see how many search results  you get and you should get a lot more for at the  

end of the day I think that's also that's that's  a song from lay Miz like at the end of the day  

I don't remember the song but that's how it goes  for my French listeners out there all right LF  

hi Drew can you do the same with help and help  out uh well in this case you're actually it's  

just making it sound more conversational so how  can I help how can I help out there there's no  

difference uh in this if you're just offering  help to someone so sometimes you will have a  

phrasal verb example like that where the only  point is just to make it sound a bit softer  

smoother a little bit uh just more conversational  basically uh let's see going I'm trying to go  

quickly here you guys are stacking stacking  these up on me all right ilder says howdy uh  

Drew glad to hear you this morning all right uh  bigas says hi Drew you're doing great personally  

I wish you to create more lessons with a  lot of phrasal verbs in them as it's still  

sometimes a pain in the little blue Monster uh  well we have do are you in I don't know if you're  

in U either fluent for life or visual guide to  phrasal verbs but we have we teach hundreds of  

them right there uh but we do have lots of videos  on the channel as well about phrasal verbs and we  

will cover them occasionally in these live videos  as well uh let's see hey guys6 watching just 67  

likes is that well enough here you would say is  that good enough enough all right so if we're  

talking about doing something like are we doing  a well enough job so are we doing something but  

is it good enough uh well I would say no we need  we need to do better you guys do better all right  

uh well done Drew very good you guys with the  uh using the vocabulary over there soana says  

uh so eliminating doubt is the ideal way to  learn a language in life not only languages  

uh yes I mean if you're if you're talking about  uh like human psychology so I spend a lot of  

time learning this because a lot of communication  is psychology uh not only for how we speak with  

people but how we feel about the words that we use  um and so people generally are are nervous about  

things and we like certainty so if we're going  to buy something we want to know for sure that  

it will work uh or that we won't have a problem  or something like that uh or in Life or whatever  

because people don't really like like if you  look at the the world in general it's it's mostly  

because people are nervous about something going  wrong that's why people do the things that they  

do um so it's it it can be uh like the thing for  for all kinds of things in life about eliminating  

doubt uh but I find this is the easiest way to  explain it to people so like I tell people that  

you should just learn English as a first language  or learn English like a native speaker but they  

don't believe that's possible and I just say well  uh forget about that just eliminate the doubt and  

and I'll do it for for you so like you don't  have to learn anything I will make the language  

understandable that will destroy your doubt you  will feel more confident so you will speak so let  

I'll just do it for you if that makes sense but  yes the the idea is because people people don't  

like uncertainty and it's really difficult  to communicate when you have uncertainty all

right uh K says to all as he mentioned that  even even him sometimes he did not some words  

from English people so let's not worry if we  don't understand when they speak English right  

well like when I don't understand a British person  it might be just one word but typically I'm able  

to understand the situation they're talking  about and then I learn that vocabulary so I  

might hear some like like if I go to like a I  don't know I lived in London for a few months  

back when I was in college um and maybe someone  would say like oh like top of the morning to you  

or you know it's like kind of the kind of British  English you would hear on a like a like a cartoon  

or a TV show or something so I I don't say topof  the morning in English like in America uh but in  

in Britain people might use that and even if I  don't I don't know that English I understand the  

situation they're using it in so you meet someone  it's a greeting in the morning oh top of the top  

of the morning like beginning of the morning good  morning you know so you understand the vocabulary  

from the situation but uh it's it's a very rare  thing that I could listen to a British person  

and not understand anything they're talking about  so that's that's a very different very different  

thing all right uh HDA says good morning uh or  no pan is your name let's see uh it's like Theory  

versus practical yes I think if if you're talking  about U how people learn languages then yes so  

most people are kind of thinking about it from a  theoretical let's just we should understand the  

vocabulary logically and then we'll get fluent  but it doesn't work like that uh and that's not  

how you get fluent in your native language either  V says hi true can I learn grammar from a story  

yes often like if you if you listen to all of  the the stuff that I'm teaching here I'm using  

lots of grammar it's grammar is just the rules of  the language it's how we structure sentences so  

we can communicate things accurately um but I'm  not explicitly teaching any grammar rules but if  

you pay attention you're connecting the situation  to the grammar all right just like you conect the  

situation to the vocabulary and pronunciation  is connected to that b says there's is there a  

different mindset between Japanese and Americans  yeah I I would say for for a lot of things so you  

have to be like a I don't know think a little bit  differently to enjoy living over here it can be a  

little bit tricky for some people should I say at  home or in the home you can actually use both of  

those so at home is just kind of the general uh  meaning of being like in a house uh but you can  

also say like in like I'm I'm in my house right  now I'm in my home but we can also use uh in home  

where we're talking about physically being inside  something but to feel at home somewhere like I  

feel at home when I teach so it's very it's very  like easy and relaxing and natural for me so I'm  

at home doing it so remember if we just focus on  vocabulary we always bring it back to situations  

okay so if we say can we say this or that thing  it's like well it depends on the situation  

and so that's why I'm trying to give lots of  examples so you understand like we can we can  

do this but it's much easier if you think about  these in the situations they're found in all right

um D say I okay answer that one Mike I'm I'm the  51 do you mean you are 51 or you are you talking  

about your age or something uh biker says let's  talk about sushi Wellington my brother-in-law  

is British and and he never and he ever laugh on  my Oh you mean he always laughs at your American  

accent is that what you mean he always laughs so  here you would say he always laughs if that's what  

you mean or unless that's a typo and you mean he  never laughs that's interesting though uh do you  

celebrate workers's day in Japan uh well I'm I'm  celebrating workers Day by working there you go  

that's how I celebrate uh beg says Drew in your  lessons you often refer to the way kids learn  

the vocabulary they stay in the silent mode for  quite a bit and only then start to speak their  

first words as it takes more brain power yes like  little kids have the same worries about uh about  

making mistakes especially as as they get older  this problem becomes worse and this is why like  

very little kids they just BL like they walk  around just saying things but as they get older  

you get like a high school kid or something or an  adult and then now the adult doesn't want to say  

anything unless they're sure will be correct all  right but it's much easier to solve that problem  

if you just get more examples but that's the idea  Keo says thank you with a smiley face glad here  

all right P says hi again Drew I meant before that  even though I teach my kids English in English and  

Spanish and Spanish sometimes I translate to  them explain what they are learning in both  

language is that good well if you're just being  simple and maybe you have to translate something  

quickly but generally it's better to just give  more examples and help people really understand  

something because if you have to translate  then it means you don't really understand or  

they don't really understand something so just  work come at it from a different angle uh and  

try to explain something better all right I  drink my drink my uh giant bottle of my mint

water cool and refreshing very good okay let's  continue how long have you been going 75 minutes  

salana says what if parents English is not  great uh does it affect the child's fluency uh  

in that case I would get more examples of native  speakers so have your kids watch you know videos  

or something like that that they're learning with  uh with native speakers it's the same way native  

children learn the language so Mike says you know  Don Hector speaks with a bell once for you oh that  

that guy okay yes he can't talk right I remember  that he was like I remember that yeah it's been a  

while since I've seen uh since I've seen breaking  B all right well done got it says T Elder says a  

new term pedestrian antenna one uh Australian  radio uh AM radio Amer Amer walks with fishing  

pod converted to antenna to make communication  with ham radio pedestrian huh so someone  

walking has like a radio antenna Mak says hello  from Brazil C is what is the difference between  

cut in and cut off uh in vehicle context all  right so that's a better question notice that  

everybody that's a good question where like in  this context or in this situation in this context  

in this situation what's the difference all right  um let's see I don't have I'll use some I'll use  

some mark markers for this all right let's see  if I can draw a street over here uh so here are  

our lines so we imagine we have two cars here um  so if if two cars are driving and the blue car  

wants to get in the red car's Lane uh if they like  what oh my goodness like this is this is like to  

cut to cut someone off like that so you're you're  stopping you're like stopping them from from doing  

something to cut someone off uh and it just means  you're you're you're it's kind of like you're  

cutting off their their momentum or their ability  to move so you just like move into their Lane so  

you can also cut into someone's Lane it just  means like very quickly moving into somebody's  

Lane typically when we move like the safe thing  is you want to be ahead of them and you put your  

your blinker on and then okay now I'm going  to smoothly you know nicely move into the lane  

with a lot of space over here but if I do this  what I'm cutting them off okay to cut them off  

so you can cut in uh in the same way cut in is  typically used more like if we have a line of  

people was that the example let me make sure I'm  I'm even answering the right question over here  

uh yeah cut in uh so cutting cutting in you can  use this in a car example but uh it's it's more  

like if there's a line of something so if we  have a line of people waiting for I don't know  

a movie or whatever uh and I walk in it's like  well I I don't want to wait so let me just cut  

in right here I'm going to cut cut into the line  all right so now I wait here then the people back  

here will not be so happy about that all right so  I'm cutting in so people say don't cut it's like  

no cutting no cutting no cutting or no cutting  in no cutting in so it would be the same idea  

with cars so if you have a if you have a bunch of  cars uh and then someone is driving maybe on the  

side of the street we call that the shoulder of  the street so they drive up here and then cut in  

that's the same idea okay so cutting something off  is where you're stopping someone else from moving  

because you're you're kind of getting in their  way very quickly to cut someone off but cutting  

in is when you have maybe a couple of things and  you're you're getting ahead of someone else you're  

cutting in line all right but notice how I'm  teaching this with situations okay so hoping you  

uh understand that by by following following this  idea and applying it in your own learning uh let's

see uh okay I think I got that one there uh  yes reminds me all right just in case again  

from Thailand I see there uh Anna from Brazil LF  I can understand Americans perfectly but when I  

went went to Ireland I could barely understand so  so I believe we can't really understand everyone  

it's just not realistic well but that's that's  for anybody if you think about your own country  

or your own family you might have people that  you can't understand very well like think about  

some grandparent or whatever uh you know like  Don Hector that just has a bail like that's  

how he speaks like I don't I don't speak bail I  don't understand what he's saying to me you know  

so in in in everybody's case like that it's just  pay atten to the people you speak with mostly um  

and and that's how you would you would be able to  communicate so you might not understand everyone  

but you're probably if you're not spending much  time with them if I go to Ireland or Scotland  

for a weekend there will be some people I don't  understand you know it happens uh but in general  

I would probably be able to communicate with them  or they would they might even change the way they  

speak to make sure they're understandable uh let's  see so this says my husband speaks like a native  

he always tells me I should think in English I  can't get it until I found your channel he said  

you're the first one uh he knows uh who can  explain the method he adopted Crystal Clear  

yeah so again uh if you understand it like a  native that is teaching you how to think in  

English because you're not translating anymore  if you don't translate you don't think in your  

native language Bridge again Drew so you're  saying the situation is whatever is happening  

at that moment in time yes so it's just like if  I'm holding something in my hand like this is a  

situation it's the context whatever is happening  the point is you you you begin with this and then  

we learn oh this thing is a marker then I learn  oh this other thing like it's a similar kind of  

thing like this is also a marker and maybe I have  a like a slightly different variety or a different  

color this is also a marker too so the context  is what you're looking at here the context could  

also be an idea if I'm thinking about something  or something happening it doesn't matter but the  

point is uh the situation typically has like  one meaning to it so like this is it is what  

it is it's just a marker okay so we use the  sound the word to describe this situation so  

this thing this situation this context is marker  that's what this is or this context is a shirt or  

eye or whatever some hair all right so as you're  you're you don't begin with a word and then try to  

connect that with a thing you begin with the thing  and connect the word to that and it's much easier  

to do that as you get lots of examples so a like a  a very simple exercise you could do uh anyone out  

here watching this uh you could look at somebody's  face and a like a good way to I'll probably talk  

about this in the next video about like how to  judge your level or to know your fluency level  

because somebody asked me about this um like a  little bit ago in this video uh and this is how  

how long could you continue talking about  something so if you look at my face or you look at  

something else how many different things could you  say so that would that would tell you how fluent  

you are if you just say oh uh this is Drew he  has two eyes and a nose and a mouth and I I can't  

really say more than that if that's it then you're  then you're not that fluent even if you know the  

vocabulary then you're not actually that fluent  all right but if you can talk if I could talk  

for an hour just about how someone's face looks  and I could talk about wow look at that scar on  

their face that was from when they had a fight  with an eagle and and like you know there was  

some other things happening and I could explain  that I could continue talking about something like  

that for a long time so your ability to speak  fluently it it shows how well you can you can  

communicate about situations so you can go into  more detail about things or you can explain them  

in different ways if you forget one word you can  use a different one those are all skills that you  

develop as you focus on this idea so rather than  thinking about just words by themselves because  

they don't really mean anything and this just  means uh that that words change the meanings  

of words change in different situations so if  you focus on situations the situation is like  

the anchor you say oh okay someone is praising a  child I understand what's happening here but here  

are all the different ways that we might approach  that how how might we say that okay so that's how  

you can learn to do this without having a speaking  practice partner is Isn't that cool so you don't  

I don't need to have a speaking practice partner  but I do need someone to give me examples of that  

either I'm going to do this like with our help  you know influent for Life uh or you will be maybe  

watching videos or reading articles or something  but if you take something you care about whatever  

you're interested in get a bunch of examples of  that thing and it will help you understand it  

like a native I promise you so if you do it in  English you will feel a lot more confident you  

will learn pronunciation you will learn grammar  all that will come naturally okay we just make it  

very easy because it's all organized already and  fluent for life all right I think we're getting  

to the end of the comments here brid says okay  we answer that one k says all right how do how  

how do how do you do is that a typle here how do  you say like if you're going home like if you're  

if you're like I can say I have to go uh thank you  very much uh in advance well we I mean you don't  

have to say all that so when we when we say like  thank you oh oh wait are you asking I can't tell  

where the where the quote Mark is because you this  confusing for me because I don't know if you're  

saying I have to go thank you very much in advance  or if you just say I have to go uh but that's the  

quote but I'll just I'll imagine let's say I'll  imagine yeah like in Japanese it's like well okay  

bye-bye but in English yeah you I mean you could  just say uh okay I'll I'll see you tomorrow we we  

don't really have the like uh like sorry for  going first kind of culture like that um but  

you say like I have to go or like uh we we can we  can leave it here and we will come back tomorrow  

or I'll see you tomorrow or something like that  uh but if you want to be more polite about it I  

guess you could say sorry for going first if you  wanted to say that but but yes in in uh in Japan  

like it's uh like I I hate I hate to laugh about  that but it's just a funny thing I remember um  

like there there's a movie called saw maybe some  of you know this movie I think there have been a  

few of these Saw movies there's like five of them  saw I don't know how many there are uh but in the  

English version the the the killer guy the bad  guy he says I want to play a game I want to play  

a game so he's just saying he's telling the the  like the poor victim like the girl or the boy  

or whatever uh like we're going to do this now I  just decided I'm going to do this but I'm joking  

with my friends about that and I say the Japanese  version of that is like I'm really sorry I know  

you're busy right now but like we should play a  game together so that's more how the how people  

are communicating in that way and so we we kind  of joke about that um anyway if you've seen that

moving uh let's see I'm chuffed a bit happy when  you're hurting your feet because of your shoes  

are too tight when you say it's chuffed how this  word can be related to this situation uh I'm not  

familiar with that is that British English to be  chuffed about something ah or do you mean chafed  

because that like like chafed wouldn't mean happy  and it doesn't mean chuffed in American English  

that that I know of I've never heard anyone say  I'm chuffed to be happy so I don't know may either  

as a typo or maybe British English or something  else but when you talk about chafing chafing is  

typically there's like rubbing or something like  that so you're maybe your shoes are too loose and  

they're rubbing on your feet if if that's what  you mean but that's not related to happy uh in  

this example remember again that words can have  different meanings in different situations so  

that there that would explain that uh baham says  hello English anyone Kristof says greetings from  

Chile Juanita from Mexico City look at that we got  people and Pablo oh my goodness I don't know what  

happened to Pablo with that smiley face over there  uh MOA say or MOA says thank you I'm from Moran I  

learned a lot with you glad to hear it teacher is  there children's day in Japan there's a children's  

day in Korea yes it's called kot and I think  it's was that may may5th I think I don't I don't  

remember someone who someone who's Japanese answer  that right now we are in the middle of golden week  

uh I think quot he is uh so that's child's day  that's on the 5th I guess which is what day is it  

today so maybe on Sunday I guess so this this year  golden week this is where there are a few holidays  

at the same time but unfortunately for many people  the holidays are on the weekend already so like  

Saturday and Sunday are our holidays so people  have some fewer vacation days this year uh let's  

see I can't read the cilc I live in the UK and I  feel that some people trying to take an advantage  

in conversation because they speak better English  than me yes I would imagine that would happen and  

that's again one of the benefits of being a better  speaker but yes you have to uh pay attention for  

things like that so uh unfortunately I can't I  can't try to solve every problem but hopefully  

I can help you speak better and you will  experience those kinds of problems less  

R says I'm really sorry but we have to play a  game time to die yes so the Japanese it's like I

see and they're like just like talking a lot uh I  just said what I said in English before but like  

I know you're busy and uh like can we please like  play the game or whatever uh and the Trin says hi  

sir as a delivery man I always try to join your  live streaming whenever I have a short break time  

on the road and get the point of today's topic  thanks Japan plays are difficult to read such a  

station says Charlie yes uh if you don't know  if it's all written in Japanese then yes it's  

difficult but typically they have like some kind  kind of English and many places have Chinese or  

Korean as well uh depending on when tourists are  coming there all right look at that we've been  

going for 90 minutes wow all right and at the end  of the board look at this at the at the end so at  

the end of the video at the end of the video uh  the board looks like it it's kind of I beat I beat  

this up pretty pretty badly today uh but hopefully  you get the point uh you'll notice I continue  

uh to return to these topics again and again  because we get new people coming in all the time  

uh more people who have been learning English as  a second language and they want to understand how  

to actually speak uh and again just to recap  to uh repeat what I was saying in this video  

the point is instead of trying to get a bunch of  words and memorize those things you really want to  

understand situations so even if you just pick one  situation and focus on that get a bunch of good  

examples of that thing you feel a lot better about  that thing than uh if you tried to learn some  

random vocabulary so most of the English language  learning content on YouTube will be lots of random  

videos about random vocabulary but they're not  really they might give you some examples but it  

doesn't really make you feel confident and certain  about the vocabulary okay so there's like a whole  

ocean of content here but if you can't use it  correctly uh it's going to be more frustrating  

for you so if you would like help this is what we  do in fluent for life everything is all organized  

so we help you understand like a native but  it's really simple to do and you don't need a  

practice partner you simply need to understand the  language better then you will feel more confident  

so you start speaking all right if you'd like  to learn more you can click on the links in  

the description and I will see you in the next  video which should be Monday I think Monday next  

week my time Japan time have a fantastic weekend  wherever you are and I will see you then byebye