Can You Understand Every Word? Test Your Listening Skills with Native English!

Today you're going to improve your listening skills of fast English so you can better understand

native English speakers on TV, movies, YouTube and everywhere outside of the classroom.

And at the end, we're going to do an imitation exercise so you can improve your pronunciation

as well.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course.

I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

Here's how this lesson will work.

First, I'm going to say a sentence.

I'll say it three times, and you need to dictate what I said.

So you need to write down exactly what I said in the comments.

Are you ready?

Let's try the first exercise.

Maybe I'm just in a rut.

Maybe I'm just in a rut.

Maybe I'm just in a rut.

Did you get this one?

I said maybe I'm just in a rut.

Of course I'm is a contraction.

I am.

I'm.

And notice how in ah sounds like one word in a in a I'm in a rut.

In a rut.

The expression here is to be in a rut.

Now you can also say to be stuck in a rut.

Stuck is optional.

When you're in a rut, it means you've been doing an activity like your job or a hobby,

or a task.

You've been doing it too long and you feel like you need to change.

Why are you in a rut?

Same thing every day.

Knowing exactly what to expect.

That's a rut.

So let's say every day you work.

All day you eat dinner.

But then at night, every night, you watch Netflix.

That could be your rut.

We watch Netflix every night.

We're stuck in a rut.

We're in a rut.

Are we in a rut?

So to help you get out of that rut, you just need to do something different.

So you might say, let's go to the park tonight.

So instead of watching Netflix, you go to the park.

You enjoy the beautiful day to help you get out of your rut.

You're a rider.

Ruts are normal.

Let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

My boss is stuck in his ways.

My boss is stuck in his ways.

My boss is stuck in his ways.

How'd you do with this one?

I said.

My boss is stuck in his ways.

Notice how boss is.

We say it as one word, Bosses.

Bosses.

It's the exact same pronunciation as the plural form of the noun bosses.

I have two bosses, but here with the verb to be, my boss is stuck in his ways.

It's the exact same pronunciation, the expression to be stuck in one's ways.

Notice Waze is plural and it's one possessive.

My boss is stuck in his ways.

This is when someone is unwilling to change how they do things or how they think about

things.

Kind of stuck in his ways.

For example, my boss won't let me work remotely.

He's stuck in his ways because he's too stuck in his ways.

Gloria.

This is good for him.

So he has a specific way of thinking about how work should be done, and he's unwilling

to change his thinking.

Now, the same expression can also use the verb set to be stuck or to be set in one's

ways, and it has the exact same meaning.

Oh, you're young.

Me.

I'm set in my ways.

Let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

Need a hand.

Need a hand.

Need a hand.

This one was easy, right?

I said need a hand.

And notice need.

Ah, sounded like one word.

Need a need a hand.

Need a hand?

Grammatically, this is missing the auxiliary verb and the subject.

Do you need a hand?

But native speakers commonly drop that and just say need a hand, and this is the same

as saying need any help?

Do you need any help?

Exactly the same meaning.

Now to answer and to accept that help you could say sure I could use a hand and this

is the same as sure I could use some help.

Hey Tamar, I could really use a hand in here.

And if you want to request the assistance using this expression, you can say, can you

give me a hand?

Can you give me a hand?

And this is the same as can you help me?

Can you help me?

Hey Rich, can you give me a hand with this box?

And you can give me a hand right now by liking this video, subscribing to my channel and

sharing this video with your friends.

That would really give me a hand.

Let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

How can I get my foot in the door?

How can I get my foot in the door?

How can I get my foot in the door?

Did you get this one?

I said, how can I get my foot in the door?

Do you know this expression to get ones or a foot in the door?

This is used when you join an organization, a company.

You take a specific job that's at a low level, but you're doing that because you hope that

low level will turn into a higher position.

That's getting your foot in the door.

You've already got a foot in the door.

For example, I'm a journalist, but I took a job as a receptionist to get my foot in

the door.

I was just trying to get one foot in the door.

But you have to be careful with this strategy because you don't want to say I took this

job five years ago to get my foot in the door, but now I'm stuck in a rut.

That would mean that you're still a receptionist 5 years later, so you haven't moved up.

So your strategy of taking a lower position to get your foot in the door hasn't been very

successful.

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

I'll say each sentence again, and I want you to repeat the sentence out loud.

Let's do that now.

Maybe I'm just in a rut.

Maybe I'm just in a rut.

Maybe I'm just in a rut.

My boss is stuck in his ways.

My boss is stuck in his ways.

My boss is stuck in his ways.

Need a hand?

Need a hand.

Need a hand.

How can I get my foot in the door?

How can I get my foot in the door?

How can I get my foot in the door?

Did you enjoy this lesson?

Do you want me to make more lessons just like this?

If you do, then put foot in the door.

Put foot in the door in the comments so I know you enjoyed this lesson and remember

you can give me a hand by liking this video.

Share it with your friends and of course 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 expanding your vocabulary is such an important part of improving your listening skills.

But I have this video where you can learn lots more natural expressions to help you

improve your listening.

So I recommend you watch this lesson right now.