HOW TO ANSWER ANY ENGLISH QUESTION

There are seven categories of questions.

That's right.

Questions that you as an English learner need to know how to answer fluently, but

in order to answer them fluently, you must know what each category is, why the

questions are asked and how you can answer them in a very confident and fluent way.

Are you ready?

Well, then I'm teacher Tiffani.

Let's jump right in.

Category number one, personal questions.

Now the very first category you as an English learner must understand

is the personal question category.

Now, personal questions referred to questions that focus on someone's

personal life, background.

Family and individual experiences.

These questions help build connections and understand someone's life.

Now, these are the questions you are probably the most familiar with.

For example, think about these simple personal questions.

The first one is, Hey, what is your age?

A very tricky question though.

Be careful.

You can't really ask ladies that question, but it's a personal question.

A second example is where were you born?

Then we have, how many siblings do you have?

Once again, these are personal questions, but what about deeper questions?

Here are some deeper personal questions.

Someone might ask you, could you tell me about your family and where you grew up?

Notice that these deeper questions require longer answers than the simple questions.

Here's another example of a deeper question, a deeper personal question.

What was the most important lesson your parents taught you again, still

a personal question, but a lot deeper.

And here's the other example.

How would you describe your childhood memories?

Now, these are the questions that when you're asked.

They can be a little bit tricky.

You can get a little bit uncomfortable.

So I want to actually break this down for you.

Let's check out some example answers for these deep questions.

All right.

So we're looking at, again, the first category being personal questions, and

I want us to check out this question.

Could you tell me about your family and where you grew up?

You're going to notice something about the responses.

Remember for you as an English learner, you want to answer questions

like a native English speaker with confidence and fluently.

Well, the first example shows how native English speakers

use three examples to answer.

This is something that I personally learned throughout my entire

education period, middle school, high school, college university,

I always learned to give examples when I was answering a question.

So the question once again is, could you tell me about your

family and where you grew up?

Check out the answer.

I grew up in a small town in Texas with my parents and two younger sisters.

Let me share three examples that shaped my childhood.

First, we lived on a ranch where we raised horses.

Which taught me responsibility through daily feeding and grooming duties.

Second, our house was next to my grandparents' property, so we had weekly

family dinners where three generations shared stories and traditional recipes.

Third, my mother was a music teacher.

So our home was always filled with the sound of piano

lessons and singing practice.

Now, just from this one response, you can see how good the answer was, why.

Because of the three examples, the first example, living on

a ranch and raising horses.

Then the second example, speaking about living next to

their grandparents property.

Third.

The mother being a music teacher.

Again, remember if you want to speak English confidently, if you want

to speak English fluently, when someone asks you a personal question,

your first option is to give three examples, but it's not the only option.

Now we're going to check out the exact same question, but this

time give three reasons again.

The exact same question.

Could you tell me about your family and where you grew up?

Again, personal question, but a deeper question.

Now check out this response.

Here we go.

I love sharing about my family and hometown because.

Firstly, growing up in a rural community instilled strong values of neighborly

support and community service.

Secondly, being raised with siblings taught me important lessons

about sharing and compromise.

Thirdly, living near extended family created a strong support system

that continues to influence my approach to relationships today.

What did we see?

Three reasons.

Again, when you are asked a deeper question, you don't

want to give a simple answer.

You don't want to give a one word answer.

You want to be fluent.

You want to be confident.

What do you do?

You need to either give three examples or Three reasons.

And you're going to see, as we continue through our lesson, the fact that

this can be applied to each category.

So the first category, again, personal questions.

Now we're going to move to the second category of questions you

will be asked as an English learner.

The second category is.

Professional questions.

Now you've probably already got questions related to your professional experience.

These professional questions.

Let me explain what this actually refers to.

Professional questions relate to, I'm leaving this in the video.

Sometimes even native English speakers, we get tongue tied.

I said, all right, professional questions relate to work, career

choices, and professional goals.

They help understand someone's career path and aspirations.

So someone will ask you a professional question because they want to know more

about your career, your background, what you did and what you are currently

doing, but just like the personal questions, there are simple professional

questions and there are deeper questions.

So some example of simple professional questions are what is your job title?

Requiring a simple answer.

Oh, I'm an English teacher.

Or for example, a simple professional question.

Where do you work?

You can tell them, Oh, I work two blocks from here, or I work for IBM.

I work for apple again, simple question, simple response.

And this other simple question, how long is your work day?

Do you work eight hours, nine hours, five hours?

How long is your work day?

But just like the personal questions, there are also deeper questions within

this category, the professional questions category, here are some deeper questions.

First.

What made you choose your current career path?

All of a sudden you have to start giving more details, explaining a bit more.

Here's the second deeper question again, in the professional questions category,

how do you handle challenges at work?

And thirdly, what are your career goals for the next few years?

Once again, these are questions that you will be asked.

And in order for you to speak English fluently and confidently, You must do the

same thing you learned for the previous category, either give examples or reasons.

So let's check out the question for this category.

Again, category number two, the professional category, the question

we want to dive deeper into is how do you handle challenges at work?

So for you as the English learner, how can you respond to this question and

speak fluently and confidently first?

Using examples again, you want to use three examples.

So check out this example response using three examples.

The question again, how do you handle challenges at work?

Here's the response.

Using three examples, I approach workplace challenges with a

systematic problem solving mindset.

Let me share three examples.

First, when we faced a tight project deadline last month, I created a

detailed timeline and delegated tasks effectively, which helped

us complete the project on time.

That was the first example.

Continuing second, when dealing with a difficult client, I

scheduled regular check ins and documented all communications.

And third, when our team experienced technical issues, I implemented

a backup system and trained colleagues on troubleshooting

basics, reducing downtime by 50%.

What did you recognize as I read through this response to the deeper question, you

noticed that there were three examples.

This individual first mentioned a tight project deadline that he or she had

then dealing with a difficult client.

And then the third example, her team or his team experienced technical issues.

When you give three examples, you sound more confident and you're

able to speak English more fluently by following this simple process.

Now the exact same question, instead of using three examples, now

we're going to use three examples.

Three reasons.

Remember we're speaking about the second category, the professional category for

questions that you'll be asked in English.

So the question once again, once again, is how do you handle challenges at work?

Now we're going to use three reasons.

Here we go.

I believe in addressing workplace challenges head on because.

Firstly, quick resolution prevents small issues from becoming bigger problems that

could affect team morale and productivity.

Secondly, giving the second reason, secondly, each challenge presents an

opportunity to improve our systems and processes for the future.

And thirdly, successfully overcoming challenges helps build confidence

and resilience within the team.

What did we just do?

We answered the exact same question again, a professional question, a

deeper question, but this time we used.

Three reasons why firstly, secondly, and thirdly, again, when you are

trying to speak English fluently, when you want to give a fluent and

confident response in English to a professional question, remember to

either give examples or reasons.

Now the third category, again, the third category of questions is lifestyle

questions, lifestyle questions.

Now, what are lifestyle questions?

So.

Lifestyle questions refers to questions that explore daily habits, routines, and

how someone chooses to live their life.

How do you live your life?

Are you an early bird?

Are you a night owl?

Do you enjoy hanging with friends?

Do you enjoy private time?

These questions refer to your life, life.

Style questions.

So what are some simple lifestyle questions?

Here are some simple lifestyle questions that you might've already received.

First, do you exercise regularly?

Yes, I do.

Next, what time did you wake up?

I woke up at around actually three 30 this morning.

I was fine, but I woke up a little early today.

Again, simple question, simple answer.

And next, do you cook at home?

Indeed I do again, simple questions that you can respond to, but now

we have to see the deeper questions for this topic, lifestyle questions.

Again, this category, some deeper questions are, how do

you usually spend your weekends?

I want to know more, give me more information, not just a

one word or a two word response.

Second, deeper question, what activities help you relax after a busy day?

And finally, could you describe your typical morning routine again, look

at the differences between the simple questions and the deeper questions.

So how can you respond to one of these deeper questions?

Let's take a look again.

Again, we're on this category of lifestyle.

And the question I want us to look at closer is how do you

usually spend your weekends?

We're going to look at two example responses.

How do you usually spend your weekends for the first response?

Let's check out a response that includes three examples.

Here we go.

I dedicate my weekends to outdoor activities and personal growth.

For example, last weekend I went hiking on a new trail and discovered a beautiful

waterfall I'd never seen before.

Then I attended a local cooking class where I learned to

make authentic Italian pasta.

Finally, I spent Sunday afternoon at a community garden where

I helped plant vegetables and met some wonderful neighbors.

What did we see in this response?

What did we hear three examples again, these examples help us understand

the person's point of view, deeper questions require deeper responses.

What about this second response to the exact same question?

Now we're going to use three reasons.

Once again, the question, how do you usually spend your weekends?

Now we'll give reasons.

Here's the response.

I prioritize an active and social weekend schedule.

That's how I spend it.

Why?

Because firstly, it helps me recharge after a demanding work week.

Secondly, dedicating time to hobbies and friends maintains

a healthy work life balance.

Thirdly, engaging in different activities during the weekend provides fresh

perspectives that boost my creativity and productivity during the work week.

We have three reasons to support.

Our answer again, for this category, the same applies.

We're speaking about the lifestyle category, giving

reasons and giving examples.

Now, the fourth category is also very important.

The fourth category of questions is.

Opinion questions, opinion questions.

Now you as an English learner need to really master this category because

people are going to ask you all the time to give your thoughts, your opinions.

So what are opinion questions?

These questions ask for.

Personal views and thoughts on various topics, encouraging people, encouraging

you to share your perspective even more and the person listening to

you to also share their perspective.

So let's check out some simple questions for this category of simple

questions for opinion questions.

Here's some examples.

Do you like spicy food?

Again, simple opinion question next is winter your favorite season?

No, it's not.

My favorite season is fall.

I also like spring.

So I have two.

And finally, do you prefer cats or dogs?

Simple questions that require simple responses.

But what about deeper questions for this category?

Here are the deeper opinion questions.

What do you think about social media's influence on society?

Whoa, this question is going to require a bit more thought, a bit more details.

What about this next deeper question for opinions?

How do you feel about working from home versus working in an office?

And finally, what's your view on learning foreign languages?

So we have simple and deep questions for the opinion category.

Let's check out some responses to one of these deeper questions.

All right.

Looking at this category of opinion, right?

Here's the question I want us to go deeper on.

What's your view on learning foreign languages?

Now this is a question you could probably answer very quickly.

Why?

Because you are currently learning a foreign language.

English is not your first language.

It's a foreign language and you're learning it.

So if someone says, Hey, so what's your personal view on

learning foreign languages?

You can now give your response.

Based on what you're learning, either three examples or three reasons.

So let's check out the first example response to this question.

Here's the first example response.

I strongly believe that learning foreign languages is incredibly enriching and

valuable in today's interconnected world.

Strong opinion.

Now we're going to give three examples.

For instance, when I started learning Spanish, I was able to connect

with my neighbors who didn't speak English well, which led to wonderful

cultural exchanges and shared meals.

Second, learning Japanese helped me secure a job promotion because our company

expanded to Tokyo and I could communicate directly with our international team.

All right.

Spanish and Japanese.

This person's amazing.

Third.

Studying French allowed me to travel through France independently and have

authentic experiences like negotiating at local markets and chatting with cafe

owners about their family histories.

You see what happened, right?

Three examples.

Answering this question that's in the opinion category, giving three

examples related to learning Spanish, related to learning Japanese, and

finally related to learning French.

But what about three reasons?

The exact same question.

What's your view on learning foreign languages?

Here's the response using three reasons.

I'm passionate about, Oh, we don't want that to cross out.

Let's use the highlighter.

Here we go.

I'm passionate about learning foreign languages because firstly,

it opens up countless opportunities for personal and professional

growth in our globalized world.

Secondly, it enhances cognitive abilities by improving memory, problem solving

skills, and multitasking capabilities.

Thirdly, it promotes cultural understanding and empathy by allowing

us to see the world through different linguistic and cultural perspectives.

What do we see here?

Again, three reasons being given for the response for the opinion.

This is what happens for each category.

We have seven categories for questions that you will be asked as an English

learner, even that I get asked as a native English speaker for each of the

questions in each of the categories.

You can use either three examples or three reasons.

We're talking about speaking English, like a native English speaker.

In other words, speaking English confidently and fluently using

three examples or three reasons.

Now, the fifth category is cultural questions, cultural questions.

Your culture is amazing.

No matter where you are from your culture is amazing.

So when someone asks you cultural questions.

What are they trying to find out?

You see these questions, explore traditions, customs, and cultural

perspectives, helping you understand different ways of life.

So when someone asks you a question, a cultural question, they want to

know more about who you are, your background, your traditions, and your

perspective based on your culture.

Now, some of the simple questions they'll ask you are these like this.

Let's say they ask you, what language do you speak?

Very simple question, or they could ask you, what's your religion?

Or finally, what is your nationality?

Again, still cultural questions, but very simple questions.

Now, what about the deeper questions for this category?

Again, helping you understand the seven categories of questions that

you need to know how to answer.

Here are the deeper questions.

How do people celebrate special occasions in your culture?

How do they celebrate birthdays?

How do you celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving?

How do people in your culture celebrate these holidays?

You have to give more details.

Next, what are some unique traditions in your country?

And finally, how has your culture influenced your daily life?

Think about your daily life and how your culture has affected it.

So let's check out another question.

All right, again, we're on this fifth category of cultural questions.

So let's check out this question.

How has your culture influenced your daily life?

We're going to look at two responses to this question.

Once again, using examples.

And reasons.

So looking at the first response, which uses examples, once again,

the question is, how has your culture influenced your daily life?

Here's the response.

My Southern American culture has deeply shaped my daily routines and interactions.

For instance, here's the first example.

I always greet my neighbors and engage in small talk when I see them, which is

a cornerstone of Southern hospitality.

Second, I prepare traditional Sunday dinners for my family, where we gather

to share home cooked meals, like fried chicken and cornbread, maintaining

our family's culinary tradition.

Third, I incorporate the practice of storytelling into my daily life by

sharing family histories and anecdotes with my children during our evening

meals, keeping our oral tradition alive.

What happened?

We have this deeper question again, in the category of cultural questions and the

response was given using three examples.

Now, same question, but now instead of examples, we're now

going to give three reasons.

The question once again is how has your culture influenced your daily life?

I hope you're recognizing what's happening when you're answering questions.

Yes.

There's seven different categories, but you can follow the same method,

either three examples or three reasons.

So here's the second response using three.

Reasons I embrace my culture's influence on my daily life, because

firstly, it provides a strong sense of identity and belonging in

an increasingly globalized world.

Secondly, it helps preserve important values and traditions that can be

passed down to future generations.

And thirdly, it creates meaningful connections with others who share

similar cultural backgrounds.

Fostering a supportive community.

Now, what are you seeing in this response?

What did you just hear?

You heard three reasons.

Remember giving three examples or giving three reasons will help you speak

English fluently and with confidence.

The fifth category, again, cultural questions.

Now we move to.

The sixth category, our sixth category is values, questions,

questions related to your values.

Let me explain values, questions.

These questions explore personal beliefs, your personal principles, and what you as

an individual consider to be important.

In life, what's important to you, what drives you, what moves you each day?

What causes you to do right?

Instead of doing wrong again, values questions.

So here's some example questions, examples, simple

questions related to values.

First is family important to you?

Yes or no.

Simple question, right?

Secondly, do you value honesty?

Do you value honesty?

Yes or no.

Simple question.

And thirdly, is money important to you?

Simple questions.

But then when we come to the other side, we have deeper

questions related to your values.

First, what qualities do you value most in friendships?

I just watched a short video earlier this morning, actually true story.

I was in bed.

Short video clip where a couple was talking about friendship.

You see how I naturally started to answer this question.

I've practiced so much.

So we're going to help you be able to answer questions

related to values as well.

Here's the second deeper question.

What does success mean to you?

And finally, how do you define happiness in your life?

Once again, deeper questions related to your values.

So.

How do you answer these questions?

Let's look at the second question.

The second question for values we have is what does success mean to you?

What does success mean to you?

And we're going to be using again, examples, three examples to answer this.

Question.

So we have a question once again.

What does success mean to you?

Here's the response using three examples.

Listen closely.

I view success as continuous personal growth and making

a positive impact on others.

Here we go.

For example, last year, I mentored three junior colleagues who have since been

promoted to leadership positions, which gave me a profound sense of achievement.

Second, I completed a challenging certification program while working

full time, proving to myself that I could push beyond my comfort zone.

Third, I initiated a community literacy program that has helped over

50 children improve their reading skills, demonstrating that success

isn't just about personal achievements.

It's interesting when you answer a question using this, either three examples

or three reasons, the person listening to you will be able to understand

you more, have a better understanding of who you are, and they'll feel

like your English is amazing because you're giving enough information.

But what about.

Giving three reasons for this response.

So three reasons for this response.

Again, the question again is what does success mean to you?

Here's the response.

I define success beyond traditional metrics like wealth or status.

Because firstly, true fulfillment comes from personal growth

and continuous learning rather than material achievements.

Secondly, making a positive impact on others creates lasting value that extends

beyond individual accomplishments.

Thirdly, maintaining a healthy work life balance allows for sustainable

long term success in all areas of life.

Once again, we see that three reasons were given in order to speak English

fluently and confidently answering the question in this category.

What about category number seven experience?

Questions.

Now these questions are questions you will get very often as well,

along with personal questions.

So experience questions are questions that are focused on.

Specific events, specific memories, or specific situations

that you have lived through.

A question that I get very often is, Hey, Tiffani, can you tell me

about your time in South Korea?

Experience.

People want to know about what happened, the different situations

that happened while I lived in Korea.

Experience questions.

So here's some examples of simple experience.

Questions.

First, we have this one.

Have you traveled abroad?

Next, can you drive a car again?

Experience simple question.

Can you drive a car?

And finally, have you been skydiving simple questions that honestly

require just a yes or no answer.

But what about the deeper questions?

Here's a deeper question for the experience category.

What was your most memorable travel experience next?

Could you tell me about a challenge you overcame?

And finally, what's an experience that changed your perspective on life?

What's an experience that completely changed you?

So we have these simple questions and we have the deeper questions

within this category of experience.

So let's check out a response.

Our first response.

Again, we're going to check out this question.

The second question for this category.

The question is.

Could you tell me about a challenge you overcame an experience question again?

Could you tell me about a challenge you overcame?

So we're going to give three examples in the first response.

The question again, could you tell me about a challenge you overcame?

Here's the response.

One significant challenge I overcame was adapting to living in a foreign country.

For example, I initially struggled with the language barrier, but

committed to daily language lessons and practice with locals until I

became fluent within six months.

Second, I had to navigate an entirely different banking and

healthcare system, which I managed by seeking help from local friends and

carefully researching all procedures.

Third, I overcame cultural isolation by joining community groups and organizing

international dinner parties, which helped me build a strong support.

Network again, three examples found in this one response.

We, again, we have the second response, the second example, excuse me.

First example, we have struggling with the language barrier.

Second navigating, and then thirdly, overcoming cultural isolation.

Three examples.

What about reasons?

So same question, but this time we're going to give three reasons.

Here's the question.

Once again, could you tell me about a challenge you overcame?

Here's the response.

I successfully managed to overcome my fear of public speaking, because

firstly, I recognize that effective communication is crucial for

professional growth in today's world.

Secondly, I understood that sharing my ideas and experiences could

positively impact and inspire others.

Thirdly, I knew that conquering this fear would boost my self

confidence in all areas of life.

Three reasons.

Once again, when you are answering a question, no matter which category, which

of the seven categories you're trying to answer a question from give three examples

or give three reasons, you can do it.

I believe in you.

I'll talk to you next time.

You still there?

You know what time it is.

Here we go.

It's story time.

Hey, I said a story time.

All right.

So today's story time actually is about one of my favorite

memories from high school.

So, you know that I enjoy drawing and painting.

I love things that are beautiful.

I love artwork.

I love going to the museum and just looking at paintings and photographs.

So when I was in high school, I had an.

Awesome art teacher.

Her name was miss Halstead and I remember one day it was after lunch and I just

happened to be walking through the hallway and I was about to pass her classroom

and I noticed that miss Halstead was sitting in her room, the art room at her

desk very quietly and she looked like she was focused intently on something, but

her shoulders were kind of down and she had a pen in her hand and she was drawn.

It looked like she was drawing something.

And my curiosity got the best of me.

So I, I walked into the classroom and even though I walked into the

classroom, she still didn't look up.

I had to walk all the way to her desk and then she looked up.

Oh, Hey Tiffani.

How are you?

And I said, I'm fine.

Miss Halstead.

What are you up to?

She said, Oh, I'm just sketching.

And I said, Oh wow.

Miss Halstead.

I love sketching too.

And that's when she put her pen down, and she also put her sketchbook down.

And she said, oh really Tiffani, you really like sketching?

I said, yeah, I really like sketching, but sometimes I try not to sketch

when I'm in class because I don't want the teacher to think I'm not

paying attention and I want to focus.

And she started to talk to me and started to explain how important

sketching and doodling actually was.

She told me how she, again, as a full adult at that time, I think she was in

her forties, She even in church, while the pastor was preaching a sermon, she

would sketch and doodle in her notebook.

Now I was in shock because you know, the parents usually tell their

children, Hey, when you're in church, pay attention, focus on the sermon.

So to hear another adult telling me that she actually sketched and doodled during

the sermon, It really blew my mind, but she said, Tiffani, here's the thing that

people that aren't artists don't know.

You see when we as artists are sketching or doodling, we're

actually the most focused.

She said, when I'm sketching in church and doodling, I'm actually paying more

attention to what the pastor is saying.

She said, it's just the way the creative mind is has been made.

She said that she wanted me to start sketching and doodling more.

She wanted me to do it even when I was at church.

And again, I have great parents, so they were okay with me sketching because they

knew I loved art, but she's encouraged me to do it in class, to do it in church.

She said, Tiffani, even when you're about to go to bed,

an idea may pop in your head.

I want you to also sketch then write down what pops in your head.

She said, Tiffani, you're an artist.

And it's actually not a bad thing.

Now, I never forgot that.

And I remember as I went through the rest of my high school years and

then went to college, I continued to doodle and sketch in class.

And I remember specifically when I was in college, I had a science class.

And we were talking about the anatomy of a frog and while the teacher was

teaching, I was drawing a frog and I was drawing the different parts of the frog

and labeling the parts in my notebook.

And what happened was when I took an exam, that image that I had drawn, I added

colors and I added all of the information about the frog popped up in my mind.

And I aced that exam and I realized how powerful creativity is and how important

it is to visualize something because visualizing helps you to remember.

So even now I sketch when I'm listening to a sermon, I sketch when

I'm doing something or listening to a presentation because it helps

me remember what I'm listening to.

Maybe you're the same, maybe you're an artist and you love

sketching, but maybe you're not.

Remember, creativity is so important and that's why I hope you enjoyed

today's lesson and today's story.

I'll talk to you next time.