I wish my students used THIS METHOD to sound like a native speaker

Hello, my amazing students.

A lot of you have told me that you  struggle to understand native speakers.

Well, don't worry, because today you're  going to improve your listening skills  

and you're going to learn natural expressions.

Welcome back to JForrest English, of course.

I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

Today you're going to improve your listening  skills by testing your listening skills.

I'm going to say a sentence three times,  

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.

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 one's 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 and 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, yo.

They're all jogging.

You know, we'll be organized.

Taking up, Just making.

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 say 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 O.

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 verb 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 can 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.

I 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.

Amazing job improving your listening skills.

Did you enjoy this lesson?

Do you want me to make more lessons  testing your listening skills?

If you do put Let's do it, Let's do it.

Put Let's do it in the comments below.

And of course, make sure you like this video,  

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

And you can get this free speaking  guide where I share 6 tips on how  

to speak English fluently and confidently.

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

And why don't you keep improving your  listening skills with this lesson right now?