Speak With Me: English Speaking Practice

Vanessa: "Hi.

Oh, what a cute dog.

What kind is he?"

Oh, is your heart starting to beat kind of fast?

Do you know how to respond to this question?

Do you know how to talk about your pets in English?

Well, never fear today.

I'm going to help you talk comfortably about your pets in English.

Let's do it.

Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.

And in today's exciting lesson, you are going to get a chance to speak with me and tell

me all about your precious pet.

And if you've never had a pet, well, this is a great time to also learn how to talk

about that because people often ask, "What?

Do you not like animals?

Why don't you have a pet?

Do you not like dogs?"

So in today's lesson, you will be able to comfortably learn some common vocabulary around

pets.

Also, some common conversational questions about pets.

And then you'll see a sample conversation between my husband and I talking about pets.

And then it will be your turn to learn how to speak with me and we'll talk about your

pets.

And I have a little surprise today.

At the end of this lesson, you are going to meet my nine pets.

Yes, that's right.

Nine pets.

It might be a little surprising.

So you have to wait to the end of this lesson to find out.

To help you with this lesson, I have created a free PDF worksheet that you can download

with the link in the description below this video.

On this free PDF worksheet, you will get all of today's common vocabulary, all of the sample

sentences, all of the common questions and answers, the sample conversation.

And you will have a chance to answer Vanessa's challenge question so that you can use what

you've learned and never forget it in daily conversation.

All right, are you ready to get started?

Let's learn some common vocabulary about animals and pets.

Let's start by describing you.

Can you describe yourself?

I am an animal lover.

This means that you love all kinds of animals.

You might say, "Ever since I first visited a zoo as a child, I have been an animal lover.

I just love all animals."

Or if you would like to be a little more specific, you could say, "I'm a cat person.

I'm a dog person."

Usually we keep it to cats and dogs, but you might say, "I'm a horse person."

Does that mean that you have a cat head?

I am a cat person.

No, this just means that that is your preferred pet.

You like cats.

So for me, if you've been watching my English lessons for a while, you know I am a cat person.

I've never had a dog, but I feel like I relate more to cats, I get along better with cats

and I feel more comfortable with cats.

But maybe for you, you might say, "I'm a dog person.

I would rather have a dog."

Or maybe you have this unfortunate situation, you are allergic to dogs.

Or maybe you might say, "I'm allergic to cat fur.

I love them.

They're so cute and cuddly and I wish I could have a cat, but I'm allergic."

If your eyes start to get red and your nose starts to run, maybe your throat hurts.

That's a bad sign.

It means that you are allergic to some kind of animal.

Maybe you can take some simple medicine and you'll be fine.

But sometimes it's a bigger problem than that and you just can't have a cat.

You can't have a dog.

I hope you're not allergic.

Now let's describe your pet.

But a little note, first of all, something that I've noticed that's different between

English and some other languages is that when we're talking about our pets or someone else's

pet, we use he or she.

We don't use it very often because it feels like you're creating some kind of distance

or it's a wild animal, or you don't really care about that animal.

It's just an object, it.

So for example, if I'm going to tell you about my cat, little spoiler, I have a cat.

I might say, "She is Siamese cat."

If I say I have a cat, it's Siamese.

It's okay.

And you will hear this occasionally, but it's more common to hear he or she.

She's a Siamese.

She likes to play with cat toys, he or she.

And if you're not certain if an animal is a he or a she, like if you see a neighbor's

dog and you want to talk to that neighbor about their dog, you can just say he and it's

okay.

The neighbor will maybe correct you and say, "Oh yes, she's a Poodle."

And then you can say, "Oh yes, what's her name."

And you can use her when you find out.

But in general, we use he or she for pets.

A common word we use to describe pets is breed.

What breed is your pet?

But we often just say kind, what kind is it?

So when we're talking about a dog or a cat, there are different types.

So I already mentioned, my cat is a Siamese cat.

This is a specific type or breed of cat.

What breed is your cat?

Oh, he's a Siamese she's a Siamese.

What breed is it?

But we often use the question what kind is it?

Which we'll talk about in our questions section in a minute.

Another common term used with pets is a rescue.

This is describing your pet.

Both of my cats are rescues.

I got them from an animal shelter.

This means that I didn't buy them from a breeder who is making pure bred cats.

No, I went to the animal shelter.

These are abandoned cats who need a home.

I went to the animal shelter and I adopted.

We often use the word adopted.

I adopted too two cats.

They are rescue cats or they are rescues.

And this is the idea that I rescued them.

Sometimes in the US you see a bumper sticker, something like this that says my dog rescued

me.

Have you ever felt like this?

Maybe you saved your dog from the animal shelter, but really your dog changed your life.

Your dog rescued you.

You might also hear the word mutt, mutt cannon be a little negative.

If you say it with a negative voice, but it just means that you're not certain what kind

of dog you have.

We only use this for dogs.

And it means, well, it's a mix of so many different types of dogs that I have no idea.

He's a mutt.

We got him from the animal shelter, but you know what?

He's the best dog I've ever had.

He's a mutt, but I don't care.

So it's that idea that he's not pure.

He's not a pure bred dog.

He's a mix of so many kinds of dogs, but you know what?

It's still a great animal.

Next is fur and coat.

My cat's fur is so soft.

After I give my dog a bath, he has a silky coat.

He's not wearing a coat.

It's just talking about his fur.

And these words are kind of interchangeable.

He has soft fur.

He has a silky coat.

So great words to talk about animal hair.

Let's talk about some words we can use to talk about how friendly an animal is.

The first one is just friendly.

He's friendly.

You'll often hear this as someone is walking their dog and if their dog wants to come closer

to you, the owner might say, "Oh, don't worry.

He's friendly.

He loves little kids."

And your child can pet the dog.

Or you might ask, "Is he friendly?"

And that means, "Can I pet him?"

So it's a great word to use, to talk about if your dog is comfortable with people, he's

friendly.

"He's not very friendly with little kids so we'll just try to stay away."

There are three words that are variations of this.

One is wild lions are wild.

They are not friendly towards people.

I do not recommend trying to pet a lion.

They are wild.

The next level is stray.

We might say that cat is a stray cat or he's a stray.

And that means that he lives on the streets and maybe he'll come close to people to get

some food.

He might not really hurt you, but he doesn't want to live in your house.

Maybe if you adopt him, he'll want to live in your house, but he doesn't have an owner.

He's a stray.

He's a stray cat.

Some cities around the world have a lot of stray cats or stray dogs.

They don't belong to anyone, but everyone helps to take care of them.

Everyone helps to feed them.

In the US, this isn't very common.

We don't have a lot of stray cats or a lot of stray dogs because animal shelters are

a big part of American culture.

A lot of people when they want a pet, they will go to an animal shelter instead of buying

a pure bred dog or a pure bred cat.

So a lot of stray dogs or straight cats who live on the street will be taken to an animal

shelter for someone to adopt.

So you might say, "My cat was a stray before we got him.

He was a stray cat before we got him and now he's just so friendly."

The next level is domesticated.

So this means a cat or dog or animal that was previously wild, and now he's very comfortable

with humans.

So we could use this for a lot of different animals like cows.

Cows are domesticated.

A long time ago, they were completely wild or horses.

Horses were completely wild, but they have become domesticated over time.

People have trained them to become comfortable with humans.

They are domesticated.

We often use this term for farm animals; horses, cows, chickens, sheep, goats.

They are domesticated animals.

Some animals just can't be domesticated like a zebra.

You can't ride a zebra.

You can't domesticate zebras.

It would be pretty cool, but they're just an animal that cannot be domesticated.

Before we go onto some common questions that you will hear and that you can ask about pets,

let's talk about pet care and some words that you can use to describe pet care.

A cage, a crate and a kennel are all the same thing and it's somewhere that you can keep

your animal contained.

So you might say, "I put my ferret."

Some people have a ferret for a pet.

"I put my ferret in the crate to take it to the vet," which we'll talk about in just a

second, but it's a type of box where you will keep your animals maybe to transport them

somewhere, or maybe just to help them feel safe and comfortable.

We have a big kennel for my dog to help him feel comfortable when guests come over.

He goes in there and he feels comfortable.

And then when the guests leave, he comes out and feels very safe.

A collar and tag, this goes around your animal's neck and has some important information like

the pet's name, your phone number, maybe your address.

And if your pet gets lost, well, someone can help you to find your pet again by calling

you with the number that's on the tag on their collar.

A collar is also useful because you can attach a leash to the collar.

Sometimes this is called a lead.

I think that lead is maybe more a term that professional people will use.

A veterinarian will use this.

Maybe a dog trainer will use this, a lead.

But for daily conversation, we often just say leash.

Where's the leash?

I need to find the dog's leash so that I can take him on a walk.

One time I saw somebody having an iguana on a leash.

Sometimes people put their cats on a leash too, but usually cats don't tolerate that.

Have you ever seen a strange animal on a leash before?

A vet or veterinarian, usually we shorten this to vet.

You've already heard me say this a couple of times and that's the doctor for an animal.

So you might say, "I need to take my sick dog to the vet" or "what is the best vet to

take my dog to?"

We're talking about veterinarian, but it's a situation where we don't use the longest

word.

We just use a short, simple version.

Yes, finally in English there is a simple way to say a long word.

So you can just say vet.

"My cat's vet is just up the street or we have a vet appointment next week."

Excellent.

Now I just want to let you know if this is your job if you are a vet in someone asks

you the common question, "What do you do?"

Which means what's your job?

And you say, "I'm a vet."

Well, this might be slightly confusing if someone has no idea that you work with animals.

Because a vet can be two different things, it can be a veterinarian or it can be a veteran,

a veteran.

That means someone who used to be a soldier, they used to be in the military and now they're

retired.

So that means that you could either be an animal doctor or a retired person from the

military.

So if someone knows that you work with animals or that you're a doctor, if you say, "Oh,

I'm a doctor" and they ask what kind of doctor you could say, "I'm a vet."

Okay, they will know that you work with animals.

But if someone has no clue, you might say, "I'm a veterinarian."

You might elongate that a little bit.

Just to be more specific.

Or if you are a vet from the military, you might say, "I'm a retired veteran" or "I'm

a retired vet.

I was in the Navy."

You might want to be a little more specific.

So that's a situation that might possibly come up.

What can you do to bond with your animal?

You might play fetch.

So you could say, "My cat likes to play fetch."

Who would have guessed?

Usually dogs do, but sometimes cats do too.

Or you could just say this word to your dog.

So you have a stick, you throw the stick and your dog runs after the stick.

You could say, "Fetch boy, fetch.

Fetch the stick."

So you're telling him, you're giving him a command about what he should do.

Get the stick and bring it back to you.

This is kind of a fun game.

Or we might just pet your pet.

Ooh, so this word can be used as a noun.

As we've been talking about it, I have nine pets, but what is this?

Gently touching your pet.

This is the verb to pet.

When you are stroking or just gently touching your animal, this is a very kind, nice thing

to do.

Well, you are petting your pet.

So if you're walking down the street and someone is walking a dog and that dog seems friendly,

the dog wants to talk with you.

And the owner says, "Oh, don't worry.

He's friendly."

You can say, "Can I pet him?"

Great, that means that you can stroke his head or his back or under his chin.

And it's a nice way to enjoy a dog and to kind of connect with each other.

Okay, are you ready to go onto some common questions that people will ask you about your

pets and also you can ask?

Let's do it.

Do you have any pets?

Very simple and straightforward question.

You might say, "When I was a kid, I had a dog, but now I don't have any pets."

Okay.

Well, this is just answering in a nicer way than just, "No, I don't have any pets."

You're giving some information.

"When I was a kid, I had a dog and now I don't have any pets."

Good answer.

When you see a dog, a common question is what kind is he?

We're talking about the breed of dog.

What kind is he?

It's sometimes unusual to see a pure bred dog that's only one kind, only one breed.

So you'll often hear this type of answer.

"He's a lab mix.

We got him at the animal shelter."

He's a mix.

So this means he has two different or maybe three or four different types of dogs in his

blood.

So we could say, "He's a mix or he's a lab mix."

And this means he comes from different types of breeds.

Another common question is what's his name?

Of course, you can just say your pet's name, but I wanted to give you some of the most

common female pet names and also some of the most common male pet names in English.

So the most common female pet names are Bella, Luna, Lucy, Daisy, and Coco.

There are many other pet names for female dogs or cats or horses or who knows what,

but these are some of the most common.

In fact, one of my cats' names is Luna.

Some of the most common male pet names are Max, Buddy, Teddy, Rocky, and Duke.

These are really common male pet names in the US.

A question we already talked about is is he friendly?

Great.

Someone might ask you this if you have a dog and you're welcome to ask someone else this

if you want to pet a dog.

Is he friendly?

"Yes, you can pet him."

Another common question is how long have you had him?

And maybe this is not how old is he, but how long has he been a part of your life?

So you might say, "I got Max from the animal shelter three years ago."

How long have you had him?

"I've had him for three years."

If you mentioned that your dog or someone else mentions that their dog is a specific

breed, you could ask this question.

"What made you decide to get that breed?"

Maybe you're just curious about that breed.

You're trying to have a conversation, or maybe you're thinking about getting a dog too and

you want some more information.

So you could say, "What made you decide to get that breed?"

And if somebody has, for example, a Lab, which is a Labrador Retriever.

If somebody has a Lab, they might say, "Well, I heard that Labs are family-friendly dogs

so we decided to get one."

Okay, they have a reputation for being good with kids, for being friendly.

"They're family-friendly so we decided to get one."

All right, now that we've practiced some common vocabulary about pets, some common questions

about pets, now I'd like to show you a sample conversation between my husband, Dan and I

talking about some pets.

After this sample conversation, it will be your turn to speak with me and tell me about

your pets or maybe the pets that you wish you had.

And after that will be the big reveal of my nine pets.

All right, let's watch the sample conversation.

Hi, Dan, is that your dog?

I thought you were a cat person.

Dan: Hey, Vanessa.

I'm an animal lover, but Fluffy's not mine.

I'm just walking him for a friend.

Vanessa: Oh, gotcha.

Is he friendly?

Can I pet him?

Dan: Yes, he's friendly.

You can pet him, but watch out he drools.

Vanessa: Oh, good to know.

Well, I'll stick to my non-drooling cats.

Oh, but good boy, Fluffy.

Dan: I'm going to walk them at the park to play

fetch.

Want to come?

Vanessa: Sure.

Okay, now it's your turn.

I'm going to be asking you a couple of questions and then I'm going to pause and you can speak

out loud and try to answer these questions and pretend like we're having a conversation

together.

If you feel like it's too short of a pause, feel free to pause this video.

That's kind of the bonus thing, exciting thing about having a video conversation.

You can pause me and spend some extra time explaining what you'd like to say.

All right.

Are you ready?

Take a deep breath.

Let's do it.

Hi.

I didn't know you had a pet.

What kind is he?

Interesting.

How long have you had him?

That's so nice.

You know, I've been thinking about getting one too.

What do you like to do with him?

Thanks for your help and nice to meet you.

So how did you do?

Are you ready to talk about your pets now?

I hope so.

I hope I have empowered you to be able to speak more comfortably about this common conversation

topic.

And now drum roll.

It's time to meet my nine pets.

Are you ready?

This is Pippen.

He's a tuxedo cat.

This isn't a breed, but it just describes his coloration.

And this is Luna, she's a Siamese, but we got them both from a shelter so she's probably

not a pure bred Siamese.

And my other seven pets are chickens.

They're only two-months-old, but aren't they so big?

Unfortunately, we have to wait until October until they start producing eggs.

I can't wait.

My husband Dan built their coop, that's the little house where they live and this area

is called the run.

It's a safe area for them to be outside without getting eaten by wild animals we hope.

We got them when they were one-day-old.

Look how cute they were.

This is a new adventure for us to have farm animals, but I can't wait to get some fresh

eggs.

And it's a great thing to do with kids.

Go down to the chicken coop in the morning and gather the eggs.

I can't wait.

That'll be so much fun.

Well, I hope that today's lesson was helpful for you.

And I want to remind you that you can download the free PDF worksheet for all of the sample

phrases, all of the sample questions and answers, the conversation.

And you can answer Vanessa's challenge question so that you can remember what you've learned

and use it in your daily conversations.

So I have a question for you.

Let me know in the comments are you a cat person, a dog person, maybe a chicken person?

Let me know in the comments and I can't wait to learn more about you.

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.