Speak With Me: English Speaking Practice

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

don't feel so great. Could you  help me? Let's talk about it. 

Let's imagine this situation. You are visiting the  US, you're walking down the street and you see me,  

but when you see me, I look like this. I don't  look so great. Do you know what to say to me?  

Could you help me in this situation? Well,  never fear. Today I'm going to help you  

learn how to speak about feeling sick and also  help other people when they're feeling sick. 

We're going to talk about some common questions to  ask when someone is sick and some common questions  

someone might ask you when you're sick. Some  common vocabulary that you can use and also we'll  

have a sample conversation between my husband  Dan and I. You'll see how to talk about this  

and then it will be your turn. You'll have the  chance to speak with me and talk about feeling  

sick. I hope this will boost your confidence and  give you the tools that you need so that when you  

use this in real life, you will feel ready to go. All right, let's get started. To help you never  

forget what you are about to learn  in this lesson, I have created a free  

PDF worksheet that you can download all of today's  questions, vocabularies and sample sentences plus,  

you can answer Vanessa's challenge question at the  bottom of the worksheet. This free PDF is a gift  

to you to help you review and remember everything  that you've learned. You can click on the link in  

the description to download this free PDF today. All right. Let's get started with some common  

questions about health and when you're  feeling sick. Do you feel okay or are  

you feeling okay? You don't look so good, do you  feel okay? I saw you fall, are you feeling okay?  

These are great introduction questions when you  suspect that someone is not feeling their best. 

Where does it hurt? I use this question a lot  with my sons when they fall or get hurt and I  

see their crying. After helping them emotionally  for a moment, I often ask them, where does it  

hurt? Is it your arm, your leg, your stomach, your  head? Where does it hurt? Do you want to sit down?  

Do you want to lie down? If you saw me walking  around the streets not looking so great, this  

would be a great question to ask me. Hey, Vanessa,  I'm glad to meet you, but you don't look so great.  

Are you feeling okay? Do you want to sit down?  Here's a bench. Oh, I would feel so taken care of. 

Have you taken anything for it? If I told you that  I had a headache, you could ask me this question.  

Have you taken anything for it? It means have  you taken any medicine yet. Can you stand?  

Can you wiggle your fingers? Can you  walk? This is sometimes an assessment  

that a doctor or maybe a parent would use. When I was a kid, my parents said this to me  

and I say it to my children as well. It's a good  way to see if they're capable of doing something,  

but I think it also helps your child feel like,  oh, I can wiggle my finger, I'm okay. It's not too  

serious. Can I bring you anything? This is lovely,  you're offering to help. Can I bring you anything?  

Maybe some hot tea. Maybe a hot pad to put  on your back because it hurts. Maybe a chair  

so you can sit down. Can I bring you anything? Our final question is one that the sick person  

can ask. Do I feel hot to you? Maybe if you're  feeling a fever coming on or you're just not  

feeling that great and if you don't have access to  a thermometer nearby, you might ask someone, do I  

feel hot to you? They'll probably put their hand  on your forehead either like this or like this and  

assess roughly if you feel hot which means you  probably have a fever and you're not feeling well. 

All right, let's talk about some  common phrases that you might use  

when you're sick. I feel dizzy. Oh, those flashing  lights are making me feel dizzy. I feel woozy. I  

had the stomach flu last week and this week I'm  still feeling woozy. It's just similar to dizzy,  

but it also means that maybe your stomach doesn't  feel well too. I feel nauseous. This means  

you feel like you're going to throw up. I took  some medicine without eating any food and ugh,  

now I feel nauseous. Notice the pronunciation  here. The S in the middle sounds like ssh,  

nauseous. Nauseous, I hope you don't feel  nauseous. I feel achy. It's kind of continuous  

dull pain, especially if you've been sick  or you have a fever and you're in bed,  

you probably are going to feel just achy all over. I feel clammy. Usually we use this for our hands  

when they're wet or sweaty, but it's kind  of cold. I feel clammy. It doesn't feel  

great. I feel fatigued or lethargic and this  means you feel really tired. It kind of feels  

like you're swimming through the air. I just  can't do anything quickly, I feel lethargic. 

Some general expressions about how you feel.  You might say, I feel a bit under the weather.  

That means you're not feeling well. I feel a  little bit under the weather or just I feel  

under the weather today. I think I'm going  to cancel our get together. I feel under the  

weather. I don't feel so hot. This means I don't  feel well. Ironically, maybe you have fever and  

you actually are hot, but overall, it just means  I don't feel well. I don't feel so hot today. 

Or you might say, I think I'm coming down with  something. To come down with something means that  

you're getting sick. You're getting a virus or  you're just getting some kind of sickness. I think  

I'm coming down with something. It's probably  better for me not to go to the party today.  

If someone else is sick, you can always tell them  get well soon or I hope you feel better soon.  

Both of these phrases are very kind and  it can help to express that you care.  

Get well soon or I hope you feel better soon. All right, now we're going to go through some  

vocabulary of some common problems or some common  sicknesses that you might experience. I have a  

headache, can you please turn that loud music  off? If you have a fever, you should probably stay  

home. I fell and hit my head and now I have some  blurred vision. I should probably call the doctor.  

A bee stung me on my finger and now I have  swelling all over my finger. I think I need  

to take something, I might be allergic. I always  have a stuffy nose or I always have congestion  

in the springtime. Right now when all of the  flowers are blooming, I always have a stuffy nose. 

I was sick last month and now I feel  better, but I still have a little cough.  

I still have a little cough. I don't know what  it's like in your country, but here in the US,  

if you have a little cough and you know that you  don't have COVID, but if you cough in public,  

everyone says, oh, and they feel a little bit  nervous that maybe you're coughing because of  

COVID. In reality, there are many reasons why  someone might cough, but it's still in our  

minds and we're still a little worried about it. I have a sore throat and it hurts to talk today.  

I have a muscle cramp in my leg and it hurts  to walk. A muscle cramp. Notice that the c  

in the word muscle is silent. Do not say  mus-cle. Instead, it's just muscle. My  

muscles are sore or I have a cramp in my muscle. I have a family history of nut allergies. I have  

a family history of... This is a common phrase  you might use at the doctor when the doctor wants  

to know what your parents or your brothers and  sisters or your grandparents had problems with.  

They need to know that to better assess you so you  might use this phrase. I have a family history of  

diabetes. I have a family history of something.  Another way to phrase this is diabetes  

runs in my family. We're not talking about  running. We're just talking about something  

that's gone from generation to generation and a  lot of people in your family have this problem.  

We might say allergies run in my  family. Diabetes runs in my family. 

Next, let's talk about some common vocabulary  for things that might happen to you or someone  

you know. I jammed my finger playing basketball or  I sprained my wrist playing volleyball. I twisted  

my ankle and now it's swollen. I broke my arm  when I fell out of the tree. I tweaked my back  

trying to pick up that heavy box. I cut my finger  by accident with a sharp knife in the kitchen.  

My son tripped and skinned his knee. This  means it's not so serious, it's not a deep  

cut. It just means that a layer of skin has  come off. This happens often to children,  

especially on their knees or the bottoms,  the palms of their hands. You might skin  

your knees or skin the palms of your hands. Oh, I pulled a muscle trying to pick up that heavy  

box. Now I need to sit down and put some ice on  it. I pulled a muscle. If you are a parent, this  

probably happens to you a lot. I always stub my  toe on my kids' toys. Maybe that means we need to  

clean them up more often. If you have ever stubbed  your toe, you know it doesn't feel any good. 

When you have any of these problems, you might  go to the doctor and the doctor might tell you  

to do something. The doctor might tell you to take  some medicine. I have a headache and now I'm going  

to take some medicine. We often sometimes say,  take my medicine so you can either say, I need to  

take my medicine, it's three o'clock or you might  take some medicine if you want to be more general. 

I need to take a Tylenol. I need to take an  ibuprofen. These are the kinds of medicines  

that you might take if you have a headache, if  you have some pain in a specific place and it's  

not a major injury, you might take an  ibuprofen or you might take a Tylenol. 

I feel hot. I think I need to take my temperature.  I need to take my temperature. The doctor said,  

I need to take it easy for a couple days. This  means rest and relax. We also use this phrase  

for someone when they're not sick, just to say  goodbye. You might say, bye, see you later,  

take it easy. This doesn't mean that they  should lay on the couch because they're sick.  

It just means have a good time, have a relaxing  weekend. Take it easy, a very common phrase to say  

goodbye and we can also use this when someone's  sick. Hey, you should really take it easy and  

don't do too much work this weekend. Just stay  on the couch and try to recover. Take it easy. 

When I had the flu, the doctor told me I need to  get a lot of fluids so that I would feel better.  

This could be water, it might be soup, it might be  tea. Some kind of fluids or liquid in our bodies. 

The doctor told me I need to get a box of  Kleenex so that I don't sneeze everywhere  

and get other people sick. In the US, we often use  the brand name Kleenex instead of saying tissue,  

but it's the same thing. You can also say,  can you me a tissue? I need to blow my nose.  

A lot of people say, can you get me  a Kleenex? I need to blow my nose. 

Ah, I cut my finger. I need to get a Band-Aid.  A Band-Aid, this is another brand name that we  

use for a generic item so you could say a bandage,  but in the US a bandage feels very serious. You  

have a big cut, only really a doctor would give  you a bandage. If you have just a small cut,  

you can use a Band-Aid. If you have children,  sometimes a Band-Aid solves many problems. If  

there's just a little cut, but they feel like  it's so serious, a Band-Aid can always help. 

If you have a bigger cut, you might need  to get stitches. Ugh, I really hope I don't  

need to get stitches on my finger, I hate  needles. Have you ever had to get stitches? 

When I was in high school, I broke my wrist  and I needed to get a cast. A cast is very hard  

and it helps your broken bone. For me, it was my  wrist, to feel better within a couple weeks and to  

be able to heal. You might need to get a cast. When you're simply not feeling well,  

you need to make an appointment or make a doctor's  appointment and the doctor can give you a more  

professional assessment better than your  friends and family and doctor Google.  

It's a good idea to make an appointment. Another way to say this is I'm feeling  

a bit under the weather, I think I need to see  the doctor. I think I need to go to the doctor.  

These are all ways to say, I need  to get a professional's opinion. 

How are you feeling? We just covered a lot of  questions in vocabulary that I hope you can  

use in your day daily life. Now it's time  to see a sample conversation. My husband,  

Dan and I are talking about some time that I  did not feel well and he's trying to help me.  

Listen for all of the key phrases that you  just learned because after this conversation,  

it's going to be your turn to speak with  me and use those phrases too. All right,  

let's watch. Vanessa: 

Morning. Dan: 

Morning. Are you feeling okay? Vanessa: 

I don't feel so hot. I woke up this morning  feeling woozy and now I feel achy and lethargic. 

Dan: Oh no. Do you want to lie down?  

Have you taken anything for it? Vanessa: 

No, I haven't, not yet, but I think  I'm going to call the doctor today.  

Do I feel hot? Dan: 

Yeah, you do. Why don't you lie down on the  couch and relax. Can I bring you anything? 

Vanessa: I need to get some more fluids so  

some hot tea would be great. Dan: 

Well, you took care of me when I  cut my hand and needed stitches.  

Now it's my turn to take care of you. Take  it easy and I'll make an appointment for you. 

Vanessa: Thanks hun. 

Okay, are you ready? I'm going to be asking  you a question and pausing and I want you  

to use what you've learned today and respond to  me. Pretend like we're having a conversation. If  

you need to pause this video so that you can think  about it or answer for longer, great. You can do  

that. That's the benefit of a video and you can  always go back and review this section again and  

again. Are you ready? Let's do it. It's your turn. Hey, you don't look so well. Are you feeling okay?  

Have you taken anything for it?  

Well, you should take it easy and get  some rest. Can I get you anything?  

All right, I hope this helps. Get well soon. 

Well, how did you do? How are you feeling? I hope  that that sample conversation was a good way to  

test your skills and also to do better and  better each time that you do it. Please go back  

and review this section again and again. Now  I have a question for you. Let me know in the  

comments, when was the last time that you were  sick and how were you feeling? Can you describe  

some of your symptoms? Maybe you felt woozy or  clammy or you had a fever. Let me know in the  

comments and don't forget to download the free PDF  worksheet. This is a big one with all of today's  

questions and vocabulary. All of these great  phrases that you can use to describe when  

you don't feel well and also you can use them to  help other people when they don't feel well. Make  

sure you download the free PDF worksheet. There  is a link in the description so that you can never  

forget these phrases and you can answer Vanessa's  challenge question at the bottom of the worksheet. 

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.