Sound MORE Fluent in 20 Minutes with this English Reading Lesson!

Hello, my fabulous English students.

Today we're going to read a news article together  so you can improve all areas of your fluency.

Welcome back to JForrest  English, of course, I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

First, I'll read the  headline, which is a question.

Why do parrots talk?

I chose this article because I was curious.

Why do parrots talk?

And I decided to turn this into a lesson for you.

Now let me share some  alternatives to I don't know,  

because someone could ask you Why do parrots talk?

You could say I don't know, but  you could also say I have no clue.

I haven't the faintest idea  or my personal favorite.

Beats me.

Why do parrots talk?

Beats me.

So 3 alternative ways to say, I don't  know, put this one in the comments.

Beats me, beats me.

Put that in the comments so you practice this one.

Now don't worry about taking notes because  I summarize everything in a free lesson PDF.

You can look for the link in the description.

Let's continue on and find out why parrots talk.

Of all the creatures on earth, only two can  produce human language, humans, us and birds.

Of the few birds that can imitate human  speech, parrots are the best at it.

Notice here they used few  birds, few birds and all.

Few birds are not the same.

So let's look at these sentences.

There are few birds that can speak.

There are a few birds that can speak, so the  only difference is including this article.

But it changes the meaning because when we  just use few, there's a focus on the lack.

So not many, but when we focus on a  few it sounds more positive because  

it's there are some so few lack of  few focuses on some of the few birds.

So lack of birds.

Of the few birds that can imitate human  speech, parents are the best at it.

They give Ted talks.

I've never seen a parrot  give a Ted talk, have you?

They give Ted talks, speak multiple  languages and even front heavy metal bands.

So here this front heavy metal bands, it  means they are the leader of that band.

As funny as that sounds to imagine that a  parrot is the leader of a heavy metal band,  

this vocabulary is specific to bands.

So why can parrots talk when our  closer primate relatives cannot?

Good question.

So our closer primate relatives, those  would be apes, monkeys, chimpanzees.

Now notice here cannot notice  that it's spelled as one word.

Native speakers turn this  into the contraction can't.

But we'll use the non contracted  form which is cannot one word.

We'll use the non contracted form if we want  to emphasize it, you cannot go to the party.

It sounds stronger than saying  you can't go to the party.

You cannot go to the party.

So that's when native speakers use  cannot and can't in our everyday speech.

Let's continue.

Parents are vocal learners, meaning they grasp  sounds by hearing and then imitating them.

So grasp means understand.

Let's review these examples.

I'm sorry I didn't grasp your explanation.

So grasp is a verb.

As a language learner, this is  something you've probably said before.

And then you could say, can  you explain it another way?

Because I didn't grasp it.

Or you could say I didn't  grasp the meaning of the movie.

Now keep in mind that doesn't mean I  didn't understand the words of the movie.

I understood the words but I don't understand.

I don't comprehend the meaning of  it and seen with the explanation,  

it doesn't mean that you didn't necessarily  know the vocabulary or the words.

It's you heard the words but  you're not sure of the meaning.

So more of a deeper  understanding, a comprehension.

Although several other bird species can discern  and repeat sounds, parrots are the pros.

Pros.

This is great.

She's a pro, she's a professional.

So Pro is short for professional.

And here because it's plural and the plural  of one professional is 2 professionals.

That's why you have the S, to make it plural.

Native speakers frequently use  this to compliment someone.

To say you're a pro, to be a pro.

So ah, because it's a noun, ah pro.

And then here my example, a real pro.

So it's just emphasizing it, making it stronger.

So try this out.

You can say Jennifer, you're a real pro.

Put that in the comments.

And what you're saying is your  videos are very professional.

Your teaching skills are very professional.

So it's a way of complimenting me in this case.

So thank you very much,  Jennifer, You're a real pro.

Put that in the comments to practice that.

OK.

Here, discern When you discern something, it means  you can recognize it, you can distinguish it.

We generally use this with our senses.

So if the room was very dark, I might  not be able to recognize objects.

So I see there's an object,  but I can't discern it.

I can't recognize it.

I don't know what it is because it's too dark.

So they can discern the sounds  they can recognize and repeat  

sounds very impressive for a bird, for a parrot.

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Now let's continue with our lesson.

Any bird that's a vocal learner has a part of  the brain devoted to this called the song system.

But in parrots, the song System has two layers,  an inner core common to all avian vocal learners.

Avian is another word for bird species.

So all bird vocal learners,  the category of birds, birds,  

avian, all avian vocal learners, and an  outer shell which is unique to parrots.

Some think that this recently discovered shell is  what allows parents to be such expert mimickers.

Oh, mimicking.

Children do this so well.

When you mimic someone,  we'll just imagine a parrot.

You say, hello, how are you?

I've never had a conversation with a parrot.

Hello, how are you?

And then the bird says, hello, how are you?

That was embarrassing.

So that's mimicking children do this all the time.

Young girls, we see our mothers putting  on makeup and we sit beside them and we  

brush our hair and we put on imaginary makeup.

And I'm sure young boys mimic their  

fathers as well by pretending to saw  something or or do something else.

So mimic is another word for imitate.

Notice here grammatically that this is a noun.

A mimicker is someone who mimics does  the verb, the action of mimicking.

Just like a learner.

You is someone who learns.

So in this case they're using it as a noun.

And I just thought of another  everyday example, Comedians.

Comedians are excellent mimickers.

Often they mimic celebrities or  politicians in a humorous way,  

and that's a large part of comedy is  mimicking other well known people.

Maybe you do this just to make  your friends or your family laugh.

Let's continue.

But why do they copy mimic?

That will be another word.

Copy mimic.

But why do they copy human speech?

Beats me.

Remember?

That expression.

Beats me.

What else?

There were two other ones.

I have no clue.

I haven't.

The faintest idea.

Beats me.

My favorite peer pressure.

Oh, it turns out.

Do you know what peer pressure is?

Well, your peers are the  people in your specific group.

So if you're in school, that's your group,  and your peers are all the other students.

If you're in an English class, your  peers are all the other students.

So it's the other people in your group.

If you're part of a sports team, all those  other people on the team are your peers.

So when those people pressure you, peer pressure.

It turns out parents naturally try to fit in.

Do you know what this means?

When you try to fit in, you  try to act like your peers.

You dress like them, you watch the same movies  as them, You listen to the same music as them,  

because the more similarities you have, the  more likely you are to get along and be friends.

Now, of course, we all want to fit in.

So if it's your first day at school, at work,  

at a new hobby, you want to find  commonalities and similarities.

You want to fit in, so parrots  want to do that as well.

Parrots naturally try to fit in, be it among  other parrots, their peers, or other people.

Interesting.

I added all the notes for you to review.

Remember, you can download  the PDF in the description.

Let's continue.

In the wild, parrots use their vocal prowess  to share important information and fit in.

So here we have that sense of belonging with  their peers, their group with the flock.

Oh, so here, a flock of a group of parrots  is called a flock, a flock of birds.

A flock of parrots.

Prowess, that's a fun word to say.

Prowess.

Prowess.

That means great ability or skill.

And in this case they're  limiting it to vocal prowess.

So parents have great ability and  skill when it comes to their vocals.

So for a singer, you could say for example, Adele,  

the singer Adele, she has  incredible vocal prowess.

If you don't know Adele, listen to the song.

Someone Like You.

You will be blown away by her  vocal prowess, her vocal skill.

Let's continue.

Pet parents have all the essential  conditions for picking up language.

Ah, hear this?

See this phrasal verb?

Picking up language.

When you pick up a language  or you pick up a skill,  

it means you learn that skill,  but without consciously studying.

So you're just exposed to the language or the  skill, and from that exposure you learn it.

You pick up new vocabulary all the time,  

so you're not sitting at your desk  and constant consciously studying.

Maybe you're walking down the street and you hear  if a conversation in English and you learn a word.

You picked up that word, so  it's a great way to learn.

And apparently that's how Paris learn.

Well, of course they're not  sitting down in a classroom  

and learning English, they just pick it  up by imitating, mimicking their owners.

So what are these essential  conditions for picking up language,  

time, inspiration, and mental ability?

Wild parrots, on the other hand, lack  the needed close proximity to speech.

Hmm, so wild parrots, they  can't pick up the language.

They can't imitate people because  they're not close enough to people.

And I love this on the other hand, on the  other hand, So this is used to show a contrast.

We have one point with pet  parrots learning language,  

picking up language, but then  we're going to have a contrast.

On the other hand, while parents parrots aren't  learning the language, let's review this.

It's a little bit long because you need to have  

a positive before you use on the other  hand, and then transition to a negative.

However, it can be reversed.

You can start with a negative, on the  other hand, and then mention a positive.

So here's a positive.

Owning a pet parrot is amazing.

I love the company and admiring the  beauty of my pet, on the other hand.

So even before you say anything, I know it's going  to be negative because that's what this means.

On the other hand, it wakes me up every  morning at 4:00 AM with its vocal prowess.

OK, now you don't have to, but you can start  the positive with on the one hand and then  

transition to on the other hand, On the one  hand, on the other hand, you don't need.

This part is optional, but you can include it,  

so that will make you sound very advanced  when you're expressing a contrast.

On the other hand, lack the  needed close proximity to speech.

Yes, that was the wild parrots.

Let's continue.

The question is, do these precocious  birds know what they're saying?

Oh, precocious, Precocious is an adjective  meaning showing advanced mental ability,  

especially for the age or  in this case the species.

But we commonly use this with children.

You might say the precocious  child easily picks up languages,  

so the child has advanced mental ability for  that child's age compared to that child's peers,  

and the child easily picks up learns without  consciously trying picks up languages.

The question is, do these precocious  birds know what they're saying?

Again, what are those three  ways to say I don't know?

Beats me.

I have no clue.

I haven't the faintest idea for parents.

Words may have some associations,  but not complex meanings.

Parents may associate saying how  are you when someone enters a room?

But they likely don't understand that  it is a question of one's well-being.

So every time someone enters the  room, it's common to say hello.

So a parrot understands.

When you enter a room, say hello.

But the parrot doesn't necessarily know.

This is a polite way to greet someone.

It just knows new person arrives, say hello.

Interesting.

I learned a lot today about parents.

I hope you did as well.

And of course, more importantly,  

I hope you learned a lot of advanced  vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.

So now let me read the article in full from start  to finish so you can focus on my pronunciation.

Let's do that now.

Why do parents talk?

Of all the creatures on earth, only two can  produce human language, humans and birds.

Of the few birds that can imitate human  speech, parrots are the best at it.

They give Ted talks, speak multiple  languages, and even front heavy metal bands.

So why can parrots talk when our  closer primate relatives cannot?

Parrots are vocal learners, meaning they grasp  sounds by hearing and then imitating them.

Although several other bird species can discern  and repeat sounds, parrots are the pros.

Any bird that's a vocal learner has a  

part of their brain devoted to  this called the song system.

But in parrots, the song system  has two layers and inner core,  

common to all avian vocal learners, and an  outer shell, which is unique to parrots.

Some think that this recently discovered shell is  what allows parents to be such expert mimickers.

But why do they copy human speech?

Peer pressure.

It turns out Paris naturally try to fit in.

Be it among other parents or other  people in the wild, parents use  

their vocal prowess to share important  information and fit in with the flock.

Pet parents have all the essential  conditions for picking up language,  

time, inspiration and mental ability.

Wild parrots, on the other hand, lack  the needed close proximity to speech.

The question is, do these precocious birds  know what they're singing for parents?

Words may have some associations,  but not complex meanings.

Paris may associate saying how are  you when someone enters a room,  

but they likely don't understand that  it is a question of one's well-being.

Did you enjoy this lesson?

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

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Put any bird emoji in the comments below.

I don't know if there is a parrot emoji, is there?

Well, if there is, you can  put it in the comments below.

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