ONE HOUR ENGLISH LESSON | Understand Native Speakers

Welcome to this one hour English lesson to help you improve your listening skills.

Here's my promise to you.

By the end of this lesson, you're going to feel a lot more confident understanding native

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

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course, I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

Here's how this lesson will work.

I'm going to say a sentence and you need to write down exactly what you hear in the comments.

And I'm going to say each sentence three times.

Let's get started.

They've been bickering all day.

They've been bickering all day.

They've been bickering all day.

Did you get this one?

I said they've been bickering all day.

Let's talk about the pronunciation changes.

Notice I have Dave.

This is a contraction.

They have Dave, Dave, Dave.

Native speakers use contractions in spoken English almost 100% of the time.

So you need to be very, very comfortable hearing the contraction because it affects the grammar

of the sentence you need to have.

They have been bickering because that shows the grammar, and the grammar is the present

perfect continuous.

So if you didn't have that, it would be grammatically incorrect.

They've been bickering all day now.

Notice I said bin bin, a very unstressed bin.

This is how we pronounce the past participle of the verb be bin in American English.

I don't speak British English, but I believe in British English they pronounce it more

stressed bean.

But in American English we don't do that.

We just say bin bin.

They've been.

They've been bickering all day.

Now, to understand fast English outside of the classroom, you need to hear the individual

words.

But you also have to understand the meaning of the words.

So let's talk about the verb to bicker.

This is when you argue about things that are not important.

The concept of bickering is extremely common and everyone does it, and we usually do it

with people we spend the most time with.

Our family, our spouses, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, our close friends,

our Co workers that we spend a lot of time with.

Anytime you spend a lot of time with someone, it's common that you'll bicker.

But it's different from fighting.

Because when you're fighting with someone, usually there's a strong emotion involved,

but when you bicker you don't really have that emotion.

It's less serious because the things you're arguing about fighting about are not actually

important.

Like I said, this can be very common in the workplace when you spend a lot of time with

your Co workers.

So maybe you're in a meeting and you've been discussing an issue for hours with your Co

workers.

But people start bickering, They start arguing about things that aren't important.

You could say we didn't get anything done today because we bickered all meeting.

We argue bicker.

Yeah, we bicker either.

Yeah, well, we were bickering because they were bickering.

Kids are bickering.

Let's try this again with another listening exercise.

I'll say it three times that streets pretty sketchy.

That Streets pretty sketchy.

That Streets pretty sketchy.

How'd you do with this one?

I said that Streets pretty sketchy.

Did you hear that?

Streets.

The S Well, that is the verb to be in a contraction form.

The street is the streets.

The streets.

Pretty sketchy.

Again, it's extremely important that you hear these contractions for grammar, because we

need the verb to be grammatically.

The sentence would sound very awkward if you didn't have it, because it would be grammatically

incorrect.

That street's pretty sketchy.

Sketchy.

Sketchy Sketchy sketchy.

Let's talk about to be sketchy.

That street is our verb to be to be sketchy.

This is used to say that something is not completely safe.

So by saying that street is pretty sketchy, I'm saying that street doesn't look completely

safe.

I don't think that street is safe.

So I'm saying we shouldn't go down that street.

We should avoid that street.

Now why would I say this street is sketchy?

This is an adjective that native speakers use a lot.

If I say is streets sketchy, it's most likely because it's dark or lacks lighting.

There aren't a lot of people around, there's broken glass or broken windows, or there are

a lot of abandoned buildings on that street.

It could be all of those reasons, or it could be just one of those reasons for me to say

that street doesn't look safe.

That street's pretty sketchy.

I could say let's take another St.

This one looks sketchy, so I can also use the verb look look sketchy, but I have to

conjugate it.

This street looks sketchy.

Or let's say your friend or your husband or your wife came to you and said hey, I heard

this amazing business proposal today.

All we need to do is invest $1000 and we're guaranteed $100,000 and you could say that

sounds sketchy.

So notice here the verb is to sound sketchy, and you're saying the idea, the plan, the

business proposal doesn't sound completely safe.

We also use this to describe people.

He's a sketchy guy or he's sketchy.

She's sketchy.

In this case, you're saying the person isn't safe, which means you can't trust the person.

So with people, it's a way of saying I don't think I can trust him.

She's sketchy.

He's sketchy.

Seems a little sketchy.

You're kind of sketchy.

Laundry to some sketchy laundromat.

Let's try another listening exercise.

I'll say it three times.

You must have seen it.

You must have seen it.

You must have seen it.

Did you get this one?

You must have seen it.

But notice I didn't actually say.

Have I reduced that entirely to just ah, you musta, you musta.

I could also reduce it to more of an of sound, which is very commonly done by native speakers.

You must have, you must have.

You must have seen it.

Notice for seen it.

I use that that N sound to connect the 2 words together.

Seen it, Seen it, Seen it.

So you hear it in front of it.

It sounds like NIT.

But if you say those two words together, it blends together.

Seen it, Seen it?

You must have seen it.

Now let's talk about the grammar of this.

A must is a modal verb, and grammatically you need must plus base verb, which is the

verb without two.

So grammatically you need must have.

In written English you must use must have seen it because that's grammatically correct.

But in spoken English it will sound like must ah or must of.

But in written English, if you wrote you must ah or of, it would be incorrect grammatically.

So just remember what I'm explaining is for spoken English you must have seen it 200 times.

You must have seen it 2:00.

You must have seen them.

Here, Let's try this one more time.

I'll say it three times.

What's the ETA?

What's the ETA?

What's the ETA?

I said, what's the ETA?

Of course we have what's that's a contraction of what is what's what's the now?

Because ETA it begins with a vowel sound.

EI could say either the OR the 'cause we do a more stressed the when the next word starts

in a vowel.

But this isn't a rule that native speakers follow all the time.

But if I did a more stressed E in the IT would really blend together with ETA, the TA, and

it would almost sound like it's just one word, the TA, because I wouldn't really repeat the

E on ETA, the ETA.

I believe in my example, when I did the listening test, I think the first time I did it more

of the ETA, and the second time I did it, more of the ETA, and the sounds blended together.

Let's listen to that again and see what I did.

What's the ETA?

What's the ETA?

What's the ETA?

Now, ultimately, either way that you pronounce it, the ETA or the ETA is fine.

Now you're probably wondering, well what's ETA?

This stands for estimated time of arrival.

So your ETA, the ETA or someone somethings ETA is the estimated time of arrival for that

someone or something when it's expected to arrive.

So let's say we're talking about a project, and your boss wants to know when this project

will arrive.

In his inbox or on his desk, he could say what's the ETA and he could just say the If

it's obvious you're talking about the project, he could say what's your ETA because you're

the one submitting the project.

Or he could say what's the project's ETA, so the ETA belongs to the project.

So you need that possessive.

What's the project's ETA?

And they all have the same meaning.

We commonly use this with friends or coworkers, family members to let them know when we're

going to arrive.

So let's say you were supposed to be at your family's house at 7:00 for dinner, but you're

running late.

You could send them a text message and say running late.

Google says my ETA is 642 or 15 minutes.

Now, Google says because when you put something in a GPS, Google will tell you or whatever

you use.

Google will tell you when you're expected to arrive.

That's your ETA.

What's their ETA?

OK, ETA ETA 11 minutes.

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

So I'm going to say each sentence again, and then I want you to repeat the sentence out

loud and try to imitate my pronunciation as closely as possible.

And I'll say each sentence three times.

Let's do that right now.

They've been bickering all day.

They've been bickering all day.

They've been bickering all day.

That street's pretty sketchy.

That street's pretty sketchy.

That street's pretty sketchy.

You must have seen it.

You must have seen it.

You must have seen it.

What's the ETA?

What's the ETA?

What's the ETA?

That's out of our budget.

That's out of our budget.

That's out of our budget.

Did you get this one?

I said that's out of our budget.

Let's talk about the pronunciation changes.

Notice that's this is a contraction of that is, that's.

Now we have out of.

We can combine these two sounds together and it will sound like outta outta.

That's outta our budget.

RR.

Notice the word is our because it's a possessive our budget, the budget belongs to us.

But I pronounce it just as a very unstressed RR.

Our budget our budget.

But based on the context, it's obvious that it's not the verb to be are, and it is in

fact our the possessive that's out of our budget.

Do you know what this means?

The expression to be the verb to be, that is to be out of one's budget.

So we need a possessive here, One's budget.

That's another way of simply saying that something is too expensive.

The cost exceeds what you're either willing to pay or what you're able to pay.

Now of course, you have a budget for your household and you can often use the expression,

oh sorry, that's out of our budget to say that you're not willing or able to pay for

that item.

But there's a budget in the workplace, for example, as well.

So let's say you wanted a standing desk.

So a standing desk is a desk that you're able to raise so you can work at it standing up

because it's more comfortable and it's better for you.

So you ask your boss, can you buy me a standing desk?

But your boss says no, and he might say, oh sorry, that's out of our budget.

So this doesn't necessarily mean the company doesn't have the money to buy you a standing

desk.

But they're unwilling to buy you a standing desk.

They don't want to spend the money.

So remember, it can be unable because you don't have the money or unwilling you have

the money, but you don't want to spend it on that specific item.

Sorry, that's out of our budget.

I found one for sale, but it's out of my budget.

Do you see a budget?

I don't see a budget.

Let's try this again with another listening exercise.

I'll say it three times.

Money is no object.

Money is no object.

Money is no object.

This one was easy, right?

I said money is no object.

Notice at the beginning Here monies money is.

This is a contraction.

Monies.

Money is no object.

Now, it's important that you hear these contractions because they're necessary for grammar.

Because the expression is to be no object.

Money is no object.

If you don't hear that contraction, then the sentence won't make sense.

Grammatically, this is an expression that means the opposite of what we just learned.

If you say money is no object, it means that the cost of something is not a concern or

a limitation.

So basically you're saying I'm willing to pay any price for this specific item.

It's common to use this in specific situations.

Maybe it's your husband or your wife, your best friend, your mother's birthday and it's

a very special birthday.

O on this specific occasion for planning that special someones birthday, money is no object.

So you might say, can you recommend somewhere special for my husbands birthday?

Now, when someone recommends something, of course they're going to think about the price,

so you can tell the person, and money is no object, so they know that they can recommend

the most expensive restaurant, and you're comfortable with that in this specific situation.

Or maybe in our last example, you asked your boss to buy you a standing desk and he said,

OK, sure, we'll buy you a standing desk so you can go into the store and you can say

my boss is paying for this desk.

So money's no object.

Money is no object, as you probably know.

Sure, money is no object.

OK, I told you, money is no object.

Let's try this again with another listening exercise.

I'll say it three times.

I'm beyond livid.

I'm beyond livid.

I'm beyond livid.

I said I'm beyond livid for pronunciation.

Just notice that contraction.

I am.

I'm.

I'm beyond livid.

What does livid mean?

Well, it's an adjective that means extremely angry.

I'm livid.

Now when we add beyond, this is an intensifier.

So extremely angry.

Livid is already very intense.

But if you add beyond livid, it makes it 10 times stronger.

I'm extremely extremely angry.

I'm beyond livid.

Just remember to conjugate that verb to be so if you're speaking about a past.

Emotion.

You could say I was beyond livid when my boss denied my desk reimbursement.

So here a desk reimbursement is when you pay for something and if you're reimbursed it

means someone gives you that money after usually your company.

But in this case your boss denied your desk reimbursement even though in the last example

you bought the most expensive desk.

Because remember, money was no object, but now you have to pay for that very expensive

desk.

So that's why you were beyond livid.

You can use beyond to intensify any emotion, any adjective.

She was beyond happy when she passed her ielts.

I'm beyond awful.

I'm beyond scared.

That is beyond exciting.

Let's try this one more time.

I'll say it three times.

Her comment's been gnawing at me.

Her comment's been gnawing at me.

Her comment's been gnawing at me, I said.

Her comment has been gnawing at me.

In spoken English, it's very common to take that auxiliary verb has and form a contraction

with the subject.

This is more informal, but it happens most of the time by native speakers in spoken English.

Her comments been, her comments been gnawing at me.

So you have to hear that auxiliary verb in the contraction.

But the sentence structure tells you that the contraction is there because grammatically

it's required.

Now, in written English, it would be more common and proper to say her comment has been

gnawing at me.

But even if I were to see that in written form, if I were to read it out loud, I would

just automatically form that contraction in spoken English.

Notice that pronunciation for gnawing that G is silent, gnawing, gnawing.

Her comments been gnawing at me.

What does this mean?

The expression is to gnaw at someone.

When something gnaws at someone, it means that something really irritates or bothers

that person.

That something really preoccupies your thoughts, which means you keep thinking about it.

You can't get it out of your head.

So maybe you were telling your coworker how you bought the most expensive desk because

money was no object, or so you thought.

But then your boss denied your desk reimbursement and you were beyond livid.

You were telling this whole story to your coworker, and instead of sympathy, your coworker

said I told you not to buy the most expensive desk.

And that comment, what your coworker said has been gnawing at you, which means you keep

thinking about it.

It keeps bothering you and irritating you.

You can't get it out of your mind.

Even though it happened hours ago, days ago, or weeks ago, it's been gnawing at you.

Something was still gnawing at me.

It's secretly gnawing away at you.

No, no.

Why?

Why didn't he?

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

how a native speaker would say each sentence.

I'll say each sentence again three times, and I want you to repeat that sentence out

loud to practice your pronunciation.

That's out of our budget.

That's out of our budget.

That's out of our budget.

Money is no object.

Money is no object.

Money is no object.

I'm beyond livid.

I'm beyond livid.

I'm beyond livid.

Her comments been gnawing at me.

Her comments been gnawing at me.

Her comments been gnawing at me.

Don't snap at me.

Don't snap at me.

Don't snap at me.

Did you get this one?

I said don't snap at me.

Let's talk about Snap at.

One of the ways that native speakers can speak quickly is because we combine our sounds together.

So I don't say snap at, I say snap at PAT.

So what I do is I take that P from SNAP and I also add it to AT, so it sounds like SNAP

PAT, and then I combine them together.

Snap at, SNAP at.

Native speakers will also drop sounds that force us to take a pause in the middle of

a sentence.

If I pronounce the T on, don't I have to take a pause to pronounce that T, so I just won't

say it.

And this is the same thing for at.

I won't say it.

Don't snap at me.

So I make those T's silent.

I drop the T's.

Now, a lot of times students don't understand native speakers because we use a lot of phrasal

verbs, idioms, and expressions, like in this example, to snap at someone.

What does that mean?

This is literally snapping right now.

I'm snapping now.

Notice it happens very quickly, so when you snap at someone, you speak to someone in a

irritable or abrupt way, so your words come out quickly like a snap and they're often

negative.

This happens quite frequently if we are feeling a negative emotion like stress, anxiety, worry.

Let's say I'm working on a project that has a very important deadline and I have a lot

of work left.

So I feel quite anxious about this.

And then my husband or friend Co worker asked me a question and then without even thinking,

I snap at them and I say I'm busy.

What do you want?

I can't help you and I say something very abruptly and my words have a lot of irritation

in them.

Annoyance.

Frustration that is snapping at someone.

We do this all the time and unfortunately people who work in customer service are on

the receiving end of this.

So a person in customer service might say customers snap at me every day.

I don't take it personally.

You just snapped at me because I think he just snapped at me.

Be gargling well, don't snap at me.

You're snapping at me again.

Let's try this again with another listening exercise.

I'll say it three times.

It was a knee jerk reaction.

It was a knee jerk reaction.

It was a knee jerk reaction.

Did you hear what I said?

I said it was a knee jerk reaction.

Let's talk about knee.

Notice the K is silent.

You don't hear it at all.

Knee.

Knee.

This happens most of the time when words start with KN.

The K is silent.

There are many common words that start with KN, such as knife, knight, not NIT, no.

And now knee.

All of these words.

The K is silent.

So the word starts with AN knee.

What is a knee jerk reaction?

A knee jerk reaction is a reaction that happens automatically, unconsciously.

You don't think about it.

It just happens.

Just like when you're at a doctor's office and they test your reflexes and if this is

your knee, they hit your knee and then your your leg goes like this.

Have you ever had that done?

They test your reflexes, but when your leg does that, you don't control it.

It happens automatically.

So that's where the expression comes from, a knee jerk reaction.

And I'm sharing this expression because generally when you snap at someone it is a knee jerk

reaction.

When you're busy working on a report and your husband ask you if you want a cup of tea and

you shout I'm busy, leave me alone.

That is a knee jerk reaction because you didn't sit there and think about responding in that

way.

It happened automatically.

So yes, you snapped at your husband, but it was a knee jerk reaction.

So you could apologize to your husband and say sorry for snapping at you.

It was a knee jerk reaction.

Or is this just another knee jerk reaction for you?

It was a knee jerk reaction.

You got that half right.

You're not saying no is a knee jerk reaction.

Let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

She rubs me the wrong way.

She rubs me the wrong way.

She rubs me the wrong way.

Did you get this one?

I said.

She rubs me the wrong way.

I think the pronunciation is clear.

But this is another case where if you don't understand what it means, even if you hear

the words, you wouldn't be able to reply.

So let's talk about the expression to rub someone the wrong way.

This is when you annoy someone without intending to, so it isn't your intention.

You don't try to annoy anyone, but for just some reason you are annoying someone else.

This often happens when people's personalities just clash.

They clash, which means their personalities are different in a way that they're not compatible.

So I might do something that annoys you simply because my personality is different from your

personality, but someone else would not be annoyed by the thing I do.

This could happen in a workplace situation where there's an employee and they're really

great at their job, they're very skilled, but for some reason that person just rubs

you the wrong way.

And it's very unfortunate for that person because it's nothing they're actually doing

wrong.

But if there's a conference or an event and you have to bring one employee, you might

say let's bring Marcos.

Tim rubs me the wrong way.

So Tim is annoying to you, but it's not Tims fault.

Maybe he is a very outgoing person and he's always laughing and telling jokes and you're

more of a shy, reserved person and your personality is just clash.

And for that reason Tim rubs you the wrong way.

Poor Tim just rubs me the wrong way.

Not Jay.

Guy rubs me the wrong way.

Something about always rubbed me the wrong way.

Let's try this one more time.

I'll say it three times.

I always pick up the slack.

I always pick up the slack.

I always pick up the slack.

How'd you do with this one?

I said I always pick up the slack for pronunciation.

Let's talk about pick up, because this is another great opportunity to combine these

sounds together.

So what a native speaker will do is they'll take the last sound on pick, and they'll put

that on up.

So it will sound like cup, pick up, cup pick up, pick up.

And then you can say those two words as one because you combine them together, pick up,

pick up the slack.

Now what does this mean to pick up the slack?

This is when you do work.

That is someone elses responsibility, but you do it because that person maybe isn't

doing it and it needs to get done.

So you pick up the slack.

This can happen in the home, and of course it can happen at work.

But at home, everyone has their own responsibilities, things that they're responsible for.

Maybe you're responsible for cooking dinner and your partner is responsible for cleaning

up after dinner, for example.

But let's say there's a situation where someone at home is busy with something else, so you

have to pick up the slack.

For example, I've been picking up the slack at home while my wife's taking care of her

sick mother.

Now, in this case, you're probably happy with picking up the slack, or you understand why

you need to pick up the slack because your wife is dealing with a sick parent, which

is a stressful situation for her, so you're happy to do that.

But there's other situations where maybe your coworker just isn't doing the work they need

to do and you end up picking up the slack and you're not happy about it.

For example, I'm sick of picking up everyone's slack.

And we're here picking up the slack.

No worries, I'll pick up the slack.

I just want to thank you for picking up the slack.

Now let's do an imitation exercise so you can practice these pronunciation changes and

these new expressions.

So I'm going to say the sentence again, and then I want you to say the sentence out loud,

and I'll say each sentence three times.

Let's do that.

Now don't snap at me.

Don't snap at me.

Don't snap at me.

It was a knee jerk reaction.

It was a knee jerk reaction.

It was a knee jerk reaction.

She rubs me the wrong way.

She rubs me the wrong way.

She rubs me the wrong way.

I always pick up the sock.

I always pick up the sock.

I always pick up the sock.

She has her presentation down pat.

She has her presentation down pat.

She has her presentation down pat.

Did you get this one?

I said she has her presentation down pat.

Maybe you noticed that has her sounded like has her, has uh uh.

So we often drop the H on her, has her, has her.

She has her.

She has her presentation down pat.

Now what does down pat mean?

To have something down pat is when you have information or a routine memorized perfectly.

For example, I have my YouTube video creation process down pat, so you can think of the

process as a routine.

First I do this, then I do this, then I do this and I have these steps memorized.

I don't even need to think about what should I do to create a video.

I have the process down pat now.

If you have an upcoming speech, presentation, interview, you want to practice, practice,

practice so you can memorize what you want to say.

And then once you memorize it perfectly, you can say I'm not nervous.

I have my speech down pat.

I have my speech perfectly memorized.

Have this whole Chloe thing down pat.

I got my routine down pat.

Generic.

We've got every move down pat.

Let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

We didn't have a lot of prep time.

We didn't have a lot of prep time.

We didn't have a lot of prep time.

Could you dictate this one?

I said we didn't have a lot of prep time.

Of course didn't is a contraction of did not.

We didn't have a lot of Native speakers will combine these sounds together and it will

sound like a lot of a lot of.

We didn't have a lot of prep time.

Prep is short for preparation.

Native speakers will take this word preparation and shorten it to prep.

Prep time simply means time to prepare.

That is prep time.

For example, the recipe looks delicious, but there's too much prep time.

If there's too much prep time, it means it takes too long to prepare this recipe.

So you don't want to do it.

You could also say I have to prep for my interview.

In this case, prep is short for the verb prepare.

I have to prepare for my interview.

I have to prep for my interview.

You know what?

We get a prep prep time.

Let's go go prep the patient including prep time.

Just do it.

Let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

Thanks for re digging your schedule.

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

I said Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

Notice how 4 sounded like an unstressed fur.

Thanks fur.

Thanks for rejigging your sounds unstressed.

Your your.

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

Let's talk about the verb to rejig.

You probably don't know this.

When you rejig something, you change and improve the arrangement of something.

The arrangement is the order of something.

So in our example, thanks for rejigging your schedule.

Maybe you moved a meeting from the morning to the afternoon so we could meet for coffee,

and I appreciate that.

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

Or maybe in a meeting you let your boss know.

We rejigged the presentation.

Now the video comes before the grass.

So you change the order, the arrangement of the presentation.

The video was here and now it's here.

And you're doing this because you want to improve the presentation.

We reject the presentation.

Let's try this one more time.

I'll say it three times.

She spoils those kids rotten.

She spoils those kids rotten.

She spoils those kids rotten.

Did you get this one?

I said.

She spoils those kids rotten when you spoil someone rotten.

In this case, rotten is optional.

You could just say spoil someone, spoil someone rotten.

It means you do whatever they want you to do.

You give them whatever they want.

So when I say she spoils those kids rotten, generally this isn't considered a good thing

because when kids are spoiled rotten, they often develop bad behaviors, bad manners as

a result.

So this sounds like a negative thing.

However, I frequently say my kitties are spoiled rotten and that is very true.

Now notice here the grammar to be spoiled again.

Rotten is optional.

You can use it or not use it.

It doesn't change the meaning in this case to be spoiled.

It means the same thing to receive whatever you want, but it can also mean to be treated

very well.

Just remember when we use this with children is generally seen as a negative.

But if you say my husband spoils me rotten, my company spoils me rotten, I'm spoiled by

my company.

Those sound more positive because it sounds like you're treated very well.

We won't spoil.

We won't spoil them.

It's so easy to please.

I really hope we're not spoiling them.

You sure are spoiling me lately.

Now it's time for you to practice your pronunciation.

We're going to do an imitation exercise.

I'm going to say each sentence again, and I want you to repeat the sentence out loud,

and I'll say each sentence three times.

Here we go.

She has her presentation down pat.

She has her presentation down pat.

She has her presentation down pat.

We didn't have a lot of prep time.

We didn't have a lot of prep time.

We didn't have a lot of prep time.

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

She spoils those kids rotten.

She spoils those kids rotten.

She spoils those kids rotten.

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 all 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?

The 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, 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 where you test your listening skills?

If you do, then put more, more, more, put more, more, more in the comments and I'll

keep making more lessons.

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 if you want to keep expanding your vocabulary so you can better understand native speakers,

I recommend this video because you'll learn a lot more phrasal verse, so watch this video

right now.