I’ll Help You Speak Like a Native: My Work Trip Vlog for Perfect English Pronunciation!

Let’s study real English conversation from a  work trip where my colleague Tom and I went  

to a YouTube workshop and meetup in Salt Lake  City Utah. We also did some sightseeing when  

the events were over. Tom and I had the best day  ever meeting other YouTubers and even got to see  

a night time drone show that honestly was kind of  cool. Though I will say the altitude got to me. 

I am feeling a little bit of altitude, I think my  workout was rough, so, I don't think I can walk  

very far. Altitude is what we call the height  of something above sea level. The higher you go  

the less oxygen in the air and that really affects  some people and they get something called altitude  

sickness. This happens to me a lot when I visit  my parents in the mountains of Colorado. Here,  

we were in Salt Lake city where the  elevation is 1300 meters above sea level. 

Elevation and altitude are synonyms, meaning  words with the same or similar meaning.  

Where I'm from in Philadelphia, the average  elevation is 340 M so that added elevation  

gives me altitude sickness like headaches  and fatigue. So, I couldn't walk to lunch. 

Um, so let's look at.. Getting an Uber? 

I'm like, I'm I almost can't  think. Yeah, let's get an Uber. 

Okay, I'm concerned about the  not being able to think thing. 

It's good, it'll work out. But yeah, so we'll go,  we'll go to the same place but we'll take a car. 

It's like a 25-minute walk right? 34 minute walk. 

Okay we're taking a car for sure. While we wait for the car to arrive, we discuss  

the weather the next day the day we fly out.

Okay, so what about tomorrow? 

So, it is supposed to be thunderstorms  from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

Oh. And we fly at 11 something. 

I didn't check that. So, it's and it's like a 90% chance  

of rain and thunderstorms. Uh, that sucks. 

We might get pushed. That would suck. 

It sounds like if we get pushed, we  might get push to like the next day. 

That would suck. This is a common casual and a  little bit of a slangy way to say ‘that would  

not be good.’ That sucks. 

That would suck. I also use the phrase get pushed.

Here, I'm talking about if our flight  can't go out on time and is delayed. It might  

be delayed several hours, but if the weather is  bad, it could get delayed until the next day. 

It sounds like if we get pushed, we  might get pushed to like the next day. 

Oh, I didn’t think about that. No, I bet they can get us out  

but not direct, that's going to be my hope. If you're flying somewhere and it's not direct,  

that means there will be one or more stops at  another airport. This is called a layover. And  

usually, you have to change planes. Whenever  possible, I always choose a direct flight. 

Oh, I didn’t think about that. No, I bet they can get us out but not direct,  

that's going to be my hope. Oh, interesting. 

But um, And maybe there will be like windows,  

because thunderstorms are often like patchy. Right. 

Windows. Tom doesn't mean an actual physical  window like in a building, he means a spot in  

time in the day when it's not raining. Window can  refer to a range of time. For example: What's the  

pickup window for your kids school? It's 3 to 3:15. 

Yeah and maybe there will be like windows. He also said patchy. If the storm is patchy,  

that means it's not stormy the whole day but  off and on. There will be windows of storms.  

Periods of time where there are storms but  also periods of time where there are no storms. 

No, I bet they can get us out but not  direct. That's going to be my hope. 

Oh, interesting. But um.. 

Yeah and maybe there will be like windows  because thunderstorms are often like patchy. 

Right. Okay, so the flight's at like 11:45. 11:47? Yes. 

Tom and I were on the same flight  back home here we're discussing when  

to leave for the airport the next morning. Are you okay with getting there at 10:30 or  

is that too tight for you? Too tight. This means not  

enough time to do something. Are you okay with getting there at  

10:30 or is that too tight for you? I don't know this airport. 

I don't either. I would say 10:15. 

10:15, okay. So, we'll leave here at 10. Okay. 

Or five till? Okay. Five till is great. 

Okay, 5 till. 9:55. Okay. 

Did you hear how many times we  said K as we negotiated the timing? 

Short for ‘okay’, agreeing with someone. 10:15, okay. So, we'll leave here at 10. 

Okay. Or five till? 

Okay. Five till is great. Okay, 5 till. 9:55. 

Okay.

I like to push it. Tom likes to be there  

with plenty of time. Time to spare as they say. I like to push it which means I leave as little  

time as possible. Tom is the opposite  and he likes to leave in plenty of time.  

Notice I dropped the T in plenty. This  is a common pronunciation of T after N. 

Tom likes to be there with plenty of time. Time to spare as they say. 

Plenty of time, time to spare. Notice the to  reduction. Time to, time to. Make it quick and  

lower in pitch attached to time. Time to,  time to spare. In plenty we dropped the T,  

in to, we change the T to a flap T or  here it sounds kind of like a D, du,  

du, time du. It's really common to change the  pronunciation of T to have smoother speech in  

American English. Check out this video where we  did a full analysis of T pronunciations in a TED  

Talk. You'd be surprised how frequently the T  is changed. Getting this into your habit will  

really help you sound natural speaking English.  I’ll link to that video in the video description. 

Tom likes to be there with plenty  of time. Time to spare as they say. 

You know, I consider the airport a  chance to sit and read a magazine maybe,  

or just like collect your thoughts. It's a nice  time for yourself as opposed to a time to panic. 

Collect your thoughts. This is a phrase that  we use in English to mean get control of your  

thoughts or feelings or emotions after something  very surprising happens or very shocking. For  

example, let's say your employee comes in and  says that they're quitting and you don't know  

what to respond, you did not expect this. You  might say, wow, okay please give me a moment to  

collect my thoughts. But here, Tom simply means  to have quiet time to oneself, maybe to reflect  

on something that's happening in his life.  Basically just think. Good old thinking time. 

And see, I'd rather do all that self time at home. Ah. Yes, but you can't because I can't. Because  

at home, you're worried about like  what's going to happen on the way  

like will there be a traffic jam? Will it be  a detour? Do I have to get around something? 

A traffic jam, a detour. Basically,  anything that could make your drive  

to the airport unexpectedly longer. Because at home, you're worried about  

like what's going to happen on the way  like will there be a traffic jam? Will  

it be a detour? Do I have to get around something? Okay what kind of traveler are you? Do you like to  

push it like me or do you like to leave plenty  of time like Tom when heading to the airport  

or train station? Let me know in the comments. There’s going to be something happening at the  

airport that demands that I slow down. Have you ever missed a flight? 

Never. I have once. And for me, for the amount  

of times I've flown, it is such a fair trade to  miss once, I mean the hours saved at airports. 

That's fair, that's fair. I just used the phrase ‘fair  

trade’. What does this mean? In this  context, it means I accept what I had  

to pay for what I get. That seems worth it to me. So yes, I missed a flight once. That was bad. But  

all of the other times I've gotten to the airport  with enough time to make my flight and I wasn't  

sitting there for hours and hours waiting for  my flight. So to me, that's a fair trade. I'd  

rather miss one flight every 10 years and not  go extra early to the airport than go extra  

early to the airport all the time and never miss  a flight. To me, missing one flight that's a fair  

trade for what I get which is more time at home.  After we went out to lunch and after the event,  

we decided to do some sightseeing. We went to  Antelope Island State Park in the Great Salt  

Lake for a sunset tour. It was a small tour with  a friendly guide who picked us up at our hotel. On  

the ride to the park, the tour guide had everyone  introduce themselves to the rest of the group. 

Okay, hi everybody, I'm Tom and I  am here from Lancaster, Pennsylvania  

in town with my friend Rachel here who is, has a  camera because she uh runs a YouTube channel, um,  

and so we were here for a YouTube conference  at a YouTuber's space who works in the area. 

The tour guide asked every person to say where  they're from, why they were in Salt Lake City  

and their go-to karaoke song. If you're ever  forced to sing karaoke what song do you choose? 

My karaoke song is Billy Joel's Piano Man. Oh yeah. 

Such a good one. Great, great choice. 

Thank you. Okay, I'm Rachel from  

Philly and my go-to karaoke song used to be uh,  The Queen of the Night Arya from The Magic Flute  

but I can't hit a high F anymore so now it is O  Mio Babbino Caro from Gianni Schicchi by Puccini. 

Wow. These are classic hits on karaoke. Did you know I used to be an opera singer? 

Yep. It's how I learned to listen  to different voices to discover the  

music of American English. We made it to the  island and drove around looking for wildlife. 

You want to take a peek? Yeah sure. 

Take a peek, have a look, check  it out. All ways to say see. 

Beautiful bird on the left. I don't know if  folks here, we're going to back up real quick. 

Is it close to the road or.. Yeah, right on the road,  

hopefully I don't spook him. With the beeping. 

She said spook him this is a common  reduction. Dropping the H in him  

and attaching it to the word before. To Spook an animal is to scare him,  

startle him, cause him to run off. Spook. Spook him, spook’im. 

Spook him

We also saw a prong horn. 

Are you getting eaten alive? No, are you? 

Did you get that, what was  that? The prong horn crossing? 

I did. Are you getting bitten? 

Oh yeah. Tom said eaten  

alive. An expression we can use when the  mosquitoes or other biting insects are bad. 

Pull your sleeves down. Great call. 

But it's actually on top of my hand. Oh. Well then, do this. 

Oh, my gosh really. Yeah, really. 

We also saw some bison. We saw just this one  at first but ended up seeing a lot including  

babies. It was pretty cool to see this. Then  we got to the trail head of the short hike  

we would do and we even saw a faint rainbow. The tour guide pointed out different features  

of the landscape. It was sunset, so the  sun was really low and everything around  

just looked stunning. It was a short hike to  the end of the trail and the wind was really  

blowing so I didn't get any good audio up here  but I did enjoy just a few minutes in nature. 

Now, let's review all the vocabulary and  pronunciation we studied by watching all  

the clips straight through. I am feeling a little  bit of altitude. I think my workout was rough,  

so I don't think I can walk very far. Okay, so what about tomorrow? 

So it is supposed to be thunderstorms  from 9:00 AM 400 PM.

Oh. 

And we fly at 11 something. I didn't check that. 

So it's and it's like a 90 percent chance  

of rain and thunderstorms. Ah, that sucks. 

We might get pushed. That would suck. 

It sounds like if we get pushed, we  might get pushed to like the next day. 

Oh didn’t think about that. No, I bet they can get us out but not direct,  

that's going to be my hope. Oh, interesting. 

But, um. Yeah, and maybe there will be like windows  

because thunderstorms are often like patchy  right okay so the flight's at like 11:45, 11:47? 

Yes. Are you okay with getting there  

at 10:30 or is that too tight for you? I don't know this airport. 

I don't either. I would say 10:15. 

10:15, okay. So, we'll leave here at 10. Okay. 

Or five till? Okay. Five till is great. 

Okay, 5 till. 9:55. Okay. 

Okay.

I like to push it. Tom likes to be there  

with plenty of time. Time to spare as they say. You know I consider the airport a chance to  

sit and read a magazine maybe or just  like collect your thoughts. It's a nice  

time for yourself as opposed to a time to panic. And see, I'd rather do all that self time at home. 

Ah, yes but you can't because I can't  because at home, you're worried about  

like what's going to happen on the way,  like will it be a traffic jam? Will it  

be a detour? Do I have to get around something?  Is there going to be something happening at the  

airport that demands that I slow down? Have you ever missed the flight? 

Never. I have once. 

And for me, for the amount of times I've flown  it is such a fair trade to miss once. I mean  

the hours saved at airports. That's fair, that's fair. 

You want to take a peek? Yeah sure. 

Beautiful bird on the left. I don't know it folks,  here, wait we're going to back up real quick. 

Is it close to the road or.. Yeah, right on the road. Hopefully  

I don't spook him. With the beeping. 

Are you getting eaten alive? No, are you? 

Did you get that? What was  that? The prong horn crossing. 

I did. Are you getting bitten? 

Oh yeah. Thank you so much  

for studying with me, I absolutely love  being your English teacher. Keep your  

learning going now with this video and don't  forget to subscribe with notifications on so  

you never miss another lesson. That's it and  thanks so much for using Rachel's English.