ONE HOUR OF PRACTICE to SPEAK FAST And Understand AMERICANS...

In this one hour lesson, you're going to  improve your listening skills of fast English.

But I'm going to test you  throughout this entire lesson.

And if you can complete this entire  lesson and understand me when I talk  

fast and use natural expressions, then  you're definitely fluent in English.

But to successfully complete this lesson,  

you need to understand the words I say  and understand the meaning of the words.

So let's see if you can pass.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course.

I'm Jennifer now.

Let's get started.

Thanks for your help, you rock.

Thanks for your help, you rock.

Thanks for your help.

You rock.

Did you get this one?

I said thanks for your help.

You rock very easy, right at a natural pace.

Native speakers we reduce.

Sound so four becomes fur.

Thanks fur.

Your.

Becomes your.

Thanks for your thanks for your help, your help.

Thanks for your help.

Now let's review a common.

Mistake that I hear.

Beginner students make and  sometimes even advanced students.

You can say thank you or thanks.

You cannot say thanks you or thank  and notice In our example we have.

Thanks for your help.

Thanks for your help.

What is your help?

This is a noun, so we have things for plus noun.

You can also use things for plus  gerund because for is a preposition.

So what would?

Things for your help be in the gerund form.

Do you know?

Thanks for helping me.

Thanks for your help.

Thanks for helping me.

And you rock.

This is a.

Very natural.

Way to say, you're great.

You're.

Awesome, I use this in the comment section to.

Reply to your.

Lovely comments all the time, but don't.

Say you are rock.

It is not to.

Be rock it is to Rock You, Rock You.

Rock, you're awesome.

You're really great.

You rock.

Put that in the comments.

You rock.

You rock.

Thanks for your help.

Thanks for helping me.

Thanks Billy.

You Rock.

You rock.

Thanks honey.

Are you?

Enjoying this lesson?

If you are, then I want to tell you  about the Finally Fluent Academy.

This is my premium training program where  we study native English speakers from TV,  

the movies, YouTube and the news so you can  improve your listening skills of fast English,  

expand your vocabulary with natural expressions  and learn advanced grammar easily plus.

You'll have me.

As your personal coach, you can look  in the description for the link to  

learn more or you can go to my website  and click on Finally Fluent Academy.

Now let's continue with our lesson.

Let's try this again a little more difficult.

I'll say it three times.

She's starting to rub off on you.

She's starting to rub off on you.

She's starting to rub off on you.

Did you get this one?

I said.

She's starting to rub off on you.

She's is our contraction.

She is.

She's.

She's starting tough.

So instead of two.

You can use an unstressed  tough She's starting to rub.

Off because rub off is a phrasal verb.

They go together.

I can take that B sound and connect it to the  next word, but I have to combine them together.

I have to say them as one word.

Rub off, boff, rub off, rub off.

I can also take that on and add it together.

So I'm saying those.

3 words as.

One rub off Fawn.

So here I'm taking the F from off and I'm adding  

it on fawn rub off, fawn  rub off on rub off on you.

What does this mean?

To rub off on someone is when someones  behavior or personality affects someone else.

Let's take Janice and let's say  Janice loves helping other people.

Now let's say Fernando spends  a week working with Janice,  

and now Fernando starts helping other people.

You could say Janice rubbed off on Fernando.

Here we have it in the past simple rubbed, rubbed,  rubbed off on Janice, rubbed off on Fernando.

Now, you could also take the specific  personality trait or characteristic,  

in this case Janice's helpfulness, which is a  noun janice's helpfulness, because the helpfulness  

belongs to Janice, so it's possessive Janice's  helpfulness rubbed off on Fernando, so that  

specific character trait of Janice transferred  to Fernando because they spent time together.

Marcus is really rubbing off on you.

Finally, I'm rubbing off on you my.

Deviousness has finally rubbed off on you.

Let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

He rubs me the wrong way.

He rubs me the wrong way.

He rubs me the wrong way.

Did you get this one?

I said he rubs me the wrong way.

Notice this expression uses the verb.

To.

Rub and our last expression used the verb to.

Rub.

But they have completely different  

meanings and that's why this is a more  advanced listening exercise, because maybe  

you understood the words, but you don't know  what this means to rub someone the wrong way.

This is.

To annoy someone, but without intending to.

Remember Janice from our last example.

And she was very helpful, but maybe for  some reason she just rubs you the wrong way.

She annoys you, but there's  nothing that she does to annoy you.

Just maybe your personalities  clash, they don't go together.

So if you're planning a social gathering, you  might say, is it OK if we don't invite Janice?

She rubs me the wrong way.

Now an entire person like poor  Janice can rub you the wrong way,  

but it also could be something  specific that someone said or did and.

Overall, you like.

Janice.

But just that one thing she said.

Or did rubbed you the wrong way.

For example, your comment  just rubbed me the wrong way.

So maybe she said something in a  meeting that really annoyed you,  

but you know she did not intend to annoy you.

So here your comment.

This is a noun.

Your comment rubbed the past Simple.

Of the verb to.

Rub and notice that soft D  rubbed rubbed me rubbed me.

The wrong way is.

It me like, do I rub you the wrong way?

Not Jay.

Guy rubs me the wrong way.

She rubs everyone the wrong way.

But pop.

Our final listening exercise  and the most advanced.

I'll say it three times.

I had a hunch he'd quit.

I had a hunch he'd quit.

I had a hunch he'd quit.

Did you get this one?

I said I had a hunch he'd.

Quit.

Notice for pronunciation, I had a, I had a had a.

So I combine had a together as one word.

I had a hunch he'd quit now.

Did you hear that?

Duh.

He'd he'd.

Quit Well, that D.

Represents.

What?

Word.

Would he?

Would quit.

He'd quit.

He'd quit.

Very difficult for students to hear  native speakers understand it based  

on context and based on grammatical structure.

It would sound awkward without it, so we know  it's there even though we can't really hear it.

Either.

When you have a hunch, A hunch is the noun,  and then the verb that goes with it is have.

So to have a hunch, this is when you think  or predict that something is going to happen.

But it isn't based on facts.

It's based on your intuition, your feelings.

So you could say.

I have a hunch she'll accept our invitation  now if someone replies back and says why.

All you would say is.

Because I have a hunch, I have a feeling.

I have a gut.

Feeling and notice the grammar here.

I have a hunch this is the present simple.

And then she'll accept.

She will accept.

That's the future simple.

I have a hunch she'll accept  our invitation because you're  

making a prediction about the future.

But you could use this.

In the past, like our listening exercise, I had a  hunch last week in the past, so that's the past.

Simple.

Last week I had a hunch that he would quit.

So would is the past simple of the verb will.

I had a hunch that he'd quit,  and using that is optional.

You don't need it.

You could simply please say  I had a hunch he'd quit.

I had a hunch.

Just a hunch.

I had a hunch, but I wasn't certain.

Now let's do an imitation exercise so you can  practice speaking fast, just like a native.

I'll say each sentence again three times, and this  time I want you to repeat each sentence out loud.

Here we go.

Thanks for your help.

You rock.

Thanks for your help you rock.

Thanks for your help you rock.

She's.

Starting to rub?

Off on you.

She's starting to rub.

Off on you.

She's starting to rub.

Off on you.

He rubs me the wrong way.

He rubs me the wrong way.

He rubs me the wrong way.

I had a hunch he'd quit.

I had a hunch he'd quit.

I had a hunch he'd quit.

Let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

It's not a big deal at all.

It's not a big deal at all.

It's not a big deal at all.

Did you get this one?

I said it's not a big deal at all.

It's it's a contraction of.

It is not A.

We can combine these together, but  notice we have AT between 2 vowels.

So a native speaker is going  to pronounce that as a soft D  

and say nada nada, It's nada, it's nada, big deal.

And then we can do the same with AT with  that T and then all I can put them together  

and then I'll pronounce that T as a soft D and  it sounds like at all, at all, at all, at all.

It's not a big deal at all.

Let's talk about what this means to be a big deal.

This describes something that's  important, serious, or significant.

We use this in both positive  and negative situations.

For example, when you do something and  the consequences are serious in a bad way,  

getting caught plagiarizing is a big deal.

You could be expelled.

So here the consequences are serious.

In a negative way, you could be expelled, which  means permanently removed from your school.

Is that that big of a deal?

Yes, it's a big deal.

But we also use this in a positive way.

Getting a promotion is a big deal.

You can finally buy a house.

So here the promotion is important and significant  for the impact it will have on your life.

It's a big deal.

No big deal.

It's a huge deal.

Now remember our example was in the negative.

It's not a big deal at all.

So we can use this in two ways.

First, to say that something isn't  serious, significant or important.

For example, missing the party isn't a big deal.

Your friend will understand.

So the consequence of that action?

Missing the party isn't very  important or significant or serious.

It's really not a big deal.

Not a big deal.

Now we also use this as a reply when someone  

offers appreciation or their  thanks for something we did.

Your friend could say thanks for  agreeing to help me move this weekend.

I really appreciate it and you can reply  back and say it's not a big deal at all.

I'm happy to help.

Now, if you want to sound  really American and casual,  

you can reduce that entire sentence to two words.

No biggie.

No biggie.

So no biggie represents.

It's not a big deal.

No biggie.

Ah, no biggie.

It's really common with native  speakers in a casual, informal way.

So I could show my appreciation to you and say  

thank you so much for liking  this video and subscribing.

Don't forget to do those two things and then  you can reply back and say no biggie, no biggie.

It's not a big deal at all.

I'm happy too, so put that in the comments.

No biggie.

No biggie.

No biggie.

Put that in the comments.

Let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

So what are you into?

So what are you into?

So what are you into?

I said, So what are you into?

What are can combine together and  that R can sound very reduced water.

Water What?

ER so in what are water?

Water.

So basically I'm forming a contraction  in spoken English, although this does  

not exist as a contraction is  what we do in spoken English.

So water you can become more of an unstressed ya  or ya Ya ya almost identical in pronunciation.

What are ya inta so you can  take into and change it to inta.

I didn't do that personally, but many native  speakers do, so be prepared to hear two as TA.

So what are you into?

What are you into?

This is a casual way to ask someone  about their interests or preferences,  

so definitely add this to your vocabulary.

It will help you sound like  a Native American speaker.

So.

What exactly are you into, Jesse?

To reply, you can say I'm to be  into, I am, I'm into plus a noun.

I'm into music, art, Yoga,  Fatah, photography, hiking,  

biking, or whatever other  activity that you're into.

It's also very common to answer what are you into,  just with a verb of preference and simply say I  

like music, I love yoga, I adore photography  or whatever your interest or preference is.

So what are you into what?

About you Sleeveless, What are you into?

Let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

Can we play it by ear?

Can we play it by ear?

Can we play it by ear?

Did you get this one?

I said, can we play it by ear?

Can.

It is an auxiliary verb.

It's there to ask the question  when is an auxiliary verb.

We pronounce it as kin, kin, unstressed,  because the main verb is what you hear.

Play.

Can you play?

Can you play?

We can combine play and it together.

I'll take that Y and I'll use it to connect.

Play it it, play it, play it.

But you say it as one word.

Can we play it by ear?

Do you know what this means?

When you play something by ear?

It means that you make decisions as they  happen, rather than planning in advance.

If your friend or spouse asks you  what should we do this weekend?

And you don't want to make plans, you  just want to decide as it's happening.

So you wait until dinner to decide what you're  

going to have for dinner rather  than planning it in advance.

The day before, you can say,  let's just play it by ear.

Let's just play it by ear.

You're right, let's play it by ear.

Or someone asks what are you going to do  

on vacation because they know  you have a vacation planned.

You can reply back and say we have a few  tours planned and we'll play the rest by ear.

The rest being the rest of your vacation.

We'll play the rest by ear.

We'll decide what we want to do in  the moment, based on how we feel,  

based on where we are, based on the  situation, rather than deciding in advance.

What about you?

When you're planning a vacation, do you prefer  to have a full itinerary, which means every day?

All the activities you're going to do  on that day are decided in advance.

That's a full itinerary.

Or do you prefer to play it by ear?

No plans.

You're just going to decide what  to do based on how you feel.

Or perhaps #3, a little bit of both.

So put in the comments your  preference, 1-2 or three.

As for me, I would probably  choose #2 just to play it by ear.

I like being more spontaneous.

But my husband Kevin, he is  definitely a full itinerary person,  

which I learned the first time  we planned a vacation together.

So now we do #3.

We do a little bit of both,  so we both are satisfied.

What about you?

Share yours in the comments.

I don't.

Know.

Play it by ear.

Why?

Let's try this one more time.

I'll say it three times.

Turns out I bought a knock off.

Turns out I bought a knock off.

Turns out I bought a knock off.

Did you get this one?

Maybe a little more challenging, I said.

Turns out I bought a knock off.

Turns out I can combine those  together, and it sounds like turns out.

So I'm using that S to glide to the  next word, but I say it as one word.

Turns out turns out I bought a.

So bought is pronounced bought.

So I can combine those together.

Bada bada.

Just like got a native  speakers commonly say gotta.

Well you can do the same thing  with bought a bada bada knock.

The K is silent and off because  they go together, knock off.

It's one word.

I'm going to use that knock, cough, cough.

So I'm going to pronounce the final K on  knock and I'm going to pronounce it on,  

off, knock off, knock off.

Let's talk about what this means.

Turns out to turn out this is an extremely  common phrasal verb and is used in many  

expressions in daily speech, so definitely  add it to your vocabulary in this context.

Turns out is used to say that something is  

surprising or unexpected, so I  did not expect this situation.

Turns out it was spam.

So let's say you were supposed to work late  tonight and you knew about this last week.

You've planned your your  entire week to work late today.

You've made plans and arrangements,  

but then your boss says, oh, actually,  you don't have to work late tonight.

We finished the project so you can say, oh,  

Turns out I don't have to work late  tonight because it's unexpected.

It's surprising.

It's not what you thought.

Turns out grammatically there  should be a subject here.

It turns out I don't have to work late tonight,  but this is called a dummy subject in English,  

where the subject it doesn't actually represent  anything, it's just the existence, the situation.

Because it's a dummy subject in spoken  English, we often drop it and just say.

Turns out I don't have to work late tonight,  

but in written English a subject  is required grammatically.

Let's talk about a knock off.

What is this?

Because turns out I bought a knock off.

What's a knock off?

A knock off is a copy or an imitation of  something, usually a product or service.

Knock offs are very common with designer brands.

So the original is a Louis Vuitton handbag,  which has a very distinct look to it.

But there are a lot of knockoffs.

They're fake, they're fake Louis Vuittons, and  from a distance you probably can't tell at all.

But when you examine the quality  of the material, it's very obvious.

So in this situation, maybe it's  my friend bought a Louis Vuitton,  

but turns out it was a knockoff at least.

Designer or knockoff?

It's just buy another knockoff.

That's actually a cubic Zirconia knockoff.

Now let's do an imitation  exercise so you can practice  

all of these pronunciation changes  that take place in spoken English.

I'll say each sentence again three  times, and after I say the sentence,  

I want you to repeat the sentence out  loud and imitate my pronunciation.

Here we go.

It's not a big deal at all.

It's not a big deal at all.

It's not a big deal at all.

So what are you into?

So what are you into?

So what are you into?

Can we play it by ear?

Can we play it by ear?

Can we play it by ear?

Turns out I bought a knockoff.

Turns out I bought a knockoff.

Turns out I bought a knockoff.

Let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

Today you're going to practice  your listening skills.

Here's how this lesson will work.

I'm going to say a sentence  three times at a natural pace,  

and you need to write down exactly  what you hear in the comments.

And this test will progress from  beginner A1 to more advanced C1.

Let's get started.

Are you all set?

Are you all set?

Are you all set?

I said.

Are you all set?

Notice that the you becomes  more of an unstressed ya or ya.

So it's a very subtle.

Difference.

Uh ah ya ya.

Native speakers will use both.

Are ya?

Are ya?

Are you all set?

And notice I don't push out that T So set all set.

Now what does this mean to be all set?

This simply means to be ready so you can  use this all the time in your daily speech.

So I could ask you, Are you ready  for your presentation tomorrow?

And you can reply back with those two words.

All set, All set.

The full form would be I am all set, and  then you can just reduce that to all set.

Which means I'm ready.

I'm ready for my presentation tomorrow.

We commonly use this to confirm  that someone is ready to leave.

Leave a house, leave a  restaurant, leave any location.

Are you ready?

To go and you can reply back with those two.

Words all set, which means I'm ready to go.

All set.

All set.

All set.

Let's try this again.

A little more challenging.

I'll say it three times.

My week's off to a rocky start.

My week's off to a rocky start.

My week's off to a rocky start.

Did you get this one?

I said.

My week's off to a rocky start.

Notice that contraction weeks that is  week is my week is my weeks my weeks off.

And instead of saying to AH I can  combine those together with a tua.

So I use that to glide Tua tua,  my weeks off, Tua rocky start.

The reason why this is.

More.

Difficult is because.

You may not know the expression.

The expression is to be off  to A and then adjective start,  

and in this example my adjective is  rocky, my weeks off to a rocky start.

Rocky means difficult or uncertain.

He and I got off to a rocky start.

Alright, sure.

Tonight got off to a weird rocky start.

We often use this adjective,  rocky to describe relationships.

It could be a romantic relationship,  a relationship with family or friends,  

or a relationship with your boss or Co worker.

Your friend might come to you upset and say  

our relationship is a little rocky  right now and she wants your advice.

But remember, you can use any adjective with  this expression, so hopefully you'll use a +1.

My week's off to an amazing start.

And notice because my adjective  starts with a vowel, my article  

becomes an An amazing start, Off to a great start.

So we're off to a good start.

And you can use this expression as  a reply to How's your week going?

So why don't you practice this right now?

How's your week going?

And I want you to put in the  comments my week's off to a  

adjective start and you choose the adjective.

Put that in the comments and  hopefully it's a positive adjective.

Let's try this again, I'll.

Say it three times.

What do you have on the go today?

What do you have on the go today?

What do you have on the go today?

Did you get this one?

I said, what do you have on the go today?

Have you heard that native  speakers pronounce what do you as?

Wadia.

Wadia.

We combine all those sounds together.

Wadia.

An alternative is Whatcha Whatcha.

And I use both of them equally, so  it's important that you know both of  

them as well, and this question is how  a native speaker will commonly ask.

What are you?

Doing today.

So the expression is have on the go,  what do you have on the go today?

What are you doing today now  instead of have on the go?

Native speakers will also say what.

Do you have going on?

So on the go is one option.

Going on is another option.

What do you have going on today?

Hey, girl, What?

Do you got going on today?

So to answer, maybe you could say today  I'm studying J for his English lessons.

Is that what you have going on today?

Let's try this one.

More time.

I'll say it three times.

Did you nod off in the presentation too?

Did you nod off in the presentation too?

Did you nod off in the presentation too?

Did you get this one?

I said, did you nod off in the presentation too?

Native speakers will combine  Did you and say did you did?

You.

So you hear a just sound.

Did you Or we can reduce that to did ya?

Or digia so that uh or.

Ah.

So all three.

Options are common.

Nod off.

Is a phrasal verb, so we'll.

Pronounce it as one word nod.

Off so notice I'll take that D.

Sound and I'll connect it on the off,  but I have to combine it together.

Nod off, Nod off.

Nod off to nod.

Off this means that you.

Fall asleep accidentally when you're not  supposed to, like during a presentation.

So hopefully you're not nodding  off during this lesson right now.

Or maybe you nodded off on the bus.

I nodded off on the bus and missed my stop.

Has that ever happened to you?

Or maybe you see one of  your Co workers nodding off.

I think.

Sarah nodded off.

Someone should wake her up  before her boss sees her.

Did you just nod off and nod it off?

So I nodded off a little.

Nodded off.

Ross, you were shoring.

Now let's do an imitation exercise so  you can practice your pronunciation.

I'm going to say each sentence again,  

and I want you to repeat the sentence  aloud and imitate my pronunciation.

Are you all set?

Are you all set?

Are you all set?

My week's off to a rocky start.

My week's off to a rocky start.

My week's off to a rocky start.

What do you have on the go today?

What do you have on the go today?

What do you have on the go today?

Did you nod off in the presentation too?

Did you nod off in the presentation too?

Did you nod off in the presentation too?

Let's try this again.

I'll say it.

Three times.

I got a lot on my plate.

I got a lot on my plate.

I got a lot on my plate.

Did you get this one?

I said I got a lot on my plate now.

Got a native speakers pronounce  this as gotta gotta, I gotta.

I got a lot on my plate.

The expression is to have a lot on ones plate.

Have you heard this?

It's very common.

When you have a lot on your  plate, it means you're very busy.

You have many different tasks to complete.

Now notice in my spoken expression I used got.

I got a lot on my plate.

I got a lot on my plate because native  speakers commonly replace have with  

got in spoken English in a casual, informal way.

But in written English or more formal,  professional English, it's best to use have.

So let's see some examples.

I could say give the project to Isabel.

Amar already has a lot on his plate.

Now of course our verb is have, so you need to  conjugate it with the subject in time reference.

In this case Amar third person singular.

Amar has in the present simple.

And notice Amar has a lot on his plate because  the expression requires A possessive his plate.

We also use this expression to talk  about a time we were busy in the past.

So you have to conjugate that verb.

We had a lot on our plate  because the subject is we.

So now I need our plate.

And then you can use a past simple time  reference last week with the conference.

I got a lot on my plate right now I.

Just got a lot on my plate, hey.

I got a lot on my plate.

Let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

I'm thinking of taking up sewing.

I'm thinking of taking up sewing.

I'm thinking of taking up sewing.

How'd you do?

I said.

I'm thinking of taking up sewing.

Take up is our phrasal verb, and  notice I pronounced it as one taking up  

taking up because the  preposition belongs to the verb.

Native speakers may drop that taking that G  sound, and it sounds more like taken taken,  

but then you have to connect the  preposition taken up, taken up.

I'm thinking of taken up sewing.

You may hear that.

And did you get sewing?

Because of course the  pronunciation is the same as sew.

There's no sewing though, adding an ING.

So sewing is the activity, but the  pronunciation is the same as the word sew.

Let's talk about this phrasal verb.

When you take up an activity or  a hobby, it simply means start.

And this is one of the reasons that students  you don't understand native speakers,  

because our vocabularies are filled with phrasal  verbs, idioms, and expressions like this one.

So remember our last expression?

I have a lot on my plate.

Let's combine these together.

I'd love to take up sewing, but I  already have so much on my plate at work.

Of course, take is a verb,  so you need to conjugate it.

I could say Max took up guitar  last year and he's already amazing.

What about you?

Are you thinking of taking up notice?

You need that gerund.

Thinking of taking up?

Are you thinking of taking  up a new activity or hobby?

Share that in the comments below.

We'll take up yoga or jogging or, you know,  we'll be organized, taking up dressmaking.

Yeah, I am.

Well, Miss B and I did take  up synchronized swimming.

Let's try a more advanced test.

I'll say it three times.

Have you nailed down the dates yet?

Have you nailed down the dates yet?

Have you nailed down the dates yet?

I said, have you nailed down the dates yet?

And the reason why this is  more advanced is because  

I'm using an expression you may not  be familiar with for pronunciation.

I said have you.

But a lot of native speakers  reduce you to just a yeah, yeah.

Have you have you have you nailed.

So you might hear that now nailed notice  in the past simple that Ed is a very.

Soft.

D Nailed, nailed.

But we have nailed down.

So because I have a D sound on  down and these two go together,  

I'll pronounce it as one and  you'll only hear 1D sound.

Nail down nail down.

So it's pronounced exactly the same as nail down.

But if you say it together  that D is used for both.

Same with dates.

Yet notice how that blends  into the ye for yet dates yet.

And it sounds like one word dates.

Yet dates.

Yet the phrasal verb here  is to nail something down,  

and that's when you firmly  establish or confirm something.

So just think of it as 100% confirmed.

I could say I'm not signing the  contract until we nail down the terms.

Once the terms are nailed down, they're 100%  confirmed, so you can think of them as official.

So then I'm comfortable signing the  contract in a more everyday context,  

you might say let's nail down our vacation  plans by the end of the week, and once your  

plans are nailed down, they're 100% confirmed  so you can get excited about your vacation.

Now notice my question.

Have you nailed down the dates yet?

What vert tense is that?

It's the present perfect,  and I'm using the present  

perfect because this is an unfinished timeline.

If the person says no, it's still  possible for them to nail down the  

dates to confirm the dates  because it's unfinished.

To reply, you can say no,  not yet because we use yet.

With the present perfect, no, I  haven't nailed down the dates yet.

Or you could say yes, I nailed down the dates  past simple to show a completed past action.

Or you could say yes I have nailed down the dates.

This is the present perfect.

It's a completed past action  with a result in the present.

Once we nail down our mission, I'm  just nailing down the specifics.

I'll nail it down this week.

Let's do one more, even more advanced.

I'll say it three times.

You can't dodge his calls forever.

You can't dodge his calls forever.

You can't dodge his calls forever.

Did you get this one?

I said you can't dodge his calls forever.

Now notice can't in spoken English.

I'm not going to pronounce that hard.

Can't.

With the T, You can't, can't, can't dodge.

Notice here the D is silent.

The middle D, Dodge, dodge,  dodge his calls forever.

Now what does dodge mean to dodge?

This is when you purposely avoid or ignore.

So he's calling, but I'm not answering.

I'm purposely ignoring it.

I'm dodging his call.

So to you I might say, you can't  dodge speaking in public forever.

You can't purposely avoid it or  ignore the activity at some point.

You just have to do it now.

Notice I use dodge speaking because  you can dodge something his call,  

or you can dodge doing something.

So the verb in ING dodge speaking, we  sometimes use this in a more positive way.

I might say great job dodging that question.

So maybe you were asked an inappropriate  question in an interview or a meeting,  

but then you strategically  avoided answering that question.

So I might say great job dodging that question.

She's dodging calls.

Why have you been dodging my calls?

She's dodging my phone calls.

Now let's do an imitation exercise.

I'm going to say each sentence again three  times, but I'm going to leave enough time  

for you to repeat the sentence out  loud and imitate my pronunciation.

Let's do that.

Now.

I got a lot on my plate.

I got a lot on my plate.

Got a lot on my plate.

I'm thinking of taking up sewing.

I'm thinking of taking up sewing.

I'm thinking of taking up sewing.

Have you nailed down the dates yet?

Have you nailed down the dates yet?

Have you nailed down the dates yet?

You can't dodge his calls forever.

You can't dodge his calls forever.

You can't dodge his calls forever.

Let's try this again.

I'll say it.

Three times.

It was a cakewalk.

It was a cakewalk.

It was a cakewalk.

Did you get this one?

I said it was a cakewalk.

Let's talk about was ah, you can combine  these together and it sounds like was ZA ZA.

So notice I'm linking the sounds and I'm  taking that was but it's a it's a voiced sound.

So I'm going to transfer that sound  to ah, so you hear ZA ZA was a was a.

It was a cakewalk.

It was a cakewalk.

This thing was a cakewalk, right?

What does this mean to be a cakewalk?

This means that something is simple or effortless.

You might be familiar with the  idiom to be a piece of cake.

When you describe something as a piece  of cake, it means simple or effortless.

This is the same idiom, it's just  slightly changing it to be a cakewalk.

Piece of cake.

Hopefully you would.

Say learning English becomes a  cakewalk when you have a great teacher.

If you agree, then put cakewalk cakewalk.

Put cakewalk in the comments.

Remember that you have to conjugate your verb  to be with the subject and the time reference.

This was a cakewalk.

In the past simple This is a cakewalk In  the present simple this will be a cakewalk.

In which verb tense, the future  simple And this has been a cakewalk.

Which verbs tense the present perfect.

And also remember the article?

It's always a cakewalk.

This was a cakewalk.

Let's try this again, a little more advanced.

I'll say it three times.

It's a Band-Aid fix.

It's a Band-Aid fix.

It's a Band-Aid fix.

Did you hear this one?

I said it's a Band-Aid fix.

Of course it's is our contraction of  it is it's it's Band-Aid is 2 words.

But to pronounce them like one,  I'll take that D and transfer it  

to the vowel Band-Aid aid,  Band-Aid, Band-Aid, Band-Aid fix.

A Band-Aid fix is a temporary  solution to a problem.

To understand this expression, you  need need to know what a Band-Aid is.

This is a Band-Aid.

This is the.

Brand name for bandage, but the  brand name is Band-Aid and native  

speakers just referred to bandages as band aids.

Band aids on it but.

Remember, this means a  temporary solution to a problem.

You could say filling the  potholes is a Band-Aid fix.

This entire Rd.

needs to be repaved.

But it's just a Band-Aid fix.

Now, there are many temporary solutions  to help you improve your English,  

but not all of them are permanent.

For example, relying on ChatGPT to  write for you is a Band-Aid fix.

Remember, the article Our noun is a fix, And  then Band-Aid is an adjective, a Band-Aid fix.

And although a Band-Aid fix means a temporary  solution, you can't say a Band-Aid solution.

You must always say a Band-Aid fix because  that's the word choice in this expression.

Let's try this again a little more difficult.

I'll say it three times.

You can't rest on your laurels.

You can't rest on your laurels.

You can't rest on your laurels.

Did you get this one?

I said you can't rest on your laurels.

Native speakers often pronounce T as a flap T,  

which means we don't push out that puff of  air because it forces us to take a pause.

You can't.

So I don't say you can't, I say you can't.

You can't rest on.

So here you hear that T because  I'm linking the 2 words together  

and I'm transferring the T sound onto the vowel.

Rest on ton, rest on Rest on your is pronounced  in spoken English as an unstressed your your.

You can't rest on your your laurels.

This could be a hard word to pronounce  depending on your native language,  

because we have an R and an L Lore OLS, lore OLS.

So divide the sounds until you're comfortable with  

each sound Lore OLS and then  you can pronounce it as one.

Laurels, laurels.

The expression is to rest on your laurels.

We use this to say that you shouldn't become  

too comfortable or stagnant with  past achievements, past successes.

You should set new goals.

You should push yourself further.

You shouldn't rest on on your laurels.

For example, the author wrote an international  bestseller, but then rested on her laurels.

So she had a past accomplishment, past success  with this international bestseller that she wrote.

But because she rested on her laurels, it  means that she didn't set new goals, she  

didn't push herself further, so she didn't write  anything after that international bestseller.

She just remained successful based on her past  success, but didn't achieve any new success.

Let's think about this in a  language learning context.

Maybe you have a past success  with a high score on an exam.

It's amazing that you got a  band 9 on your IELTS last year,  

but you can't just rest on your laurels.

So this sounds like after  your amazing accomplishment,  

your band 9, you stopped trying to improve.

You stopped trying to improve even more.

You just rested on your laurels.

You had that past success and  you thought you were done with  

language learning, which of course isn't the case.

So to help motivate this friend  who's resting on their laurels,  

you can say subscribe to J Force  English and keep improving.

Keep learning, keep growing.

Don't rest on your laurels.

Let's try this one more time.

The most advanced listening exercise.

I'll say it three times.

I'm going out for a bit.

I'm going out for a bit.

I'm going out for a bit.

Did you get this one?

I said I'm going out for a bit.

Of course I'm is our contraction of  I am, I'm, I'm, I'm going out again.

We have that flap T because I'm not going  to say out, I'm going out, I'm going out.

Now, many native speakers will combine  all three of these together and they'll  

pronounce for as more of an unstressed  fur, Fur a fur a bit, fur a bit,  

and again that flat T on bit 'cause I'm not  saying bit for a bit for a bit, you can still  

link them together even if you say for or a native  speaker commonly says fur for a bit, for a bit.

Now, sometimes native speakers  will pronounce the T In this case,  

because it's at the end of a sentence, there's  a period, so we have to take a pause anyway.

For a bit, for a bit.

I'm going out for a bit.

To go out, this means to temporarily  leave your current location.

Most commonly your home.

For a bit is a time reference and  it means for a small amount of time.

Sorry guys, I have to go out for a bit.

This is a common way that  someone will say they're leaving.

I'm going out for a bit now, where are they going?

Well, remember, it's more of a they're going  out temporarily, so perhaps they're going to  

run errands, Go grocery shopping, Need a friend,  or go to the movies any small amount of time.

We also commonly use this as a suggestion to say,  

let's leave the house and do  something more interesting.

We've been watching Netflix all day.

Let's go out, let's go out for a bit.

Let's go out tonight.

Now let's do an imitation exercise so you  

can practice these pronunciation  changes and practice fast English.

So I'll say each sentence again three times,  

and after each sentence, I want you  to repeat the sentence out loud.

Here we go.

It was a cakewalk.

It was a cakewalk.

It was a cakewalk.

It's a Band-Aid fix.

It's a Band-Aid fix.

It's a Band-Aid fix.

You can't rest on your laurels.

You can't rest on your laurels.

You can't rest on your laurels.

I'm going out for a bit.

I'm going out for a bit.

I'm going out for a bit.

Amazing job.

Congratulations on completing  this one hour lesson.

Do you want me to make more lessons like this?

If you do then put more, more, more, put more  more more more more more in the comments below.

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share with your friends and subscribe so  you're notified every time I post a new lesson.

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You can click here to download it or  look for the link in the description.

And you can keep improving your  English with this lesson right now.