1 Hour Fluency Masterclass to GET FLUENT in English!

Welcome to this one hour  English fluency master class.

In the next one hour you are going to  improve all areas of your English and  

by the end of this master class you are going  to sound more fluent and feel more confident.

I think I'm excited.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course, I'm Jennifer. Now

Let's get started.

First, in this master class, let's  focus on your listening skills so  

you can understand fast English and  so you can learn natural expressions.

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 EU 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 ya 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 weeks off to a rocky start.

My weeks off to a rocky start.

My weeks off to a rocky start.

Did you get this one?

I said my weeks 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 to Washington.

So I use that to glide to to  my weeks off to a rocky start.

The reason why this is more difficult is  because you may not know the expression.

The expression is to be off to  ah 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 all right,  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 weeks off to an amazing start and notice  because my adjective starts with a vowel,  

my article becomes and 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 weeks 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 J4's 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 to did you nod off  

in the presentation to Did you nod off in  the presentation to did you get this one?

I said did you nod off in the presentation to  

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 did ya 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 coworkers nodding off?

I think Sarah nodded off.

Someone should wake her up  before her boss sees her.

You just nod off.

I knocked it off.

So I nodded off a little.

Nodded off Ross, you were snoring.

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 weeks off to a rocky start.

My weeks off to a rocky start.

My weeks 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?

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 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.

Next, you're going to expand your  vocabulary and you'll do that by  

learning natural expressions to impress natives.

Your first phrase to sound like a  native speaker 1, you must start using.

How's it going?

How's it going?

How's it going?

If you've been following me for a while and if  you haven't, make sure you subscribe right now.

You'll know that I teach all my  students to use how's it going  

because it will instantly make  you sound like a native speaker.

Of course, this is a replacement to  how are you and it's used in friendly  

professional situations and social contexts.

Yes, you can still use this  in professional situations,  

just make sure the atmosphere  sphere is more friendly.

But to sound like a native speaker, you  must pronounce it like a native speaker.

You cannot say how is it going with spaces  between, You must say, how's it going?

How's it going?

So notice those sounds, How zit, zit,  you have that strong zit, How's it going?

How's it going?

Repeat after me.

How's it going?

How's it going?

Keep practicing that until you're  pronouncing it just like me.

Now to answer, because you will  be asked this by native speakers.

To answer, you would say  it's going plus adjective,  

or you can simply use the adjective it's going.

Notice that it's going.

Make sure you get that contraction.

Don't say it is going.

That will not make you  sound like a native speaker.

It's going Great.

Good.

Pretty good.

Not too bad.

OK.

Those are the most common options.

How's it?

How's it going?

How is Andy?

How's it going?

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

You can find the link in the  description #2 Do you have a suck?

Do you have a suck?

Do you have a SEC?

This is used to ask if someone can  give you their attention for a short  

period of time because suck is short for second.

Do you have a second?

Do you have a suck?

Now make sure you pronounce that  it's AK sound at the end suck.

Repeat after me suck suck.

Native speakers will often drop  the auxiliary and the subject  

and simply say have a suck instead of do you have.

We simply say have a suck and more casually,  

informally, we use got instead  of have got a suck, got a sunk.

So you could come in, knock on my door and  say, hey, Jennifer, do you have a sunk?

If I'm available for a short period of  time, I can say sure, what's up now.

You can also specify what you want  to talk about in the question.

Hi Jennifer.

Do you have a sack to talk  about vacation requests?

So the topic of discussion is vacation requests.

So notice it's do you have a SACK  plus infinitive 2 plus base verb  

common infinitives are to talk about,  to discuss, to review, to go over.

There are many other options,  but those will get you started.

Hey Jack, do you have a SEC?

Do you have a SEC #3 what's up?

Did you notice that I used  what's up in the last example?

Well, let's talk about what that means.

This is a casual way to inquire  about someone's needs or wants.

In the last example, I said,  hi Jennifer, do you have a SEC?

And then as a reply, sure, what's up, what's up?

Now first let's talk about the pronunciation.

What's up, What's up?

So notice it sounds like one word and  you hear that S on what's and Sup,  

we put it in front of up.

What's up?

Repeat after me.

What's up?

What's up?

Work on that pronunciation, because it's extremely  important to sound like a native speaker.

Let's review this example.

What's up with Jacob?

He seems really distracted.

In this case, it's a casual way to  inquire about the status of someone,  

usually based on that person's behavior.

So Jacob seems distracted.

I want to know why.

What's the reason?

What's the status of Jacob?

What's up with Jacob?

He seems really.

Distracted to.

Reply.

You could say I'm not sure,  maybe he's under pressure,  

or you could provide the reason, the status.

His father's in the hospital, so  that explains what's up with Jacob.

You could also ask what's up with the conference?

Have the speakers been determined yet?

In this case, it's a casual way to  inquire about the status of something.

The conference.

What's up with her?

What's up with Marshall?

What's up with ichabod #4?

I'm on it.

This is a great expression, and it's  used to accept responsibility for a task.

For the pronunciation.

Notice how those sounds blend together.

I'm on.

It.

So you take the M and you put it on and you  take the north and you put it in front of it.

I'm on it.

Repeat after me.

I'm on it.

I'm on it.

You can also drop the subject  and verb and simply say on it.

Make sure you get NIT on it.

Repeat after me on it.

Excellent someone.

Could.

And say, hey Jennifer,  

can you send out the meeting request  and I can reply back and say on it?

In this case, it's a response to a direct request.

Someone asked me directly to do something on it.

Now, if you're in a meeting and the boss  says does anyone have time to send out the  

meeting request, you can volunteer  to accept this task and say on it.

So you can use this as a reply to an open request.

So if you like this lesson, make  sure you share it with your friends.

Now, to say that you accept this task that I  just gave you, what can you say on it, on it?

So put that in the comments on it, on it,  

but then make sure you actually  share this lesson with your friends.

I'm on it, all right?

I'm on it.

I'm on it.

I'm on it.

#5 could you give me a hand?

This is used to ask if someone can  help you notice for that pronunciation.

Did you hear that JA sound?

Could you ju?

Could you Gimme, give me Gimme,  Could you give me a hand?

Repeat after me.

Could you give me a hand?

Could you give me a hand?

Now this is a general request for help so  someone could reply back and say sure what's up.

They're asking about your needs and wants.

Sure, what's up.

So the person can say I need to  bring these boxes to the garage.

Now the other person can say I'm on  it to accept your request for help.

I'm on it.

You can also specify the activity  directly in the question and say,  

could you give me a hand with these boxes?

So notice you use the preposition with  and then you specify what help you need.

You can also use this to offer someone help.

I have 20 boxes to move and  they're all really heavy.

A very nice Co worker could say I can give you a  

hand or I'm happy to give  you a hand with that give.

Me an again.

Yeah, maybe you could give me a hand.

Could you give me a hand?

Outback number six.

I can't make it.

This is to say that you're not available  to attend something or go somewhere.

In this case, make it means attend or arrive.

Now let's talk about the pronunciation.

I can't notice.

We don't push out that TI  can't just don't push it out.

I can't make it.

The K sound is on the vowel kit make it.

I can't make it repeat after me.

I can't make it.

I can't make it.

Your coworkers could say to you, we're grabbing  a bite after we move all the boxes so they're.

Casually inviting you to join them.

And you can say, sorry, I can't make it.

I have to pick up my kids.

So you can't go, you can't attend.

Or you could be on your way to a meeting,  

but there is an accident and you have to text  your coworker and say traffic is terrible.

I'm not going to make the  meeting start without me.

So here, remember we're just using  the verb make instead of attend.

Or you could say I'll try my best to make  it tonight, so it might be the party.

I'll try my best to make the party.

You could also say I'll try my  best to make it to the party.

I can't make it tonight.

Oh, I I can't make your party.

Tomorrow.

Deb, I can't make it.

#7 It's up to you.

This is to say that someone is  responsible for making the decision.

Notice that pronunciation.

It's up to you.

So we take it's up.

We use that S sound.

It's up TA instead of to.

It's up to you.

Repeat after me.

It's up to you.

It's up to you.

So if you're planning to watch a  movie tonight, you could say to  

your friend or partner there are three new  releases, which one do you want to watch?

And your partner can say it's U to you,  so you're responsible for deciding.

It's common to add the reason why, for example.

They all look good to me so it's up to you.

This is very commonly used if you give someone 2.

Choices.

Do you want to take the highway or the scenic?

Route.

It's up to you.

You are responsible for deciding.

Again, you can provide the reason  why you're driving, so it's up.

To you, it's up.

To you.

It's up to you.

It's up to you.

Now let's have some fun.

You'll complete a quiz to see how well  you know these commonly confused words.

And of course, you'll learn new vocabulary  and grammar throughout this section.

So here's how this video is going to work.

I'm going to show you a sentence,  and you're going to have two options.

And you have to decide which option  correctly completes the sentence.

Now, I'll only show the sentence for a  couple seconds, so make sure you hit pause,  

take your time to read it, to answer it,  

and then hit play and I'll show you the answer  and I'll explain why that answer is correct.

Are you ready to go number one?

There were people at the  party than I had expected.

The answer is fewer.

There were fewer people at  the party than I had expected.

And the reason is we use  fewer with countable nouns.

You can count how many people there are,  but we use less with uncountable nouns.

So I could say there was less rain.

You can't count rain.

There was less rain this year compared to  last year #2 I'm just in the of a big project.

And the answer is midst.

Midst.

This is a tricky one simply  because of pronunciation.

When you hear this in spoken English,  I'm in the midst of a big project.

It's easy to confuse this with mist,  

and to be in the midst of something is  simply to be in the middle of something.

So I'm in the middle of a big project  #3 wow, that shirt really your hair?

And the answer is compliments with an E.

These two words sound exactly  the same in pronunciation.

It's spelling that is different,  but they have different meanings.

Compliment in this example  is when one thing your shirt  

combines really well with another thing your.

Hair.

Compliment with an I is when you  say something nice to someone.

I love your shirt.

Thanks for the compliment.

If you want to learn more about compliment and  compliment, you can look in the description  

for a link on a video on that topic  #4 that movie had quite an on me.

The answer is a fact, it  had quite an effect on me.

The pronunciation is very similar.

Effect, affect.

There's a slight difference, but the spelling is  

important because affect is a verb and  affect is a noun, and we need a noun.

You know that because there's an  article in the sentence with the verb.

I could say that movie affected me.

If you want to learn more about affect and  effect, you can look in the description for  

a link on that #5 Quizzes are a great  way to your skills to hone your skills.

Again, similar in pronunciation,  but the correct choice is hone.

This is an expression to hone one skills.

This is simply to improve one's skills.

Number six, I didn't know at the party.

I didn't know anybody at the party.

Didn't is negative In the English  language, we do not like double negatives.

You can only use one negative in a clause.

And since I already have didn't,  I can't use the negative nobody.

I have to use anybody #7 I don't like carrots.

I don't like carrots either.

Now this is the same as number six  because I don't don't is a negative.

Neither is also a negative.

So we can't use it we want either.

I don't like carrots either.

To use neither.

I could say you don't like carrots.

Neither do I, neither do I.

If you want to learn more  about either and neither,  

you can look in the description  for a video I created on this.

And #8 She has more she needs.

She has more than she needs.

Similar in pronunciation than then,  

but they're two totally different  words than we use in comparisons.

More than, less than, fewer than comparisons.

Then is an adverb.

It's used in time.

References.

First I'll eat lunch, then I'll go for a walk  #9 Joining social clubs is, for all purposes,  

the solution to loneliness  for all intents and purposes.

This is an expression in English.

For all intents and purposes.

This simply means in almost every situation.

In virtually every situation.

But when you say this at a natural  pace, for all intents and purposes,  

for all intents and purposes  it sounds like intensive.

Intensive is a word that  people are very familiar with.

Intense and is not something  that people are familiar with,  

but the correct expression  is intense and purposes.

This is a very useful business  or academic expression.

It isn't really used in casual conversation too  much #10 we can discuss this after the meeting.

We can discuss this further after the meeting.

Further and farther both mean more.

We can discuss this more in  more detail after the meeting.

We use further when we're  talking about figurative and  

we use farther when we're talking about literal.

For example, we need to walk farther.

We literally need to walk more.

We need to walk farther to see the waterfall.

If you want to learn more about this,  

look in the description for a link on  a separate video #11 You can down here.

You can lie down here.

Lay and lie.

They have the same meaning, but lay is transitive.

It needs an object.

For example, lay the baby down  here, lay the blanket down here.

You lay something.

But lie is intransitive, so there's no object.

Lie down here, lie yourself  down here, lie down here.

Number 12.

That sweater is too for you.

That sweater is too loose for you.

This one is confusing because of the spelling.

Do I need one O or two?

It's easy to forget lose with  one O is the opposite of win.

Did you lose the game?

Did you win the game?

Did you lose the game loose with two O's?

When we're talking about clothing is  when it doesn't fit closely to your body.

So this shirt I'm wearing is not  loose, It fits closely to my body.

But this sweater, for example, is  loose #13 we should worked harder.

We should have worked harder.

Now, this is a mistake that many native speakers  make because in spoken English we take have,  

which is the grammatically correct choice,  but we reduce it, we say it quickly,  

and it sounds like of you should have, you  should have, you should have worked harder.

So sometimes native speakers forget  that it's actually have and not of,  

because that's what it sounds  like in spoken English.

So in spoken English, you can absolutely say  you should have, you should have worked harder.

But in written English,  

just remember that the correct choice is  have #14I shouldn't have to the party.

I shouldn't have gone to the party.

Our verb here is go.

The past simple is went, and  the past participle is gone.

This structure requires the past  participle, the third form of the verb.

Yesterday I went to the party.

I've gone to three parties this month.

And finally #15 do you trust the most?

Whom do you trust the most?

Who and whom?

It can be very tricky for students and  native speakers to know the difference.

Just ask yourself, do you need she or her?

Do you need a subject or an object?

She or her, he or him.

I trust her the most.

We need an object, not a subject.

So you use whom?

Who is your friend?

She is my friend.

In this case, we need a subject, so we use who.

Now let's do my favorite exercise, and I  know it's an exercise my students love.

We'll read a news article together so you  can improve your reading vocabulary, grammar.

And pronunciation.

First I'll read the headline Pen  pals of 70 years meet for first time.

So these two are the pen pals.

And now 70 years later they met.

So first notice in the headline  it says meet for first time.

This is actually grammatically incorrect.

Do you know why?

It's because there's a word  missing, a small but important word.

And that's the article.

This is considered acceptable acceptable  to do specifically in headlines.

You can omit the article just to save space,  but you need to say for the first time first.

Is an ordinal number and we use the article the.

It has to be the.

It can't be for a first time for  the first time for the first time.

Now it's correct when we add that pen  pals of 70 years meet for the first time.

So let's hear about their story now.

First of all, do you know what a pen pal is?

To be honest, I'm not sure if this is something  that's popular anymore, but when you have a pen  

pal, it's when you and someone else, usually  in another country, another part of the world,  

decide to become friends and your friendship  consists of you writing to each other.

So of course, 70 years ago, writing would take  place by sending a letter to the other person.

Now, obviously you can have a pen pal online.

In the past, I know it was quite common to  have pen pals for language learning purposes.

I personally had a pen pal, someone from Africa  when I was learning French and he was learning  

English and I wrote to him in French and he wrote  to me in English and we actually met in Canada.

So that was a very interesting experience for me.

So I have met a pen pal that I had.

What about you?

Have you ever had a pen pal?

Have you met your pen pal?

Do you still have a pen pal?

Share that in the comments.

So that's the definition of pen pal.

If you weren't aware, I added that  definition of pen pal here for you.

Now, don't worry about writing this  down because I summarize everything  

in a free lesson PDF so you can look  for the link in the description.

Let's continue.

A pair of 80 year old pen pals.

So notice here a pair.

Well, of course that means 2SO12.

This is a pair of women, a  pair of pens, a pair of apples.

It doesn't matter what, but it  means 2, a pair of 80 year old.

This is an adjective to describe  the pen pals as an adjective.

They don't take singular or plural forms,  which is why you don't see an S on years.

And remember that adjectives  are always optional in English.

So if I remove the adjective, the sentence  would still be correct a pair of pen pals.

So it's still correct without the adjective,  and it just describes who the pen pals are.

So a pair, remember that equals 2.

A pair of 80 year old pen pals who have  been writing to each other since 1955.

Of course, we need our what verb 10s  because I have since 1955 What verb 10s.

Well, of course, the present perfect,  in this case, the present perfect  

continuous because the action started  in the past and continues until now.

They're still writing to each other.

So that's why we have the present perfect.

And sense is a keyword for the present perfect.

And in this case, it's just in the continuous form  because it shows the continuation of the action.

A pair of 80 year old pen pals  who have been writing to each  

other since 1955 have finally fulfilled  their lifelong wish to meet in person.

So it's been their lifelong wish.

I think you can understand what lifelong means,  but this is an adjective to describe the wish,  

and it's something that the person has  been wanting to do for their entire life.

You can have a lifelong wish.

You can also have a lifelong  dream, desire, or goal.

For example, it's my lifelong  dream to go to Disneyland.

I don't know why I chose that.

It was just the first thing  that popped into my head.

And then notice here they say have  finally fulfilled their lifelong wish.

When you fulfill it, it means you achieve it.

They've done it so you could  add, I hope I fulfill it soon.

Patsy Gregory from Lancashire, which is in the UK.

I'm not sure where to be honest.

If you know where this is, feel free to share.

Patsy Gregory from Lancashire  traveled nearly 4000 miles to  

meet Carol Ann Cross in South Carolina,  which is of course a state in the US.

I'm more familiar with South Carolina  than I am Lancashire, I must admit.

Who she began writing to as a 12 year old.

So again, here we're using it as  an adjective, as ah, as a what?

As a 12 year old girl.

And then they just omitted the  word girl because it's obvious.

But here as a 12 year old girl.

And then you can just omit that noun and then  just have as a 12 year old, as a 12 year old.

So she began writing to who she  began writing to as a 12 year old.

So that's when their pen pal  relationship, pen pal ship.

Pen pal ship.

I don't know if that's a word.

I made it up.

Their pen pal relationship began.

All right.

Mrs.

Gregory said Mrs.

Cross.

So remember Mrs.

Gregory's from the UK, Mrs.

Cross is from the US Mrs.

Gregory said Mrs.

Cross was exactly as she imagined she would be.

Now notice, as she imagined she would be, we  have the hypothetical here because obviously  

as you're writing to someone, you, you have  an image in your head of who that person is.

But at this time, they didn't have social  media, they didn't have video chat.

So it was they probably.

Didn't see that many pictures  of each other or were exposed to  

each other's lives in the way we  are now because of social media.

So they have this image in their  mind of what the other person  

was like, and that's why it's in the  hypothetical here she would be, Mrs.

Gregory said.

Mrs.

Cross was exactly as she imagined she would be.

I recognize her immediately.

When you recognize someone, it means you  look at someone and they are familiar to you.

So you can recognize a person.

And sometimes if you're talking to someone,  you're like, oh, hi, do you recognize me?

It's another way of saying,  do you remember who I am?

Because.

Perhaps we met at a conference,  

but five years ago, and the person  is asking if I remember who she is.

Do you recognize me?

Do you recognize me?

Now?

You can recognize someone physical appearance,  

but you can also recognize them  based on the sound of their voice.

For me, actually, I tend to  remember someone's voice,  

the sound of their voice, more  than actually what they look like.

So I might recognize someone because  their voice sounds familiar to me.

I recognized her immediately  and it just felt natural.

In this way, Natural means comfortable because  they're meeting each other for the first time.

And when you meet someone for the first time,  

it can be awkward because you don't  know how to interact with that person.

But they've been communicating with each other  as pen pals for 70 years, so that's why it felt  

natural, which means it felt comfortable because  of the relationship they have as pen pals.

Comfortable, Mrs.

Gregory, the one from the UK, Mrs.

Gregory said though the pair had not met  before, their lives had taken similar patterns.

So remember the pair means the  two of them, so she could say.

Mrs.

Gregory said though they because they represents  the two of them, which is also the pair.

So you could say although they had not met  before and then you can see the equivalent  

of they as the possessive pronoun there,  their lives had taken similar patterns.

We're both the same age and got married around  the same time and have three children, she said.

Which is probably why their pen pal relationship,  which I just described as pen pal ship.

I'm making up a new word.

You heard it here first.

Their pen pal ship.

Maybe it already exists.

I'm not sure.

Their pen pal ship was successful because  they have all of these similarities.

So you could say these are the  things they have in common.

We have so much in common and we're both married.

We both have three children, we're  both the same age, we're both women.

We have so much in common.

We have so many similarities.

So notice so much in common.

Because common is uncountable.

We don't put a S on it, but here are similarities.

So, so many similarities.

We have so many similarities.

You can use the same verb.

Have we started in pencil?

They're talking about their pen pal  ship, their pen pal relationship.

We started in pencil, moved on to ink.

When you move on, it means you  progress to something else.

So you advance progress or  advance progress, advance.

Now you move on to something.

Notice that.

So if you finish one task at work,  you can move on to the next task.

You can progress to the next  task, advance to the next task.

We started in pencil, moved  on to ink, then typing.

Wow, this is an interesting  relationship when you think  

of how the method of communication  has changed over the past 70 years.

Then typing and now we can e-mail  and stay in touch on social media.

So different and notice here stay  in touch and when you stay in touch  

with someone it means you keep  communicating with that person.

So often this is how we say goodbye to someone.

We say bye, stay, stay in touch, which is a  way of saying make sure you keep talking to me,  

make sure you keep sending me messages,  make sure you keep emailing me, calling me.

So to remain in communication, remain in  communication and you stay in touch with someone.

OK, So we've stayed in  touch for the last 70 years.

We have the present perfect because it started  in the past and it continues until now.

We've stayed in touch for the last 70 years.

This is how you can use it in a sentence.

We've stayed in touch.

Now you don't have to include the  with each other because it's we.

It's not necessary at all.

But I just want to show you that if  you identify someone you need with.

So in this case, if you use we, it  wouldn't be common to include that.

But you might say I've stayed in touch  with my pen pal for the last 70 years.

We have a great pen pal ship.

OK, it's going to catch on.

Just wait.

So you can stay in touch.

You can also keep in touch by  stay in touch, keep in touch.

I'll just add that in here.

Keep in touch.

They're exactly the same.

There's no difference.

So for all of these, you just  need to conjugate your verb.

We've kept in touch, we've kept in touch,  I've kept in touch with my pen pals.

So you can use stay or keep.

There's no difference in meaning, there's  just two separate options here, she said.

It's come a long way.

When something has come a long way, it  means that something has progressed a lot.

So we can say, for example,  computers have come a long way.

Think back to the computer that these  women used to type their first message  

to each other and then compare that  to the computer they're using now.

Obviously that technology has progressed a lot.

It has come a long way, so has progressed,  advanced a lot to come a long way.

Let's continue.

Mrs.

Gregory's trip was organized by her three  children as a special gift for her 80th birthday.

Oh, that's sweet.

And her daughter's, Steph Callum,  accompanied her for the journey.

When you accompany someone, it  means you go with that person.

So her daughter went on the trip with her.

Her daughter accompanied her to America.

Mrs.

Gregory is the UK pen pal.

So my daughter accompanied me to South Carolina.

So this means my daughter went with  me, went with me to South Carolina.

You accompany someone.

All right, I'll just highlight that for you.

So Steph Callum accompanied her.

They don't include the location.

If they did, it would be to  South Carolina for the journey.

Mom has always wanted to  meet her American pen friend.

I've never heard it referred to as pen friend.

I've only heard it as pen pal maybe.

I'm not sure.

Maybe that is a British expression.

I have not heard that before.

But also I don't know if I've ever heard pen pal  ship, which I just made-up pen pal, pen friend.

But I can definitely tell you  in US at least, we say pen pal.

I've never heard pen friend.

Also notice this spelling of mom is  specific to UK spelling in the US.

In American English we say mom,  which is of course if you didn't  

know is short for mother and almost  everyone calls their mother mom.

To me, it sounds very formal to  say mother, it's mom, mom, mom.

And when you're a little kid, maybe  until you're 10 years old, you say mommy.

But after 10 years old, if you still say  mommy, it sounds a little childish, a little.

It doesn't sound appropriate for an adult or  a teenager to do, at least in North America.

So when you're maybe until you're  10 years old, you can say mommy,  

and then after that and until for  the rest of your life you'll say mom.

You can absolutely say mother  is just not the most common.

Miss Callum the daughter, Remember Miss  Callum the daughter, Miss Callum said.

She said the meeting had been on her mother's  bucket list as it was one of her lifelong regrets.

Oh, remember, we had lifelong wish.

I believe it was a wish, lifelong wish.

You can also have a lifelong regret.

A regret is something you wish you had done,  something you wish you had done but you didn't.

I don't like having regrets.

I think having regrets are some of  the worst feelings you could have.

So I always try to make sure I do the  things I want to do so I don't have regrets.

I don't want to have lifelong regrets.

I want to fulfill my lifelong wishes,  dreams, desires, and I guess that's it.

Wishes, dreams, desires, goals.

That was the other one.

Goals.

OK, a bucket list.

This became very popular with a movie.

I don't know if I had heard the  expression before the movie.

When you kick the bucket, it's  another way of saying you die.

A very casual slang way of saying  you die to kick the bucket.

This means to die.

It's not very commonly used.

It might be considered a little disrespectful  

to say something like my friend kicked  the bucket, which means my friend died.

But this expression comes from the  list of things that you want to do,  

your goals, your wishes, your desires.

The list of things you want to  do before you kick the bucket,  

before you die, that's called your bucket list.

So on her mother's bucket list, one she wanted  to meet her American pen pal pen friend.

It was one of her lifelong regrets  that they had never met in person.

So remember, Agret is when you say like,  oh, I wish I had applied to that job.

I wish I had moved to another country.

I wish I had spent more time improving my English.

It was very emotional when they meant  when something is described as emotional,  

it means it produces very strong feelings in you.

Women tend to show these feelings by crying,  so you can imagine they probably were crying,  

but in this case they were tears of happiness  because they're meeting for the first time.

It was very emotional when they met, she added.

I was quite choked up when  they hugged for the first time.

When you get choked up to get or to become  to be in this case, it's be choked up.

It means emotional.

It's another way of saying emotional.

So perhaps your it's your retirement party and  after working for this company for 50 years,  

you're giving a speech and you're  saying goodbye to all of your coworkers.

And as you're saying goodbye,  you might get a little choked up,  

you might have trouble expressing  those words because there's a lot  

of emotion and you're trying  not to show that emotion.

And that causes you from like  getting a little choked up.

So it's when you have a lot of  emotion, but you also try not to  

really show that emotion 'cause you  might be in the middle of a speech.

For example, I was quite choked up  when they hugged for the first time.

So the daughter is watching the two women.

Remember, one of them is her mother.

It was her lifelong dream to meet this  pen pal that she's had for 70 years.

And they hug and the daughter is watching them  and like getting choked up, getting emotional.

They hit it off instantly  and have a lot in common.

Oh, I already shared this with you, woohoo.

Now to hit it off.

This is when you get along with someone.

When you get along with someone, it means  you have a positive relationship with them.

So when you hit it off, it means you,  you feel very connected to someone.

You feel that you will have a good relationship  

with someone after meeting them for  the first time and in this case.

It is their.

First time meeting, although they've  been communicating for 70 years.

They hit it off so they like someone  and they became friends immediately.

They hit it off instantly  and have a lot in common.

They've been talking non-stop, non-stop.

This is an adverb and it means they've been  

talking continuously so the action  happens for a long period of time.

I have another example here for you.

I've been working non-stop continuously  

now because this action started in  the past and continues until now.

You can use the present perfect  or the present perfect continuous.

Mrs.

Gregory and her daughter stayed  for 9 days in South Carolina,  

with much of that time being spent with Mrs.

Cross and her family.

The two pen pals said they  would continue to stay in touch.

So remember, stay in touch  or what's the other verb You  

can use stay in touch or you can keep in touch.

Continue to stay in touch.

Keep in touch through letters and cards.

But we're not sure if the  meeting would ever be repeated.

If something's repeated, of  course, it means it happens again.

So they're not sure if they'll  ever meet in person again.

Although they do want to maintain their  pen pal relationship, their pen pal ship.

And that's the end of the article.

And this is an image of the women when they met.

And here are some of the letters  that they wrote to each other  

when they could have been 12 or 14 years old.

So that must have been really  fun to meet each other to.

Look at these old.

Letters to talk about their lives.

It must have been a very interesting meeting.

What about you?

Do you have a pen pal?

Share that in the comments.

And now what I'll do is I'll go to the  beginning of the article and I'll read  

it from start to finish and this time  you can focus on my pronunciation.

Pen Pals of 70 Years Meet for First Time A  pair of 80 year old pen pals who have been  

writing to each other since 1955 have finally  fulfilled their lifelong wish to meet in person.

Patsy Gregory, from Lancashire,  traveled nearly 4000 miles to meet  

Carol Ann Cross in South Carolina, who  she began writing to as a 12 year old.

Mrs.

Gregory said Mrs.

Cross was exactly as she imagined she would be.

I recognize her immediately and  it just felt natural, she said.

Mrs.

Gregory said though the pair had not met  before, their lives had taken similar patterns.

We're both the same age and got married around  the same time and have three children, she said.

We started in pencil, moved  on to ink, then typing,  

and now we can e-mail and stay in  touch on social media, she said.

It's come a long way.

Mrs.

Gregory's trip was organized by her  three children as a special gift for  

her 80th birthday, and her daughter Steph  Callum accompanied her for the journey.

Mom has always wanted to meet her  American pen friend, Miss Callum said.

She said the meeting had been  on her mother's bucket list as  

it was one of her lifelong regrets  that they had never met in person.

It was very emotional when they met, she added.

I was quite choked up when  they hugged for the first time.

They hit it off instantly  and have a lot in common.

They've been talking non-stop.

Mrs.

Gregory and her daughter stayed  for 9 days in South Carolina,  

with much of that time being spent with Mrs.

Cross and her family.

The two pen pals said they would continue  to stay in touch through letters and cards,  

but we're not sure if the  meeting would ever be repeated.

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