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hi everybody my name is Alisha welcome
back to top words today we're going to
talk about 10 ways to stop translating
in your head let's get started
identify objects around you in English
the first way to stop translating in
your head is to identify the objects
around you in your target language so if
you're studying English that means you
look at the objects around the room look
at the things in your life don't think
of them in your native language first
think of them in your target language
first so if I look around the room I see
a computer I shouldn't think my native
language word I should think my target
language word so start with the items
and the situations in your everyday life
if I say computer in English maybe I
should say computer in Japanese I should
say not I don't know water in English I
should say Oh Mesa in Japanese so start
associating the words in your target
language with your everyday life now so
if you're studying English that means
start getting familiar with the things
in your everyday life in English repeat
phrases you hear native speakers use tip
number two is to repeat the phrases that
you hear native speakers use so if
you're watching this channel for example
or you're watching a TV show or a movie
listen for the way that native speakers
make those phrases if you hear a phrase
you have never heard before or you hear
an interesting combination of words try
to repeat them yourself don't just
listen try to save them yourself if
you're in a public space and it's
difficult for you to do that fine
practice in a place where you feel more
comfortable maybe if you have some
private space to practice just repeat
them get your mouth used to saying the
words the way that the speaker's the
native speakers do so if you never
actually say words if you're only taking
in if you're only
singing and you're not actually
producing the language it's it's kind of
hard to to practice and to to really
hone your pronunciation to improve your
pronunciation so when you listen to
native speakers try to repeat after them
so for example if you're studying
English
you can try to repeat after this video
you can repeat after the things I'm
saying because maybe I'm using an
expression or I'm using a certain series
of vocabulary words together the way a
native speaker would and it's maybe a
good idea to try to practice the ways
that native speakers put their words
together so try to repeat after native
speakers especially when you're looking
at media and you can do this when you're
reading books too you can try to read
out read out loud interesting lines of
books that you find or something that
maybe is difficult for you
very nice practice to make a situation
where you can't escape into your native
language make a situation where you
can't escape into your native language
essentially means immerse yourself of
course going to that country are going
to a place where you can speak only that
language is very difficult for some of
you totally understand but if in your
life you can create a situation in your
library in your room in your house
somewhere for just an hour or I don't
know maybe a day I don't know what your
schedule is like but if you can create a
situation or create an environment where
you have no choice but to use that
language and you cannot escape meaning
you cannot go back to using your native
language as a crutch you can't use the
native language at all it forces you to
use the language that you're studying so
of course if you are lucky enough to
live in the country or to live in a
place where people speak the language
you're studying great but you have to go
out and interact with people you have to
put yourself in a place where you have
no choice but to speak it's very hard
and it's very scary and it's very
embarrassing at first but if you take
time to find places and to make
environments that are comfortable for
you where you feel comfortable making
mistakes and asking questions it's very
valuable for your learning process this
is actually something that I did totally
I totally did this
my Japanese wasn't very good for a long
time but then I started making friends
who could not speak English actually I
just did this through finding hobbies
there was a hobby that I had I joined a
group I joined actually a school to
where I could learn how to do that hobby
and everything was taught only in
Japanese and the people in my class only
spoke Japanese mostly and then maybe we
would go out for drinks and food late at
night or on the weekends and everybody
spoke only Japanese and if I couldn't
communicate even simply in Japanese I
had no hope of keeping that friendship
together so it forced me to study it
forced me to think about the words they
were using and to try to learn those
words those patterns as well as how to
produce them naturally myself so I was
learning the vocabulary words the people
around me were using and learning how to
apply them on my own that was only
possible because I had no escape in
those situations so try to do that even
if you can do it yourself in your house
it's super helpful I think watch TV and
movies in your target language without
subtitles tip number four is to watch TV
and movies in your target language
without subtitles without subtitles so I
think that watching with subtitles can
be very beneficial so if I'm watching
something or if you want to watch
something with subtitles on great let's
I sometimes find that I can in my case I
think too much about reading the
subtitles and I forget to listen so
maybe if you've seen a movie in your
target language a few times with the
subtitles on try turning the subtitles
off and think about the like character's
body language the words they're using
you can always look that up later look
up the you know the words you don't know
in a dictionary but try to do it where
you're focusing completely on the way
that people are using their words try
not to use the subtitles so kind of play
around with it a little bit if there's a
word that's difficult for you to hear
you can actually turn on the subtitles
in like the in the native language of
the movie as well that's something that
I've done like if look if I wanted to
study Japanese it's very useful when the
actual words spoken in Japanese appear
on the screen sometimes it's easier for
me to catch a word if I see it visually
and I hear it at the same time so
another way to kind of explore how you
can use TV and movies is to actually
turn on the closed captions like the the
words on the screen in the native
language of the movie so so this is sort
of two points in one so one watch movies
without subtitles
meaning subtitles in your native
language and hint to is to watch movies
with closed captioning on but the closed
captioning is in your target language
not in your native language so you can
try those two things with TV and with
movies don't bring a dictionary to your
lesson tip number five is don't bring a
dictionary to your lesson okay so it
gives me a second here so I understand
the dictionaries it was especially
electronic dictionaries we have them on
our phones now are very very convenient
of course it's important to use them and
it's a they're a great resource to have
however one thing that really bothers me
and that I think is detrimental it's not
helpful for students is when students
are in a lesson and they're practicing
conversation and they reach a point in
the conversation where they don't know
the word they want to use they know it
in their native language and they don't
know how to say it in their target
language they pull out their dictionary
they say to this the person listening to
them their practice partner in their
lesson where they have a limited period
of time just a moment and then they look
it up on their phone it takes a few
seconds the flow of the conversation
stops and then they say a word it's like
wow no that's not you don't
have that ability you don't have the
ability to do that in a conversation
with a native speaker most people like
if you go to a bank and try to open a
bank account are you really going to
pull out your dictionary and sit there
and try to communicate you know just a
moment just a moment as you look up each
word you don't know no or if you do
that's not a real conversation
so instead try using a different
strategy by that I mean if you find a
word you don't know in conversation
explain the word to your conversation
partner maybe they know the word if
you're speaking with a native speaker
this is a chance for them to teach you a
word I find that when people take the
time to teach me a word
I remember the word much better than
just looking it up on my dictionary so
try to resist maybe you can bring a
dictionary to your lesson but don't use
it or try not to use it in your
conversation practice it's just it
destroys the flow of a conversation
so instead practice the skill of
describing the vocabulary word you want
to use and learn how to ask the meaning
of a word or learn how to ask for a
vocabulary word from your partner so you
can use an expression like ah what's the
word that means pop habla or you know
it's this thing that does this and this
and this so this is an opportunity for
you to describe characteristics of
something or find a different way you
can use your body language you can use
whatever you have a lot of tools but try
not to use a dictionary in a
conversation because it's not realistic
train responses to common questions
number six is a quick one I think number
six hint number six I have is just to
Train responses to common questions
train responses to common questions so
for example a very common question in
English is hey how are you you should
know how to answer this question just
have a default response hey how are you
I'm good
if it takes you a long time to answer
the question hey how are you
you need to practice I think that's a
pretty good a pretty good indicator so
for example sometimes I ask students a
question like that they haven't quite
gotten the idea of how to respond just
yet they're not so quick at responding I
say hey how are you and they say yes and
then they think and they go I am I'm
good and it's like that's a very common
question so think about just a default
response that you can spit out that you
can quickly say if it's how was your
weekend or hey what's up or what do you
want to do for dinner tonight think
about like just a handful meaning just a
few responses to those questions and
train them quickly just how are you I'm
good how are you I'm okay how are you
not bad there's three so it's just
training responses to those questions
there's no reason to be surprised by a
question like how are you like that's a
very common question so for those common
questions train responses to that we've
got a bunch of videos especially
beginner level videos for some example
responses you can do so don't get stuck
with the little questions just train a
few responses practice a few responses
till they feel natural to you it'll save
you time and it'll help the person
asking the question to to move forward
in the conversation okay
study with materials that don't provide
a translation the next tip is to study
with materials that don't provide a
translation so by this I mean if you're
using worksheets or some kind of
textbook or whatever and it has your
target
language the language you're studying
and it has your native language next to
it while this can be useful I feel that
if you can studying your materials only
in your target language and then
simplified explanations for more
detailed points also in your target
language can be a little bit better so I
should I don't want to say like you
should only study things in your target
language and nothing from your native
language because of course like it can
be helpful sometimes to look up a word
or to understand a grammar point in your
native language but where possible if
you can find something that provides
simplified explanations in your target
language it can be really really helpful
because again you're thinking you're
learning to think on like a simpler on a
more basic level about the language
you're studying in the language that
you're studying so this can be really
really good
so finding some materials to use where
there's no translation maybe you can
practice of course with with books and
with written materials but also with
like video materials as well so there
are a variety of different ways that you
can find materials in your target
language like in video and TV so some
things to think about there are the
level of vocabulary words people are
using in the media content you're
watching who the media content is
intended for children young adults
adults the speed at which the speaker is
talking so like I have the ability to
change the level of difficulty of videos
based on the rate of speech the
vocabulary words that I use and how many
like idioms and things I use so I could
make a video very difficult we could
make a very like a very difficult video
series by levelling up our vocabulary
use or by speaking very quickly or as
you might see in like our English in
three minutes series we can also use
very simple vocabulary and speak at a
low rate of speech so maybe right now
this is a very intermediate level video
so please think about that so not just
for written materials but also for your
audio and visual materials think about
who your audience is the level of the
material and so on it can be really fun
and it can be helpful to think about
your your target language in your target
language all right we're all Muslim
study phrases in addition to single
vocabulary the next tip is study phrases
in addition to single vocabulary words
so yes of course vocabulary is important
but I find it personally very very
useful to look at how a vocabulary word
is used in a phrase because sometimes
using it in a phrase helps you
understand the nuance of that vocabulary
word really really well
so if I like a word like crazy for
example in English depending on the
situation where the word crazy is used
it could mean something different it
could mean like a person who is mentally
confused or mixed up it could also mean
something really good it could mean
something really bad so if we look only
at the word crazy it's quite difficult
to understand really the meaning of the
word but if you look at the way the word
is used in a phrase you can get a lot
more information so take a look at the
way people use words in phrases not just
a single vocabulary words you can learn
a lot more that way I think do your
daily activities in English where
possible the next step is to do your
daily activities in your target language
so if you're studying English that means
try to do some daily activities in
English if possible so this can be very
very boring stuff but just think about
it
when you're doing the activity so like
right now I'm filming a video for
English class 101.com
or I'm going to work I'm cooking
breakfast I'm doing the laundry what do
I have to do tomorrow so try thinking
about your everyday life in English if
you're studying English try thinking
about your everyday activities the
people that you meet what are you doing
so this is a way to help you practice
your verbs so if you don't know if
you're I don't know you're doing
something at work and you're like oh my
gosh how do I explain the what's the
verb for you know a picture like I want
to blah blah blah a picture
what's the word you can check a
dictionary at that point and go uh its
draw like I need to use the verb draw or
draw a picture so you can find these
little gaps in your everyday life these
little gaps in your knowledge if you
think about your everyday activities in
your target language if you don't think
about it in your target language you
might not realize you have vocabulary
gaps or phrase gaps here and there so
this is a really good and kind of funny
actually way to study use a learner's
dictionary for new words the last tip is
to use a learner's dictionary for new
words so in English there are learners
dictionaries available in English so my
favorite my personal favorite is
merriam-webster merriam-webster is a
fantastic dictionary resource they're so
interesting and they have tons of like
historical information I really do just
sit and like readings on the dictionary
page lately it's true but of course
there's a definition there's a meaning
for words there are example sentences
for words but merriam-webster also has
what's called a learner's dictionary if
you find a word that you don't recognize
you can check it in a dictionary in a
learner's dictionary and it gives you a
simplified a simple explanation in
simple English of that word so instead
of checking it in your native language
you can check it in your target language
so again this helps you to understand
the word that you are that you're
focused on but you understand it from
the language you're studying not from
your native language so using a
learner's dictionary can be really
really useful as well all right so those
are ten tips those are 10 tips to help
you stop translating in your head I know
it's very difficult but it's it takes
time and it takes practice and I hope
that these are a few strategies that can
help you as you study any language of
course this is an English language
channel in English language learning
channel but I think these tips are
pretty good for learning just about any
language really so I hope those are
useful for you if you have tried these
strategies or if you have any other
comments or other tips please let us
know in the comment section below this
video
if you liked this video please make sure
to hit the thumbs up share this video
and subscribe to our channel to check us
out in English class 101.com for more
good stuff as well thanks very much for
watching this episode of top words and I
will see you again soon
hi hi everyone I'm Bridget and welcome
to today's lesson today's topic is ten
ways to say hello in English
good morning good morning is the first
thing you say to someone when you see
them in the morning good morning sir
would you like a cup of coffee good
morning could I please get some orange
juice good morning I'm still tired from
the night before hello hello is the most
common greeting you'll hear that and hi
hello is a polite nice way to greet
someone when you see them hello
everyone says it you cannot go wrong
saying hello hello can be used at any
time of the day no matter whether it's
morning or at night or at 4:00 a.m. when
you see someone you can say hello and it
will still be appropriate long time no
see long time no see it's not
necessarily grammatically correct but
it's a saying that we have hey long time
no see what it means is that you haven't
seen that person in a long time so it
literally means long time no see long
time no see is something you say to
someone when you haven't seen them in a
while hey John long time no see how are
the wife and kids how have you been hey
how have you been I haven't seen you in
a long time how have you been is asking
someone how they're doing and how
they've been for the past however long
if you haven't seen them in a while
you might say hey long time no see how
have you been
how have you been that's past tense it
implies that you haven't seen them in a
while and you want to hear about how
they are and how they've been for all of
that time that you haven't seen them hey
long time no see how have you been how
are you how are you means how are you
doing how are you feeling how is
everything it's a standard thing that
you might say to anyone even if you've
seen them the day before you might see
them today I'd say hey how are you how
is it going hey how's it going how's it
going is a more informal way to say how
are you so how are you and how's it
going they mean the same thing it's
asking how you're doing how you are
feeling is everything okay with you
what's up what's up is another way of
saying hey how is it going but this one
is even more informal so you might say
this to friends hey what's up and
they'll say nothing just living my life
you know day in and day out hey what's
up hey what's up good afternoon good
afternoon how are you would you like
some lunch good afternoon is a polite
way to greet someone in the afternoon so
if you run into your boss you might say
good afternoon it's very nice it's
polite not a lot of people say it to
their friends but it's it's a polite way
to greet someone good evening good
evening is a nice way to greet someone
in the evening time you can only use
this phrase in the evening because it's
wishing someone a good evening it's
saying hello at a certain time of day
good evening would you like some dinner
good evening
have you eaten yet all of my examples
involve food it seems it's nice to meet
you it's nice to meet you this is
something that's very common to say the
first time that you meet someone you
might shake their hand and say hi
it's nice to meet you my name is Bridget
my name is it's telling that person that
you are happy to be meeting them it's a
pleasure to meet them hi it's nice to
meet you that brings us to the end of
this lesson
ten ways to say hello if you guys liked
the video please don't forget to give us
a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel
if you have any questions or comments
leave them below and don't forget to go
to English class 101.com for more
English okay everybody
shift information has been posted for
the month it looks like will visit 25
cities in 30 days do we normally visit
25 different cities in one month yes
sometimes we visit even more where's our
first stop Charlotte hey I have friends
in Charlotte it would be nice to see
them good evening in room/dining this is
Alex how may I be of service
hello I would like to order some food of
course ma'am just to confirm this is
mrs. rawson in room 417 yes it is
excellent may I take your order yes I
would like a turkey sandwich on a
parmesan bagel and what's a drink a diet
coke will there be anything else yes I
would also like a wake-up call for seven
my major is education how about you I'm
an English major cool I like English oh
and what's Oksana's major she's also an
English major that's nice you can help
each other study yep in fact I need to
meet her now so we can study together
okay it was nice talking with you you
too see you later see ya good evening
ma'am may I have your first unless
name's Melissa West
thank you ma'am I have found your
reservation here's the registration
information does everything look correct
to you yes it seems to be correct
excellent now I will just need a photo
ID for legal purposes will my passport
do that would be just fine ma'am
checkout is between noon and 2:00
o'clock you may request an extension of
up to 5 hours for your charge what if I
need more time
then a late charge of 5% will be added
to your bill hey Vicky did you forget
our study date at 10:00 this morning I'm
sorry now me at 10 I was talking with my
professor and couldn't get away I'm
sorry I should have called that's okay
so how did the meeting go with the
professor it went fine
he gave me an extension on my paper and
I can still take the midterm how was
your study group yesterday well we were
studying together during lunch when I
noticed an old friend of mine from high
school in the same cafe my concept
legend quickly switched from class to
catching up with my friends so I didn't
get much done you've taken that class
before right yeah last semester I was
always asking questions in that class
because it was so difficult well I was
hoping that you could lend me a hand
with my paper I can't think of anything
else to write sure no problem
that is if you can help me study for our
history test sounds like a deal wanna
speak real English from your first les
sign up for your free lifetime account
at English class 101.com hi everyone i'm
christine from english class 101 comm in
this video we'll be talking about how to
curse like an english native speaker
piss a slang term for urine for example
don't piss your pants you can say this
when you're really scared or anxious for
example if you're about to go onstage to
make a speech or perform someone can say
don't piss your pants you can do it
pissed off to be really angry when I'm
angry I can say hey I'm really pissed
off at you right now why did you do that
for loser used to describe an uncool
person in high school my friends and I
would use this a lot and we would say
hey loser how's it going idiot used to
install people by saying they're not
intelligent of all the mean things that
you can say this is on the lighter side
but people still use it shoot this is
used to show disappointment or
frustration without using a stronger
curse word shoot I spilled my coffee
shut up you can use this when you want
them to be quiet or there's something
surprising that you just heard you can
say shut up
no way ticked off to be really angry you
can say this with pissed off so this is
actually an older term not many people
use this as much anymore because most
people actually just use pissed-off fool
this is similar to saying someone is
like a clown you can say you're acting
like a fool right now jerk this is a
light insult used to describe someone
who is mean for example if there's
someone bullying another person that
person is being a jerk whip this means
someone who isn't strong there is a
movie out right
now called Diary of a Wimpy Kid have you
seen it have you not I haven't yet so
how was it if you have any more
questions please leave a comment below
see you next time
hey everyone I'm Parris from English
class 101.com in this video we're
talking about how to ask and give
directions let's start to love the first
phrase is where is the where is the for
example you can ask where is the bank
this can be used to ask for a general
location or detailed directions don't be
surprised if you only receive basic
information for example next to the
grocery store the next phrase is I need
to go to the I need to go to the for
example you can say I need to go to the
police station the word need is used but
this is used for non-emergencies as well
how do I get to the how do I get to the
for example you can say how do I get to
the museum this question can be used to
ask for step-by-step directions instead
of a general location is that near here
is the near here for example you can say
is the library near here if you're
unfamiliar with an area you can ask to
get this information about a specific
place where you want to go is the
bathroom near here excuse me do you know
where the is excuse me do you know where
the is for example you can say excuse me
do you know where the park is only youth
excuse me when you're starting a
conversation with a stranger another
common phrase is is the far from here is
the far from here for example you can
say is the post office far from here
this is an indirect way to ask for
directions people will tell you how far
the place is and probably tell you the
best way to get there walking taking a
bus driving uber now let's take a look
at expressions to give directions turn
left
turn left for example you can say turn
left after two blocks this gives you
information about how far you should go
before you make any changes in this case
you should go left to the left
left turn right turn right for example
you can say turn right at the third
traffic light this also gives you
information about how far you should go
before taking another action in this
case you should go right go straight go
straight
this simply tells you to go in one
direction it also implies that if you
keep going straight that you will
eventually find what you're looking for
go past go past for example you can say
go past the church a landmark is just an
easily noticeable place for example a
movie theater restaurant at the corner
of at the corner of for example you can
say it's at the corner of this means
that a place is located at the corner or
two streets meet in front of in front of
for example you can say the bus station
is in front of the supermarket we use
front to refer to the main entrance of a
building it can also mean visible from
the front and doesn't necessarily mean
it's directly in front of something
behind behind
for example you can say the parking lot
is behind the movie theater we use
behind to say that something is at the
rear of a building the front of a
building is its main entrance so which
side it's facing the street is really
not important next - next - for example
you can say the restaurant is next to
the part this is an example of using a
nonspecific location to give general
directions next to can be anywhere
beside in front of or around a place
McDonald's is next to my house between
between for example you can say the
store is between the coffee shop and the
pet store but
queen is used with two other places when
using between the main place will always
be in the middle of the two other places
okay that's all for this lesson which
phrase do you like the most
leave us a comment and let us know but
I'll see you next time guys bye hey guys
I'm Parris from English class 101.com in
this video we'll be talking about making
complaints of English so let's get
started the first complaint is I'm
starving I'm starving this is an
exaggeration you can use when you're
hungry I am always starving even right
now the next complaint is its noisy its
noisy this kind of complaint is one that
you would make to a friend telling the
staff of a restaurant won't help since
they can't tell people to be quiet
I hate when it's noisy restaurants save
that for another time then we have it's
hot it's hot this can be used to talk
about the weather or the temperature of
a room you can add a request like can
you turn on the air-conditioner I am
never hot so I like that
the next complaint is it's cold it's
cold this can be used to talk about the
weather or the temperature of a room you
can add a request like can you turn on
the heater I always make this request
because it's always too cold everywhere
everywhere it's too expensive it's too
expensive even if you have enough money
to buy something it may be more money
than you want to spend it would probably
be considered rude to say this to
someone who works at a store but I
always think okay I'm in Gucci it's way
too expensive another common complaint
is I'm tired I'm tired use this
complaint to imply that you want to sit
down relax go home take a break when I
babysit my five-year-old cousin I leave
thinking I'm tired the next complaint is
I gained weight I gained weight this is
a self-criticism that implies that you
want to lose weight men
people say I got so fat I'm always broke
I'm always broke
use this to complain about never having
enough money
I am always broke because I always want
more money
the next complaint is my job is boring
my job is boring this is a really common
complaint used by people who don't think
their jobs are very exciting usually it
means that you want to find a different
more fun job it's alright teachers your
job isn't boring that person stinks that
person stinks you can use stings to talk
about a literal physical smell or a
general insult meaning that you don't
like how someone smells I hate when
people smell on the bus not good not
okay the next complaint is there's too
much traffic there's too much traffic
this is a common complaint among people
who commute to work by car certain roads
are especially bad during rush hour
which is the time in the morning or
night most people are going home or to
work if I left out it was 7 p.m. I would
be here in 10 minutes but because it's
daytime in LA it took me 30 minutes to
get here and I Drive really really fast
and it still took me 30 minutes the next
complaint is the Wi-Fi here is too slow
the Wi-Fi here is too slow this is just
a general complaint you may have about
the internet speed if you're at a cafe
or somewhere with Wi-Fi you can request
that they reset the Wi-Fi to improve the
speed if you're having a party and
you're having friends over and your
Wi-Fi is too slow you might as well end
that party now no Wi-Fi no party my boss
is annoying
my boss is annoying annoying can be used
to mean that someone does things that
you don't like or they ask you to do
things that you don't like either way an
annoying boss is a bad experience I am
very familiar with this hey Paris grab
me coffee hey Paris check my emails my
boss is annoyed but don't tell him I
said that the pay is too low the pay is
is too low you can use us to complain
about how much you make or to reject a
job offer because it doesn't pay enough
I'm a surgeon
the pay is too low I don't like it I
don't like it this is a very general
complaint that can be used for almost
anything what don't I like posting a
thousand selfies on Instagram I don't
like it hmm okay that's it for this
lesson which complaints do you like more
leave us a comment and let me know and
we'll see you next time bye bye
you just got a text message from your
hotels pickup service what does the
first number refer to
what does the first number refer to
the number in the text message refers to
the customer code you are at a train
station where you've just bought an
Express ticket which train car row and
seat number are you in
which train car row and seat number are
you in
the ticket says that you're in train car
number one in the eighth row in seat C
you are at a train station where you're
attempting to buy an express ticket from
a ticket machine which option should you
choose to buy an express ticket
which option should you choose to buy an
express ticket
the option on the bottom left is for an
express ticket
you are on a platform at a train station
where you're waiting for your train
suddenly a message appears on the
display what does the message on the
display mean
what does the message on the display
mean
the display reads the next train will
not stop you are at a train station
where you're reading the train scheduled
for an express ticket that you've just
bought on which days are there no
Express trains running
on which days are there no Express
trains running
there are no Express trains running on
public holidays and the third Sunday of
every month want to speak real English
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you are on a platform at a train station
where you're waiting for your train
suddenly a message appears on the
display what does the message on the
display mean
what does the message on the display
mean
the display reads the next train will
not stop
you are at a train station where you're
looking for the best exit to catch a
taxi which exit should you take to get
to the taxi stop
which exit should you take to get to the
taxi stop
you should take the east exit in order
to get to the taxi stop hi everybody my
name is Alisha and today I am joined
again in the studio by my goal hello and
today we're going to be talking about
things that were cool in the 90s the
things that were interesting or things
that maybe we were interested in in the
90s I'm guessing that we're going to
have some very different opinions based
on our experiences at the 90s so let's
get right into it
Michael your first item please okay boy
bands so I remember boy bands were very
very popular when I was a kid in the 90s
I had three older brothers who had
punched me and tell me boy bands are for
girls don't like boy bands so that was
my experience with them and they became
kind of uncool I feel like after the 90s
and then they never were uncool in like
Korea and like a lot of Asian countries
they still had like a strong boy band
kind of scene or whatever good bands now
is that really what they're called yeah
I don't know I just mean I think I feel
like boy they're boy bands that are now
becoming boys to men maybe that's me so
I mean now they keep now it came back
like what is that what's the British one
now it's kind of cool again well one
direction one direction yeah so I think
it's come back full circle didn't they
just break up I'm gonna go with
something that I loved in the 90s this
is probably way too specific uh probably
but it's this show called Doug that was
on Nickelodeon and there weren't a whole
lot of episodes of Duggars I don't know
like 20 or 30 I feel like not even that
many did you ever see this show yeah
that's very nostalgic for me I don't
20:30 episode I feel I feel like I had
I'd seen them also I know that I saw
them all because I they it would come
back it would come on one day after
school and I'd be like I've seen this
episode but the whole the whole idea
with Doug is Doug was like this just
this plain kid and he had an older
sister he went to school he had a dog
and a best friend and he would just
encounter these every day of life
scenarios that would be kind of
troubling or he wouldn't know how to
deal with them but like he was
kind of a role model I feel like he was
kind of being like a good kid or
sometimes he would get into trouble but
then you know eventually he would solve
the problem or he'd find a way out of it
so but I really loved that show I really
loved Nickelodeon in general during the
90s it yeah did you watch that channel
of course I love to Nickelodeon um I
think I was more like Fox stuff like
that but I guess I'll segue into another
one of mine you're talking about
wholesome so something that's my
childhood I was raised on TV the sitcoms
so I think this is kind of died down
again like the boy bands wear it people
think it's cheesy now it's all reality
TV shows that kind of stuff but that's
that is my childhood right there is you
know full house and these kinds of shows
step by step where there's a moral at
the end of the story and so everyone
there's always kind of like the the
protagonist is always like maybe he's
unsure but by the end they know the
right thing to do and they play like the
violin kind of sad not quite sad but
like heartwarming music you know like
well and then they give a speech and as
a kid you know you don't really like
think about it but that gets into your
like I move man deep because a full
house if you lie I've learned this as
deep in my subconscious if you lie and
then you keep lying
it's snowballs and it gets worse and
worse and worse so it's best to just
right away tell the truth that was a
really common theme and most sitcoms I
think that like they're just trying to
teach kids don't lie it's bad you're
right you're right sitcoms are youjin by
the way sitcoms is is a portmanteau
portmanteau meaning two words put
together of situation and comedy so
situation and comedy equals sitcom in
this case okay nice nice
I'm gonna go to my next one let's see I
think probably every little girl in the
90s in America anyway knew what this was
I don't know if you knew it's this brand
called Lisa Frank um Lisa Frank are you
aware of Lisa Frank are you aware at
Lisa Frank
no okay she knows she knows and Lisa
Frank is hey so Lisa Frank is just
bright it was always like brightly
colored school supplies like pinks and
purples and blues and it would always
have unicorns and dolphins and mystical
creatures he was just bright and
everybody all the girls loved it I loved
it I had Lisa Frank just whatever I
could get my hands on it's B pencils or
erasers or just pinks and rainbows and
hearts and stuff like that so I think
every every girl who grew up in the 90s
knows what Lisa Frank is okay so talking
about style in what nots grunge grunge
is something that I hits close to home
for me and I think that came out of the
90s is I mean everybody knows around the
world I think most people know Nirvana
yeah Kurt Cobain and this is something
that I guess was brought to the world
from Seattle and it was a music genre
and it was kind of it's like rock but
sometimes slower almost emo kind of like
sad usually undertones but anyways the
style that came with it was the opposite
of like the 80s and early 90s of really
bright colors you know it was the
opposite you just wear holey jeans you
don't really shower that much you don't
shave and like plaid and just really
like dreary colors so that was really
popular I at least I remember in like
the early 90s yeah and it's as soon as I
saw that card grunge as I got Nirvana
that was that's the first thing that
comes to mind when I hear about when I
hear grunge I didn't get into the grunge
scene that I was I was busy with boy
bands but like grunge for me was never
really I was aware I was aware of
Nirvana but I did not I was not up the
Nirvana
mod okay I'm gonna go to a style point
then too because you've read up a style
point I'll put up bring up maybe a
female style point scrunchies still
popular perhaps among some people what
is a scrunchie a scrunchie let's see I
don't have so there's regular rubber
bands that you can use to tie back long
hair he's making a no shirt with his
hand yes it's a very descriptive very
descriptive I'm the prop and then you go
like this to get digga digga digga there
there's like that if there's an awesome
video team somewhere in the world
somewhere that can put like a scrunchie
like right here anyway yeah scrunchie
it's just it's just a piece of elastic
with some kind of colorful
cloth wrapped around it and it but when
not in use he would go and it would
scrunch I think I think this is why we
call it a scrunchie but then when you
pull that you could expand it a bit and
wrap your hair up in it and then when
you were finished doing that it would
kind of close around it I had a couple
Nintendo anything any game related stuff
I remember game boy is anything handheld
except when I was a kid it it wasn't
like this fancy 3d high you know highly
like vibrant colors it was like black
and white and like you'd play it in the
car and you had to squint and it hurts
your head you know if you're playing too
much you're getting like carsick and
you're like you can barely see Mario
that's my game boy game boy are any like
there was handheld - there was like
Atari and stuff like that and like Sega
Sega was pretty good that would light up
I was thinking about NES when you said
Nintendo I imagined my NES the one that
like when it wasn't working correctly
you could just pull the cassette on
decks put it back in so you put the
cartridge in here right and sometimes if
it was really stubborn and it didn't
work
you would blow into this part and you
tried it really doesn't make a
difference but you would take churns
like me and my brothers would be like no
you want to be the one to get it to work
so you take turns hitting I don't know
let me let me let me and just by luck
you would work you're like see see ya
know this is super nostalgic I love
Nintendo I have a game two pogs do you
have pod ok pogs are either
simultaneously the most brilliant game
in the stupidest game ever invented
they're just discs of cardboard about
this size and on one side there's a
picture and on the other side there's
just nothing and then you had a thing
called a slammer which was essentially
just a heavy POG that she would use and
you had to flip you had to use the
slammer to flip the plain cardboard ones
what I don't even know it was that
stupid and forgettable of a game but it
was like crazy when I was about I don't
know like 2nd or 3rd grade or something
everybody had pogs like we had pogcham
days at my school I remember that Jesus
Lee America we're really obese let's go
into the gym and sit there and smash
easily fogs and like I was telling I was
telling her before we started this like
one day like my mom wanted me to get a
haircut and I was just being stubborn
and I wasn't having it I was in the
malls like I want to get a haircut she's
like I'll buy you pogs and she did it
was like this giant tube of pogs and I
was just so thrilled and I agreed to get
my haircut well that was a lot of things
that was that were exciting and or
popular and or we were into in the 90s
what were you into in the 90s what was
popular in your country I really have no
idea what was popular around the world
at that time maybe some of these things
are similar please let us know in the
comments I'm very interested to find out
we read these by the way any thoughts
any other any closing thoughts about the
90s you're not gonna sing a song for us
no man well that's copyright we can't do
that
just like blur that all out of it no
that was that was very accurate so I'm
sure we can use that very accurate I
mean totally wrong clearly we're very
good at talking about the 90s okay but
we hope that you are too we hope that
you learn something exciting about the
90s that's all for us today thanks very
much for watching and we will see you
again soon bye
hi everybody my name is Alisha and I am
joined again in the studio by Michael
hello and today we're going to be
talking about English conversation
strategies so let's get right into it
let's start with Michael what is your
first strategy for keeping an english
conversation going this is very
important don't
say I'm fine thank you and you you hear
this all the time from second language
English learners or non-native speakers
you learn this it's one of the first
things you learn in an English class
it's easy it's good it's a basic its
foundation okay that's fine but as soon
as you can switch it up because to me
when I meet a foreigner and they come up
and if they say hey how are you say oh
I'm fine you know I'm good whatever how
about you and they say I'm fine thank
you and you and it's just it's almost
robotic because I've said it so many
times and when I hear that I think their
English isn't that good and inside I'm
just gonna be really polite and say
hello and talk slowly and try to get out
of there as quick as I can
so really impress the foreigner in my
opinion I think the best way to do it is
say something you know you use a big
word or just like a slang word something
like that when I hear that I go wow man
I want to know what this person thinks I
want to get their point of view and I'm
really excited and then I've had great
conversations because of that um yeah
that's a really really good one actually
I think on this YouTube channel actually
from a couple years ago there's a video
all about better answers to the question
how are you then I'm fine thank you and
you or if someone says hey how are you
oh I'm good you are fine you never I'm
fine thank you and you never try to
actually use you know afraid sort of
native speaker would use and then that's
a clue to the native speaker that oh
maybe this person is ready for a
conversation beyond you know basic
English so that's a really good point I
like that I didn't think of things not
to do I only thought of things to do so
okay cool um let's see let's go to my
first one oh so this strategy in general
is just ask the other person a question
I think and I'm guilty of this too when
I'm learning another language I tend to
only get input like somebody else is
always asking me the questions and then
I forget myself to ask the other person
a question so one question that I like
to ask or you know a variation any kind
of WH question is good like a food
question what where something like this
if you've been paying attention you can
use any way to transition in your
conversation this was in a previous
video you can ask something like anyway
up to anything fun this weekend
this is a pretty casual conversational
question than she can ask just about
anybody whether you've just met them or
whether you've known them for a while
but just just get in the habit of asking
other people the question don't wait for
someone else to ask you the question so
that that's one strategy that I try to
use to keep things going yeah me too I
agree and I'm gonna say samesies because
actually two of my questions for exactly
what you said agree 100%
this is kind of cheating these should be
one but so always ask questions so you
know again you forget it's really easy
I'm really guilty of this English non
English whatever I'm guilty of this and
the other thing is ask deep open-ended
questions so if you ask a yes-or-no
question so again like Alicia was saying
it just dead ends you can't just say you
know do you like cheese yes or no right
so you want to say what do you think
about cheese what is your favorite kind
and kind of open it up to something else
and let it let it just kind of snowball
yeah I think I think that's that's
really a key like I have another
variation I wish I guess I'll just
continue on to cuz it kind of relates to
what you're talking about like he's
saying always ask questions always ask
deep open-ended questions so like you
meant you just said don't ask a
yes-or-no question because yes or no
ends with the yes or the no so one of
the things that I'll do is use a pattern
similar to this like hey did you see or
hey did you hear about blah blah blah so
you can use this little blah blah blah
as your you can ask about the news you
can ask about something funny you saw on
the Internet you can ask about you know
some something that you heard from
another friend of yours whatever it's
just a way to check in with the other
person and say oh did you also
experience this thing that I experienced
let's talk about that so that might be
another question that you can use with
people I like that one I really like
that one because you got to stay within
people's comfort zone so maybe you asked
and maybe they don't want to write so a
good thing is did you hear about it
that's up to them maybe they don't want
to talk about it they can say oh yeah I
heard about that and you can kind of
feel the the atmosphere and and realize
maybe I shouldn't talk about this change
the subject or they get passionate and
they start talking about it and there
you go and just let it go
yeah absolutely one thing again I'm
guilty of is is you do got to keep keep
returning it right don't let it don't
just
say oh yeah and what I think about that
uh bring it back ask them what about you
that's a common thing I forget about
yeah yeah yeah okay um good I have one
more this one um use when you see Fitz
don't I guess
just okay I'll just introduce it
compliment the other person or
compliment the other person's this can
be a nice strategy just to show that
you're enjoying the other person's
company it can be as simple as oh I like
your shirt today or oh that's a nice
dress you're wearing today or oh did you
get a new haircut that looks good on you
something like that so this is a nice a
nice way to make the other person maybe
you want to spend more time with you I
think yeah I agree 100% two things one I
think it's a good conversation starter
sometimes if you've got to be careful
with the stranger it can be creepy it
can be a little uncomfortable what
you're complimenting right but if it's
something like if they have a t-shirt
and it's a band that you both like
that's a great conversation starter and
you feel wow we're connected you know
number two the second thing I was
thinking about is that keep it honest I
love I love a sincere compliment it
really means a lot more and it really
does butter them up kind of get them
open to having more conversations deeper
that kind of thing
one of the things people do which which
I don't like is let's say they say hey
nice shirt and then the person out of
habit will say oh you too I like your
shirt too just my opinion I don't think
this feels really natural doesn't really
feel sincere so I would I would save it
make a mental note and go hmm I need to
return the favor I need to give them a
compliment but wait until you notice
something you really do like and say hey
actually I love blah blah blah yeah I
think that's a great point like when you
you can sense whether someone is being
sincere or not what is your next for
energy for continuing an English
conversation well don't be afraid to
open up I like this one I think this is
good a lot of people will be kind of shy
they won't open up too much again within
within your comfort zone but I like this
one because people will return the favor
because if you're just having small talk
and you say you know the weather is nice
today blah blah blah you can only go so
far so don't be afraid to say something
personal again
your judgment there'll be a creeper
don't go we don't want to hear certain
things about your life don't don't be a
creep don't be a creep don't be weird
don't be strange and like what you're
saying about opening up open up is just
a phrase that means share something
about yourself so it can be as simple as
what you did last weekend or what you're
going to do this weekend or a project
that you have coming up it doesn't mean
that you have to spill all of your life
secrets to the other person but just
showing that you're willing to share
something more personal about yourself
can help ingratiate yourself or can help
you know make the other person help the
other person understand you a little bit
better that's a good tip I like that tip
that's hard to do though it's hard it's
a little bit scary I think to share
parts of yourself but it's good it's
good way to meet people and make friends
all right
I think that's all is that all that you
have yeah that's all I got okay all
right well those are some interesting
strategies to keep an english
conversation going so give them a try if
you're ever at a loss for words and
don't know what to say you can try one
of these strategies and hopefully it
will help you out please let us know if
you have any other strategies or
anything else that you would like to use
or you try to use when you are having
trouble keeping a conversation going
leave us a comment and let us know what
it is we will see you again next time do
you have anything else you'd like to add
that's about it all right so thanks very
much for joining us and take it bye bye
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