Lesson 115 👩‍🏫 Conversation for Fluency - Basic English with Jennifer

Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer.

Would you like to become more confident when you speak English? I'll show you how.

Watch how I practice with my students, Flavia and Andreia.

We review common words and phrases, and the ladies practice answering common questions.

How are you today? Good. And you? Pretty good. Yeah. How are you? Good. And you? All right.

What day is today? It's uh...Martin Luther King. Yeah, you're right. Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

It's a Monday. We say, "Martin Luther King," but technically, Martin Luther King Jr.

"Junior" because his father was Martin Luther King. "Junior" means the son.

They have the same name. There's "Senior"..."Junior."

Martin Luther King Junior. Yeah. It's Martin Luther King Junior Day? Day.

But we usually just say, "Martin Luther King." We know it's "Junior."

Sometimes you'll see MLK on calendars or online. That's "Martin Luther King Junior." Yes, it's a Monday.

What's today's date? Do you know?

Twenty? Twenty? Twentieth. Twentieth. January 20th. January 20th. Today is January 20th.

January 20th. You can say "twentieth" or "twen(t)ieth." You can drop the T, the second T. January 20th.

Yeah, it's the twentieth of January. January twentieth. And what year is it now?

Uh...two... You can do the long or you can do the short form. Short form? Yeah. What year is it?

Last year was 2019. Now it's...2020. Twenty-twenty. 2020. What year is it?

2020. You can say, "Twenty-twenty." You might still hear people say, "Two thousand twenty," but it's nice and easy to say, "Twenty-twenty."

2020, right? Some people say we need to wait and then 2021 is the start of a new decade. Other people say, "No. 2020. It's new. New decade."

"Decade" is how many years? A decade is ten years. Yeah. What do we say for 100 years?

Do you know? Those are good words. So, a decade is 10 years, and what do we say for 100 years?

Century. Century. Century. Yeah. So, most people are saying, "2020 -- it's a new decade."

So, very exciting! In any case, it's a new year.

Yes, the recording was made a long time ago. On that day, it was Martin Luther King Day.

That's a U.S. holiday. It's always on the third Monday of January.

Martin Luther King fought for civil rights. For equal rights. He wanted all Americans to have equal opportunities.

In 2020, Martin Luther King Day was on January 20.

I can say "twen(t)ieth" or "twentieth." Americans often drop that "t" in the middle. Twen(t)ieth. January 20.

Some may also say "the 20th of January," but that's longer and more formal.

What about saying years? In the early 2000s, we had long forms: two thousand one, two thousand two, two thousand nine...

Then we began to have short and long forms: two thousand fourteen/twenty-fourteen, two thousand fifteen/twenty-fifteen. You hear both.

In this decade, you hear short forms...mostly: twenty-twenty, twenty twenty-one, twenty twenty-two...and so on.

Lila, let's review. A decade is 10 years. Yes? And a century is 100 years. How old is Lila?

10. 10! You're a decade. Yeah. You're a decade. Yes, I've lived for many decades, so Lila is still young compared to me.

All right, ladies. Let's practice some conversation. In a real conversation, you get one chance.

People ask questions, you try to answer, the conversation goes on...that's it. But today you get two chances.

Yay! You're going to take a card or a slip of paper, and there's a question. You can answer the question. I'll help. You can ask each other questions.

And then we'll think, and you get a second chance to do better. So, we're going to call this do-over. A do-over is a second chance.

When you get to do something over again, you do it again for the second time and make it better.

That's good, so don't worry. The first time it's a little hard, but this is call "do-over." We're going to do it over.

So, if you do something over, you get to do it again and make it better. Okay. So... Andreia, go ahead.

What's the question? What do you miss about Brazil? Ah, what do you miss about Brazil? You can help by asking more questions, but go ahead.

Start thinking. What do you miss? I? No, you answer. That's your question. Yeah. I want you to answer the question. Go ahead.

My family. I miss my family, my dogs...

Do you know how big her family is? Do you know how many dogs she has? Uh, she has two dogs. Yeah? Yes. What are their names?

Zuca and Guria. Say, "I miss my dogs. I have two dogs, Zuca and Guria." And I miss my family.

How big is your family? No big family. No small family. Middle. It's not big. It's not small. But I miss them.

Okay, so now: do-over! Second chance. Oh look! Here's a question. What do you miss about Brazil?

I miss my family and my dogs. My family is not big or small, but I miss them. Do you all live in the same place?

Yes, they live in the same place. So, you miss your family. Anything else?

And I miss my dogs. I have two dogs, Zuca and Guria.

Can you see them...? You can see photos, right? Can you Facetime with your dogs? Yes. That's good. My dogs stay with my mom.

They are staying...they're staying with my mom. With my mom. When I call my mom, she puts...the dogs on the phone? That's sweet.

She did pretty good. See? The second chance, the second try was better. Good job. Right? Can I have three? You get one do-over.

What can you learn from that? Remember the verb "miss." When you miss something, it's not with you, and that makes you sad.

Andreia misses Brazil. She misses her family. She misses her dogs. You can miss someone or something.

You can miss someone very much, so much, a lot.

Okay? Flavia. First time, it's okay. Mistakes are fine. What's the question?

What don't...What don't you like about Boston? What don't you like about Boston?

I don't like the weather because it's very cold for me. When I lived in Brazil, I lived in a city that is warm, and it's difficult for me to...

Adjust? You could say...that's a big word, but it's a good one. Adjust to the weather. Yes, adjust to the weather. Adjust.

Another way to say that in conversation is, "It's difficult for me to get used to the weather." "Adjust" is more formal, more academic.

It's difficult for me to adjust to the weather. It's difficult for me to get use to the weather. Either way. Anything else you don't like? No.

No, I like it. Say, "Everything else is okay. I like everything else." Everything else. Right?

Can I say "I like everything else" first and...? No, so you have to say one thing or two things. These are the things I don't like. Everything else is good.

So, first you have to say things you don't like, and then you talk about everything else. "Everything else is okay. I like everything else."

Maybe you'd like Florida better. Yes! Okay. Do-over. Ask. What's the question?

What don't you like about Boston?

The one thing I don't like in Boston is the weather because when I lived in Brazil, I lived in a city that is very warm.

And it's difficult for me to adjust [to] the weather here in Boston. Wonderful. To. It's difficult for me to adjust to the weather. Difficult for me to adjust to the weather.

Awesome! Do-overs are good. Second chance. Let's do a couple more.

What can you learn from that? Some words and expressions.

First, adjust. When you adjust to something, you become comfortable with it. Flavia doesn't like the cold. It's hard for her to adjust to the cold weather.

It's difficult to adjust to the seasons here in Massachusetts.

It's not easy to adjust to the winter.

We can also use the expression "get used to." Get used to something. Get used to doing something.

Flavia can't get used to the winter. She can't get used to living in such a cold climate.

In contrast, Andreia got used to the cold winters. She's comfortable here in Boston.

What do you think about Brazilians? What do you think about Brazilians? What kind of people are they?

Brazilian people is very funny, friendly...

but sometimes are impolite. Mm, so are Americans. Brazilians is or are? Are. Uh-huh. So, Brazilians are friendly...

Brazilians are friendly, happy...but...but sometimes are...they are...they are impolite. Do you agree?

I think impolite people has....all places. All places. You can say, "There are impolite people everywhere." It's true. Yeah.

Americans can be, too. How are they impolite? What do they do, for example? I know, for example, Americans talk loud.

Sometimes Americans talk loud. When I'm in a different country, I know the American. "Does anyone speak English around here?" Like, oh no!

Brazilians, too. Brazilians, too. Talk loud. Here's another good expression when you say there's some good and there's some bad. We talk about hands.

What do we say? On the one hand... On the other hand. On the one hand... On the one hand, Brazilians are friendly, happy...

This is a phrasal verb? No. Just an expression.

On the other hand.... On the one hand, it's helpful to have notes. On the other hand, my handwriting is really bad.

All right. Do-over. So, what's the question? What do you think about Brazilians? What do you think about Brazilians?

In... On... On the...Do-over! Tell us about Brazilians.

On the one hand, they are funny, happy, friendly. But on the other hand, sometimes people are impolite.

Mm-hmm. Good expression. On the one hand... On the other hand...

On the one hand... On the other hand... Very good.

What did you learn? A good structure to name opposites. The good and the bad.

On the one hand... On the other hand...

Practice and talk about people in your country. What are they like? Or tell me what you think about Americans. On the one hand... On the other hand...

Okay. Let's do one more.

Do you eat healthy? Do you eat healthy? Healthy. Healthy. Do you eat healthy?

I try, but sometimes I like to eat sweets. Sweets. I like to eat sweets.

But at the moment, I'm on a diet. Oh. Yes. Because I'm trying to eat health...health food. Healthy food. Yeah.

I'm trying to eat healthy food, nutritious food. Yeah. I think it's not a diet, but...

Say, "I'm trying to eat healthy." Yes. I'm trying to eat healthier or I'm trying to eat more healthy.

We have that expression. It sounds a little weird. Eat healthy. But that's what we say. Try to eat healthy. I'm trying to be healthy, eat healthy...healthy foods. Okay.

Um, I try to have a healthy diet. You can also use "healthy" before a noun that way. A healthy diet. I try to have a healthy diet. I'm trying to eat healthy.

What kinds of foods, for example, do you eat? Uh, lettuce, vegetables, eggs. I think...cooks, but salt?

You're trying to eat less salt? Yes. Less salt. Less salt. And because this is something new. It's something that you're doing right now, you can use the present progressive.

I'm trying to eat less salt. I'm trying to use less salt. I'm trying to eat more vegetables. Less salt.

Less sugar. Less fat. Less salt, less sugar, less fat. I'm trying to eat less of these things.

Do-over. Do you eat healthy? Yes, I try to have a healthy diet.

I'm trying to eat less salt, less sugar, and less fat. What are you eating these days?

I'm eating vegetables, lettuce, eggs. Yeah. Things like that. Things like that.

Is that the truth? She's eating healthy? No? Because no she...she doesn't...she doesn't eat healthy. She don't eat.

She doesn't eat. She doesn't eat. She's not eating. Are you eating enough?

She eats three times...little. I eat enough for me. Are you eating breakfast? No. Oh, you're skipping breakfast.

I never eat breakfast. That's true. Not here. Not in Brazil. No. Okay. So, you have two meals a day. Yeah. And you have some snacks? Mm-hmm. Okay. Well...

It's okay. But you make sure.

Note these phrases. Eat healthy. Try to eat healthy. Eat healthy food. Have a healthy diet. Eat three meals a day. Eat two meals a day.

Is she eating healthy? No. Andreia eats a lot every time...all the time. All the time she eats. I try, but you guys gave me brigadeiros.

I ate the brigadeiros, and we had Christmas cookies. I ate the Christmas cookies. But I did eat avocado. I remembered.

So, I got a nice, soft avocado. I put it in the blender, added some milk, a little bit of sugar, a lot of honey. And I mixed it. It was very good. Yes!

And then I put it in the refrigerator to make it extra cold, and throughout the day, I'd eat with a spoon. It was so nice. So, thank you. It was very good. I was like, "Okay!"

Do you like avocado. How do you eat it? Do you like other fruits and vegetables? Which are your favorite?

Here are other questions you an practice answering. Give yourself a do-over. Practice more than once.

You can also record yourself. Listen. Can you do better? Then do it over. As they say, "Practice makes perfect."

That's all for now. I hope you found this interesting and useful.

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