Advanced English Listening And Vocabulary Practice – Conversational American English – Travel

Well, hello and welcome to this month's PhraseBuilder lesson.

It is a pleasure to welcome you back if you'vebeen with us for a while, and hello if you're new.

This month we're going to be talking abouttravel and tourism.

And because this is such a broad topic, Iwill be covering quite a few general terms about a few different things.

So, if you are traveling or even if you'rejust around your own home and welcoming other people into your country, wherever you happento be.

You'll have a lot of general terms, and you'llbe able to sound more like a native speaker when you communicate.

So, it's going to be a fun lesson.

Uh, there'll be a lot of interesting wordsand phrases as usual.

In this lesson, we will be covering thingsthat are not necessarily related to travel and tourism, but there will be just lots ofgreat words and phrases that will help you sound more native.

In the Fluency Corner lesson coming up next, we will be discussing more things about travel and tourism specifically.

Let's begin.

First is obsessed.

To be obsessed with something.

Now, you'll hear a couple of times in theconversation, this is just a general thing you should be listening for, uh, but don'tjust listen to the words and phrases that people use.

Try to understand their personality and theway they speak.

So, for me, you can try to understand my senseof humor, the way I make jokes or the way I comment about things.

And for many people, even people that I meetin my daily life, they have sometimes a hard time understanding whether I'm being seriousor if I'm joking about something.

So, you'll see me sometimes, I might say somethingand maybe the other person, uh, I'm speaking with doesn't quite get what I'm saying.

But each person, the point I'm making hereis that each person really has their own personality, and so that shines through.

This is a great phrasal verb that just meansit comes through.

Just like the sun shining through a window.

So, the personality shines through in theway that the person speaks.

So, in the case of Carley, who you'll seeme speaking with in the conversation this month, she is very optimistic.

She is a very bright and bubbly person.

She loves to make jokes and she loves to, uh, just have a really, a fun time.

So, in the conversation, she's using lotsof words, uh, that kind of make what she's trying to say a bit more excessive or to exaggeratesomething.

So, I'll go over a couple of, uh, examplesof that you'll see in this lesson.

But when you see that in the conversation, where she says, “Wow, that's the most amazing thing I ever saw!” Or, “I hated that thing.

” When people speak like this, you'll see agood example from Carley.

But when people speak like this in general, especially native English speakers typically from America, uh, these are people just exaggeratingthings, in general.

So, they might not really mean they actuallyhate something or that something was the most amazing thing ever.

But they're just using that as an exaggeration, just usually, when telling a story.

So, when, uh, the first example here is talkingabout being obsessed with something, it just means you're really passionate about it.

You really like it, and even if you're notactually obsessed with something where you can't stop thinking about it, again, thisis an exaggeration where native speakers are talking about something that they really like, but just in a more conversational way.

To be obsessed with something.

Next, a more advanced word, upheaval.

Upheaval.

Upheaval.

Now, you can hear this as up-evil or upheavalor up-he-val.

But usually, when people are speaking quickly, just upheaval.

Upheaval.

Now, upheaval usually means a sudden, uh, dramatic or drastic change in something, typically a violent one.

Uh, and so, you'll see Carley talking aboutthis in the conversation because we're talking about her trip to Myanmar, uh, also knownas Burma.

And so, she's talking about how there waspolitical upheaval.

So, the same thing.

You could have a physical upheaval like, uh, an earthquake or a volcano or something like that.

But the political upheaval means there's asudden dramatic change in government, typically a violent one, in some way.

Next, related to this we have genocide.

Genocide.

Now, this again, when we're kind of learningnew words, really a great way to do this, one of our, uh, just really great ways ofremembering things is understanding of the prefixes and suffixes of words.

A great example is bicycle where you havebi meaning two, and cycle meaning wheels or circles.

So, a bicycle is a two-circled thing.

And so, when we take that idea, we can havea bicycle for two wheels or a tricycle for three wheels.

So, when you're studying the pieces of wordslike this, it really helps you if you can understand one.

Then you can use that same thing in otherwords as well.

So, if we have, uh, this idea of cide, C-I-D-E, this means to kill something.

So, if you want to talk about, like, killingyour brother would be fratricide.

So, to kill your brother, uh, or, like, Ithink even killing your mother is matricide or something like that.

Like marrying, or not marrying, but killingyour mother, something like that.

Uh, suicide means killing yourself.

Uh, obviously, these aren't fun things totalk about.

But, when you have just an idea like thiswhere you can understand the, the point here, of cide.

Okay, even killing something like, uh, likeweeds or something like that in your garden.

You would use a pesticide for doing that.

So, all these things, uh, again, the pointhere is just to remember something where you can remember the words easily just by understandingthe pieces of it.

So, genocide refers to killing a whole groupof people, typically, uh, like a race or an ethnicity.

Uh, like, all green people want to kill allthe purple people or something like that.

So, there's a genocide where they try to killall of them.

Genocide.

Next, contamination.

This is a word I've actually covered beforein the program, I believe, but it's just such a great word.

And you'll see how, again, a lot of wordsappear over and over again.

So, they are, again, things that you shouldbe trying to remember more.

But to contaminate something just means tohave an influence or a physical thing that's coming into somewhere where it should notbe.

So, if I have my hands closed like this andnothing can get in, but slowly some gas gets into my hands, it could be contaminating theair that's in here.

And people often talk about contaminated foodwhere you could get food poisoning.

And Carley mentions both of these things inthe conversation.

So, food poisoning just means maybe there'ssome bacteria or some chemical thing or something when you ate some food that was maybe old, or it was contaminated.

So, other chemicals, or something like that, got into that food that you're eating and hurt you in some way.

Next, chancy.

Chancy.

Now, this is a conversational, native expression, or I guess not an expression, it's just a word.

But when you're talking about something beingchancy, it means maybe you don't know if it's a good idea or not.

So, the conversational example that you'llsee in the Master Class video is Carley talking about some food being kind of chancy.

Where she's looking at something, ah, I don'tknow if I should eat that or not.

So, chancy, as in I should maybe take a chanceby trying to eat that, or maybe I should not take a chance by eating that.

So, you can say, I don't want to chance somethingwhere maybe you're, you're thinking that the result could be bad if you decide to do thatthing.

Maybe you get hurt or something bad happens.

Chancy.

Chancy.

Next, another great word, dismantle.

Dismantle.

To dismantle means to take something apart.

As an example, when you go to a constructioncompany, usually they will put up, they will assemble, some kind of, uh, uh, structurearound that building maybe to protect it or where some people can walk on things.

This is called scaffolding.

That's the name of this physical thing, uh, around buildings.

Uh, but they take this up, and then they candismantle it when they are finished.

So, it just means to take something apart.

Again, you're not breaking something, uh, you're trying to do it delicately.

We also talk about dismantling a bomb becauseyou don't want to just destroy the bomb because that would hurt you.

You want to dismantle something.

So, to delicately take something apart.

Dismantle.

Next, precarious.

Precarious.

Precarious means dangerously unbalanced.

So, when I talk about something being precariouslybalanced, you'll see this in the conversation.

We're talking about this rock that's coveredin, uh, gold leaf foil or gold foil.

I forget what they call it.

But it's balanced on the side of a rock, orat least it looks like it could fall off.

So, it looks like it's balanced precariously.

So, if you're in a precarious situation, itmeans it's unstable in some way where even the slightest movement or you could do somethingjust a little bit wrong, and that would cause a lot of problems.

Precarious.

Precarious.

Next, phenomenal.

Phenomenal.

You'll hear this a few times.

Carley mentions this.

Again, this is that idea of exaggerating somethingbecause when we're telling a story, we want to bring more people into the story, to invitepeople in and to get their attention.

And if we just say, “Yeah, the food wasreally good at the restaurant.

” Then people say, “Oh, okay.

” But if you say, “Wow, the food was phenomenal.

” I mean, phenomenal is a pretty amazing thing.

If you really say something is phenomenal, that's the most, best, excellent kind of thing you could think of.

So phenomenal just means amazing, really fantastic.

But again, when native speakers are usingthese expressions, try not to rank them perfectly.

Like, well, there's great and then phenomenal.

Some food actually might be just pretty good, but people call it phenomenal because they are exaggerating.

Exaggerating.

Next equivalent.

Equivalent.

You'll hear this as equivalent or equivalent.

Equivalent.

Equivalent.

This is the ‘schwa’ sound equivalent.

So, this is the same sound, like, about orpanda a, a, equivalent.

Uh, we don't want to talk about, uh, pronunciationtoo much because, again, you'll hear both of these equivalent or equivalent becausepeople are thinking of it as equal, and this is what it means.

So, you could say in a regular casual conversationalway, that two things are equal.

Or, if you want to sound a bit more educational, or a bit more educated I should say, you would say the things sound equivalent or they areequivalent.

So, uh, my job here and the one I had in someother country, even though they're in different places, uh, the position is equivalent.

Equivalent.

Next, a great conversational term, this issweet.

To call someone sweet.

They, usually, this means they are a verykind person in the same way that maybe some fruit is sweet.

Uh, so we're not using it in that literalsense.

We're saying, “Wow, that was so sweet ofyou.

Thank you for giving me some chocolate, ”or something.

Typically, this is something used by womenrather than men.

Men can use it, uh, but women typically aretalking about maybe a child doing something.

Like, “Oh, that little boy gave me a flower, ”or something like that.

How sweet.

So, that was very sweet.

How sweet of you.

How sweet of you.

Next, legitimate.

Legitimate.

Legitimate just means something that's actualor real or the correct thing.

Uh, you could have a legitimate ruler as aruler of a company, or a ruler of, uh, a kingdom, something like that.

Uh, like, if a father dies and his son becomesthe legitimate ruler, uh, the next person to become king.

Or, usually, a story might have, like, someonethat's not the legitimate king, uh, becomes king.

Like, the story of the Lion King is a perfectexample that.

So, the illegitimate king is Scar.

He's the, the uncle of young Simba, the lion.

And he becomes the, the king of that.

I don't know if you've seen that movie ornot.

But anyway, the idea is still there.

So, it just means something that's, uh, realor correct for legitimate.

Legitimate.

Next proximity.

Proximity.

Proximity just means the relationship of howclose something is to something else.

And it could be physical proximity.

Like, right now, the proximity of me and thisboard behind me, we are quite close.

So, it's very close proximity.

But, you could also talk about the proximityof something like an idea where I have an idea and someone else has an idea, uh, andthey're, it's, they are quite proximate.

The, the ideas are quite related to each otheror quite similar.

Or, you could say they're very different.

So, in close proximity or maybe a farawaydistance from that other thing.

Proximity.

Proximity.

Next, isolating.

Isolating.

An isolating thing, or an isolating feeling.

To be isolated means you're separate fromother people.

So, you could have a very isolating feeling, or you feel isolated.

Maybe you move to a new town, and though thereare many other people living there, you don't really know anybody yet, so you feel veryisolated.

Isolated.

Next, assertive.

Assertive.

When you are assertive or you are assertingyourself, it means you are, uh, showing yourself.

You're being proud.

You are not being nervous.

You're not being shy.

You're being assertive.

So, I want to walk up if I see some beautifulwoman, and I say, oh wow, I want to go ask her for her phone number or something.

If I'm shy, if I'm timid, to be timid, thismeans shy or you're a little bit nervous about something, uh, then I don't walk up to her.

But if I'm assertive, I want to assert myself.

I want to walk up and be proud and have confidenceand communicate, uh, in a strong way.

So, you should be thinking in the same waywhen you're practicing and speaking English.

Be assertive.

It's okay even if you make a mistake.

You see, even right now, I'm a native speakerand when I make mistakes in these videos, it happens sometimes.

It's okay.

But I'm still assertive, and the reason I'massertive is because I believe that this is important information, and if you can learnhow to speak, it will improve your life.

So, it's okay if I make a mistake.

I have a good reason to be assertive.

So, think about that for yourself as you'relearning.

Just a quick tip about, uh, controlling theconfidence, especially if you feel nervous about speaking.

It's okay to be assertive because you couldpotentially help people, even if you're just getting into conversations to listen.

Be assertive.

Assertive.

And the final one is ASAP.

You can also hear this spoken as A-Sap, andthis just means as soon as possible.

So, this is something that you will hear sometimesin a more professional setting or an academic setting, uh, when you're asking someone pleaserespond.

Or, let me know about the answer to this thingASAP or A-Sap.

Uh, but again, it's a very conversationalexpression as well.

So, you will hear this in just everyday speakingwith other people.

So, let me know A-Sap or ASAP.

You can hear both of these things.

And again, it just means as soon as possible.

ASAP.

Now, let's get into the longer phrases andexpressions for this month.

First, I want to just explain something veryquickly.

Again, I mentioned earlier in this lessonabout watching not only the words or listening to the words that people use, but the waypeople speak to try to understand their personality and how that changes the words that they mightchoose to speak with.

So, me, again, I can be a little bit sarcasticas are many people from the United States.

Carly is a little bit sarcastic as well.

Uh, and if you've been a member with us fora while, you can go back and watch some of the previous conversations that she's joinedus on.

I really enjoyed the paranormal activity lesson.

Uh, that was a great one.

We were talking about ghosts and things likethat.

Uh, but in the conversation, you'll hear medescribing something, and I say, “As fun as that would be.

” So, I'm using it in a sarcastic way meaningthat I don't think something would be fun.

As an example, I might say, “Yeah, as funas it would be to have a picnic in the rain, I, I don't think, uh, I'll have time to dothat today.

” So, maybe a friend of mine says, “Hey, Drew.

We should go out to a picnic.

” Uh, and I say, “Well it's, it looks likeit's going to rain today.

” Well, I guess as fun as it would be to havea picnic in the rain, as great as it would be, as entertaining as it would be to havea picnic in the rain, I won't be able to go with you today.

Or, I don't think, ah, maybe, I'll be ableto do something.

But it's a great phrase that you can put adifferent word in there.

As fun as it will be, as great as it willbe, as awesome as it will be.

But, again, you're using it in a sarcasticway.

Now, you can use this in an actual seriousway where you say, “Wow, as great as it would be to join you at the party, I’m, I'm un, uh, unable to join you.

” So, I'm, uh, too busy, or I have some otherthing that I can't, uh, I can't join you for.

So again, the way that you're speaking it, and your personality, these are all things that help to shape the way that you speak.

So, as great as it would be to do something, as great as it would be to, uh, to go travel and travel the world and meet you right now.

I've got work tomorrow, so I can't do it.

So, as great as it would be, as fun as itwould be.

And then again, the meaning of it is justin the conversation, whatever your personality is.

So, you can be sarcastic, or you can be serious.

Next, another way of changing something slightlyas a native speaker, when you say, “I've never done something myself.

” Just adding the myself at the end of that, it makes it sound a little bit more conversational, and just a bit more friendly.

So, I've never done that.

So, a friend of mine says, “Oh, have youever been to France?” I can say, “No, I've never been to France.

” Or, I could say, “I've never been to Francemyself.

” So, I'm saying exactly the same thing.

The meaning doesn't change at all, but itjust becomes a little bit more casual, a little bit more friendly, little bit more nativesounding, uh, adding the myself at the end of that.

So again, it doesn't change the meaning atall.

But you're just saying, well, yeah, like, myself.

Like, me, I haven't been there.

Or, I haven't been there myself.

Next, another expression that happens, uh, or does this same thing of just sounding a little bit more casual and conversationalis perfectly okay.

Now, this sounds kind of a weird expression, when okay just means, yeah, it's not too good, not too bad, just, it's just okay.

So, perfectly okay is like, “Wow, it’s, like, really perfectly okay.

” But you'll hear this, again, just used asa, uh, a more conversational way of saying that something is okay.

It's almost like the word okay is just tooshort, and people want to give a little bit longer explanation or definition just to sounda bit more conversational, uh, and a bit more friendly about, you know, the way that they'respeaking.

So, I could say it's perfectly fine to dothis, or it's perfectly okay to do this.

But, maybe you want to do this other thingas well.

It doesn't change the meaning at all.

You can say it's okay to do something, butyou'll sound a bit more casual and conversational.

Try this expression with your friends insteadof just saying it's okay to do something, say it's perfectly okay.

They will say, “Wow, like, where did youlearn that?” Because it's really something that non-nativespeakers don't use.

Perfectly okay.

Next, this is a common thing, and I want youto just listen carefully because here is a common mistake that native speakers will make, and it's something that you can make in your conversations as well that you shouldn't worryabout.

It is something that you should pay attentionto for your writing.

And this is whether you use me or I in a conversation.

Now, you’ll hear conversate, uh, you'llhear in our conversation, Carley says, “My friend and me.

” Or, me and my friend do something.

So, the, the way to know whether one of theseis correct or not is to remove the other person from the sentence.

And this is just to learn to use it correctly.

So, if you say, “Me and my friend went toCanada.

” Me and my friend or my friend and me wentto Canada.

Now, if you remove ‘my friend, ’ you wouldjust have me went to Canada.

And you wouldn't say me went to Canada.

You’d say I went to Canada.

So, the correct answer becomes my friend andI went to Canada.

Or, I and my friend.

But typically, when we're speaking logically, it doesn't matter if you say my friend and I or I and my friend.

But typically, we want to kind of show respectto the other person.

So, we say that other person first.

So, my friend and I, my wife and I or my other, you know, my family and I did something.

So, you don't usually say I and my familydid something.

You're saving yourself as the, the last person.

Uh, like, John, Frank, Tommy and I went tosomething.

So again, you're, you're showing respect tothose other people by saying yourself last.

But this is a thing in conversations where, don't worry too much if you say me or I because native speakers make this mistake.

I'm sure I've made it, uh, many times.

Even if you go back and watch the lessons, I might accidentally say, uh, me instead of I.

But nobody cares in the conversation, numberone, because they understand my meaning.

And number two, nobody's going to stop.

I mean everybody makes mistakes like thisin conversations.

And these kinds of mistakes are not that important.

But making a mistake where you say, like, two cat are on the table instead of two cats are on the table.

That's a common mistake, uh, that a non-nativespeaker would make, but a native speaker would not say that.

Next, when we're talking about show-and-tell, and this is where you're introducing something while physically showing something.

Often younger children at school, they haveshow-and-tell, maybe, days at their school where they have to bring some object.

Or, they bring a favorite toy or a pet thatthey have for show-and-tell.

So, they're going to explain something.

I want to show you something.

So, we did a bit of show-and-tell, or we willdo that.

You will see that in the conversation wherewe're talking about showing something and talking about it at the same time.

Show-and-tell.

Now, when you're showing something, a greatphrase you can use, this could be while you're giving a presentation.

Right, right behind me, if I have, uh, a graphor some kind of chart, I could say, “As you can see.

” As you can see, and then I'm doing something.

So, I'm illustrating something.

I want to show you a picture and then say, as you can see, something, something, something.

As you can see, this is a really great wayto learn.

As you can see, something.

Now, keep in mind, this is where the ideacomes from.

I'm physically showing something to you.

As you can see.

But, you can also use as you can see whenyou're just explaining something, maybe trying to paint a picture in the mind of the personlistening to you.

So, you can describe something, and I was, I was standing there, and I had to, uh, talk to the police.

And there was a big problem.

There was a traffic accident or somethinglike that.

As you can see, I was in a lot of trouble.

So, you can't physically see me.

I'm not there.

You're not there with me, but we can talkabout that thing, and I can use that expression in that way.

As you can see.

As you can see.

Now, a funny expression Carley uses in theconversation is, in American.

So, she's talking about in English.

Uh, but sometimes people will use this asa joke.

Like, “Oh, I was speaking American, ” eventhough that's not an actual name of a language.

Uh, but just listen for that in the conversationwhen she's talking about translating things, uh, and speaking.

Oh, I, I have to say something in American.

In American.

She really means English, or specificallyAmerican English.

Next, yet another exaggeration, I would havedied.

I would've died.

Now, if you are really embarrassed about something, wow, I, I went to the party and I almost wore the same dress or the same shirt or the samesomething, uh, as another friend of mine.

And, if I had done that, oh, I would havedied.

Now, you don't actually mean that you wouldhave died.

But this is a very common conversational expression, especially with younger women like Carley, that are very excited about something andthey're exaggerating what they would have happened, or what would have happened, uh, if they did something.

So, I would have died.

Now, she can be a bit more serious.

Like, if I actually, uh, swam with some sharks, I would have died.

So, there was a, a real problem.

You can use it in that way.

Again, the language is the same.

I would have died, but the meaning changesdepending on the context.

So, depending on the conversation or the situation.

And it also depends on the speaker.

So, if you're being sarcastic, if you're exaggeratingor if you're being serious, I would've died.

I would've died.

Next, all around.

All around.

You'll hear Carley describing the prices.

And again, we'll talk more about the specifictourism and traveling things in the Fluency Corner lesson.

But in the, or just for this lesson wherewe're talking about all around.

So, Carley was saying, “All around, theprices are pretty cheap.

” Or, you could say the prices are pretty cheapall around.

So, all around, just meaning the differentparts like maybe the food and the transportation and housing and other things like that.

So, in general, or even the different partsof something altogether, are quite cheap.

All around.

You could talk about someone being, maybe, all around a great student.

So, they're good at, uh, history and mathand science and many different subjects as well.

Again, we're just talking about the differentparts, and each of these is good together.

So together, all together, all around.

They're all very good.

Next, very quickly, nowadays.

Nowadays.

I've talked about this, again.

But you'll see, again and again, lots, uh, lots of phrases appear again and again in conversations.

So, it's always great to review them.

Nowadays just means as opposed to time inthe past.

So, contrasted with this, or the oppositeof this, you could say back in the day or in the olden days.

In the olden days.

So, nowadays, or you could just say now.

So, uh, nowadays kind of refers to generallythey maybe this time in history rather than maybe 20 years ago or a hundred years agoor something like that.

So, nowadays you can go out.

Like, nowadays, women will ask men out ona date.

Maybe 200 years ago, women didn't really dothat very much.

Or, I guess depending on where they were.

Uh, but in some cultures, now that's changed.

So, now women can more, like, ask a man outfor a date.

Where maybe before, uh, men really were theones asking women out on a date.

Nowadays.

Next, to think it through.

Listen carefully to how this blends.

To think it through.

Thin ki thru, think it through.

Now, I'm saying think it, but the ‘t’disappears from it.

Think i, think i.

So, you notice how I'm leaving that spacethere for the sound, but I don't actually say it.

So, listen carefully, think it through.

Think it through.

Think it through.

Think it through.

You hear that? Think it through.

To think it through just means to think aboutsomething, usually where you're thinking about the steps.

Where maybe you do this and then you haveto do that thing and something like that.

So, if you're making a plan to do something, maybe your business is, okay, we want to try to start selling things in a different country.

How do we do that? We have to think it through.

So, what do we do? First, we have to get this legal permission.

Then we have to do something else and talkto some people over there about selling it.

So, there are things we have to do.

We have to think it through.

So, when you're talking to children aboutdoing something, “Hey, don't, don't act too quickly.

Think it through.

” Try to take time and plan what will happenif you do this, and then what that means, and the next seps, uh, or the next steps youhave to take.

Think it through.

Next, another casual conversational expressionis how cool, or how cool is that? How cool is that? How amazing is that? So, if I'm talking with my daughter, or I'mtalking with someone else, again, I'm excited.

Maybe I'm even exaggerating about something.

And, again, I could be sarcastic about it, or I could be serious.

It just depends on my mood, and what I'm tryingto say.

So, listen not just to the words but to theexpression as well.

So, how cool is that? How cool is that? So, I'm looking with my daughter.

Wow, there, there's a dinosaur over there.

How cool is that? So, even if it's just a robotic dinosaur, I think it's amazing.

Wow, how cool is that? Next, the economy is shifting, shifting.

The economy is shifting.

So, to shift just means to move slightly, and it could mean a big shift or even just a slight shift.

But when the economy is shifting, it meansthere's some change.

It could be a big change that's happeningin the way businesses operate, or maybe people are maybe doing one job more than somethingelse.

So, in America, if manufacturing jobs, soa manufacturing means, like, you're using your hands to build something or using machineswhere you're actually building something.

So, manufacturing jobs are moving to othercountries, and a lot of them have already left.

So, now Americans are doing other things wherewe're, like, doing financial things, or we have some kind of, uh, working with a computertyping information or something like that.

So, as the economy shifts from one thing toanother, then people's jobs change.

Next, two things that are related to eachother.

The first is to get sidetracked, and the secondone is to be on a tangent or to go on a tangent.

So, to be sidetracked.

If you think about a train track that's goingstraight, like, they're, uh, like this.

A sidetrack maybe would take you off in anotherdirection.

And this is the same idea as a tangent.

So, you can have a line like this, a regularstraight line from a math class.

And a tangent is just a line that goes offon the side.

And I've covered this on the program before, but, again, remember that things like this, they do appear again and again in conversations.

So, this is a great review for you.

Uh, but to go off on a tangent means you'retalking about something else.

It could be related to what you're talkingabout or even not related at all.

But maybe, sometimes you could be talkingabout, I'm talking about my pet dog.

And then maybe I go off on a tangent and talkabout how my wife got me that dog for Christmas.

And then my wife was doing this, and I startgoing off on a tangent.

So, I have to bring the conversation backto the original topic.

To go off on a tangent.

To go off on a tangent.

Next, to read someone's mind.

To read someone's mind.

When you read someone's mind, you anticipatewhat that other person wants or what they're thinking so that you can give them something, and they're being very excited or happy about that when it happens.

So, you can talk about reading someone's mind.

Maybe they look really thirsty.

So, I say, “Hey, would you like a glassof water?” And I give them a glass of water.

You could respond by saying, “Wow, you readmy mind.

” You read my mind.

So, it's okay to just say thanks for the water.

But if you want to really sound more native, “Wow, you read my mind.

” So, if, like, you're sitting there, you lookkind of tired and your husband or wife or friend, or somebody, just gives you a littleback rub or massage.

You can say, “Oh, you read my mind.

” So, I was thinking, “Wow, I really wishI could have a massage.

” I wish, something like that.

I'm, I'm hoping something.

Uh, but you don't actually say it.

So, in that case, uh, if I say, “Hey, couldyou bring me a glass of water?” And they bring me a glass of water.

They're not reading my mind because they heardme say that.

But if I don't say anything, and they justbring me one, uh, then you have to read their mind in that case.

And so, you're very excited when that happens.

To read someone's mind.

Next, to knock something out.

To knock something out.

If you think about the idea of boxing, tohit something, to knock it out usually means it's in some location, and you remove it veryquickly someplace else.

So, to knock something out.

So, you knock a boxer out, like, you knockthe consciousness out of him.

And he falls back on the, on the mat, and, you know, the person counts one, two, three, four, all the way up to ten.

And then you have knocked out someone.

So, this is known as a KO, a knockout in boxing.

But this idea, really, just means to do somethingvery quickly.

So, if I have some homework, and I want togo to a party after that.

I can tell my friends, “Hey, I have to knockout some homework before I go, and then I will come see you after that.

” So, let me knock this homework out.

You can use this.

This is a separable phrasal verb, meaningyou can say, knock out or knock something out.

Both of these are fine.

Uh, but when you knock something out, again, you just want to do it quickly, usually, so you can do something else after that.

Next, another great phrasal verb, to squeezesomething in.

To squeeze something in.

When you squeeze something in from one placeor another, you have maybe a small amount of space.

You don't have much space for something, butyou can kind of push it in there a little bit.

This is a great term you can use when you'resetting up appointments where a doctor or a therapist or somebody, maybe they only have15 minutes.

And I say, “Oh, could you squeeze me infor just 15 minutes? Could you squeeze me in at 4:00?” Something like that.

So, they might not have a full hour, but Ijust have some questions for you.

Could you squeeze me in? Again, again, like squeezing something, topush something and get it into a space that maybe it wouldn't really fit.

Uh, but it's okay if you just want to do somethingfor a little bit.

So, could you squeeze me in? So hopefully, I'll have time to squeeze insomething.

I don't know if we'll have time or not, butwe'll try to squeeze it in.

Squeeze it in.

Next, you'll hear me in the conversation talkingabout Hawaii being up there on my list of places we'd like to live.

So, imagine if you have a physical list.

Like, you've got ten different countries orcities, places you'd like to live or things you'd like to do.

When we're talking about this in a physicalsense, you can talk about something being up there.

Like, it's at the top of the list or nearthe top of the list.

So, if you ask someone, “Hey, what placeswould you like to travel to?” Or, “What's your number one travel destination?” something like that.

You could say, “Oh, like, I’d like togo to Greece and Italy, and China is up there.

” So, you're saying it's up there near the topof the list, or in this, maybe, kind of list you're just thinking about, uh, it's at thetop of the list.

So, it's up there.

Up there.

And finally, I'll have to see if I can dosomething.

I'll have to see if I can do something.

Now, I'm covering this because it's a, it'sa pretty common thing.

But also because the blending is importanthere.

And if you blend it correctly, it will helpyou sound more native.

So, I half da think, I half da think.

So, I half da think about doing something.

So, half, half, half da, half da.

So, it becomes really more of a ‘d’ sound.

The ‘t’ from to.

So, we have T-O, but this becomes more ofa D-A, half da.

I'll have to think about something.

I'll have to think about it.

So, when someone says, “Can you come tothe party next week?” Or, can you do this, or are we able to dothis? Oh, I’ll, I have to think about that.

I have to think about that.

Or, you can say, “I’ll try to think aboutthat.

” I'll try to think about that.

Or, I'll try to do that.

I'll try to do that.

Again, we have to, usually, again, I'm usingthat here.

I have to, or we have to.

And I'm saying it a bit faster here, justso you can hear the blending.

But usually, it's half da, half da.

So, I half da, I half da do something.

I half da go home, uh, after school todayvery quickly because I have to pick up my daughter from ballet class or something.

So, I have to half da, half da, half da.

Well, that's it for this lesson.

I hope you have enjoyed it.

Do go back, as always, and review everything.

Listen carefully to the blending, and thenreview all of these things again and again, so that when you get to the conversation, they will all be easy and automatic to listen to.

And you will hear them very quickly.

Ah, I remember that.

It's actually really interesting.

You can experiment sometime.

Uh, if you're watching this, if you watchthe conversation first, and then go back and watch all of the actual lessons that prepareyou for that.

Again, these are the fluency bridge learningsystem lessons.

So, the reason we make all these is becauseit helps prepare you for the actual conversation.

So, if you try it one time just to see yourdifferent level of understanding, it's really great to see how powerful the program is.

So, the next time, maybe for a future lessonset, begin by watching the conversation first.

See how much of it you understand, and thengo back and watch all the lessons.

And watch the conversation again, and youwill be amazed by how much more you understand.

So, prepare yourself, and I will see you inthe Fluency Corner lesson coming up next.

Bye bye.

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