Learn Essential English Words and Phrases so You Can Talk about Technology in Fluently (Podcast)

have you ever struggled to explain a problem with  your phone in English? have you ever struggled to  

talk about your phones and devices in English?  or maybe you have bought a new laptop and you're  

really excited to tell your friends about it but  the English phrases don't come to you if that is  

you or if you want to learn more new words and  phrases related to devices and Technology then  

this episode is for you Technology is such a  big part of our Lives now and we talk about  

phones apps and the internet almost every day  so being able to talk about this in English  

is super useful my name is Jack from To fluency  and in this English lesson what we're going to do  

is this we're going to go through key phrases to  talk about your devices we're going to go through  

English phrases to talk about apps and websites  then will talk about how to explain common Tech  

problems talk about social media including  posting scrolling going viral and then we'll  

finish on some great conversational topics so  get ready for this lesson because it's going to  

be really useful for you check the description for  all of the examples that we use in this lesson and  

also check the description for English learning  resources are you ready let's get started let's  

start with a really common topic your devices  these are the things that you own and this  

includes phones laptops tablets and smartw watches  now in the future there'll also be other types of  

devices and maybe you even have smart glasses  right now so let's imagine you've just bought  

a new phone the first thing someone is likely  to ask is this how is it how is your new phone  

how is it here are some ways to answer firstly  you can say I just got it I just got it and it's  

amazing so the just suggest it is in the recent  past I just got it in British English you're here  

I've just got it I have just got it you can also  say things like the camera is incredible it takes  

such clear photos the camera is incredible and  the screen is huge the screen is huge and the  

battery lasts all day the battery lasts all  day this is a really good phrase to know how  

long something lasts the battery lasts all day  which means you have battery power all day now  

let's say you're thinking about replacing  your old laptop here is what you can say  

my laptop is really outdated I need to upgrade I  need to upgrade and to upgrade something means to  

replace something old with a newer or a better  version for example I upgraded my phone last  

week and it's much faster now now of course  devices don't always work perfectly and they  

can be frustrating as well so here are some  common complaints when talking about device  

my phone keeps freezing it's so annoying  my phone keeps freezing which means that no  

matter which buttons you press or how you try and  turn on your phone it won't happen it freezes you  

can't do anything about it another complaint  could be the battery on my tablet doesn't  

last anymore the battery on my tablet doesn't  last anymore so we're using that phrase last  

again here now if you do have problems with your  devices you're going to need some help and this  

is what you can ask to your friend or somebody  who knows what they're doing you can say my phone  

keeps freezing do you know how to fix this do you  know how to fix this now the first thing people  

say here is usually this have you tried restarting  it have you tried restarting it and if you go into  

a store or you might say to the person can you  take a look at my phone can you take a look at my  

phone it's not working properly the next section  we're going to talk about apps and websites  

because these are part of daily life now so most  people have many apps on their phone I know I have  

too many and I do something that annoys other  people and I keep them open I don't close my  

apps when I have stopped using them I just keep  them open do you do this let's go through some  

of the phrases you can use to talk about apps and  websites the first thing to do is to download or  

install apps download and install apps you might  hear a friend say I downloaded a new app to help  

me learn English I downloaded a new app to help me  learn English or I have a new fitness app and it's  

really good to help me track my exercise I just  got a new fitness app and it's great for tracking  

my exercise now if somebody is talking about their  favorite app and a new app and they seem excited  

about it you might ask them these questions is it  free or do you need to pay for it is it free or do  

you need to pay for it now most apps these days  have a free version and a paid version you could  

also ask could you send me the link could you send  me the link now this is true of apps and websites  

so you have links to the website somebody could  share the link to the app as well and if you  

forget what that app was called you can say  what's the name of that app again what's the  

name of that app again I've got two phrases when  you're browsing online that are really useful for  

you and here is one to use the verb look okay are  you ready I looked it up on Google and I found  

everything I needed I looked it up on Google so to  look something up means to research this to search  

in Google and then in terms of activity using  websites you might hear people say I spend way  

too much time online shopping I spend way too  much time online shopping when you have apps  

and when you have devices often times you need to  update them so you could save things like my phone  

updated automatically last night my phone updated  automatically last night I remember when you used  

to have to spend some time with these updates but  now they do it overnight now the next section is  

all about social media because social media is  everywhere and people are using social media more  

and more so let's go through some phrases for  talking about platforms like Instagram Facebook  

and TikTok now there are two ways to use social  media the first way is to consume social media  

which means to go through and use the app and then  you can also post on social media now these days  

I don't post much on social media and I try to  reduce the amount of time I spend on social media  

but you might hear people say I spend way too  much time scrolling through Instagram I spend  

way too much time scrolling through Instagram  and if you do post on social media most people  

are really interested in the number of likes that  they get so here is a phrase to talk about this I  

posted a photo yesterday and it got lots of likes  I posted a photo yesterday and it got lots of  

likes now when something is very popular we say  it goes viral to go viral and I'm sure you have  

this phrase or a similar one in your own language  and a question could be have you seen that viral  

video of the cat dancing have you seen that viral  video of the cat dancing now if you do spend too  

much time on social media you might want to take a  break and often times you'll see people especially  

in the new year when they have new goals to say  I'm going to take a break from social media and  

usually they post this on Facebook or whichever  social media account they're using so you might  

hear people say I deleted my Facebook app because  I needed a break I deleted my Facebook app because  

I needed a break and you might also see people  put limits on their social media apps so you can  

use the iPhone's built-in limit device so you  can use the iPhone's built-in tool for this but  

other people also use third-party apps where it  limits the amount of time they spend on social  

media let's talk more about technology habits now  because these are all about how often you use your  

phone and your screen time and how you balance  technology in your life so some key phrases here  

are I'm trying to cut down on my screen time I'm  trying to cut down on my screen time so this is  

not just social media but time that you spend on  your phone so to cut down on something means to  

reduce how much time you spend doing something  and I remember seeing some posts on Twitter on X  

where people talk about how they spent 15 hours a  day on their phone 15 hours a day so it's more or  

less every waking moment they are on their phone  some people do this for work some people are just  

addicted to their phone so to cut down means  to reduce the amount of time you spend doing  

something and the example will be I used to spend  hours a day on my phone but now I'm cutting it  

down but now I'm cutting it down the next one is  I check check my phone first thing in the morning  

I check my phone first thing in the morning now  a lot of people try to avoid doing this but it  

is a common habit for many people so for example I  wake up and the first thing I do is check my email  

the first thing I do is check my email now when  reading a book you might say I can't put this book  

down and you can say that about your phone too so  the next phrase around habits is I addicted to my  

phone I can't put it down I'm addicted to my phone  I can't put it down so to be addicted to something  

means you feel like you can't stop doing something  another example is I check social media every 5  

minutes I'm totally addicted I'm totally addicted  now the next segment is the future of technology  

this is a fun topic and it's a great way to have  an interesting conversation in English and also  

to talk about the future so when you talk about  the future we use going to we use will and when  

you are giving your opinion for a prediction you  can say I think so you'll hear going to Will and  

think a lot when talking about the future we made  a lesson recently on AI and tools like chat GPT  

and a prediction for the future could be I think  artificial intelligence AI is going to change  

everything it's going to change everything so  tools like chatGBT are already helping people  

learn languages faster and I think AI is going  to change everything the next one is about VR  

virtual reality so think about those goggles those  glasses people put on to go into this virtual  

reality world and the phrase here is virtual  reality is going to change how we work and play  

now you might have noticed the Apple goggles Apple  Vision I can't remember what it's called they were  

really hyped up a few months ago to be hyped up  means they were very popular people were talking  

about them I haven't seen much about them recently  in the at the end of 2024 but I still think that  

virtual reality is going to be really important  in the future and it's going to change how we work  

and play an example of this is is imagine learning  English in a virtual classroom with people from  

all over the world and if you mix Ai and virtual  reality together you might see a future where you  

are wearing these goggles and learning English  with robots now to ask people about technology  

especially something new and talking about  the future you can ask them have you heard  

about self-driving cars for example have you heard  about self-driving cars and if you're predicting  

a future you might say I think self-driving  cars will be everywhere in 10 years I think  

self-driving cars will be everywhere in 10 years  now at the end of 2024 we are seeing we are seeing  

self-driving cars become a reality especially in  certain cities in the US so there are certain taxi  

services that are self-driving cars in cities  especially in California let's now go through a  

couple of really useful idioms that are related to  technology the first one is game Cher a game Cher  

this refers to something that is revolutionary  that really going to change everything in that  

area or that industry so for example the  introduction of AI in tools such as chatGPT  

they have been a game-changer they have changed  the way people work the the way people study and  

the way business is done so if something is a  GameChanger it means that it has revolutionized  

that area in which it is in the next one is to be  off the grid to be off the grid and this means to  

be disconnected from technology or Society so for  example if you go camping and you you don't have  

service you don't have Wi-Fi then you will be  off the grid you won't have internet connection  

or phone service and sometimes it's good to get  off the grid if you feel like you have been using  

your phone and Technology too much so today you  have learned about how to talk about devices apps  

Tech problems social media and some habits so my  question to you is this what are the top three  

apps that you use currently so what are the top  three apps that you use currently leave a comment  

below thank you so much for being here with me  in this episode and before you go don't forget  

to click the like button if you're on YouTube and  also share this podcast no matter which platform  

you're using so send this to a friend on WhatsApp  send it to a friend on social media and also check  

out the description for all of the phrases that  we've used in this lesson along with some key  

English learning resources thank you so much for  being here and I'll speak to you soon bye for now