Advanced English Listening And Vocabulary Practice - Conversational American English - Travel

Well, hello and welcome to this month's Phrase Builder lesson.

It is a pleasure to welcome you back if you've been with us for a while, and hello if you're

new.

This month we're going to be talking about travel and tourism.

And because this is such a broad topic, I will be covering quite a few general terms

about a few different things.

So, if you are traveling or even if you're just around your own home and welcoming other

people into your country, wherever you happen to be.

You'll have a lot of general terms, and you'll be able to sound more like a native speaker

when you communicate.

So, it's going to be a fun lesson.

Uh, there'll be a lot of interesting words and phrases as usual.

In this lesson, we will be covering things that are not necessarily related to travel

and tourism, but there will be just lots of great words and phrases that will help you

sound more native.

In the Fluency Corner lesson coming up next, we will be discussing more things about travel

and tourism specifically.

Let's begin.

First is obsessed.

To be obsessed with something.

Now, you'll hear a couple of times in the conversation, this is just a general thing

you should be listening for, uh, but don't just listen to the words and phrases that

people use.

Try to understand their personality and the way they speak.

So, for me, you can try to understand my sense of humor, the way I make jokes or the way

I comment about things.

And for many people, even people that I meet in my daily life, they have sometimes a hard

time understanding whether I'm being serious or if I'm joking about something.

So, you'll see me sometimes, I might say something and maybe the other person, uh, I'm speaking

with doesn't quite get what I'm saying.

But each person, the point I'm making here is that each person really has their own personality,

and so that shines through.

This is a great phrasal verb that just means it comes through.

Just like the sun shining through a window.

So, the personality shines through in the way that the person speaks.

So, in the case of Carley, who you'll see me speaking with in the conversation this

month, she is very optimistic.

She is a very bright and bubbly person.

She loves to make jokes and she loves to, uh, just have a really, a fun time.

So, in the conversation, she's using lots of words, uh, that kind of make what she's

trying to say a bit more excessive or to exaggerate something.

So, I'll go over a couple of, uh, examples of that you'll see in this lesson.

But when you see that in the conversation, where she says, “Wow, that's the most amazing

thing I ever saw!”

Or, “I hated that thing.”

When people speak like this, you'll see a good example from Carley.

But when people speak like this in general, especially native English speakers typically

from America, uh, these are people just exaggerating things, in general.

So, they might not really mean they actually hate something or that something was the most

amazing thing ever.

But they're just using that as an exaggeration, just usually, when telling a story.

So, when, uh, the first example here is talking about being obsessed with something, it just

means you're really passionate about it.

You really like it, and even if you're not actually obsessed with something where you

can't stop thinking about it, again, this is an exaggeration where native speakers are

talking about something that they really like, but just in a more conversational way.

To be obsessed with something.

Next, a more advanced word, upheaval.

Upheaval.

Upheaval.

Now, you can hear this as up-evil or upheaval or up-he-val.

But usually, when people are speaking quickly, just upheaval.

Upheaval.

Now, upheaval usually means a sudden, uh, dramatic or drastic change in something, typically

a violent one.

Uh, and so, you'll see Carley talking about this in the conversation because we're talking

about her trip to Myanmar, uh, also known as Burma.

And so, she's talking about how there was political upheaval.

So, the same thing.

You could have a physical upheaval like, uh, an earthquake or a volcano or something like

that.

But the political upheaval means there's a sudden dramatic change in government, typically

a violent one, in some way.

Next, related to this we have genocide.

Genocide.

Now, this again, when we're kind of learning new words, really a great way to do this,

one of our, uh, just really great ways of remembering things is understanding of the

prefixes and suffixes of words.

A great example is bicycle where you have bi meaning two, and cycle meaning wheels or

circles.

So, a bicycle is a two-circled thing.

And so, when we take that idea, we can have a bicycle for two wheels or a tricycle for

three wheels.

So, when you're studying the pieces of words like this, it really helps you if you can

understand one.

Then you can use that same thing in other words as well.

So, if we have, uh, this idea of cide, C-I-D-E, this means to kill something.

So, if you want to talk about, like, killing your brother would be fratricide.

So, to kill your brother, uh, or, like, I think even killing your mother is matricide

or something like that.

Like marrying, or not marrying, but killing your mother, something like that.

Uh, suicide means killing yourself.

Uh, obviously, these aren't fun things to talk about.

But, when you have just an idea like this where you can understand the, the point here,

of cide.

Okay, even killing something like, uh, like weeds or something like that in your garden.

You would use a pesticide for doing that.

So, all these things, uh, again, the point here is just to remember something where you

can remember the words easily just by understanding the pieces of it.

So, genocide refers to killing a whole group of people, typically, uh, like a race or an

ethnicity.

Uh, like, all green people want to kill all the purple people or something like that.

So, there's a genocide where they try to kill all of them.

Genocide.

Next, contamination.

This is a word I've actually covered before in the program, I believe, but it's just such

a great word.

And you'll see how, again, a lot of words appear over and over again.

So, they are, again, things that you should be trying to remember more.

But to contaminate something just means to have an influence or a physical thing that's

coming into somewhere where it should not be.

So, if I have my hands closed like this and nothing can get in, but slowly some gas gets

into my hands, it could be contaminating the air that's in here.

And people often talk about contaminated food where you could get food poisoning.

And Carley mentions both of these things in the conversation.

So, food poisoning just means maybe there's some bacteria or some chemical thing or something

when you ate some food that was maybe old, or it was contaminated.

So, other chemicals, or something like that, got into that food that you're eating and

hurt you in some way.

Next, chancy.

Chancy.

Now, this is a conversational, native expression, or I guess not an expression, it's just a

word.

But when you're talking about something being chancy, it means maybe you don't know if it's

a good idea or not.

So, the conversational example that you'll see in the Master Class video is Carley talking

about some food being kind of chancy.

Where she's looking at something, ah, I don't know if I should eat that or not.

So, chancy, as in I should maybe take a chance by trying to eat that, or maybe I should not

take a chance by eating that.

So, you can say, I don't want to chance something where maybe you're, you're thinking that the

result could be bad if you decide to do that thing.

Maybe you get hurt or something bad happens.

Chancy.

Chancy.

Next, another great word, dismantle.

Dismantle.

To dismantle means to take something apart.

As an example, when you go to a construction company, usually they will put up, they will

assemble, some kind of, uh, uh, structure around that building maybe to protect it or

where some people can walk on things.

This is called scaffolding.

That's the name of this physical thing, uh, around buildings.

Uh, but they take this up, and then they can dismantle it when they are finished.

So, it just means to take something apart.

Again, you're not breaking something, uh, you're trying to do it delicately.

We also talk about dismantling a bomb because you don't want to just destroy the bomb because

that would hurt you.

You want to dismantle something.

So, to delicately take something apart.

Dismantle.

Next, precarious.

Precarious.

Precarious means dangerously unbalanced.

So, when I talk about something being precariously balanced, you'll see this in the conversation.

We're talking about this rock that's covered in, uh, gold leaf foil or gold foil.

I forget what they call it.

But it's balanced on the side of a rock, or at least it looks like it could fall off.

So, it looks like it's balanced precariously.

So, if you're in a precarious situation, it means it's unstable in some way where even

the slightest movement or you could do something just a little bit wrong, and that would cause

a lot of problems.

Precarious.

Precarious.

Next, phenomenal.

Phenomenal.

You'll hear this a few times.

Carley mentions this.

Again, this is that idea of exaggerating something because when we're telling a story, we want

to bring more people into the story, to invite people in and to get their attention.

And if we just say, “Yeah, the food was really good at the restaurant.”

Then people say, “Oh, okay.”

But if you say, “Wow, the food was phenomenal.”

I mean, phenomenal is a pretty amazing thing.

If you really say something is phenomenal, that's the most, best, excellent kind of thing

you could think of.

So phenomenal just means amazing, really fantastic.

But again, when native speakers are using these expressions, try not to rank them perfectly.

Like, well, there's great and then phenomenal.

Some food actually might be just pretty good, but people call it phenomenal because they

are exaggerating.

Exaggerating.

Next equivalent.

Equivalent.

You'll hear this as equivalent or equivalent.

Equivalent.

Equivalent.

This is the ‘schwa’ sound equivalent.

So, this is the same sound, like, about or panda a, a, equivalent.

Uh, we don't want to talk about, uh, pronunciation too much because, again, you'll hear both

of these equivalent or equivalent because people are thinking of it as equal, and this

is what it means.

So, you could say in a regular casual conversational way, that two things are equal.

Or, if you want to sound a bit more educational, or a bit more educated I should say, you would

say the things sound equivalent or they are equivalent.

So, uh, my job here and the one I had in some other country, even though they're in different

places, uh, the position is equivalent.

Equivalent.

Next, a great conversational term, this is sweet.

To call someone sweet.

They, usually, this means they are a very kind person in the same way that maybe some

fruit is sweet.

Uh, so we're not using it in that literal sense.

We're saying, “Wow, that was so sweet of you.

Thank you for giving me some chocolate,” or something.

Typically, this is something used by women rather than men.

Men can use it, uh, but women typically are talking about maybe a child doing something.

Like, “Oh, that little boy gave me a flower,” or something like that.

How sweet.

So, that was very sweet.

How sweet of you.

How sweet of you.

Next, legitimate.

Legitimate.

Legitimate just means something that's actual or real or the correct thing.

Uh, you could have a legitimate ruler as a ruler of a company, or a ruler of, uh, a kingdom,

something like that.

Uh, like, if a father dies and his son becomes the legitimate ruler, uh, the next person

to become king.

Or, usually, a story might have, like, someone that's not the legitimate king, uh, becomes

king.

Like, the story of the Lion King is a perfect example that.

So, the illegitimate king is Scar.

He's the, the uncle of young Simba, the lion.

And he becomes the, the king of that.

I don't know if you've seen that movie or not.

But anyway, the idea is still there.

So, it just means something that's, uh, real or correct for legitimate.

Legitimate.

Next proximity.

Proximity.

Proximity just means the relationship of how close something is to something else.

And it could be physical proximity.

Like, right now, the proximity of me and this board behind me, we are quite close.

So, it's very close proximity.

But, you could also talk about the proximity of something like an idea where I have an

idea and someone else has an idea, uh, and they're, it's, they are quite proximate.

The, the ideas are quite related to each other or quite similar.

Or, you could say they're very different.

So, in close proximity or maybe a faraway distance from that other thing.

Proximity.

Proximity.

Next, isolating.

Isolating.

An isolating thing, or an isolating feeling.

To be isolated means you're separate from other people.

So, you could have a very isolating feeling, or you feel isolated.

Maybe you move to a new town, and though there are many other people living there, you don't

really know anybody yet, so you feel very isolated.

Isolated.

Next, assertive.

Assertive.

When you are assertive or you are asserting yourself, it means you are, uh, showing yourself.

You're being proud.

You are not being nervous.

You're not being shy.

You're being assertive.

So, I want to walk up if I see some beautiful woman, and I say, oh wow, I want to go ask

her for her phone number or something.

If I'm shy, if I'm timid, to be timid, this means shy or you're a little bit nervous about

something, uh, then I don't walk up to her.

But if I'm assertive, I want to assert myself.

I want to walk up and be proud and have confidence and communicate, uh, in a strong way.

So, you should be thinking in the same way when you're practicing and speaking English.

Be assertive.

It's okay even if you make a mistake.

You see, even right now, I'm a native speaker and when I make mistakes in these videos,

it happens sometimes.

It's okay.

But I'm still assertive, and the reason I'm assertive is because I believe that this is

important information, and if you can learn how to speak, it will improve your life.

So, it's okay if I make a mistake.

I have a good reason to be assertive.

So, think about that for yourself as you're learning.

Just a quick tip about, uh, controlling the confidence, especially if you feel nervous

about speaking.

It's okay to be assertive because you could potentially help people, even if you're just

getting into conversations to listen.

Be assertive.

Assertive.

And the final one is ASAP.

You can also hear this spoken as A-Sap, and this just means as soon as possible.

So, this is something that you will hear sometimes in a more professional setting or an academic

setting, uh, when you're asking someone please respond.

Or, let me know about the answer to this thing ASAP or A-Sap.

Uh, but again, it's a very conversational expression as well.

So, you will hear this in just everyday speaking with other people.

So, let me know A-Sap or ASAP.

You can hear both of these things.

And again, it just means as soon as possible.

ASAP.

Now, let's get into the longer phrases and expressions for this month.

First, I want to just explain something very quickly.

Again, I mentioned earlier in this lesson about watching not only the words or listening

to the words that people use, but the way people speak to try to understand their personality

and how that changes the words that they might choose to speak with.

So, me, again, I can be a little bit sarcastic as are many people from the United States.

Carly is a little bit sarcastic as well.

Uh, and if you've been a member with us for a while, you can go back and watch some of

the previous conversations that she's joined us on.

I really enjoyed the paranormal activity lesson.

Uh, that was a great one.

We were talking about ghosts and things like that.

Uh, but in the conversation, you'll hear me describing something, and I say, “As fun

as that would be.”

So, I'm using it in a sarcastic way meaning that I don't think something would be fun.

As an example, I might say, “Yeah, as fun as it would be to have a picnic in the rain,

I, I don't think, uh, I'll have time to do that today.”

So, maybe a friend of mine says, “Hey, Drew.

We should go out to a picnic.”

Uh, and I say, “Well it's, it looks like it's going to rain today.”

Well, I guess as fun as it would be to have a picnic in the rain, as great as it would

be, as entertaining as it would be to have a picnic in the rain, I won't be able to go

with you today.

Or, I don't think, ah, maybe, I'll be able to do something.

But it's a great phrase that you can put a different word in there.

As fun as it will be, as great as it will be, as awesome as it will be.

But, again, you're using it in a sarcastic way.

Now, you can use this in an actual serious way where you say, “Wow, as great as it

would be to join you at the party, I’m, I'm un, uh, unable to join you.”

So, I'm, uh, too busy, or I have some other thing that I can't, uh, I can't join you for.

So again, the way that you're speaking it, and your personality, these are all things

that help to shape the way that you speak.

So, as great as it would be to do something, as great as it would be to, uh, to go travel

and travel the world and meet you right now.

I've got work tomorrow, so I can't do it.

So, as great as it would be, as fun as it would be.

And then again, the meaning of it is just in the conversation, whatever your personality

is.

So, you can be sarcastic, or you can be serious.

Next, another way of changing something slightly as a native speaker, when you say, “I've

never done something myself.”

Just adding the myself at the end of that, it makes it sound a little bit more conversational,

and just a bit more friendly.

So, I've never done that.

So, a friend of mine says, “Oh, have you ever been to France?”

I can say, “No, I've never been to France.”

Or, I could say, “I've never been to France myself.”

So, I'm saying exactly the same thing.

The meaning doesn't change at all, but it just becomes a little bit more casual, a little

bit more friendly, little bit more native sounding, uh, adding the myself at the end

of that.

So again, it doesn't change the meaning at all.

But you're just saying, well, yeah, like, myself.

Like, me, I haven't been there.

Or, I haven't been there myself.

Next, another expression that happens, uh, or does this same thing of just sounding a

little bit more casual and conversational is perfectly okay.

Now, this sounds kind of a weird expression, when okay just means, yeah, it's not too good,

not too bad, just, it's just okay.

So, perfectly okay is like, “Wow, it’s, like, really perfectly okay.”

But you'll hear this, again, just used as a, uh, a more conversational way of saying

that something is okay.

It's almost like the word okay is just too short, and people want to give a little bit

longer explanation or definition just to sound a bit more conversational, uh, and a bit more

friendly about, you know, the way that they're speaking.

So, I could say it's perfectly fine to do this, or it's perfectly okay to do this.

But, maybe you want to do this other thing as well.

It doesn't change the meaning at all.

You can say it's okay to do something, but you'll sound a bit more casual and conversational.

Try this expression with your friends instead of just saying it's okay to do something,

say it's perfectly okay.

They will say, “Wow, like, where did you learn that?”

Because it's really something that non-native speakers don't use.

Perfectly okay.

Next, this is a common thing, and I want you to just listen carefully because here is a

common mistake that native speakers will make, and it's something that you can make in your

conversations as well that you shouldn't worry about.

It is something that you should pay attention to for your writing.

And this is whether you use me or I in a conversation.

Now, you’ll hear conversate, uh, you'll hear in our conversation, Carley says, “My

friend and me.”

Or, me and my friend do something.

So, the, the way to know whether one of these is correct or not is to remove the other person

from the sentence.

And this is just to learn to use it correctly.

So, if you say, “Me and my friend went to Canada.”

Me and my friend or my friend and me went to Canada.

Now, if you remove ‘my friend,’ you would just have me went to Canada.

And you wouldn't say me went to Canada.

You’d say I went to Canada.

So, the correct answer becomes my friend and I went to Canada.

Or, I and my friend.

But typically, when we're speaking logically, it doesn't matter if you say my friend and

I or I and my friend.

But typically, we want to kind of show respect to the other person.

So, we say that other person first.

So, my friend and I, my wife and I or my other, you know, my family and I did something.

So, you don't usually say I and my family did something.

You're saving yourself as the, the last person.

Uh, like, John, Frank, Tommy and I went to something.

So again, you're, you're showing respect to those other people by saying yourself last.

But this is a thing in conversations where, don't worry too much if you say me or I because

native speakers make this mistake.

I'm sure I've made it, uh, many times.

Even if you go back and watch the lessons, I might accidentally say, uh, me instead of

I.

But nobody cares in the conversation, number one, because they understand my meaning.

And number two, nobody's going to stop.

I mean everybody makes mistakes like this in conversations.

And these kinds of mistakes are not that important.

But making a mistake where you say, like, two cat are on the table instead of two cats

are on the table.

That's a common mistake, uh, that a non-native speaker would make, but a native speaker would

not say that.

Next, when we're talking about show-and-tell, and this is where you're introducing something

while physically showing something.

Often younger children at school, they have show-and-tell, maybe, days at their school

where they have to bring some object.

Or, they bring a favorite toy or a pet that they have for show-and-tell.

So, they're going to explain something.

I want to show you something.

So, we did a bit of show-and-tell, or we will do that.

You will see that in the conversation where we're talking about showing something and

talking about it at the same time.

Show-and-tell.

Now, when you're showing something, a great phrase you can use, this could be while you're

giving a presentation.

Right, right behind me, if I have, uh, a graph or some kind of chart, I could say, “As

you can see.”

As you can see, and then I'm doing something.

So, I'm illustrating something.

I want to show you a picture and then say, as you can see, something, something, something.

As you can see, this is a really great way to learn.

As you can see, something.

Now, keep in mind, this is where the idea comes from.

I'm physically showing something to you.

As you can see.

But, you can also use as you can see when you're just explaining something, maybe trying

to paint a picture in the mind of the person listening to you.

So, you can describe something, and I was, I was standing there, and I had to, uh, talk

to the police.

And there was a big problem.

There was a traffic accident or something like that.

As you can see, I was in a lot of trouble.

So, you can't physically see me.

I'm not there.

You're not there with me, but we can talk about that thing, and I can use that expression

in that way.

As you can see.

As you can see.

Now, a funny expression Carley uses in the conversation is, in American.

So, she's talking about in English.

Uh, but sometimes people will use this as a joke.

Like, “Oh, I was speaking American,” even though that's not an actual name of a language.

Uh, but just listen for that in the conversation when she's talking about translating things,

uh, and speaking.

Oh, I, I have to say something in American.

In American.

She really means English, or specifically American English.

Next, yet another exaggeration, I would have died.

I would've died.

Now, if you are really embarrassed about something, wow, I, I went to the party and I almost wore

the same dress or the same shirt or the same something, uh, as another friend of mine.

And, if I had done that, oh, I would have died.

Now, you don't actually mean that you would have died.

But this is a very common conversational expression, especially with younger women like Carley,

that are very excited about something and they're exaggerating what they would have

happened, or what would have happened, uh, if they did something.

So, I would have died.

Now, she can be a bit more serious.

Like, if I actually, uh, swam with some sharks, I would have died.

So, there was a, a real problem.

You can use it in that way.

Again, the language is the same.

I would have died, but the meaning changes depending on the context.

So, depending on the conversation or the situation.

And it also depends on the speaker.

So, if you're being sarcastic, if you're exaggerating or if you're being serious, I would've died.

I would've died.

Next, all around.

All around.

You'll hear Carley describing the prices.

And again, we'll talk more about the specific tourism and traveling things in the Fluency

Corner lesson.

But in the, or just for this lesson where we're talking about all around.

So, Carley was saying, “All around, the prices are pretty cheap.”

Or, you could say the prices are pretty cheap all around.

So, all around, just meaning the different parts like maybe the food and the transportation

and housing and other things like that.

So, in general, or even the different parts of something altogether, are quite cheap.

All around.

You could talk about someone being, maybe, all around a great student.

So, they're good at, uh, history and math and science and many different subjects as

well.

Again, we're just talking about the different parts, and each of these is good together.

So together, all together, all around.

They're all very good.

Next, very quickly, nowadays.

Nowadays.

I've talked about this, again.

But you'll see, again and again, lots, uh, lots of phrases appear again and again in

conversations.

So, it's always great to review them.

Nowadays just means as opposed to time in the past.

So, contrasted with this, or the opposite of this, you could say back in the day or

in the olden days.

In the olden days.

So, nowadays, or you could just say now.

So, uh, nowadays kind of refers to generally they maybe this time in history rather than

maybe 20 years ago or a hundred years ago or something like that.

So, nowadays you can go out.

Like, nowadays, women will ask men out on a date.

Maybe 200 years ago, women didn't really do that very much.

Or, I guess depending on where they were.

Uh, but in some cultures, now that's changed.

So, now women can more, like, ask a man out for a date.

Where maybe before, uh, men really were the ones asking women out on a date.

Nowadays.

Next, to think it through.

Listen carefully to how this blends.

To think it through.

Thin ki thru, think it through.

Now, I'm saying think it, but the ‘t’ disappears from it.

Think i, think i.

So, you notice how I'm leaving that space there for the sound, but I don't actually

say it.

So, listen carefully, think it through.

Think it through.

Think it through.

Think it through.

You hear that?

Think it through.

To think it through just means to think about something, usually where you're thinking about

the steps.

Where maybe you do this and then you have to do that thing and something like that.

So, if you're making a plan to do something, maybe your business is, okay, we want to try

to start selling things in a different country.

How do we do that?

We have to think it through.

So, what do we do?

First, we have to get this legal permission.

Then we have to do something else and talk to some people over there about selling it.

So, there are things we have to do.

We have to think it through.

So, when you're talking to children about doing something, “Hey, don't, don't act

too quickly.

Think it through.”

Try to take time and plan what will happen if you do this, and then what that means,

and the next seps, uh, or the next steps you have to take.

Think it through.

Next, another casual conversational expression is how cool, or how cool is that?

How cool is that?

How amazing is that?

So, if I'm talking with my daughter, or I'm talking with someone else, again, I'm excited.

Maybe I'm even exaggerating about something.

And, again, I could be sarcastic about it, or I could be serious.

It just depends on my mood, and what I'm trying to say.

So, listen not just to the words but to the expression as well.

So, how cool is that?

How cool is that?

So, I'm looking with my daughter.

Wow, there, there's a dinosaur over there.

How cool is that?

So, even if it's just a robotic dinosaur, I think it's amazing.

Wow, how cool is that?

Next, the economy is shifting, shifting.

The economy is shifting.

So, to shift just means to move slightly, and it could mean a big shift or even just

a slight shift.

But when the economy is shifting, it means there's some change.

It could be a big change that's happening in the way businesses operate, or maybe people

are maybe doing one job more than something else.

So, in America, if manufacturing jobs, so a manufacturing means, like, you're using

your hands to build something or using machines where you're actually building something.

So, manufacturing jobs are moving to other countries, and a lot of them have already

left.

So, now Americans are doing other things where we're, like, doing financial things, or we

have some kind of, uh, working with a computer typing information or something like that.

So, as the economy shifts from one thing to another, then people's jobs change.

Next, two things that are related to each other.

The first is to get sidetracked, and the second one is to be on a tangent or to go on a tangent.

So, to be sidetracked.

If you think about a train track that's going straight, like, they're, uh, like this.

A sidetrack maybe would take you off in another direction.

And this is the same idea as a tangent.

So, you can have a line like this, a regular straight line from a math class.

And a tangent is just a line that goes off on the side.

And I've covered this on the program before, but, again, remember that things like this,

they do appear again and again in conversations.

So, this is a great review for you.

Uh, but to go off on a tangent means you're talking about something else.

It could be related to what you're talking about or even not related at all.

But maybe, sometimes you could be talking about, I'm talking about my pet dog.

And then maybe I go off on a tangent and talk about how my wife got me that dog for Christmas.

And then my wife was doing this, and I start going off on a tangent.

So, I have to bring the conversation back to the original topic.

To go off on a tangent.

To go off on a tangent.

Next, to read someone's mind.

To read someone's mind.

When you read someone's mind, you anticipate what that other person wants or what they're

thinking so that you can give them something, and they're being very excited or happy about

that when it happens.

So, you can talk about reading someone's mind.

Maybe they look really thirsty.

So, I say, “Hey, would you like a glass of water?”

And I give them a glass of water.

You could respond by saying, “Wow, you read my mind.”

You read my mind.

So, it's okay to just say thanks for the water.

But if you want to really sound more native, “Wow, you read my mind.”

So, if, like, you're sitting there, you look kind of tired and your husband or wife or

friend, or somebody, just gives you a little back rub or massage.

You can say, “Oh, you read my mind.”

So, I was thinking, “Wow, I really wish I could have a massage.”

I wish, something like that.

I'm, I'm hoping something.

Uh, but you don't actually say it.

So, in that case, uh, if I say, “Hey, could you bring me a glass of water?”

And they bring me a glass of water.

They're not reading my mind because they heard me say that.

But if I don't say anything, and they just bring me one, uh, then you have to read their

mind in that case.

And so, you're very excited when that happens.

To read someone's mind.

Next, to knock something out.

To knock something out.

If you think about the idea of boxing, to hit something, to knock it out usually means

it's in some location, and you remove it very quickly someplace else.

So, to knock something out.

So, you knock a boxer out, like, you knock the consciousness out of him.

And he falls back on the, on the mat, and, you know, the person counts one, two, three,

four, all the way up to ten.

And then you have knocked out someone.

So, this is known as a KO, a knockout in boxing.

But this idea, really, just means to do something very quickly.

So, if I have some homework, and I want to go to a party after that.

I can tell my friends, “Hey, I have to knock out some homework before I go, and then I

will come see you after that.”

So, let me knock this homework out.

You can use this.

This is a separable phrasal verb, meaning you can say, knock out or knock something

out.

Both of these are fine.

Uh, but when you knock something out, again, you just want to do it quickly, usually, so

you can do something else after that.

Next, another great phrasal verb, to squeeze something in.

To squeeze something in.

When you squeeze something in from one place or another, you have maybe a small amount

of space.

You don't have much space for something, but you can kind of push it in there a little

bit.

This is a great term you can use when you're setting up appointments where a doctor or

a therapist or somebody, maybe they only have 15 minutes.

And I say, “Oh, could you squeeze me in for just 15 minutes?

Could you squeeze me in at 4:00?”

Something like that.

So, they might not have a full hour, but I just have some questions for you.

Could you squeeze me in?

Again, again, like squeezing something, to push something and get it into a space that

maybe it wouldn't really fit.

Uh, but it's okay if you just want to do something for a little bit.

So, could you squeeze me in?

So hopefully, I'll have time to squeeze in something.

I don't know if we'll have time or not, but we'll try to squeeze it in.

Squeeze it in.

Next, you'll hear me in the conversation talking about Hawaii being up there on my list of

places we'd like to live.

So, imagine if you have a physical list.

Like, you've got ten different countries or cities, places you'd like to live or things

you'd like to do.

When we're talking about this in a physical sense, you can talk about something being

up there.

Like, it's at the top of the list or near the top of the list.

So, if you ask someone, “Hey, what places would you like to travel to?”

Or, “What's your number one travel destination?”

something like that.

You could say, “Oh, like, I’d like to go to Greece and Italy, and China is up there.”

So, you're saying it's up there near the top of the list, or in this, maybe, kind of list

you're just thinking about, uh, it's at the top of the list.

So, it's up there.

Up there.

And finally, I'll have to see if I can do something.

I'll have to see if I can do something.

Now, I'm covering this because it's a, it's a pretty common thing.

But also because the blending is important here.

And if you blend it correctly, it will help you sound more native.

So, I half da think, I half da think.

So, I half da think about doing something.

So, half, half, half da, half da.

So, it becomes really more of a ‘d’ sound.

The ‘t’ from to.

So, we have T-O, but this becomes more of a D-A, half da.

I'll have to think about something.

I'll have to think about it.

So, when someone says, “Can you come to the party next week?”

Or, can you do this, or are we able to do this?

Oh, I’ll, I have to think about that.

I have to think about that.

Or, you can say, “I’ll try to think about that.”

I'll try to think about that.

Or, I'll try to do that.

I'll try to do that.

Again, we have to, usually, again, I'm using that here.

I have to, or we have to.

And I'm saying it a bit faster here, just so you can hear the blending.

But usually, it's half da, half da.

So, I half da, I half da do something.

I half da go home, uh, after school today very quickly because I have to pick up my

daughter from ballet class or something.

So, I have to half da, half da, half da.

Well, that's it for this lesson.

I hope you have enjoyed it.

Do go back, as always, and review everything.

Listen carefully to the blending, and then review all of these things again and again,

so that when you get to the conversation, they will all be easy and automatic to listen

to.

And you will hear them very quickly.

Ah, I remember that.

It's actually really interesting.

You can experiment sometime.

Uh, if you're watching this, if you watch the conversation first, and then go back and

watch all of the actual lessons that prepare you for that.

Again, these are the fluency bridge learning system lessons.

So, the reason we make all these is because it helps prepare you for the actual conversation.

So, if you try it one time just to see your different level of understanding, it's really

great to see how powerful the program is.

So, the next time, maybe for a future lesson set, begin by watching the conversation first.

See how much of it you understand, and then go back and watch all the lessons.

And watch the conversation again, and you will be amazed by how much more you understand.

So, prepare yourself, and I will see you in the Fluency Corner lesson coming up next.

Bye bye.

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