Help! I can't remember the words I learn!

Vanessa: Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.  

Have you ever forgotten the words that you  just learned in English? Let's talk about it. 

Imagine that you're working hard studying English.  You're watching my lessons. You're reading books.  

You're watching movies. Then you go to have a  conversation in English and your mind is blank.  

All of these wonderful vocabulary words that you  just learned have gone in one ear and out the  

other. Has that ever happened to you? Well, if it  has, first of all, you're not alone. This can be  

really scary and feel disappointing. You work so  hard, so why can't you remember these words? Well,  

never fear. Today, I want to give you a plan to  help you remember what you've learned. Of course,  

like always, I have created a free PDF worksheet  for you that you can download right now. It will  

include all of these tricks for remembering  words that you want to use in conversations,  

all of the sample sentences and at the bottom of  the free PDF worksheet, you can answer Vanessa's  

challenge question. There's a link in the  description and you can download it right now. 

All right. So, what is the big trick to  remembering words that you want to use  

in conversations? The most important thing is  to have a lot of input and a lot of output in  

different ways. So, I have created four steps and  we are going to use each of these four steps today  

to help you remember some important phrases. Let's  imagine that you want to remember this phrase,  

ever since. Maybe you heard me use it in a video.  "I found Vanessa's English lesson six months ago,  

and I've been passionate about English ever  since." Oh, this is a great phrase. You want  

to be able to use it too, but when you have an  English conversation, you know that you're just  

going to forget it. So what can you do? Well,  let's go through the four steps so that you  

can remember this lovely phrase, ever since. Step number one is to look up the word in a  

dictionary. You need to know the basic meaning.  I recommend using an English dictionary.  

If this is too tricky for you, maybe you  are a pretty low beginner, it's okay to use  

a translated dictionary. But if you are a little  bit above a beginner, if you can understand this  

lesson in English, I recommend using an English  dictionary. This way you are immersing yourself  

in English. So, look it up in the dictionary. In  your notebook, write down the definition. "Oh,  

ever since means from that moment. Okay.  But I need a little bit more than that." 

So, you can use a pronunciation dictionary or  a dictionary in context, such as this website,  

YouGlish. YouGlish is awesome because you can  type any phrase and it will find somewhere  

that uses this phrase in a video. Beautiful,  you've got context, you've got pronunciation,  

you've got some kind of interest because there's  a topic. So, let's watch a clip from YouGlish,  

where you'll see ever since used. Youglish: 

Ever since I was probably five years old,  I always wanted to work with animals.  

Ever since I was probably five years old,  I always wanted to work with animals. 

Vanessa: Excellent. Now, that you have the definition,  

you've watched it on YouGlish, you can make your  own sentence in your notebook. So, you might say,  

"Ever since I found Vanessa's lessons, I  have been passionate about English." Lovely.  

Let's go on to step number two, which is to  listen for that phrase in movies, TV shows,  

or songs. These common phrases come up all the  time, so when you can hear them, you'll get  

more context for how to use them and you won't  forget them. Let's take a look at a quick clip  

from a movie called Ernest Saves Christmas, where  you'll hear the phrase, ever since. Let's watch. 

Actor: Christmas is just about my favorite time.  

Ever since I was a little kid, I always  felt like it was my own personal holiday.  

Christmas is just about my favorite time. Ever  since I was a little kid, I always felt like it  

was my own personal holiday. Vanessa: 

You heard him say, "Ever since I was a little  kid, I felt like Christmas was my own personal  

holiday." Ever since I was a little kid. So,  at that moment, from that moment, he has always  

felt like Christmas was his own personal holiday,  basically for his whole life. Let's take a look  

at this in a song. Unfortunately, I can't play  this song for you, because YouTube will have some  

problems with my video. But in this Harry Styles  song, he says, "I've been praying ever since New  

York." Okay, well, he went to New York City and  something happened and he has needed to pray from  

that moment, from that trip until now. Ever since  New York, I've been praying. I've been praying,  

ever since New York. Great. You've got more  input by finding it, listening for it in media. 

Let's go on to step number three. Step number  three is to look for this phrase in a book.  

Are you noticing a theme  here? The more input you have,  

the easier it will be to remember this phrase.  So, let's take a look at a quote from a book  

that uses ever since. I'm going to read this  phrase for you here, author Rupi Kapur says,  

"I felt like you threw me so far from  myself, I've been trying to find my way back  

ever since." So he was in a relationship  that really made him feel unsteady and  

when that relationship ended, he's been trying  to find himself again. So, he says, "I've been  

trying to find my way back to myself ever since."  So, since that person through him so far, it's a  

little poetic here, he's been trying to find his  way back ever since from that moment. Beautiful. 

All right. And step number four is to use  it in a conversation. When you have been  

focusing on the phrase, ever since, in books, in  movies, in TV shows, in YouGlish, in a dictionary,  

writing those sentences down, it is in your mind.  It is stuck in your mind. So, you can consciously,  

this means you make the decision to use this  phrase the next time you have a conversation.  

So, you might say, "I started watching cartoons in  English when I was a child. And I've been excited  

about English ever since." If someone asks you,  "Oh, your English is pretty good. How did you get  

started learning English?" You could use this  phrase. "Oh, well, I've been watching cartoons  

since I was a kid. And I've been excited about  English ever since." From the moment I was a child  

until now and it's continuing into  the future. Ever since, success,  

you have used this phrase in a conversation. All right, now that we've learned ever since,  

let's learn a second expression  using these four steps, just to help  

reinforce how it works. The next expression is,  to seal the deal, to seal the deal. You might say,  

"Yeah, I've been kind of interested in English for  a couple years, but when I found Vanessa's lessons  

that sealed the deal." Oh, what could this mean?  You might have heard me use this expression in my  

videos, but now you want to dig deeper and use  it yourself. So, let's follow these four steps. 

Step number one is to look it up in the  dictionary. So, you look it up in the dictionary  

and you see that it means to make something  official. It wasn't official before and now  

it's official. But how is this really used? So,  you look it up on YouGlish to get some ideas.  

Let's watch one of those clips. Youglish: 

Want to become an astrophysicist? Hopefully  this video will seal the deal, either that you  

definitely should, or definitely should not.  Want to become an astrophysicist? Hopefully  

this video will seal the deal, either that you  definitely should, or definitely should not. 

Vanessa: All right, now you have a little more  

context. You've heard the pronunciation. Now, it's  time to make your own sentence. You might say,  

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to take this English  course, but after reading the reviews, that sealed  

the deal." It made it official. I decided to join  the course. And just a little note, both of these  

expressions today, ever since and seal the deal,  are expressions that you will learn in my course,  

The Fearless Fluency Club. I hope that this review  will seal the deal for you. Our member Gely said,  

"This is the best course I've ever had." I'm  so happy that she found a great course that's  

a good fit for her. And I hope it could be a good  fit for you too. If you want to express yourself  

completely and speak English confidently, expand  your vocabulary, this is the place for you. 

You'll be able to use real American  English vocabulary, so that you can  

say exactly what you want to say. You'll be  able to use common phrasal verbs for daily life,  

so that you can speak like an American. And you'll  be able to use American English pronunciation,  

so that you can speak clearly and understandably.  There is a link in the description where you  

can join The Fearless Fluency Club and get a $60  discount, that is in the link in the description.  

So, if you want to join in another place, you  might pay full price. But if you click the link  

in the description, you'll get to save $60. I hope  you can join me and thousands of other motivated  

English learners in The Fearless Fluency Club. All right, let's continue learning, to seal the  

deal, with step number two. Step number two for  remembering new words is to listen for that word  

or phrase in a movie, a TV show or a song. This  expression, to seal the deal, was used in the  

famous movie Wedding Crashers. Let's watch a quick  clip, listen for the expression, to seal the deal,  

and then we'll talk about it. Actor: 

This is completely against the rules. You have a  wedding and a reception to seal the deal. Period.  

This is completely against the rules. You have a  wedding and a reception to seal the deal. Period. 

Vanessa: You heard a guy,  

very emphatically, a little angry, say, "You have  a wedding and a reception to seal the deal." Well,  

when you get married, it's pretty official, right?  And most people in the US will have a wedding,  

this is a ceremony, something official, and then  a reception, usually there's eating something,  

sometimes there's dancing and that seals the deal,  that makes it official. You have a wedding and a  

reception to seal the deal and you're married. Great. So, let's move on to step number three,  

which is to look for this phrase in a book that  you're reading. Kerri Walsh used this phrase,  

she says, "We want to seal the deal that we are  the best team that's ever happened." Okay. They  

don't want any doubt in anyone's mind that  they are the best team. "We want to seal the  

deal that we are the best team." And when you see  that phrase in the book, you'll say, "Oh, I know  

that phrase, oh, what is that? Seal the deal,  seal the deal that we're the best team. There's  

no certainty. This is absolutely the way it is.  It's official. Yes. I learned that phrase." So,  

it's another way to add that to your memory.  All right, let's go on to step number four. 

Step number four is to use it in a conversation.  So, let's imagine that you took a new job.  

You might say, "Yeah, I had an interview  for a job and I wasn't so sure about it,  

but after learning more about the company and  meeting the boss and some of the employees,  

I decided to seal the deal and join the company."  Okay. You decided to take the job. You could say,  

"I decided to take the job." Or you could use  this beautiful phrase, seal the deal. "I decided  

to seal the deal and take the job." Lovely. So, how did you do, I hope that you can  

remember those two phrases, ever since and seal  the deal, because we followed these four steps.  

You can take this knowledge into your English  learning and follow these steps with any phrase.  

I recommend downloading the free PDF worksheet  that goes with this lesson, so that you never  

forget these four steps and you can see several  examples and sample sentences. At the bottom of  

the free PDF worksheet, you can answer Vanessa's  challenge question. I hope this will help you to  

have some courage in your English as you speak. Well, thank you so much for learning English with  

me and I'll see you again next Friday for a new  lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye. The next  

step is to download the free PDF worksheet for  this lesson. With this free PDF, you will master  

today's lesson and never forget what you have  learned. You can be a confident English speaker.  

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel  for a free English lesson every Friday, bye.