Understand FAST English Conversations [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're 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 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 lesson 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. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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  U.S. 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 will 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  

U.S. 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 U.S.  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 U.S.  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 join 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 use  the norm to talk about something that feels  

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

Let's continue. "Yeah, that's kind of typical  of the U.S. 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 U.S.,  

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 their 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. though,  

that people do do things differently. Margie: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

Not everyone follows the same pattern. 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 too,  

by the end of the month, you will have  analyzed 30 different conversations with  

11 native English speakers and learned over  90 new vocabulary expressions in just 5 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 0 through 30. On day 0, 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.