🚀Understand FAST English: Advanced Listening Lesson

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

Are you ready to understand fast English conversations?

Yes, let's talk about it.

Speaking naturally and fluently is a great skill to have, but if you can't understand

what the other person is saying, you're going to have a big problem.

Today I want to give you my top tip for understanding fast English conversations.

You are going to learn, number one, how to understand fast English conversations.

Number two, we will practice this method together, get ready.

And number three, I will show you how to continue using this method to level up your skills.

And like always, I have created a free PDF worksheet that includes all of today's listening

tips, pronunciation, and vocabulary, so that you never forget what you are about to learn.

You can click on the link in the description to download this free PDF worksheet today.

So how can you understand fast English conversations?

Can you learn just like a child, if you just watch English TV 24/7, will you eventually

understand?

Well, you might, but it also might take 10 years.

You probably don't want to wait 10 years.

You want to understand fast English conversations now.

So what's the trick?

You need to study and analyze fast English conversations, try to understand each word,

and then you can use that same sentence structure and vocabulary yourself in your own conversations.

And that is exactly what we're going to do today.

We're going to analyze a short English conversation and you will learn some new idioms, phrasal

verbs, expressions, grammatical points so that you can use them yourself and you'll

understand them in fast conversations.

So get a pen, pencil, or piece of paper ready.

Let's study.

We will be using my four step listening method.

Step number one is to listen to a fast real English conversation.

This is exactly the speed that native or advanced English speakers use.

You will hear Margie, who is my mother-in-law, speaking to me about a unique way that she

educated her children when they were younger.

Then step two is we will listen to a slow version of this conversation.

My husband, Dan and I, are going to say the exact same words that you heard in the fast

conversation, but we'll slow it down and I wonder if it will be easier for you to understand.

Step three is to write everything that you hear.

Write from the fast conversation, use the slow conversation.

I want you to test your listening skills and write down what you hear.

Step number four is to check your writing.

As you look at the transcript and your writing, you might realize, "Oh, I didn't understand

that word because in fast conversation it's linked, it's reduced, and maybe it's just

cut off and I didn't understand that that's really how people speak.

And now I see the light."

You will also catch new vocabulary words that maybe you've never heard before, so we'll

also review three keywords from this conversation.

This lesson is a sample of my course, the 30-Day English Listening Challenge, where

you will use the four step listening method each day.

Each day you will receive a new lesson and this will help you to level up your listening

skills and finally understand fast English conversations.

Thousands of English learners around the world have joined the listening challenge, and some

of them have told me that at the beginning it was really tough, but as time went on,

it got easier and easier.

So if today's lesson seems tricky for you, don't worry.

It's your first lesson.

I hope that you can join us.

There's a link in the description and it will get easier and easier for you over time.

Let's take a look at the worksheet so that you can see exactly what you need to do.

Here's the conversation outline.

First you will hear Margie's voice, then my voice, then hers, and so on.

If you have a piece of paper, I recommend writing M, V, M, V and so on so that you can

prepare yourself to write what you're going to hear.

This listen is day 16 of the listening challenge, but today it's a free sample for you.

Are you ready?

It's time for the fast English conversation clip with Margie.

We're going to listen to it three times and I challenge you to write down exactly what

you hear.

If you need to repeat this section again and again and listen to it 10 times, that's no

problem, but I want you to be active.

Are you ready?

Let's listen and I want you to write.

Let's go.

One quick thing that I forgot to mention is that we will be going through three segments

in this special video.

The first segment is where we will practice understanding a fast conversation with my

mother-in-law, Margie, and then we will go through another fast conversation, a little

more advanced, a little more challenging with Christopher.

And finally, at the end of this lesson, I'm going to give you my top five tips to help

you understand fast English conversation.

These tools will guide you and help you in your English journey.

All right, let's get started with the first clip and meet my mother-in-law, Margie.

Margie: I homeschooled my children and that was a

big thing way back when.

Vanessa: Not the norm.

Margie: Not the norm.

Vanessa: Yeah, that's kind of typical of the US though,

that people do do things differently.

Margie: Yeah.

Vanessa: Not everyone follows the same pattern.

Margie: I homeschooled my children and that was a

big thing way back when.

Vanessa: Not the norm.

Margie: Not the norm.

Vanessa: Yeah, that's kind of typical of the US though,

that people do do things differently.

Margie: Yeah.

Vanessa: Not everyone follows the same pattern.

Margie: I homeschooled my children and that was a

big thing way back when.

Vanessa: Not the norm.

Margie: Not the norm.

Vanessa: Yeah, that's kind of typical of the US though,

that people do do things differently.

Margie: Yeah.

Vanessa: Not everyone follows the same pattern.

Did you feel like that was too fast?

Well, native and advanced English speakers can understand every word of this conversation,

and I want you to be able to do that too.

Because when you visit the US or you have a business meeting in English or you talk

with friends in English, people will speak this fast with this type of English.

Let's go to step two of my four step listening method where you'll listen to the slow version.

My husband, Dan and I, are going to say each exact word that you heard in the conversation

with Margie, but we are going to slow it down.

This is not how people speak in real life, but I want you to see if you can hear each

word and then we're going to go back to the fast version afterwards because I think you'll

be able to understand a lot more at the end.

All right, let's listen to the slow version three times.

Dan: I homeschooled my children and that was a

big thing way back when.

Vanessa: Not the norm.

Dan: Not the norm.

Vanessa: Yeah, that's kind of typical of the US though,

that people do do things differently.

Dan: Yeah.

Vanessa: Not everyone follows the same pattern.

Dan: I homeschooled my children and that was a

big thing way back when.

Vanessa: Not the norm.

Dan: Not the norm.

Vanessa: Yeah, that's kind of typical of the US though,

that people do do things differently.

Dan: Yeah.

Vanessa: Not everyone follows the same pattern.

Dan: I homeschooled my children and that was a

big thing way back when.

Vanessa: Not the norm.

Dan: Not the norm.

Vanessa: Yeah, that's kind of typical of the US though,

that people do do things differently.

Dan: Yeah.

Vanessa: Not everyone follows the same pattern.

Did you write everything that you heard in that slow version?

If you joined the 30-Day English Listening Challenge course, you can download all of

these audio files and PDF files so that you can study them at any time, anywhere, they're

yours to have.

This here on YouTube is just a sample.

Now it's time to go to step four, which is check the transcript to see how you did.

We're going to take a look at the transcript and also go over three key vocabulary words

that were used in this quick conversation.

I homeschooled my children and that was a big thing way back when.

This expression, way back when, is beautiful to use when we're talking about something

that feels like a long time ago, maybe 20 or 30 years ago is not really a long time

ago, but it feels like a long time ago.

You could say there was no internet way back when.

Really, it wasn't even a lifetime ago, but it feels like that was a long time ago.

Let's continue.

Not the norm.

Not the norm, this expression, the norm, as you might imagine, is a shortened version

of normal, but we used the norm to talk about something that feels common.

For example, in the US it's the norm to drive a car wherever you need to go.

Let's continue.

Yeah, that's kind of typical of the US though, that people do do things differently.

Oh my goodness.

What in the world is happening with do, do?

Let's take a look.

Let's look at the second do first.

Here is the phrase to do things differently that do goes with the word things.

They do things differently in Japan.

They do things differently in Argentina, and that first do is used as emphasis.

People do do things differently.

In the US we use this word do to emphasize.

I do like sushi, I do want to study English.

And here the second verb just happens to be do.

So it sounds a little strange, but it's correct.

Let's continue.

Yeah.

Not everyone follows the same pattern.

You might not have noticed Margie saying, yeah, but she said that in the middle of when

I was speaking and this type of speech is very common.

We often interject while someone's speaking to show that we're listening.

If you didn't understand those three words when Margie and I used them, it's probably

because they're new vocabulary for you.

So this course is an excellent chance for you to level up your listening skills and

level up your vocabulary at the same time.

Now that we've used the four step listening method, we've listened to the fast version,

the slow version, you've written down what you've heard and we've checked it with the

transcript.

Now it's time for the final exam.

We're going to listen to the fast version again, and I want you to listen for each of

the points that you might have missed before, some of that new vocabulary and each word

that we say so that you can speak like that too.

All right?

Are you ready to listen to the fast version?

You'll be amazed at how much you understand now.

Let's listen.

Margie: I homeschooled my children and that was a

big thing way back when.

Vanessa: Not the norm.

Margie: Not the norm.

Vanessa: Yeah, that's kind of typical of the US though,

that people do do things differently.

Margie: Yeah.

Vanessa: Not everyone follows the same pattern.

Margie: I homeschooled my children and that was a

big thing way back when.

Vanessa: Not the norm.

Margie: Not the norm.

Vanessa: Yeah, that's kind of typical of the US though,

that people do do things differently.

Margie: Yeah.

Vanessa: Not everyone follows the same pattern.

Margie: I homeschooled my children and that was a

big thing way back when.

Vanessa: Not the norm.

Margie: Not the norm.

Vanessa: Yeah, that's kind of typical of the US though,

that people do do things differently.

Margie: Yeah.

Vanessa: Not everyone follows the same pattern.

How did you do with this four step listening method to improve your listening skills and

understand fast English conversations?

I hope you enjoyed it because we are about to do it again.

You will meet Christopher.

Christopher speaks a little faster than Margie.

Christopher uses different linking, different expressions.

He has a different way of talking, so I challenge you to listen to his fast conversation.

Level up your listening skills.

You can do it.

Let's watch.

Jonathan: So, men's game went great, and I'm sure I

aced that one.

And the women's game's coming up, and it's going to be easy.

So I went out there and it wasn't.

It was the worst game I've ever had up until that point.

Vanessa: No way.

Jonathan: I had, I think, five red cards, three yellow

cards, police were called.

And so, I had to terminate the game.

I've probably done, you know, eight, nine, 10,000 games, and I've only terminated maybe

five of them.

So, men's game went great, and I'm sure I aced that one.

And the women's game's coming up, and it's going to be easy.

So I went out there and it wasn't.

It was the worst game I've ever had up until that point.

Vanessa: No way.

Jonathan: I had, I think, five red cards, three yellow

cards, police were called.

And so, I had to terminate the game.

I've probably done, you know, eight, nine, 10,000 games, and I've only terminated maybe

five of them.

So, men's game went great, and I'm sure I aced that one.

And the women's game's coming up, and it's going to be easy.

So I went out there and it wasn't.

It was the worst game I've ever had up until that point.

Vanessa: No way.

Jonathan: I had, I think, five red cards, three yellow

cards, police were called.

And so, I had to terminate the game.

I've probably done, you know, eight, nine, 10,000 games, and I've only terminated maybe

five of them.

Vanessa: Did you feel like that was definitely too

fast?

Well, native English speakers and advanced English learners can understand him.

You're going to hear this type of English when you are traveling to the US, when you're

having business meetings, having conversations with other people.

So I want to help you take this in and understand it.

Let's take a deep breath and we're going to listen to the slow version.

You'll hear me and my husband, Dan, saying the exact same words that you heard me and

Jonathan say, but slowed down a lot.

I hope you'll be able to understand each word more clearly, and this is a great opportunity

if you couldn't write down all of the words before, now you can do that.

Of course, feel free to pause this video as you need to so that you can write everything

and really take advantage of this material.

All right, let's listen to the slow version three times.

Dan: So, men's game went great, and I'm sure I

aced that one.

And the women's game's coming up, and it's going to be easy.

So I went out there and it wasn't.

It was the worst game I've ever had up until that point.

Vanessa: No way.

Dan: I had, I think, five red cards, three yellow

cards, police were called.

And so, I had to terminate the game.

I've probably done, you know, eight, nine, 10,000 games, and I've only terminated maybe

five of them.

So, men's game went great, and I'm sure I aced that one.

And the women's game's coming up, and it's going to be easy.

So I went out there and it wasn't.

It was the worst game I've ever had up until that point.

Vanessa: No way.

Dan: I had, I think, five red cards, three yellow

cards, police were called.

And so, I had to terminate the game.

I've probably done, you know, eight, nine, 10,000 games, and I've only terminated maybe

five of them.

So, men's game went great, and I'm sure I aced that one.

And the women's game's coming up, and it's going to be easy.

So I went out there and it wasn't.

It was the worst game I've ever had up until that point.

Vanessa: No way.

Dan: I had, I think, five red cards, three yellow

cards, police were called.

And so, I had to terminate the game.

I've probably done, you know, eight, nine, 10,000 games, and I've only terminated maybe

five of them.

Vanessa: Did you write everything you heard?

Well, if you join the 30-Day English Listening Challenge, you'll be able to download each

of the lessons each day and go back and review it as many times as you want.

But for this lesson, you can just pause the video if you need to go back.

So how was this?

Was it too fast?

Did the slow version help you?

We're going to go on to the next step, which is taking a look at the transcript and trying

to learn some new words with this.

There are three new words that you're going to learn in each lesson every day, but we're

also going to be taking a look at some trouble sections that might have been difficult for

you.

Let's take a look at the transcript.

So here you have the transcript of our conversation.

I'm going to read it slowly and then go through different things that you can learn from this

short clip.

First, Jonathan says, "So, men's game went great, and I'm sure I aced that one."

You can see at the bottom, there are three vocabulary words that I want you to learn

with each lesson, and this is one of them, to ace something.

That means that you did a great job.

You might say, "I aced my test, or I aced my first day on the job because I did really

well."

So you're talking about doing well.

So he did a great job being a referee for the men's game, but then something bad is

going to happen.

Let's go on to his next sentence, "And the women's games coming up, and it's going to

be easy."

He uses another great expression, to come up.

This is talking about something that's happening soon.

"My birthday is coming up, or Christmas is coming up, the new year is coming up."

It's going to be happening soon.

It's coming up and it's going to be easy.

Let's take a moment to look at the grammar of this sentence.

He says, "The women's game is coming up.

It is going to be easy."

Is he being a referee right then, as I'm having that conversation with him?

You can imagine probably not, this is talking about something that happened in the past,

but why does he use the present tense?

The game is coming up.

It is going to be easy.

Well, this is a storytelling technique in English that sometimes we use the present

tense to talk about something that happened in the past to make the listener feel like

they're right there in the action as it's happening.

So we go back and forth between the present and the past tense when telling a story, and

that's what he does in his next sentence.

He uses the past tense, let's move on.

"So I went out there and it wasn't," he went out to the soccer or football field, and it

wasn't easy.

"It was the worst game I've ever had up until that point."

So he's contrasting the men and the women's game.

The men's game went great, but the women's game was the worst game he had ever had.

I put a little star here beside the word "I've", because this is actually incorrect grammar.

He should have said, "It was the worst game I had ever had up until that point."

But I wanted to highlight this because native speakers sometimes make mistakes when they're

speaking, but they're still understandable, especially when you're speaking quickly or

using a complex verb tense like have, ever had or had ever had.

That can be a little complex, and when you're speaking quickly, sometimes you're not thinking

about it.

So I hope this gives you some peace of mind that sometimes we make mistakes as well.

All right, let's go on to the short phrase that I say in response to his explanation

about the worst game.

I said, "No way."

Am I disagreeing with him?

No, I wasn't there for that game.

I'm not disagreeing with him.

I'm just expressing shock.

So we often use this expression to just say, I'm shocked.

For example, if you are walking down the street, down here in the vocabulary section, and you

find $20 on the sidewalk.

You might tell your friend, "I found $20 on the sidewalk."

And your friend would say, "No way."

They're not disagreeing with you.

They're just saying, "That's shocking.

That's amazing."

So they're being shocked at what you said.

All right, let's go on to the last part of the conversation.

Jonathan says, "I had, I think, five red cards, three yellow cards, police were called.

And so, I had to terminate the game.

I've probably done, you know, eight, nine, 10,000 games, and I've only terminated maybe

five of them."

Here he uses some interesting filler words.

He says, "I think, five red cards."

And then later on he says, "I've probably done, you know, eight, nine, 10,000 games."

This is quite common for conversation that we add into our speech, these kind of filler

expressions.

It's very casual, it's very comfortable, and it's quite normal.

So if you didn't understand everything that Jonathan said during the fast version or even

during the slow version, it's possible that it's because he used some new vocabulary for

you.

So I hope that today you're able to learn that new vocabulary.

What we're going to do now is we are going to go back, listen to that original fast version,

but this time we're going to be looking at the transcript that we just studied.

I want you to listen for his words and also read them at the same time.

I think you'll be pretty amazed that you're actually understanding more than the first

time, because you've studied the fast version, the slow version.

You've analyzed that clip with me so you know some of the different things that are happening,

and now you can finally listen to it and your ears are opened.

So let's listen to that fast clip a couple of times, and I want you to be amazed.

Let's watch.

Jonathan: So, men's game went great, and I'm sure I

aced that one.

And the women's game's coming up, and it's going to be easy.

So I went out there and it wasn't.

It was the worst game I've ever had up until that point.

Vanessa: No way.

Jonathan: I had, I think, five red cards, three yellow

cards, police were called.

And so, I had to terminate the game.

I've probably done, you know, eight, nine, 10,000 games, and I've only terminated maybe

five of them.

So, men's game went great, and I'm sure I aced that one.

And the women's game's coming up, and it's going to be easy.

So I went out there and it wasn't.

It was the worst game I've ever had up until that point.

Vanessa: No way.

Jonathan: I had, I think, five red cards, three yellow

cards, police were called.

And so, I had to terminate the game.

I've probably done, you know, eight, nine, 10,000 games, and I've only terminated maybe

five of them.

So, men's game went great, and I'm sure I aced that one.

And the women's game's coming up, and it's going to be easy.

So I went out there and it wasn't.

It was the worst game I've ever had up until that point.

Vanessa: No way.

Jonathan: I had, I think, five red cards, three yellow

cards, police were called.

And so, I had to terminate the game.

I've probably done, you know, eight, nine, 10,000 games, and I've only terminated maybe

five of them.

Vanessa: So how did you do?

Did you understand Christopher's fast conversation after we used this four step listening method?

I hope so.

Now, it is my pleasure to give you my top five tips to help you understand fast English

conversations.

Digest these, write them down, sleep with it under your pillow.

I hope that this will be useful to you so that you can really finally understand fast

conversations.

Let's watch.

All right, let's get started with the first secret.

Problem number one, don't watch a movie or TV show that you are unfamiliar with or you

only understand 10%.

That's so frustrating.

Instead, apply secret number one.

Watch a movie or TV show that you already know in your native language.

You are already familiar with the story, the characters, possibly even some of the words.

If you need to use English subtitles, go ahead.

But this is a great way to let go of fear, to let go of the frustration.

"I can't understand.

I only understand every couple words and it's just too much."

No, watch something that you already know in your native language.

Have you seen Disney's Frozen in your native language?

Great.

Watch it in English.

Have you seen Forrest Gump in your native language?

Excellent.

Watch it in English.

This is a great way to feel more confident and to improve your listening skills to understand

fast English.

Problem number two, don't study how individual words are pronounced.

Instead, follow secret number two, which will help you to overcome this problem.

And that is study some common linking expressions in English.

For example, if you ask me, "Vanessa, where are you going?"

And I say, "I'm unna go-da the moun'ins."

Maybe you understood a couple parts of this, but do you really understand the linking that

is happening so that when other people say this, who are not your English teacher, you

can get it.

Let's break down this sentence.

"I'm unna go-da the moun'ins."

I'm unna, well, I'm really saying, "I am going to..."

First I'm using a contraction.

I am becomes I'm, and then I am pushing together or linking together, going to, which often

becomes going to.

"I'm gonna take a nap, I'm gonna study English."

But we can reduce it even further and cut off the g and say, "I'm unna...," which is

what I said earlier.

"I'm unna, I'm unna..."

If you're listening for, I am going to, you will not get this.

But if you understand some common linking principles in English, contractions, going

to becomes gonna or becomes unna, your ears will be more aware of it.

Let's go to the last part of that sentence.

"I'm unna go-da the moun'ins."

Go-da the mountains.

Go-da, the word to becomes da.

This is very common after the verb go, go-da the mountains.

"I'm unna go-da school tomorrow."

Go-da school.

"I go-da go to the office."

Go-da to the office.

Excellent.

What's happening with that last word?

Mountains, moun'ins.

Well, often if there is a T plus in sound at the end of a word, we drop the T and kind

of swallow that sound.

Listen to these other words that are very similar.

Button becomes bu'in, bu'in.

Threaten becomes threa'in, threa'in.

And mountain becomes moun'in, moun'in.

Now, you can say this word clearly and say, "I'm going to go to the mountains."

Mountains.

It's okay, but you're going to hear people say, you're going to, I just used that reduction.

You're going to hear people say mountains, and you need to be able to understand it.

We are all focusing on improving your listening skills for comprehension so that you can understand

how people are speaking in daily conversations.

So with this one very simple sentence, you learned some key phrases.

"I'm unna go-da the mountains."

Can you say that with me?

Let's have a little pronunciation practice.

Also, when you improve your pronunciation, you're also improving your listening.

So they're linked together.

Let's say it together.

"I'm unna go-da the mountains.

I'm unna go-da the mountains.

I'm unna go-da the mountains.

I'm unna go-da the mountains."

Lovely.

Problem number three is don't get discouraged.

A lot of English learners try to watch something in fast English or they have a business meeting

where people are speaking so comfortably in English and they're just sitting there fearful.

"Please don't ask me a question.

Please don't call on me to speak."

Because they can't understand the conversation that's happening and this can be really discouraging.

You feel like you'll never be able to actually understand what people are saying.

So we need to just take it slow.

I know we're talking about fast English here, but don't expect yourself to be able to understand

English overnight.

This is a journey.

This is a process.

So with a problem that a lot of English learners have is that they get discouraged too quickly

and they're not realistic about it.

So let's see how secret number three can help you with this.

Secret number three is to take some notes.

Whenever you hear something fast, take a note about it, write it down in a notebook, write

it down on your phone.

And when you learn one new quick phrase every day, this will build and build and build over

time.

So let me help you do this today.

Take a look at this sentence.

"I gotta go."

Well, if you're in a hurry and you're at a friend's house and you look at the time, "I

gotta go.

I'm going to be late."

This is a great phrase to use, but what's happening here?

There are a lot of reductions, a lot of things that are cut out.

We could say, "I have got to go."

This means I need to leave right now.

I have got to go.

But when we reduce that, we cut out, have and got to, becomes gotta, gotta.

But we don't pronounce the T, so we're going to reduce it one more time.

And in American English, the Ts change to a D sound.

Listen, when I say it, "I gotta go.

I gotta go.

I gotta go.

Sorry.

I gotta go.

I'm going to be late.

I gotta go."

Can you say that with me?

"Sorry, I gotta go.

Sorry, I gotta go."

Great.

You just learned one normal and casual and natural reduced English phrase.

You did it, great.

So now I hope you feel a little bit less discouraged because you conquered that mountain.

Mountain.

Problem number four that I see a lot of my English students making is don't just speak

with yourself or your pet.

This is a good starting point, but really to overcome that, secret number four is you

need to speak with someone else.

There is nothing like having a real time conversation with someone.

Do you know what real time means?

It means it's happening at that second.

You can't pause and rewind and go back.

No, if you don't understand at that second, there's real world consequences because you're

going to need them to repeat.

You're going to have to ask them, "Sorry, I didn't catch that.

Can you repeat it?"

Or you're just going to stand there and smile.

So speaking with someone else in a real time conversation is going to test your listening

skills and also help you to find the holes in what's difficult for you.

Maybe you can understand some topics, but other topics, it's too much.

I know that when I was living in France, as my French listening skills grew, I could understand

a lot of people, but for some reason there was the father of my host family.

I could not understand him at all.

There was ways that he was linking or reducing French expressions the way that he was mumbling.

It was so challenging.

And finally, when I could understand him, I felt so proud of myself.

So it is essential to be able to have real-time conversations with someone else.

If you feel like that might be a little too scary for you right now, or maybe you're not

in a situation where you can find someone else to speak with.

A good starting point is to check out my series, Speak with Me.

You can click on the link-up here.

In these videos, I will give you some key vocabulary, some key questions, and we will

have a little mini conversation practice together.

The good thing about this type of practice is that it's kind of real time, but you can

also pause the video and go back and practice it again.

So I hope this will be a good tool to help you with this secret number four, speak with

somebody else.

Problem number five that I see a lot of English learners make is they just watch English lessons

on YouTube like this one.

And while that's great, you can't only do that, you also need to be able to practice

real conversation listening skills, because that's what happens in the real world.

Whether you're watching a TV show, whether you're talking with someone at a hotel, whether

you're talking with a client on the phone, it's not exactly an English teacher who speaks

clearly and understandably and understands that you're an English learner.

Nope.

It's important to step that up.

So if you can already understand me pretty well, maybe you're using subtitles, maybe

not.

That's okay.

What if we added one more person to my conversation?

What if we added someone who speaks a little bit clearly too, like my husband, Dan.

Check out this clip.

See how you feel.

Can you understand generally what we're talking about?

Dan: Can I say my second-worst job?

Vanessa: Yeah, sure.

Dan: Can you guess what it is?

Vanessa: I know you worked at a lot of coffee shops,

but those weren't that bad.

Dan: Working at a coffee shop is good.

Vanessa: Okay.

What was it?

Dan: It's the sharp shooter

Vanessa: Can you explain about that job?

Dan: Yeah.

So I don't know if you've ever seen this in your country, but have you ever been to a

place where somebody takes your picture and then later they try to sell you that picture?

I was that guy.

So we took the same pictures.

It was going onto a boat in on one of the rivers in Pittsburgh.

Vanessa: So you're is kind of like a cruise boat, a

river cruise.

Dan: It's very kitchy though.

Not high class at all.

So people, before they got on the boat, we forced them to stop and go through the line

and we'd take their picture and it was required, but people were like, "I don't want to get

more picture taken."

Vanessa: And everyone had their own cameras and phones.

Dan: And this is, mind you, this is in like 2010

where people already have phones on their cameras and stuff.

I mean, that's at least getting more popular.

Vanessa: They didn't need your picture.

Dan: No.

And so I had to take everybody's picture and then when they got off the boat, I stood at

the side and said, "Hey, come over here, buy this picture."

And they were like $20 for one picture.

Vanessa: Crazy.

Dan: A terrible ripoff.

Even I knew it was a terrible ripoff, just not a worthwhile business at least in 2010

when I was doing that job.

Vanessa: Maybe 10 years before that it would've been

cool.

Dan: It was a viable business 30 years ago.

Vanessa: Maybe that went all right for you.

But what if we added a different speaker who speaks a little bit faster and maybe the topic

isn't so comfortable for you.

Check out this clip and watch what we're saying.

Brandi: You know so there's a lot of different factors

that go into play and it takes...

That's why, especially in this market, it's great to work with a realtor.

Vanessa: We would have had no clue what to do.

I pretty much guarantee we would never have gotten this house without you.

Brandi: I'm so glad it worked out.

It's so cool to see.

I always feel like people land in the right places, even if it's a little tricky, they

lose out on a few houses.

It's always a bummer.

But people always land in the place that they're meant to be.

And I always keep that heart when somebody loses.

It's just knowing that that wasn't the right thing.

Vanessa: That wasn't the destiny that was meant to

happen, another place will come up.

Was it a little bit more challenging?

What about the next step?

What if we took out the video completely and you only listened to our voices?

Check out this quick clip where you are going to only listen to the audio of me speaking

with my friend who's here in that past video, Brandi.

Listen.

Brandi: Well, if it's possible, pay off a car.

You know it's a big chunk of change, but sometimes lenders will say it's more important to pay

off your car than it is to put this towards a down payment.

So sometimes a lender, a good lender again is an important thing because they can help

guide you as to what makes the most sense to help you get the house that you really

want.

Vanessa: So how did you do?

Which part was the most difficult for you?

Let me know in the comments.

I'm curious to know what you have to say.

Now imagine if you continued to improve your listening skills day by day using this four

step listening method for 30 days.

Would your listening skills improve a lot?

Absolutely.

Thousands of English learners around the world have joined the 30-Day English Listening Challenge.

And if you join to by the end of the month, you will have analyzed 30 different conversations

with 11 native English speakers and learn over 90 new vocabulary expressions in just

five to 10 minutes per day.

By the end of the course, your listening skills will have improved a lot, and most importantly,

you will be able to use this information and these expressions and this pronunciation yourself

when you speak in English.

It's great to understand the lessons, but it's most important to be able to take it

into the real world and use it.

That's the key.

The 30-Day English Listening Challenge is open for enrollment right now.

You can click on the link in the description to join me and thousands of other motivated

English learners today.

Let's take a quick sneak peek inside the course website.

When you join the 30-Day English Listening Challenge, you will see day zero through 30.

On day zero, you can find a course guide with my recommended study plan for each day and

a calendar so that you can check off each day when you finish.

You'll feel so proud of yourself when that whole page is filled up with check marks.

Let's take a look at day one.

Here you can see the four step listening method, the fast conversation, the slow conversation,

the worksheet that you can use to fill in what you hear.

And number four is the transcript with three new vocabulary words each day.

A total of 90 new vocabulary words over 30 days.

If you can easily understand my English lessons here on YouTube, but you cannot understand

fast movies and TV shows in English, this is the perfect course for you.

There is a link in the description to join me in the 30-Day English Listening Challenge

today.

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 join the 30-Day English Listening Challenge.

You'll be on the right path to increasing your listening skills and understanding fast

English speakers.

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more free lessons.

Thanks so much.

Bye.