Learn English Conversation…With MY MOM! English Lesson by Rachel’s English

For fluent English, you need vocabulary, common  phrases, idioms, phrasal verbs, even slang.  

In this video, we're going to study real English  conversation to get all of these. We're sitting  

down with my mom, we're working on a knitting  project, and you're going to hear her drop  

some slang in our conversation. Lots of great  vocabulary here, idioms, learn them from my mom  

and you'll never forget them. As always, if you  like this video, or you learn something new, or if  

you like my mom, give it a thumbs up and subscribe  with notifications. I'd love to see you back.

When I filmed this, Corona Virus was raging and I  was visiting my parents, so we wore masks inside.  

My mom knit me a hat and we were going to make  a pom-pom to put on top but we didn't know how.

But you've just never-- I've just never put a pom-pom on a hat. 

Okay, what do the instructions say?  This thing is not self-explanatory.

If something needs instructions, that's the  opposite of self-explanatory. If something is  

self-explanatory, that means you can understand  it by looking at it, it's easily understood,  

it's clear by looking at how to figure it  out, how to do it. If that's not the case,  

then you need instructions. A pompom is  exactly what you'll see us make here,  

an ornamental ball. It's also used in  cheerleading. Let's see that clip again.

But you've just never-- I've just never put a pom-pom on a hat. 

Okay, what do the instructions say?  This thing is not self-explanatory. 

Okay, see, it says wind the yarn.

Wind the yarn. The word wind is a verb. You wind  something. We'll see that later in the video.  

Wind. Wind. Wind. Past tense is wound. But  these four letters can also be pronounced  

wind, the natural movement of air. Here it's wind,  wind the yarn, wrap it around this pompom maker.

Are they both out at the same time? Yeah, it looks like it. 

So... And you start here  at the base, it looks like. 

Now hold on, there are four of these things.

Twice there, I used the phrase 'it looks  like'. This means 'it seems like this is  

true' or 'this will be true' but it doesn't have  to be something you can see, that you can actually  

look at. For example, I was talking to  my friend Laura on the phone in the fall.  

We had a trip planned together and because of the  virus, we thought we were going to have to cancel.  

It seemed like we would need to cancel. I said it  looks like we're going to have to cancel. And she  

said it looks that way. It seems that it will  be true, that we'll have to cancel our trip.  

I also said, now hold on. 'Hold  on' is a phrasal verb that means  

two different things. Hold on, get a grip on  something, like a, here, a pencil, hold on.

It also means wait, stop. And that's how I mean  it here. Now hold on, wait, stop. There are four  

of these things. I thought there are only two. How  does that make sense with the directions? This is  

a phrase we use on the phone a lot too. 'Hold on'  means you're going to pause a phone conversation,  

ask the person to wait while  you quickly attend to something.  

Can you hold on a second? Could I please get  a latte to go? Okay, I’m back, for example.

Are they both out at the same time? Yeah, it looks like it. 

So, and you start here at the base, it looks like. Now, hold on. There are four of these things.  

Maybe a YouTube video is in order.  What do you think? These are about  

as clear as mud in my opinion. Yeah, they're not very clear right.

Maybe a YouTube video is in order. 'In order'  has two different meanings. Here it means  

appropriate to the situation. The situation, the  directions were hard to understand. Watching a  

how-to video on YouTube was definitely appropriate  to the situation. Here's another example. Someone  

has just announced their engaged. Someone  else might say champagne is in order.

Maybe a YouTube video is in  order. What do you think? 

These are about as clear as mud in my opinion. Yeah, they're not very clear, right?

Let's study the phrase 'what do you think'? I  said 'what do you think' a little stress on the  

question word, wuh-- wuh-- stress on the verb  think, think, think. And I had some reductions.  

What do-- linked together: what do-- what do--  what do-- the vowel in 'do' changed to the schwa,  

same with you, it became ya ya. Whuh duh yah--  whuh duh yah-- whuh duh yah-- what do you think?

This is a common pronunciation of  a common phrase. What do you think?

What do you think? These are about  as clear as mud in my opinion. 

Yeah. They're not very clear.

I used the idiom 'as clear as  mud'. This means not clear at all,  

not easy to understand. Mud is  opaque, you can't see through it,  

it's not clear. Something that's  hard to understand is clear as mud.

These are about as clear as mud in my opinion. So she's holding it like this and she's  

wrapping it around here. Right.

My mom said 'wrapping it around'. Wrap around.  

Wind around. Coil around. Twist  around. These all mean the same thing.

So she's holding it like this and  she's wrapping it around here. 

Right.

But then-- 

I mean, I, apparently, I would say you do the  same for each one? But it doesn't say that.

I used the adverb apparently. I was describing  what to do, what I thought the directions were  

saying, but I wasn't sure. The instructions didn't  actually say to do that. It's what I was guessing  

based on what I saw in the directions. Apparently  means as far as one can know, see, or understand.  

For example, why did Amanda quit? Apparently,  she got another job that is, as far as I know,  

I didn't hear it from Amanda, but this is what  I heard, this is what I understand to be true.

But then-- I mean, apparently, I would say  

you do the same for each  one? But it doesn't say that. 

Which is why I think we should go to YouTube. 

All right let's go to YouTube. Okay, where's your iPad?

Isn't it funny? I make how-to videos here on  YouTube but I often don't think of it when  

I'm trying to learn how to do something. What's  something you've learned how to do by YouTube?  

My nephew learned how to play the ukulele,  and my friend learned how to repair upholstery  

on her couch. Tell me in the comments  what you've learned to do on YouTube.  

So anyway, we found a video, and we  started copying what she was doing.

I mean she really filled it up. Yeah. So should I be... 

Yeah. Okay. I hope we got enough yarn.

This is kind of fun. Stoney  and Sawyer could do this.  

I think you might want the small one actually. I want a big pompom. I'm like, if you're  

going to do a pompom, make it a big pompom. Okay.

What does 'I'm like' mean? We use I'm like,  she's like, he's like a lot when we're  

telling the story of a past conversation. It's  equal to saying: I said, she said, and so on.  

Here's an example from a YouTube video.  She's like 'Dad you can't believe it.'  

I'm like 'what?' she said I think I’m  going to be a geneticist. I'm like 'what?'

I'm like, she's like. Here, talking to  my mom, I’m not retelling a conversation. 

But we also use this to say our  opinion on something, our feelings.  

My feeling was, if I was going to put a  pompom on a hat it might as well be a big one.

I think you might want the small one actually. I want a big pompom. I'm like, if you're  

going to do a pompom, make it a big pompom. Okay. 

I totally don't understand how this  is going to become a pompom, but... 

Trust YouTube. That's right! 

I trust she knows what she's doing.  How full did she end up getting it? 

Really full. Wow, oh.

Wow, oh wow. Okay. 

Geez Louise.

Geez Louise.

Geez is an exclamation used to show surprise or  annoyance. It comes from Jesus which can offend  

people when used in this context. Jesus, you don't  have to shout. So instead of that, you can say:  

geez, you don't have to shout! Adding Louise,  a first name that can be given to women,  

doesn't change the meaning. I would say  this is a little old-fashioned. Geez Louise,  

but I still use it sometimes, it's definitely  way less common than just saying geez.

Wow, oh wow. Okay. Geez Louise. 

Yeah. It's completely beyond me to understand  how this is going to become a pompom.

Completely beyond me. If you say something is  'beyond me' that means you don't understand it.  

Computer programming is beyond me. Or  why she wants to marry him is beyond me.

Yeah. It's completely beyond me to understand  how this is going to become a pompom. People  

love seeing you guys in my videos. Especially dad  should be in a video with this crazy Covid hair. 

Yeah, that's what this is. Covid time. That'll be obvious because of the masks.

Obvious. This is something that is  easily understood, that is clear.  

It's very different from using beyond me.  If it's beyond me, I don't understand it.  

If it's obvious, it's clear and I do understand  it. it's also the opposite of clear as mud,

I really couldn't believe how much winding I  had to do. But eventually I finished that side  

and had to move on to the other side. I wasn't  quite sure how to move from one side to the next.

Now, did she do it through the middle? No, right here. Just bring  

it around-- Like that? 

Right there, yeah. Okay. 

Now, you're golden. Okay.

My mom used some slang here: golden.  It's literal meaning is made of gold,  

or gold colored. But in slang, it means fine,  or great. Rachel, do you want another drink?  

No, thanks. I'm golden. Or maybe I'm giving you  directions to a movie theater. At the end I say,  

After that, you're golden, because there's a big  sign where you need to turn into the parking lot.

Now, did she do it through the middle? No, right here. Just bring it around-- 

Like that? 

Right there, yeah. Okay. 

Now, you're golden. Okay. 

That looks like the same amount  that I wound on the first one. 

Okay. All right. Now we--

Did you hear that? I used the  past tense of wind, wound.  

Now, I said before that WIND can  be wind or wind. In the past tense,  

WOUND, that's also two words. We have the past  tense of wind, wound, but it's also pronounced  

wound, which means to injure someone, or an  injury. When you have a word like this that has  

two different pronunciations and meanings but  the same spelling, that's called a heteronym.

That looks like the same amount  that I wound on the first one. 

Okay. All right. Now we--

Then we watched what to do next. We cut the  yarn, we tied a knot, and released the pompom. My  

dad will say: it's bigger than the hat. And he's  going to drop the TH sound in than. This reduction  

is not all that common, but it's definitely  common to change the AA vowel to the schwa.  

Bigger than, bigger than, and in this case you'll  hear: bigger nn-- bigger nn-- listen for that.

It is one big pompom. That's awesome, isn't it? 

It's bigger than the hat! That's okay.

Bigger nn-- listen again to that phrase.

It's bigger than the hat! That's okay. 

Evening it up.

Even up. Phrasal verb.

To make everything even. Should we watch a tutorial  

on how to attach a pompom? I can figure this out.

Figure out. Another phrasal verb.

As my mom was attaching the pompom to the hat,  

she was having a difficult time. Listen to how  she described the experience of being filmed.

It's tough when you're being filmed, isn't it? Yeah. Nerve-racking.

If something is nerve-racking, it's  distressing. You're nervous to do it.  

There's pressure to get it right and that makes it  more difficult to do. It's a simple thing to do,  

but I was filming her. It made her nervous. She  felt pressure to do it perfectly for the camera.

It's tough when you're being filmed, isn't it? Yeah.

Nerve-racking. 

Now we can turn it inside out, and we're  going to just tie a couple of knots here,  

and hope that holds it on. Yeah. Inside out and then we'll turn it right side  

out. Isn't it funny how one is in, and the other  is right? I guess you could say wrong side out,  

but usually, we say inside out. That's right, yeah.

And then the opposite of inside out  is right side out. Not outside out. 

Okay, now we're going to turn it and  see how it looks, and if it looks okay. 

Oh, perfection! It's so much cuter! And I’ve  got my matching scarf. My mom made these stuff  

for me. Isn't it great, guys? Gonna keep  me warm all winter long in Philadelphia. 

Oh, that's so cute! Thanks, mom! 

That was a fun little project. It was very fun.

So much love to my mom for not only making me  that hat and scarf, but also for agreeing to be  

in this video with me. Keep your learning  going here with a playlist of my lessons  

teaching you real English, so many of my friends  and family have helped me make those videos.  

Please don't forget to subscribe and  come back every week for new videos.  

I love being your English teacher. That's it  and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.