Eat Dinner with Us: Advanced English Conversation

Hey guys! Welcome to dinner.

Thanks for having dinner with us.

We had this idea to do a video about American English conversation with our family at dinner,

and then we thought, that's a terrible idea, because we have a baby and a toddler.

So I said, why don't we just sit down to dinner?

And then I started seeing about this thing called a mukbang.

And so we're kind of doing that, kind of not, mostly, we're just eating dinner with you,

and we're going to turn it into an English conversation lesson. So whenever we're talking,

and some phrasal verb or idiom or vocabulary word comes up, that I think you might not know,

or that I want to explain, you'll see it on screen in red, red and white text, and then at the end of the video,

I’m going to sit down, we're going to go over all of these terms. So, let's start.

Cheers, David!

Cheers.

>> Cheers everybody. >> Thank you for joining me at dinner.

Now David's being a really good sport by joining me here.

As you can see, we only have one plate of food, and it's huge.

So I was reading an article about eating on YouTube,

and it was talking about this thing that they called a mukbang,

which is, I’m doing an English pronunciation of it, but the origin is two Korean words put together.

But basically, people were making videos of themselves eating and then

posting that, and people were eating with them, so they wouldn't feel like they're eating alone.

And then it kind of turned into this thing where people were binging on mass amounts of food,

and that's kind of what we're doing.

Seems like a great idea to me.

Yeah. When I told David I wanted to do this, he got really excited

because he loves binging on mass amounts of food.

Now, obviously we're not going to finish this, right?

We'll see.

Okay, but the thing about it is, I’ve watched a few mukbang videos,

it involves one huge plate of food, multiple people eating off of it, mouth noises are encouraged,

sloppy eating is encouraged.

Wow.

So feel free.

Um, and let's just dig in and see... See what happens.

You say what you're eating?

Yeah, I guess we do.

Okay, so we got carryout from a local indian restaurant, we have samosas, we have naan,

a big pile of rice underneath, and then some saag paneer, and some chicken tikka masala.

And I’m vegetarian, mostly.

I eat almost no meat, except I do eat this chicken tikka masala because it's...

>> ...that good. >> that's how good it is.

All right, so I’m actually, I feel embarrassed to start.

I don't.

Okay, I’m going to let you start then. I’m just going to have another sip of wine.

I'm hungry.

While I think about getting ready to eat in front of the camera.

So good.

I know. We know. This food is so good that's why we decided to get this.

It's unbelievable.

We were like if there's anything that we can eat a ton of, it's this.

So anyway, David you've been watching a few of these mukbang videos, right?

Yeah.

What do you think?

What do I think of the idea?

You know, I have my elbow on the table.

>> that's actually like... >> that's not okay.

Considered bad manners.

Especially when I’m trying to get out a huge plate of food.

Let me take it off.

So what did you...well, first of all, the thing I love about YouTube is niches can flourish.

Yeah.

Right? I mean most people would not have thought a video of someone eating a meal

would be that big of a deal.

'Cause it's ridiculous.

But people love it, like, these videos have millions of views. Okay, I’m going to take my first bite.

Oh. That reminds me.

I’ve been having problems with my jaw lately.

I can't open it that much, and I, I got the first part of a root canal yesterday,

finally, after like, months of pain and different dentist appointments.

Going to have it finished next week, so that's that makes it extra awkward to try to eat on camera,

when you can barely open your mouth.

Like, I open my mouth and not enough and food falls off my fork because I was not able to open my jaw enough.

So I’m going to take a little bites.

Messy eating.

A little messy.

Anyway, what I was saying was, that's what's so great about YouTube is that

there's so much content there that even something that seems like almost no one would watch it,

there are still millions of people to watch it.

And it was interesting, some people were talking about

they had like loss of appetite due to various problems in their lives,

and that watching these videos of people really loving food, kind of help them get their appetite back.

I could see it going the other way, too. But no, I’m glad it worked for them.

I can see it going the other way as well.

Also, I noticed there seems to be a disproportionate amount of mukbangs on seafood.

Oh yeah, I noticed that too. No, thanks.

>> I think it's partly because... >> maybe how it started...

That food, like, there's a lot of slurping, with crab legs and mussels and stuff.

Part of it is like, the sound, people like the sound.

Is this one mint?

Hmm mm. Isn't it?

>> What would you say? >> I don't know.

Yeah. Herb, general herb.

I was just doing a video on silent letters, herb.

I think they say the H in British English.

But we don't in American English. Isn't that funny?

Samosa got cold. Shame.

Shame that.

David went to go get more water.

More wine, too.

That's got to be a nice sound. I guess I’ll have a little more.

For the past 3 weeks, I’ve been so doped up on pain killers,

that I’ve not been having any wine or anything to drink ever.

And today is the first day. Wait, did I take some this morning?

>> not wine. >> I did.

I did. So today's the first day I haven't had pain killers.

>> cheers. >> cheers to that.

And yeah I did take it this morning, I mean I’ve been taking it every four hours, and still hurting all the time.

When he was digging in...

Oh, man!

I know. He said it was worse than... Worse than average, way worse than average. What?

Meal conversation.

It's fine. It's a root canal. It's not gross.

A little bit.

Not really.

The naan is so good.

I thought you didn't usually care for the naan,

No, it's not that I don't care for it. I usually don't have room for it.

Oh, that's fair.

Also, we only get one. Stoney loves it.

Right. He eats most of it.

You love it so I’m like okay, I’ll back off, I’ll let these people eat their naan.

Alright.

Whereas if you were going to try to eat my samosa, I would be like, no.

Oh yeah, I know that.

You may not.

Okay, here's a story David and I had not been dating for very long, and we took a trip.

Yeah.

We went to Montreal with some friends and we went out to a kind of nice dinner.

And they brought all these small plates but it was a small plates kind of place. And one of them was kimchi.

And I had it sitting there on my plate for a long time because I wasn't sure yet what I wanted to eat it with.

I was saving it and David really casually takes his fork

and just like about to stab it to take it for himself because he's like 'this woman doesn't want this

kimchi 'cause it's just sitting on her plate'.

Luckily, I had my hand here, and it went

It was just like cat-like reflexes. I saw his fork going in, and I went--

>> Yep, you did. >> And I said: I’m saving that.

So he knows. Certain foods...

Don't mess.

Don't take Rachel's portion.

We got a lot of work to do here.

Leftovers.

Tomorrow night's dinner.

All right. Well, I can stop.

All right.

We'll wrap it up.

And I’m going to have a lot of fun going through and watching this,

and picking all those words that we're going to use, so guys don't go anywhere because right now,

we're going to have the lesson that goes with this conversation.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Ok, the first word up was ‘mukbang’.

We talked about this a little. It’s a genre of online video where people record themselves eating a meal.

The word is derived from the Korean words for eating and broadcast.

What did you think of this format? Was it gross watching us eat? Was it fun?

Did you feel like you were sitting at our dinner table?

>> Cheers, David. >> Cheers!

The next word was ‘cheers’.

There’s a good chance you know this is the word we toast with in American English.

I have a longer video lesson on that topic, which I’ll link to at the end of this video,

you can see the link in the video description.

It’s used to express good wishes.

In the UK, you can also use it not just in a toast but when you’re parting ways with someone.

See you, cheers.

That's not at all common in the US.

A cheer is also a showing of support from a crowd, like at a sporting event.

[crowd cheering]

Then of course we have a cheerleader, whose job it is to get the crowd excited.

Now, David's being a really good sport by joining me here.

A 'good sport' is someone who can remain positive when something goes wrong,

or agree to do something that he or she might not really want to do.

I thought David was being a good sport by joining me in my idea to eat dinner on camera, but really, he enjoyed it.

But basically, people were making videos of themselves eating and then posting that.

And people were eating with them so they don't feel like they were eating alone.

And then it kind of turned into this thing where people were binging on mass amounts of food

>> and that's kind of what we're doing. >> Seems like a great idea to me.

Binging on mass amounts of food.

So the word to 'binge' means to do something in excess for a short period of time.

We use it with the preposition ‘on’; you can binge on food or alcohol.

As I said in the video, in mukbangs, people binge on a mass amount of food.

Mass, a large number, a large amount. You could say, she has a mass following.

She has a massive amount of followers.

With binge, aside from food or drink, we also use it with TV. Binge watching.

With streaming programs, you can now watch all of the episodes of a season of a show, or the whole series.

You used to have to wait every week for one half-hour show to come out.

But now with these services like Netflix, you can binge-watch Friends.

You can log on and watch episode after episode all weekend. What did you do last weekend?

I binge-watched Friends.

Or you might hear someone describe a show as binge-worthy.

That means it’s worth it to spend all weekend watching that show.

Let's just dig in and see...see what happens.

>> When he was digging in... >> Oh, man!

I know. He said it was worse than...worse than average.

Dig in.

Now, in the course of this conversation, we used this phrase two really different ways.

Let's just dig in and see...see what happens.

We used it to describe eating. To dig means to start eating. Go ahead, dig in.

>> When he was digging in... >> Oh, man!

I know. He said it was worse than...worse than average.

But we also use it to talk about something sharp, penetrating something.

We use it with fingernails. You’re digging into my arm. Or, the back of my shoe is digging into my heel.

I used to talk about the dentist digging into my gum.

When he was digging in...

Oh, man!

I know. He said it was worse than...worse than average.

There’s a third way we use it, and that means to mentally prepare to work through a hard situation

or do some hard work.

For example, if there’s something at work that you really don’t want to work on, you could say,

This project is going to be so much work, but I need to just dig in and do it. Dig in.

Okay, so, we got carry-out.

Carry out. This is different from delivery. For carry out, you call the restaurant to order, or you order it online,

and then you go pick it up.

I don’t feel like cooking. Let’s get carry out.

And I’m vegetarian. Mostly.

A vegetarian is someone who doesn’t eat meat.

I call myself vegetarian, but if I eat chicken every once in a while, come on Rachel, you’re not a vegetarian.

This is a five-syllable word with stress on the middle syllable. Vege-tar-ian. Vegetarian.

In the word ‘vegetable’, we drop the second E. VEG-table.

But in ‘vegetarian’, we do say it. Vege-- It’s the schwa. Vegetarian.

If there's anything we can eat a ton of, it's this.

A ton. A very common term to mean ‘a lot’.

It’s interchangeable with ‘tons’. It’s a huge company, they have tons of employees.

Or, it’s a huge company, they have a ton of employees.

A ton of. Tons of. You know what, I have my elbow on the table.

>> That's actually like... >> That's not okay.

Considered bad manners.

Especially when I’m trying to get out a huge plate of food.

Let me take it off.

Manners.

This is your way of being.

We usually use the adjectives ‘good’ and ‘bad’ with it.

As the parent of a young child, I’m definitely in the middle of trying to teach good manners.

Good manners at the table, like ‘don’t talk with your mouth full’;

or good manners when meeting someone, like ‘make eye contact.’ Manners.

Well, first of all, the thing I love about YouTube is niches can flourish.

Niches can flourish. There are two different pronunciations that you’ll hear for 'niche'.

It can be ‘niche’ or ‘niche’. Both are in the dictionary, both are okay. A niche is a specialized segment.

So not general, something that applies to a lot of people, but niche. Something more narrow and focused.

For example, I don’t teach English as a Second Language, I focus on the niche of pronunciation.

Well, first of all, the thing I love about YouTube is niches can flourish.

I also used the word ‘flourish’ there.

Flourish means to grow, develop, thrive, be healthy.

Children flourish in a health and positive environment. Her business is flourishing.

And I got the first part of a root canal yesterday.

Root canal. Have you had one? I’ve learned a lot about them recently.

This is a procedure to remove inflamed tissue around the root of a tooth.

Not comfortable.

That makes it extra awkward to try to eat on camera.

Awkward. I like the spelling of this word. The first W goes with the letter A to make the AW vowel, aw.

Awkward.

The second W is a W sound. AWK-wwww. Awkward. Here, meaning embarrassing. Awkward.

They had, like, loss of appetite due to various problems in their lives.

Appetite is hunger, your desire for food. Some medications can cause a loss of appetite.

I remember once when one of my boyfriends broke up with me, I was so sad, and I had no appetite for weeks.

Appetite.

I notice there seems to be a disproportionate amount of mukbangs on seafood.

Disproportionate. A longer word, five syllables, with middle syllable stress.

It means a number that is too large or too small in context.

I said there is a disproportionate number of mukbang videos on seafood.

It seems like there are a lot of these videos on seafood compared to how much a person actually eats seafood.

That food, like, there's a lot of slurping, with crab legs and mussels and stuff.

Slurping. Sluuurp! Speaking of manners, it’s considered bad manners in the US to make a lot of noise while eating,

like slurping. In some countries, it’s no problem but in the US, it’s a no-no.

Herb, general herb.

Herb. Herbal. Silent H, R vowel. Rrrrb. herb. In British English, they do say the H

and they pronounce the vowel differently, without the R sound.

herb.

Herb in American English.

Samosa got cold. Shame.

‘Shame’ or ‘it’s a shame’ is something you say to show disappointment. Our local coffee shop shut down.

It’s a shame, I loved going there. But it’s also used in the phrase ‘shame on you’, which is very different.

If someone thinks you should feel shame, feel bad about something you’ve done or said.

Or you could say I’m ashamed – that means you feel bad, terrible, about something you did.

You needed help, and I didn’t help you, and I’m ashamed about that.

For the past 3 weeks, I’ve been so doped up on pain killers.

'Doped up' means to have a lot of drugs, sometimes to the point where it interferes with you acting normally.

I was taking the maximum amount of pain killers every four hours.

Pain killers: Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, or the ingredients, acetemetaphin or ibuprofen.

I thought you don't usually care for naan.

No, it's not that I don't care for it. I usually don't have room for it.

Care for. This is another way to say ‘like’ or ‘enjoy’.

I don’t care for sweets is another way to say I don’t like sweets.

So I’m like, Okay, I’ll back off. I’ll let these people eat their naan.

Alright.

Back off.

Stop doing what you’re doing a move away, or to not touch something.

Since Stoney and David like naan better than I do, I just back off and let them have it.

Okay, here's a story. David and I had not been dating for very long.

Dating. This is what we call it when you are becoming romantically involved with someone.

Are they in a serious relationship? No, they're just dating. Or, she was dating three people at once.

They brought all these small plates, it was a small plates kinds of place.

Small plates. This refers to the style of dining where rather than everybody getting their own meal,

there are small portions, you order a lot, and everyone shares.

Everyone at the table just has a bite or two of each thing.

One of them was kimchi.

Kimchi, pickled, fermented vegetables, a Korean dish that David and I both really love.

It was just like, cat-like reflexes. I saw his fork going in and I went--

Have you heard this phrase before? If someone has cat-like reflexes, it means they react very quickly.

Maybe you catch something that someone else has dropped before it hits the floor.

They might say, Wow! you have cat-like reflexes.

We got a lot of work to do here.

Leftovers.

Leftovers. I don’t mind eating leftovers for days, but David hates eating the same thing over and over.

What do you think? Are you a leftover person?

Well, I can stop.

Alright.

We'll wrap it up.

To 'wrap it up' means to conclude something.

If Stoney is playing at a playground, I might say, Stoney, we need to wrap it up and head out.

Stop doing this, and leave. Wrap it up.

Guys, thanks for having dinner with us. If you want to see a video where we're having a meal with our kids,

it's a little more chaotic,

check out the My Morning Routine video where we had breakfast with the baby and the toddler.

That video is right here, and please subscribe. We make new videos every Tuesday,

I love teaching you English.

Thank you for spending your time with me.

That's it and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.