How To Speak English When You Don't Know The Right Words

everybody out there I am Drew Badger  the founder of englishanyone.com and  

the English fluency guide welcome to  another live video here on YouTube uh  

I thought this would be an interesting  lesson because of a comment I received  

uh last week the previous video uh I didn't  answer that in the comments but I thought it  

was worth answering in an actual video  so here we are let me erase the title

I need to put up like a plastic screen or  something like that so I can erase this much

fast but it is my workout before we

begin all right all right I think my the next  thing I will do is uh produce some some dry  

erase mark that erase easily so I can have  that but nice to see everybody there uh I'll  

go through this pretty quickly uh and see if  anybody has any questions I'll keep my eye on  

the chat uh but this should be a pretty quick  video we'll see but I always say that and then  

they're like two hours long so excuse me uh if  if you're new to the channel uh please click the  

Subscribe button especially if you are enjoying  the video I know we've just started but uh that  

tells YouTube hey we should let let other  people know about this uh and also I try to  

have the lesson portion uh of videos right  at the beginning and then I leave time for  

people to ask uh questions after that so as I  mentioned uh the uh the previous video Someone  

posted in the comment I forget exactly what  the comment was I should probably look that  

up uh but I remember the general idea uh  which is the important part so they were  

asking uh they had seen I think they bought  some flash cards or something uh and so one  

of them said something like uh lions live in  grassy areas I think so that was one sentence  

uh but they had seen in some other place uh  Lions l i o n so lions live on grasslands

oh no we've got like a loudspeaker outside so  hopefully that doesn't get too annoying uh but  

anyway this learner was was saying hey I I had  seen like both of these different things and was  

just kind of surprised that there were two ways of  saying this uh and so they maybe they had uh some  

some specific question they didn't go into a lot  of detail about it but part of that might be about  

the difference between uh using in and using on in  here and also just talking about grassy g r SS y  

grassy uh areas or grassy places I think maybe  that was at Grassy places uh or lions live on  

grasslands lions live on Grassland so I wanted  to make this video because a lot of people are  

trying to learn and be very specific and be very  correct and perfect really by mastering specific  

grammar rules or specific spe ific vocabulary  and so they're beginning with words where we'll  

put rules up here as well uh but these are the the  the basic parts of the language obviously we have  

pronunciation there and culture and other things  but the basic just words on the paper uh you know  

if you're reading something or in a book and the  rules for how to put those words together they're  

usually starting with this and then they might uh  get a situation like this and and think okay so  

lions live on something so whenever whenever  we hear about where lions live we talk about  

lions living on a particular place so that's  what they're thinking they're thinking okay  

here is the rule for this situation so again you  begin with studying some kind of rules and then  

here's an example you might find like on a flash  card or a textbook or something like that so this  

example here would be a particular situation  but the point is they have the rules first  

and they look for places to apply those rules  and what people are often hoping for is that  

there's one correct way to say something so that  they can memorize that one correct thing and then  

they always know what to say but uh what actually  happens is that people get into conversations and  

people don't speak the way you learned something  in a textbook or people break the rules or people  

uh you know they they maybe uh blend their words  together they speak too quickly or they have an  

accent that you're not familiar with uh this is  one of the major causes of Doubt for people in  

communication uh and that's the unpredictability  of actual conversations or just real life speaking  

in general uh so you you don't know what  people are going to say and people often  

don't say things in the way you might get from  a textbook or an English lesson so I I wanted to  

try to I can I can help people understand these  specific grammar rules but I want you to look  

at the deeper picture here and change the way you  think from trying to find the right way to express  

something to what do I feel comfortable using  in this situation so what do I feel comfortable  

or confident about so what specific vocabulary  what way might I express something uh and that's  

why instead of learning this way where we begin  with rules in grammar so we don't want to do this  

I know it sounds like an odd thing we do want to  learn vocabulary we do want to learn grammar but  

how we learn it is really important so we're going  to do this the opposite way uh which is beginning  

with the actual situation over here like some  Lions living in a particular place and then we  

learn the various ways that people might Express  that and there are many and so this is another  

reason why we don't have just like specific words  or phrases that get applied it's more like in this  

situation how many different ways might you be  able to express that so let me first just because  

I know people will want to know the difference  for something like this like imagine you have a  

large I'm going to draw this as just like a large  uh space like a grass land imagine there's lots of  

grass growing here you can put something on top  of this I'll draw a uh here's a lion uh that's a  

kind of a lion right there and the legs is kind of  sitting down and there's the Lion's Tail so that's  

a lion a male lion so the lion is physically on  top of that space so he's on a grassland so you  

can talk about animals being on a particular kind  of area like uh like penguins live on ice or uh  

like I don't know some some small small mouse or  something lives on rocks or on Sand or whatever  

something like that just like we might talk about  being on a mountain uh but if we're talking about  

being kind of surrounded by something a slightly  different meaning here we're going to extend this  

area up so we get more of like a box a box kind  of area and there's there's no real difference  

between these two things they mean the same thing  but the Nuance is slightly different so the lion  

being on we're really just talking about the  flat surface you know the lion is physically on  

something like that but being inside something  like lions live in grassy areas we can kind of  

imagine it as having like walls like it's a box  okay so there's no real difference here uh and  

this can help you understand the difference for  this situation for this situation the difference  

between in and on and I've talked about this in  various videos cuz these are very commonly used  

like I might be sitting on a chair or sitting in  a chair I can use both of those and both of them  

are correct so here's a chair draw my my picture  of a chair here and of course we get our usual uh  

ambulance or whatever so here is a chair I could  be sitting down to describe this situation I could  

be sitting on the chair or I could be sitting  in the chair now what might be the difference it  

doesn't matter natives will use both of those  things but the Nuance if you care is slight  

more like remember on is just thinking about  the seat area like that like I'm sitting on  

some particular thing but if we're going to add  maybe some arm rests on the sides of this or we  

can imagine the chair as kind of a a particular  space just like it has walls like that then we can  

see it as being on the chair or in the chair okay  so uh hopefully that makes it a little bit more  

clear about specific rules but the point of this  video is to get you to stop thinking like that and  

begin more with instead of again like this thing  we want to begin with the situation like here is  

a person sitting and how might we describe that  so as I just gave the examples a person might be  

sitting on a chair or a person might be sitting in  a chair or he's just sitting person might be just  

sitting you don't even need to say on or in the  chair uh or they're just relaxing over there uh so  

they're they are reclining or they're sitting back  there are different ways that people might Express  

this and so what natives are doing as they're  learning is they're beginning with particular  

situations even something very simple like a  small action like this often uh young children  

when they're learning the language parents will  be very specific about what they're showing them  

like look this is a marker we're having uh the  cap and the and the marker over here so we put  

the cap on the marker just like I put a cap on  my head like a like a hat or a cap like that  

so I put on the cap just like I put on a shirt  and I can take off my shirt and I could take off  

the cap same kind of idea so we're beginning with  the situation and that's how we learn the rules in  

the vocabulary and we learn them and understand  them intuitively naturally automatically without  

having to begin with thinking about rules and then  thinking about how that might work because what  

happens is rules it's it's learning vocab ulary  but taking taking a few words and using them or  

mixing them in different ways and that creates a  rule that we might learn so it gets a little bit  

more confusing uh for people that way but if you  learn this way where you begin with a situation  

and think about what are the specific ways that  people might say that and there are many it's  

not just one right thing the whole point is that  natives might be able to express many different  

ways of saying something and you can learn  in this exact same way by understanding and  

following situations rather than trying to look at  specific rules or grammar so if you do learn rules  

or grammar first uh the the difficulty here is  that you might learn a word like in but then that  

word is used differently in some other context and  then you're confused because you think oh like the  

word in goes for this situation but the truth is  that in could work in many different situations  

it just depends on what people are talking about  so the opposite way here where we begin with a  

situation like again even something simple take  off put on take off put on okay so I snap on so  

in this way you can hear a little sound as the cap  clicks on here I'm snapping on the cap you hear  

that snap the snap on so I'm snapping something on  or I'm clicking something on uh and again you're  

learning it the native way without having to try  to translate anything because you're you're seeing  

the example and hearing the native English at the  same same time so you have the situation with the  

vocabulary rather than the vocabulary in your  language and vocabulary in English Okay so uh  

when when I'm hearing like questions like this I I  understand and I want to help people answer these  

but I really uh want you to to get to the bottom  of why people have these questions uh and that's  

because of the way they learn so it's typically  they're beginning with rules and things like  

this or they get a particular example and then  think wait a minute like this is not the way I  

learned it or this is a different example it's  really difficult for people to accept multiple  

ways of saying things but that's the key to fluent  speech because when you're in a conversation and  

you forget something or you don't feel confident  about one way of saying something you can easily  

switch to something else okay so that's me right  now as I'm speaking to you I don't have a plan I'm  

not looking at an outline of the things I want  to say I'm just continuing to to flow with my  

words and the the reason I'm able to do that  is because I I have kind of a general goal a  

place I'd like to be a thing I'd like to explain  but there could be many different ways I explain  

them so I could start by saying one thing and  maybe I don't think that's the best way and  

I switch to something else does that make sense  all right so uh another example of this uh it's  

a slightly different thing this is from I think  maybe two videos ago let me erase this bottom

part uh and this is where I gave  a story actually this was a while  

ago but this is my my wife my wife had confused uh

oversleep to over sleep and sleep

over uh and another example of this  that came from a video recently this  

is maybe last week or two weeks ago um  was someone who had said uh like to to

think on your toes to think on your toes uh and I  I'll tell you this story again very quickly but I  

was speaking with my wife and she said oh like  uh I I couldn't uh take our daughter somewhere  

because I I was sleeping over and I said what  you're sleeping over uh and she was like yeah  

you're like I was I was sleeping and a I like  I slept for too long or whatever and I said Oh  

you mean you over slept to sleep over means like  you're actually sleeping over at somebody else's  

house and I said I hope you're not doing that so  hopefully she's not but uh this is the difference  

between oversleep and sleep over and because my  wife made this mistake it's an example of trying  

to learn the vocab ulary often people will hear a  phrase and think oh that's an interesting phrase  

I'd like to use that but they're focusing more  on just trying to remember the specific words  

or remember them in a certain order rather than  really understanding what something means and  

eliminating all the doubt and thinking ah okay  now I understand like you're actually sleeping  

over at somebody's house like I'm playing over  at the park I'm over in a different location I'm  

doing something someplace else so to over  sleep means to do something too much so I  

might overeat if I eat too much or I'm I don't  know maybe I'm like over doing something so as  

you get more examples so related examples this  is that naturally varied review that helps you  

understand the language better by getting related  examples so I might oversleep overdo overthink I'm  

thinking too much I I need to just calm down I'm  overthinking a situation to overthink something so  

a native hears these different examples they're  beginning with the situation and they think oh  

that's interesting a lot of these things are  related so I might over sleep or overthink or  

overdo or overplay or ovat all of these different  examples and that's how they come to understand  

the vocabulary so they begin with the situation  then learn the vocabulary and as they they kind  

of build this web in their mind it's a it's a  connection of all these different words and their  

meanings and how they might be used and they feel  confident about using them because number one they  

have different ways of expressing themselves  but number two they actually understand the  

vocabulary well so you you develop confidence and  fluency by understanding the vocabulary well by  

beginning with situations rather than by beginning  with the vocabulary which is just more difficult  

to understand because you don't know what a word  means uh outside of a context so words are always  

connected with something so it's much better to  begin with that thing uh they're connected with  

so here uh so this example is sleep over and  sleep with this was another example I heard  

from a learner so this is uh an incorrect way to  use this expression uh the example is actually to  

think on your feet uh but it's it's an example of  someone who might learn the vocabulary but not use  

uh the right words because they're um they're  maybe like confusing different expressions and  

they're trying to organize those and make sure  they use the right thing in their head uh before  

they speak but the the other expression  that's related to this is to keep to keep

someone on their their toes so to think on your  feet like right now I'm standing I'm I'm not on  

my toes I'm just on my feet because I'm standing  and it means that if something happens to me  

I can react to to something or I can think of a  way to respond to that very quickly I can think  

on my feet I can think on my feet so we're not  really thinking like you know trying to imagine  

yourself standing on your toes it just it's just  talking about being able to stand up um without  

having any preparation or me planning anything  beforehand like someone says something to me and  

I'm able to react immediately so I can think on my  feet or someone else can think on their feet but  

to keep someone on their toes you can imagine an  athlete I know you can't really see my feet right  

here but imagine someone who's who's like moving  around like a boxer they don't stand flat footed  

usually they're they're kind of up on the balls of  their you know like the like the the little kind  

of toes right there they're moving up a little bit  like that so they can move quickly if I just stand  

on my feet if I'm flat footed flat footed just  means I'm I'm standing like like this instead of  

kind of bouncing like that ready to move around  uh if I if if you keep someone on your on their  

toes just like you're fighting another Boxer  you're keeping them on their toes you're trying  

to get them to keep moving around they need  to feel prepared so that they can react okay  

so again these phrases they become much easier to  understand when you connect them with the actual  

situation rather than just trying to think like  oh think on your think on your pose means like  

reacting quickly and you're you're you're trying  to begin with the vocabulary and then think back  

to what it means but it's much easier if we  begin with the idea of a boxer so someone is  

kind of moving like this and I feel bad that you  can't see my feet right here but you can imagine  

somebody like try moving around you know it's much  easier to do it if you if you're on kind of the  

little balls right before your toes so it's much  easier to do that like just the the bottom draw  

like a little foot right here it's maybe a little  bit easier to see that so here's the ankle coming  

down uh and so this person right here this is a  flat footed person like the whole heel so this  

is the heel back here uh and then like the whole  foot is on the ground like this but someone who's  

on their toes a boxer you know here's the heel  like this and the toes kind of go down like that  

so they're they got like the ball like the heel is  up here there's lots of space just the bottom part  

where the toes are is touching the ground okay  so when when someone is playing a sport they're  

usually not standing flat footed like that they're  kind of up a little bit they're on their toes so  

they're not it's not like a ballet dancer but you  know the same kind of idea of being on your toes  

it means you're ready to deal with something so if  I'm keeping someone on my toes that's the physical  

idea where this phrase comes from but then we  once we understand understand that we can apply  

it to other situations where like my wife is you  know like asking me to do different things or I  

try to do something and help out at home but then  she gets angry at me so I use the wrong sponge or  

something like that so if those things happen my  wife is keeping me on my toes I'm kind of like  

I don't know what what what I should do in that  situation so there are many different places or  

times where I might use an expression like that  even if I'm not physically moving around but  

doesn't it make you understand it a lot better  don't you feel more confident about using it if  

you really understand what's happening so if you  are keeping someone else on their toes or they  

are keeping you on your toes it's the same idea  of like not not really like feeling comfortable  

and you have to you have to be ready to react just  like a boxer is okay so to think on your feet I'm  

again I'm like thinking on my feet over here it  means I'm just standing up even if I'm not sitting  

down down writing something preparing something  I could just be in a conversation standing and  

talking just like I am now and I can respond  quickly and easily and comfortably to people I can  

think on my feet think on my feet so you probably  wouldn't like think on your fingers or whatever  

because you don't stand on your fingers at least  most people don't I don't know how to do that but  

uh this is the general idea over here so thinking  on your feet it just means you're ready to react  

all right so we can use this that's where the idea  comes from but even if you're sitting down we can  

still use the Expression like ooh that person can  really respond well and have a good conversation  

that person can think on their feet if something  happens there's trouble or they need to respond  

in conversation quickly they can do that they can  think on their feet okay all right hopefully that  

makes sense let me go back and look at uh comments  but uh just to recap this idea very quickly when  

people are beginning with vocabulary they they're  typically trying to connect some vocabulary with  

words that they know in their native language  because it it just feels more comfortable to  

do that so you already know the thing or maybe  something related in your native language and  

you try to translate this is the way most people  learn languages especially uh in regular school uh  

but if you want to become fluent if you want  to be able to think on your toes or even you  

know if other people are keeping you on or you  know think on your feet or if other people are  

keeping you on your toes then you need to be able  to respond quickly and automatically and you do  

that by beginning with the situation and then  seeing these different ways people communicate  

so number one it will make you feel more confident  about the vocabulary because you really understand  

it well and number two you will also see lots of  different ways that people respond so if I go out  

here I am living in Nagasaki Japan and I go to a  department store I can just sit on a little chair  

or something so again I'm sitting on a chair or I  can sit in a chair uh and I can listen to people  

talk and I can hear even like a child says I want  to buy that toy and the parent says no you can't  

get that so this is a common situation American  parents will experience this uh Japanese parents  

will see this same kind of thing uh but How might  people say that so in English a mother might say  

oh I'm sorry we can't get you that or or they  might be like if the child is really whining  

or something like please buy me that toy I really  want to buy that toy and parent says no like no we  

bought you a toy last week you know or whatever  the thing is but if you listen to that if you  

watch 10 different parents in a situation in that  particular situation you will hear some different  

ways of expressing that and that's what makes  you feel confident about knowing what to say  

it's not because you learned one right way to  say something it's because you've seen examples  

of lots of natives doing that okay so that's what  gives you the confidence to say something it's the  

same thing with pronunciation if you only hear  one example of something like one teacher tells  

you something you will feel less confident than  uh hearing a bunch of different natives express  

the same thing so if I hear 10 different natives  say uh you have to think on your feet you have to  

think on your feet some people will say it  more slowly others will be faster or maybe  

have a different accent or something but you will  feel a lot more confident about that and that will  

also prepare you to hear different examples of  natives you know just in movies or real life  

talking about things if you're prepared in that  way does this make sense hopefully it does uh but  

this is how you learn to express yourself even  if you don't know the right words because there  

could be some perfect way to express yourself  but there are usually multiple ways to do that  

and native speakers or fluent speakers even  if they're not native they're able to express  

themselves because they don't get stuck looking  for one way to say something they always have a  

different ways of expressing things I could I  could get stuck or forget how to say something  

or not feel confident about this word that's okay  I easily switch to something else so just like  

our examples about the lion uh living in grassy  areas I could even use other words like uh lions  

live on a Savannah Savannah Savannah uh I think  that's S V a and and a Savannah Savannah if I'm  

spelling that correctly Savannah uh but Savannah  just means a grassy area so it's another way of  

saying that same thing now if I say grassy area  that's particularly fine but typically when people  

think of like Savannah it's like like the kind  of drier grassy area it gets a little bit more  

nuanced or a bit more specific but a savannah is  basically a large grassy area a grassland okay  

so the point is not to find one specific way  because you could get 10 native speakers together  

or 10 just fluent speakers and they would each say  things in a slightly different way I guarantee it  

uh and is what we show in fluent for life we  get all these different people together and  

have them have conversations and uh listen to  the way they speak and people don't all speak  

the same way there's some overlap so you might  have a u you know people are talking about some  

specific situation uh and so one person says  something another person is describing that  

situation in a slightly different way but there  is some overlap there or maybe another person  

describes it and there's another overlap here I  told this story uh maybe like a few years ago or  

something like this but there is a a a video  series about sports uh that I enjoy watching  

called uh 30 for 30 if you've ever seen this 30  430 so this was a a sports uh documentary film  

series and one of these videos I think you can  find it on YouTube is it's called Reggie Miller  

versus the New York Knicks so it's just a story  about basketball but there's one scene where uh  

this this player Reggie Miller he he makes I  think 11 points or something like that in 10  

seconds so the team was losing but then he gets  these points and then the team is winning again  

and everyone's going crazy like how did he do that  and so some different people are being interviewed  

for for this they're just talking about this  specific situation again we're talking about  

a situation so we've got different people being  interviewed about a situation and they all said  

the same thing so they're describing the situation  in slightly different ways but there was one  

expression that they all used to describe this so  again there's describing this player so he gets he  

gets the ball he shoots a like a three-pointer and  then he steals the ball and goes back and shoots  

another three-pointer so he he understands what's  happening and he knows he needs to get points uh  

like even how many points to to win the game and a  lot of players like they're not really thinking so  

much like that they might just try to quickly  panic and get the ball up and try to throw it  

up as quickly as possible and maybe they shoot  but they use a very specific expression uh to  

describe this and so they all they all use the  same thing and that was uh to have to have the

presence of mine p r e s p r s e n c the presence  of mind so it's really interesting when they when  

they cut the documentary and they show these  different people talking about that scene they  

all say to have the presence of mind to have the  presence of mind to have the presence of mind so  

these are people being interviewed individually  separately they don't know they're they're like  

talking to other people but they all use this same  expression because it it like it really captures  

that thing well but it's not the only way you  could say that anyway to have the presence of  

mind it means like you're you're aware of what's  Happening rather than just kind of panicking or or  

you don't really know what you're doing right now  all right so to have the have the presence of mind  

so uh as you see uh lots of people talking about  a particular situation you will automatically  

come to understand the vocabulary and the grammar  and this is the same thing you did in your native  

language it's the same thing you continue to do  today as you learn and hear new things there are  

new you know maybe you heard about I don't know  like some new uh product or a new disease or  

something like that and and people begin talking  about it that's how you learned it to talk about  

it you just hear different people talking about  it you feel confident as you understand it well  

and then you can start talking about it too it's  really that simple all right let me go back and  

check comments uh but let me know if you have  any questions about about this idea because this  

really is the uh the simpler easier way to find  the words when you need them in conversations the  

point is just to let go of like one specific way  of saying something all right so let's take a look  

uh got a couple of good mornings there nice to  see everybody I will go uh quickly through these  

to get to uh let's see some more questions here  Jack Smith says hey oh hi maybe lions live at  

grassy areas what's the difference thanks um well  we don't really live at like a large open area  

typically when we're talking about an environment  like I wouldn't live at Chicago I would live in  

Chicago because we're talking about being within  a particular area but if if I'm at a a specific  

location like like a grassland uh if we if we  if we were talking about that I'm just trying to  

think about how we might say like at a grassland  like I might meet you at the grassland if that's  

kind of a smaller area but it's like a grassland  is usually a really big area it's not it's not  

just like even even a city is a large space if I  say hey I'll meet you at Chicago it wouldn't make  

sense because it's just too to B but I would meet  you at a store in Chicago or I would meet you at a  

particular I don't know like corner or something  like that and again there are different ways  

you could express this but that's when we use at  rather than for having a large area and describing  

where we might be on that thing so I could be on  a grassy area or within a grassy area it just like  

are you talking about the space where you're  on top of something or kind of feeling within  

a particular area all right uh dlin says hello  sir which is the correct one in the sky or on the  

sky uh on sounds weird yeah uh most people would  just say in you know you're because it's the same  

thing like being in in the water so remember if  it's if it's more of like a box a box area uh and  

it doesn't matter if this is grass or if this is  water or if this is air like you're up in the sky  

if you are inside this and you're talking about  being in that just like you might be an astronaut  

up in space so the same thing it's like being  inside of a box even if there are not actual walls  

it's it's still a space like just like I'm in a  room right now okay or I'm in Nagasaki I could  

be in a a larger area like that all right so if I  were on the sky it's more like if the sky has a if  

it's like a dome or something or there's there's  a place where it ends and I could be on top of the  

sky like that but nobody would really talk about  it usually uh if they're just like a plane or a  

helicopter or flying I'm up in the sky they're not  on the sky they're they're inside of it so water  

uh is an example where we might have like let's  say we have a swimming pool and we could be uh  

like I'm talking to my friend I'm on the phone  I could be sitting on a little floating chair  

like that so this is me up here on a on a little  like a floating chair technically I'm on the  

water but I could also tell my friend hey I'm  in the pool right now like I wouldn't say I'm  

on the pool I'd be in the pool even if I'm not  physically in the water so it again these are  

slight nuances that you you care more about as a  non-native learner because you're beginning with  

the vocabulary not with the situation so regularly  uh a n might be if I'm talking with my friend I'm  

on the phone and he can't see me and he says oh  what are you doing right now I mean what would I  

probably say oh I'd say like I'm at the pool I  could be at the pool I could be in the pool he  

doesn't really know that and I'm not going to  go into detail about like actually I'm sitting  

on a little floating chair so really I'm not in  the water but I'm kind of on the water nobody  

talks like that so in general there are different  ways I could Express this all right and that's the  

that's the point so we begin with the situation  there's somebody here how might we talk about  

that so they're different ways but it's important  to to begin with the situation and you you learn  

the nuances that way uh but as you as you see  them and it's not just a situation you can see  

I'm just trying to make it easier to understand  the point but here again he's on the water he's  

not in the water maybe his maybe part maybe his  foot is in the water but the rest of his body is  

not so which do you say is he on the water or in  the water okay doesn't really matter uh but those  

are the kinds of nuances that you understand as  you as you look at the situation and hear natives  

describing it okay so don't worry about one way  to say something uh the more important thing is uh  

how can I how can I really understand things the  same way a native would and you do that by getting  

more native examples it's pretty simple all right  let me see here did I miss anybody else uh let's  

see Bridget he's on the ball yeah it's another  way you express that uh fingers a toe I think I  

answered that one already and merik says hello I  just want to say that it's better to pay someone  

to teach you instead of learning English on your  own I've been learning English for six years for  

the first year I was learning on my own was bad  now I learn Chinese and from the beginning with  

the teacher goes much quicker saying it because  people have questions non-stop these videos are  

useful thanks for them but I still think it's  better to pay someone to teach you cuz you can  

get straight answers straight away yeah so this  is another reason to join fluent for life for  

the people who do join uh we are here 24 hours a  day to answer questions people have but the the  

more important point is not like having a teacher  there it's more do I have correct examples natural  

examples that can help me understand the language  how can I erase the doubt because lots of people  

do study with personal teachers private tutors  and they still don't get fluent and the reason is  

because either that person doesn't really know how  to teach very well so they they can explain the  

language but they don't really help you understand  it intuitively and the second part is you're not  

getting lots of examples from a variety of people  so even in my case like I don't have a a specific  

teacher but like the whole country is my teacher  I get examples from TV examples from uh family  

or going out and just meeting people or hearing  people on the street for learning Japanese all  

of those things come naturally and that those  are the things that answer my questions and so  

it's nice if you do have a teacher but a lot of  people do have teachers and still don't get fluent  

all right so the key is not having uh a personal  teacher although that's nice but the person also  

needs to be able to explain things and help you  understand them intuitively uh but also somehow  

you need to be able uh to get multiple examples  because one clear teacher is going to be different  

from hearing lots of native examples in movies  or TV shows or whatever so you need to get that  

naturally varied review if you want to be prepared  for that uh I am in your mind it's good says uh  

pero if I'm pronouncing that correctly uh and  sir when we are on live TV we can say on Sky uh  

uh I mean if that if like on I nobody  would like no native I've ever heard  

anyone say that we would just say uh on  the air if that's what you're talking

about and this is a this is another it's another  one of these same kinds of examples where people  

are confusing and again I don't know if uh  uh if this is the case but it sounds like it  

so Sky versus Air so usually what happens  is like the example I gave about my wife  

misunderstanding vocabulary or this other  example about like like keeping people on  

their feet or thinking on your toes where  you misuse the vocabulary I remember a uh  

like if you've ever seen uh Die Hard three so  Bruce Willis movie Die Hard with a Vengeance  

he's in an elevator with uh some German I  don't know they're like the German bad guys  

in the movie um but one of the one of the guys  says oh it's it's like raining like dogs and cats  

recently and then he's hearing that he's like oh  like they're using English but they're using it  

incorrectly the actual expression is it's raining  cats and dogs now it doesn't really matter if you  

say dogs and cats but the point is if you use that  incorrectly it means you've just kind of learned  

the expression and you're trying to remember the  words rather than really understanding where it  

comes from or really getting lots of examples  to use something correctly so in the movie he's  

like ah I guess these guys are not natives or  whatever I think he knew that anyway but it's  

interesting uh like one of them is saying oh  it's raining dogs and cats and he's like yes  

so they they know the English but they're using  it incorrectly meaning that oh no maybe these  

are the bad guys somehow anyway uh so talking  about being on the radio that's a more specific  

example of being on the air and we get this  expression because we're talking about radio

waves if I can draw a uh a little like radio you  know just very simple kind of radio tower here  

and the little the signal goes out like this  so if you're uh yeah I think it's called Simon  

Says in uh like in in other countries that was the  original name for the movie in uh in America but I  

think they they just changed it to Die Hard with a  Vengeance but the character's name is uh is Simon  

uh so anyway if you're if you're imagining this  it's like some people are talking and look at that  

who we're on the air we're like we are voices  our voices are kind of floating on the air our  

voices are on the air so this is where we get the  expression on the air so when a a a voice or a you  

know some kind of sound or radio or music whatever  is being broadcast like this so we're sending a  

signal out it's physically traveling through the  air so we are on the air right now but we don't  

say we are on the sky because we're not we're  not talking about like physical Sky it's just  

look at that like here's the air like I'm kind of  you know even broadcasting right now I could say  

I'm on the air just like a television signal  is also on the air in the same way but radio  

came before television uh and we're using the same  kind of Technology like that so when people were  

were talking about being on the air that's what  they're talking about but Air does not mean the  

same thing as sky in this situation and this is  another example that proves my point so if you  

begin with like oh that's interesting someone  like I'm maybe maybe I get a a mistranslation  

of this so I'm learning this like I hear like like  in Japanese air is like cookie and so maybe I hear  

that and I'm like Sak like I'm like is that does  that mean sky and I'm trying to understand that  

that's me not learning the language correctly or  not learning the language in a way that will help  

me feel confident about it so I'm not eliminating  any doubt because I learned something probably  

through a mistranslation and that's why I don't  use it correctly but if you understand hopefully  

is it clear now why we talk about being on the  air let me know just like click the like button  

or just let me know if that makes sense but the  point is when a broadcast you're sending a signal  

out like this you have a tower and it's going  through the air so we can kind of imagine being  

like you know like just like a surfer riding a  wave we are on the air like that so we could be  

like in the air that's another way we express it  but uh the typical expression is on the air so  

right now like I'm on the air in in in a similar  kind of way so we still use this expression even  

if we're talking about streaming like I'm doing a  live video like this right now same kind kind of  

idea all right so uh if that's what your question  was I don't know if that's for sure I didn't get  

much information about that but I imagine uh this  is another kind of example of this similar mistake  

of of like thinking that the vocabulary is the  same because you're beginning with the uh the  

vocabul hopefully that clears the air over here  all right makes everything we we get all the the  

pollution and the misunderstanding and the doubt  out of the way we clear the air okay we don't  

clear the Sky we clear the air it's like we got  like kind of bad air in this room we got to clear  

the air all right let me see if anybody else had  some entertaining questions over here and am says  

I have to admit that I live in the UK I have to  speak English at work etc it's a huge Advantage  

but I still pay for lessons yeah and so again this  is why a lot of people I mean typically the people  

like the people who join my programs are often  people living in the United States or Canada or  

Australia it's people who who like really  feel that they need to uh get fluent quickly  

and understand the language quickly if you live  you know like far away and you don't need to use  

English you're less motivated to you know to learn  or to pay for programs but when you really need to  

get fluent uh this is when people are like yes I  should I should pay for people to get me fluent  

faster hello teacher uh is in for a long period  of time for example in spring and summer yeah so  

again if you're thinking a like a calendar period  or a time period we have a start and an end of  

that so this is Springtime so we can talk about  being in Spring but within a like a particular  

day we might be doing something my birthday is on  a particular day so I'm talking about the whole  

day not just like a piece of something like that  okay so yes we we can use a language like that Aon  

says how can I get fluent in advanced words it's  simple to speak and express fluently with simple  

words but it's harder with abstract things do you  have any good advice being fluent in individual I  

don't know maybe did you finish that somewhere uh  if you're I mean are you really fluent in basic  

things but but you're not fluent in more advanced  things maybe you can give me an example of that um  

but typically I find people think they're fluent  uh like they know a lot but they don't actually  

Express themselves very well so if you do if  you are actually fluent and you feel complete  

confidence when you're speaking with just basic  things it's easy to start looking at different  

examples of how natives might Express those  things in a more advanced way so like the the  

Lions living on the grassland uh that's an example  so I might watch a program for children about  

lions and they're going to give me more basic  vocabulary they might teach me some new things but  

adult vocabulary would be used or more advanced  vocabulary would be used uh in a like a program  

for college kids or adults so that would be a  way to improve or to go from Basic things to more  

advanced things or more detailed or more complex  things it's just again we begin with a situation  

and then think about how different people might  describe that I think there's a there's a series  

on YouTube that's talking about it's like experts  explain something to different to people at  

different levels so an expert would try to explain  I don't know space travel or something like that  

they try to explain that to a 5-year-old kid and  they're very simple it's a very easy explanation  

and then they go through different levels and  then one is like how do I explain this to a like  

a highlevel you know Master's student or something  like that so that's another interesting example  

that's just another example of naturally varied  review where we get a specific situation how do  

we describe this so how do I describe that to a  beginner or to intermediate or to more advanced  

something like that but that's how you would do  that so you just get uh like different examples  

of of natives expressing things in a more advanced  way but they could be talking about the same kinds  

of stuff uh let's see this guy Jason says hi Drew  from China I've been watching your videos for a  

long you would just say for a long time sometimes  I still need to understand words with translations  

some words are abstract yes like I understand  that people might still need translations and for  

me like if I if I don't have anyone to teach me  anything or I can't get an explanation in Japanese  

if I'm trying to learn uh something in Japanese  but typically you could get explanations or find  

a way to understand things within the language  because that's how people in the language do it so  

if you have like a specific question about me you  can also look up the question you can ask me just  

like you did or you can look up in an English to  English dictionary to get that explanation rather  

than using Chinese or you know for anyone here  uh whatever your native language might be uh but  

the point is as best you can even if an idea is  abstract or something like I was asking my uh this  

happened to me last night my daughter used some  Japanese that I didn't know and I said oh what  

does that mean because there there was no real  context for it she was folding some laundry uh and  

I I even what did she say I forget I forget the  word now I heard it like one time and I need to  

hear it again to remember it but um in that case  I was like what did you what did you just say  

and she couldn't explain it to me in English or  Japanese uh and it she was just folding laundry  

and like I I kind of understood the idea but I I  did not have confidence to use it and as you can  

see I don't even remember the word if I heard it  again I would probably recognize it again that's  

that that awareness level so gotten to awareness  for that vocabulary I recognize it when I hear  

it but I don't own the word yet so I don't feel  100% confident about it so yes it's okay uh if  

translations are your only option then get those  uh but usually there are ways to get things in  

English either uh just a dictionary definition uh  or some kind of explanation from somebody else uh  

let's see Ro says English native speakers living  in Tokyo don't seem to feel the need to learn  

Japanese quickly yeah Japan is interesting  in that way because a lot of people you can  

you can get by without knowing much Japanese  and Japanese people are often uh very kind and  

accommodating so they they are helpful even if  you don't if if I don't if I I do that sometimes  

so I go around like pretending I don't speak  Japanese and and people will try to speak more  

English so they they feel a bit more comfortable  speaking English if they think I don't speak any  

Japanese at all but usually if my Japanese is  is is good I'm speaking to people in Japanese  

normally uh they will not try to speak any English  to me usually uh but people will try to make more  

of an effort uh if they if they think I don't  know any Japanese but yeah you know it's good  

if you know the language and that's why I wanted  to learn it but uh obviously especially in Tokyo  

like a larger City like that there are many  places that you're you're okay without it uh  

yes says Erin I can express myself confid comely  but the goal is to write professional emails with  

better vocabulary or read articles and so on what  to what do I need to do well just do those things  

so get examples of those things so if you if you  want to write better Mals and I don't know what  

you mean exactly by that because uh often when  people are writing they think they need to use  

more advanced vocabulary when most professional  email is just let's be clear and specific and  

short without trying to make things sound more  difficult or more or more complex or trying to  

sound like you're more intelligent or whatever you  just want to get people to the point especially in  

professional communication it's not like writing  a novel where you're trying to tell an interesting  

story or describe things in great detail so I just  want to make sure you don't do something that like  

is getting uh kind of like not not getting you to  the goal you want so it might be better to to read  

more um I don't know novels or things like that  if you just want to expand your vocabulary but if  

you want to learn how to communicate correctly for  professional purposes then I would do um just get  

examples of people writing letters like that so I  actually have a course I have a course in business  

English communication from over 100 years ago that  I just bought because I was interested to see what  

they were teaching and you know what they were  teaching exactly the same thing I do which is not  

trying to be fancy just communicate directly with  people be simple make sure you're communicating  

without trying to confuse people or or you know  whatever the point is uh to make sure that people  

are understood and that you were uh understood as  well so again think about what your specific goal  

is I would probably read more maybe fiction novels  if you're just trying to understand things uh in  

a more interesting way and learn new vocabulary  uh or watch videos about that but if you want to  

communicate better just get examples of how people  are doing that uh let's see and meric says do you  

have any any videos that specifically explain  when to use present perfect and past simple  

theoretically it's simple but when it comes to  practice uh English people use it when I wouldn't  

thanks um search the channel for present perfect  but that's like I I I gave an example about that  

um watch the video about have so search my channel  for a video about it's like uh uses of have or  

something like that but I talk about this and and  how people are are using the the present perfect  

and it it just it gives an example of uh the  same kind of thing of how to how to use a fluency  

trigger to understand the vocabulary more like  a native um but yeah I I would look just search  

the channel for that uh let's see Arthur says I  just got in welcome to the program and Guadalupe  

says hi Drew from sebasto I like to watch your  video every time I get the time glad to hear it  

uh let's see Rocky says do you feel being a  foreigners within the United States when you  

are visiting other states of uh I've ever heard  that rules of ways ah you mean do I feel like a  

foreigner when I travel to different places in  America um not not especially I mean it's like  

an interesting maybe some cultural differences  or something a little bit but no it's most  

people just feel like American Americans I  get that kind of General American feel uh  

and let's see and Aaron says yes I have your  course and I've been your student for a long  

time uh thanks for your advice again yeah glad  to hear if you have any questions also you can  

post in the comment section uh and let us know  and we're here to help all right look at that  

we got through the video fantastic so uh I'll  give a quick recap for everyone again the basic  

idea is when you start learning with vocabulary  especially through translations uh and then you  

try to try to fit that vocabulary with different  situations it's much more difficult and it's more  

confusing to learn that way uh but if you begin  with the situation and see how different natives  

Express that then you can learn the English in  English and you also learn many ways to express  

yourself so that's part of the uh the ways of kind  of eliminating doubt that that stop people from  

speaking is they're often beginning with grammar  rules or words and then they're trying to think  

about the right way like the one way to express  something because that's what their teacher told  

them to say but just like in your native language  you probably have many ways of expressing things  

and in English we do the same thing so pay  attention watch what natives are doing if you  

have an interest in something like watching Lions  on the African grasslands or whatever uh watch a  

bunch of videos about that and I promise you you  will learn to speak much more fluently just by  

seeing all these different examples because  they're eliminating the doubt you have and  

showing you how natives really Express themselves  all right well if you'd like to learn more about  

this and get help uh for the people who just like  to you know get fluent as quickly as possible uh  

and without having to search for things or try to  teach themselves or they get stuck because they're  

oh know I all I can do is translate I don't have  anyone to explain things uh that's what we do in  

fluent for life so you can click on the link in  the description below this video to learn more  

about that the link for Frederick which I haven't  spoken about in this video uh but that's another  

way to discover the language for yourself and  teach yourself the language very quickly learn  

lots of words and grammar and pronunciation but do  it from situations rather than trying to learn it  

from the vocabulary uh and try to fit things in  where maybe it doesn't feel natural or you don't  

really feel that you understand something  very well so if you'd like to do that you  

can click on the links in the description  and I'll see you in the next video bye-bye