THINK and SPEAK in English

are you ready to think and speak in English today  let's do it if you have ever been watching YouTube  

on your phone and then looked at the clock and  realized that 2 hours passed by just like that  

well today's lesson is for you you're going to  learn how to think and speak in English about  

technology and also about your age hi I'm Vanessa  from speak englishwith vanessa. comom and like  

always I have created a free pdf worksheet for  you with all of today's important vocabulary  

definitions sample sentences and at the bottom  of this worksheet you can answer a quiz to test  

yourself to see if you really learned everything  from today's English lesson you can click the  

link in the description to download that  free pdf worksheet today all right let's  

get started thinking and speaking in English  about our first topic which is technology let's  

go in this lesson I'm going to tell you a little  story about my journey with using technology and  

I will explain some key vocabulary along the way I  hope that you too will feel confident thinking and  

speaking in English about the topic of technology  by the end of this lesson let's start with the  

story so I need to watch YouTube for work but I  would often times log on to YouTube for work and  

end up watching t tons of other videos unrelated  to work it was a time suck can you guess what this  

word time suck means take a look at this sentence  I removed all unnecessary apps from my phone  

because they were just a Time suck we can kind  of Imagine a vacuum sucking away your time and  

that's what it is it's just something that wastes  your time I was wasting time on YouTube it was  

a Time suck for me I was developing a Reliance on  technology because I felt like it was important  

for my job but was it really this word Reliance  is talking about being dependent on something it's  

good to be dependent on some things I am dependent  on my family or I rely on my family but the way  

that I just used it a Reliance on Tech technology  you kind of get the sense that I don't want to be  

reliant on technology have you ever said something  like this I realized that I have a Reliance on  

technology when I use Google Maps to get anywhere  Google Maps has saved me so many times I have a  

Reliance on Google Maps technology all right  let's go to the next part of the story but the  

thing was I couldn't stay focused using the apps  that I thought I needed for work there were too  

many distractions let's take a look at this fun  expression the thing is or the thing was I love  

expressions like this because Advanced English  speakers and native English speakers use these all  

the time but I feel like English Learners don't  really integrate these into daily conversation so  

here's your chance to be able to use this we  use the thing is or the thing was to give an  

introduction to a topic or maybe like a summary of  a topic so let me give you another example I know  

that I need to get healthier but the thing is I  don't like to work out so we're kind of narrowing  

the topic here I know I need to get healthy  but the thing is here's my introduction to the  

problem the summary of the problem I don't like  to work out and that's how I used it when I was  

talking about technology the thing is my summary  or my introdu of the problem the thing is I just  

couldn't stay focused and why because the next  word there were too many distractions this is  

the problem with the internet right there are too  many distractions if you've ever worked online I'm  

sure that distractions have been a problem for you  what are distractions well they are things that  

are trying to take your attention away from what  you need to be focusing on right now you need to  

be focusing on this English lesson on on YouTube  but do you know what there are recommended videos  

there are other things online everything might be  popping up and moving there's so many distractions  

that it's hard to stay focused and learn English  I know it's hard to stay focused but we need to  

push aside distractions and I'm going to give you  a solution for this in just a minute telling you  

about what I did let's move on to the story even  worse my bad Tech habits were making me miss out  

on real life interaction actions with my friends  and family this word real life interactions notice  

the pronunciation here interactions the tea has  been completely cut out real life interactions  

this is talking about connecting with people in  real life the people who are at the table with  

you the people who are in your classroom these  are the people tangible people around you not  

the things that are going on online it's a problem  when whenever I heard a notification on my phone  

bling I felt like I needed to check it but the  problem was I wasn't being present and I needed  

to do something about it this word notification  is highly linked to technology nowadays we get  

lots of notifications on our phone all the time  it's such a pain what about this being present  

well you probably know what a present present  is like a gift I gave a present to my friend on  

their birthday but that's not what we're talking  about we are talking about your body and your  

mind being physically there in the moment you are  being present you're not thinking about something  

else you're not worrying about something else  you are being present and that's the problem  

with our phones it's hard to be present when we're  looking at our phones and technology so what's the  

solution well I decided to read a book called  digital minimalism and it inspired me to add a  

block on my phone so that I could only use YouTube  for a specific amount of time at a specific amount  

of time per day I like this expression inspired me  it gave you some inspiration to make some change  

in your life this book inspired me it really made  me want to make a change his descriptions were  

great his analogies were great his story was great  and reading this book inspired me to what add a  

block you might also hear this called blocker add  a Blocker on my phone there's certain apps I use  

app Block but there are plenty of others that  will have you set a type of plan I want to only  

use YouTube from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. each  day maybe this is something that you need for  

work like me so this is my working time and I only  can watch YouTube during that time so it makes me  

Focus because the block is restricting my access  and also 9:00 a.m. is when my new YouTube videos  

come out so you're able to focus and study English  at this time each Friday I hope so and not give in  

to all the distractions the most useful thing is  that the block turns off all apps at night so that  

I don't start Doom scrolling or get sucked into  news articles late at night has this ever happened  

to you you're looking at something and then all  of a sudden the internet shows you terrible things  

happening around the world oh no bad bad bad  and you have to click on it you have to know  

what it is so you start reading more and more bad  things this is Doom scrolling and unfortunately  

it's something that social media does really  well because as humans we want to click on bad  

things we want to find out all of the terrible  things that are happening so it brings a lot of  

attention and eyeballs to social media but it's  not good for us as humans to be Doom scrolling  

and feel really anxious the other expression  that I used is to get sucked into something  

here again we're talking about imagine a vacuum  our attention and our brain is being sucked into  

these news articles or whatever else you might  be looking at and all of a sudden 3 hours passes  

just like that and we haven't really noticed the  world around us we're not being present this app  

Block was a GameChanger I felt free finally from  the pool of unlimited media I'm more productive  

during my workday and I'm more present when  it comes to time with my family and friends  

and you know what I can even sleep better at  night I love this word GameChanger it's such a big  

expression that means everything changed because  of someone or something so this simple app on my  

phone this app Block was a GameChanger it changed  everything for my experience using media it was  

a game Cher you might even say that about my  English lessons Vanessa's English lessons were a  

GameChanger for my English learning Journey all of  a sudden I felt like English was possible it was  

fun it was enjoyable I had a plan great it was a  game changer I also used the word productive when  

you are productive you can achieve more so it's  great to be productive at work when you're trying  

to clean your house you want to be productive  and not distracted of course you don't need to  

be productive all the time sometimes it's nice to  just go have a picnic outside and spend time with  

friends you're not creating something and working  and being productive no you're just enjoying life  

but it's important to be productive when you want  to be productive and did you notice that I used  

the word present again I could be present with  the people who mattered the my friends and family  

I was present with them and most importantly  I was able to set a good example for my kids  

who are growing up with more technology than I  could ever have imagined having as a kid when I  

was a kid there was a TV and a phone on the wall  and that was it but kids nowadays are growing up  

with the possibility of so much technology and  I think this role setting is really important  

I use the word most importantly because to me I  think this is one of the most important things  

as a parent that I can do my habits affect me but  most importantly they also affect ffect the young  

people who I'm trying to raise into good adults  when you're a parent you try to set a good example  

or even just as a human you try to set a good  example you don't throw your trash on the ground  

you put it in the trash can why of course to help  the Earth but also to set a good example you're  

trying to be a good citizen a good parent a good  human and I also used this wonderful verb phrase  

could have ever imagined or we can switch it could  ever have imagined this is obviously another big  

full expression here I said more technology than  I could ever have imagined maybe you can even use  

this for your English learning Journey as well you  might say when I was taking English classes as a  

child occasionally we watched a VHS in English  but it was so limited now there are more English  

videos than I could ever have imagined when I was  a kid right now there are really unlimited videos  

that you can watch in English and I hope that  this one is useful to you and finally I want to  

show my kids and anyone else that technology is  a great tool that you can use when you establish  

boundaries this phrase establish boundaries is the  key for pretty much everything in life you need to  

establish boundaries with technology with your  work with your relationships with yourself it  

is important to establish boundaries this means  that you're setting limits or guidelines you not  

just saying everything's okay no instead you  are establishing boundaries in a relationship  

maybe your relationship with technology and  for me it was really useful to have this app  

Block that was able to help help me establish  boundaries with technology so now I feel a lot  

healthier and I'm able to use it in a better  way well I hope that you felt inspired to focus  

when you are using technology so that you can  really learn English let's talk about our next  

topic which is age everyone grows older and how  can we talk about it well let's learn how to do  

it in English let's go are you ready to get  started let's start with the story recently  

I went to the grocery store to buy some wine and  the 16-year-old cashier asked to check my ID okay  

so I don't know if this 16-year-old cashier was  actually 16 years old but I wanted to introduce  

you to this useful way of describing age do you  notice something about this expression there are  

two hyphens 16 hyphen year hyphen old cashier  this is an adjective describing cashier so we  

could say my 4-year-old son loves snakes it's true  he loves all kinds of snakes and here I'm using it  

as an adjective to describe what to describe  son my son my 4-year-old son the 16-year-old  

cashier now there is another way to talk about  age which you'll see in an upcoming sentence  

so keep this in mind and let's go on to the next  part of the story in the US you'll get carded if  

you look younger than 50 years old they're pretty  strict about underage drinking do you know this  

lovely phrase to get carded it doesn't mean that  they're giving me a greeting card happy Birthday  

Vanessa no instead it just means that the cashier  is checking my ID to make sure that I'm old enough  

to buy something usually it's tobacco or alcohol  so if you look under the age of 50 you will get  

carded most likely they'll say can I see your  ID or do you have an ID sometimes they'll say  

what year were you born in if they're pretty sure  that you're over the age of 21 which is the legal  

drinking age in the US but usually you'll get  carded and sometimes I know I have some older  

neighbors there 55 years old when they go to buy  alcohol and they get carded they get so excited  

you think that I'm under 21 years old yes I will  show you my ID no problem and this is a a big part  

of American culture that they are strict about  underage drinking that doesn't mean that people  

underage don't drink they definitely do but  this is just the legal system remember how we  

just talked about 16 year old cashier take a look  at the phrase I just used 50 years old what's the  

difference between these two 16y old cashier and  50 years old it's the S and there's a Hy hyphens  

in the first one so here take a look at how we're  going to grammatically use the second one he is  

50 years old I am 5 100 years old amazing so here  we are going to be using the S when we are simply  

stating an age he is 50 years old but we could say  he is a 50y old man notice how we added man to the  

end and we need those hyphens when we're adding  the noun at the end lots of ways to talk about age  

okay let's continue with the story and see what  happened at the grocery store well the girl looked  

at my ID and said oh my mom was born in 1987 too  what I have never felt so old I know that 36 years  

old is not old but it made me feel old let's  talk about this phrase to feel old I know that  

36 years old old is not really old but it made me  feel old so here we have a discrepancy between my  

true age and how I feel I think this has happened  to everyone at some point maybe you're watching a  

professional sport and you realize oh everyone  playing that professional sport is younger than  

me what there becomes a turning point when you're  becoming wiser more mature and older along the way  

so you might say I remember when my cousins were  born and now they're graduating from high school  

it makes me feel so old all right let's continue  with the story yes I felt old but I know that age  

is just a number it's all about your mindset and  your creaky knees right this phrase might exist  

in your native language as well age is just a  number maybe if you are 75 years old old you  

might feel extremely old or you might feel young  and vibrant excited about the world curious and  

interested well it's just a mindset usually so  we could say age is just a number all right let's  

continue for me I hope that as I age despite what  my body does I'll continue to be young at heart  

did you notice that I used this word differently  than usual ual I said I hope that as I age I used  

it as a verb usually the word age is a noun right  what is your age but here we're talking about to  

age which means simply to get older so you might  say something like this everyone ages it's just  

a part of life isn't that true everyone ages a  lovely verb the next phrase about age I'd like to  

introduce you to is this one to be young at heart  I know that as we age and as we get older life  

happens there are difficult and heavy things that  happen to us so how can we stay young at heart  

take a look at this sentence in my opinion being  around young children helps you to stay young  

at heart you enjoy playing you can laugh at the  silly things that they do it keep keeps you young  

at heart all right let's continue with the story  I hope I'll always be curious and interested in  

the world it's never too late to learn something  new like English I love this phrase it's never  

too late we can use this about growing older about  aging it's never too late to learn English I know  

a lot of my students are retired now you all of a  sudden have this free time and you want to invest  

it in in yourself being curious and interested  in the world improving yourself keeping your  

mind active it's never too late to learn English  but we can also use this phrase for a lot of other  

things as well my family loves to plant things  including trees well trees take a long time to  

grow and yes I wish I had planted trees 10 years  ago but I could use this phrase it's never too  

late to plant a tree start today and in 50 years  it will be a big mature tree it's never too late  

all right let's continue here's my advice as your  English teacher don't listen to all those negative  

people who say that you can't teach an old dog  new tricks does this phrase exist in your native  

language unfortunately this is quite a negative  phrase that's usually meant to discourage people  

or if you feel like you're not learning something  fast enough you might use this and say I got my  

first cell phone last week and I just can't  figure it out I guess you can't teach an old  

dog new tricks but the truth is you can keep your  mind open your style of learning might be slightly  

different your results might be slightly different  but do you know what it is worth it to keep your  

mind active and always learning new things that  interest you all right let's continue a lot of my  

older and wiser students tell me that they are  learning English in order to keep their mind young  

what a great idea I love it this phrase to keep  your mind young means that even though your body  

is getting older maybe your body is not capable of  the same agile fast difficult things that you used  

to do when you were younger your mind can stay  young and active there are a lot of way that you  

can do this the number one way is to speak English  with Vanessa of course but the other ways that you  

can keep your mind young are doing puzzles trying  to figure out different problems that you can  

solve try a new kind of art try some painting  maybe make something with Clay these types of  

things can help to keep your mind young and fresh  I want to share a quote with you about age and  

growing older by George Bernard Shaw the author  it's this we don't stop playing because we grow  

older we grow older because we stop playing of  course you can't stop the Aging of your body but  

here he's talking about the Aging of the mind if  you continue playing enjoying things finding the  

joy in the little moments of Life your mind will  stay young wonderful idea well congratulations on  

learning how to think and speak in English about  technology and your age and now I have a question  

for you let me know in the comments how old were  you when you got your first cell phone I think for  

me I was maybe 19 or 20 years old let me know in  the comments how old were you when you got your  

first cell phone and I can't wait to see what you  have to say don't forget to download the free PDF  

worksheet with all of today's important vocabulary  sample sentences and you can take the quiz at the  

bottom of the worksheet you can click on the  link in the description to download that free  

pdf worksheet today thanks 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  but wait do you want more I recommend watching  

this video next where you can speak with me for 2  hours including learning about how to speak about  

when you have truly fallen in love let's watch  that video to find out and I'll see you there