Learn English Conversation

Hey, what have you been up to lately? If I asked you this question, would you go, uh, uh, not, not much, uh, I don't know what to say? Well, never fear because in today's lesson, over the next 30 minutes, you are going to learn my top tips for having a successful conversation in English so that you can breathe easy and have wonderful conversations in English. Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com, and like always, I have created a free PDF worksheet with all of the important information from today's lesson. Every tip, every trick, every sample sentence, and in the bottom of this worksheet, you can answer Vanessa's challenge question so that you never forget what you've learned. You can click on the link in the description to download that free PDF worksheet today. All right, let's get started having wonderful conversations in English by learning some of the things that you learned in the classroom and compare those to what we actually use in real life when we're having real conversations in English. Let's see. You may have spent a lot of time in the classroom with an English teacher who taught you lots of rules of English. It is true that English has a lot of rules just like any language, but did you know that in order to speak fluent English, there are a few rules that you need to break? If you're someone who loves to break rules, this is a dream for you, but if you are a rule follower, you're going to need to take a deep breath because these are essential rules to break if you want to be fluent in English. Let's get started with rule number one that you should break to speak fluent English. Let's imagine that someone calls you and you don't recognize the number. You don't know who it is and they say, hi, is this Vanessa? And you think, oh yeah, that's me, but I don't know who you are. Well, in the classroom that you would be taught the phrase, to whom am I speaking? To whom am I speaking? This is very formal. You might hear this in a TV show using old proper English from a long time ago, but in daily conversational English, we would not use this. So what could you say instead? If someone calls you and you don't know who they are, you want to ask, right? But what's a good question? You could ask, who am I speaking with? Or you could just simply ask, who's this? You're using the word who instead of whom. We rarely use whom in daily conversation. So you're switching up the grammar of this and you're saying, who's this? Who am I speaking with? And technically this phrase, who am I speaking with, breaks another important rule that we'll talk about a little bit later. Classroom English rule number two that we often break in fluent English. That's this one. There are a lot of problems with this plan. Hmm. Okay. This is grammatically correct. There are a lot of problems with this plan, but you know what? In fast conversational English, you're more likely to hear, there's a lot of problems with this plan. As a contraction, there is, but this is wrong. This is incorrect. There is problems. The word problems is plural. So technically we need a plural verb. There are problems, but in daily conversation, and you will hear me use this a lot in my English lessons because it's just the way that we speak and that's what I'm trying to teach you. Daily conversational English. We will use the contraction of there is, there's with a plural object. There's a lot of problems. Well, it's incorrect technically, but it's used all the time in daily conversational English. So I give you permission to use it. Classroom English rule number three that is often broken in advanced fluent English. It's this one. If I were from France, I would speak French. This is grammatically correct. It's a beautiful sentence, but do we use this in daily conversation? Maybe like 15% of the time, 20% of the time. Instead, what are people more likely to say? Well, you're more likely to hear the first part of this differently. If I was from France, I would speak French. So technically it should be if I were, because we're talking about a strange verb tense, a verb case in English, the subjunctive tense. So if you said, if I were from France, this would be correct, but instead in daily conversation, we say, if I was, if I was from France, I would speak French. This is what you're going to hear more often. There is one phrase I'd like to show you that we use equally both tenses. It's this phrase. I wouldn't do that if I were you. We use this as a warning. If someone is standing too close to the edge of a cliff because they want to look at the river down below in the valley, and they're getting a little too close to the edge, you might say, I wouldn't do that if I were you. But you could also switch it and instead use the incorrect verb, but it's commonly used in daily conversation. Instead, you could say, I wouldn't do that if I was you. Both of these are equally used. So you're going to hear both. And even though was is incorrect, it's used all the time. So I give you permission to use it. The fourth classroom English phrase that is taught in the classroom, but is not often used in daily conversation is this tricky one about verb tenses. Before I started learning English, I had thought it was impossible. Here we're using, I had thought, because it's an action that happened before something else in the past. But really in daily conversation, we just simplify it. Instead, you're more likely to hear this. Before I started learning English, I thought it was impossible. Here we're just changing I had thought to thought. And this is kind of good news, right? Instead of using a more complicated verb tense, we're using a simpler one because that's what's really used in daily life. Let's go on to our final phrase that you will learn in the classroom, but is not really used in daily conversation. And that's this one. In which car do you want to go? This just sounds so odd. But do you know why this is taught in the classroom? In fact, my English teachers told me this as well, even as a native English speaker. This was taught in English classrooms in the US. In which car do you want to go? Here what they're trying to do is avoid using a preposition at the end of a sentence. So you will still hear people say, you should never end a sentence in English with a preposition. Here the preposition is in. But do you know what? This is used all the time in English. So let's switch this around and hear how much more natural it sounds when we end a sentence with a preposition, because that's what people really use. Which car do you want to go in? All of a sudden it feels so much better to say that. The word in is at the end of this question. Yes, we are ending this sentence with a preposition, but who cares? This is how people speak. Which car do you want to go in? And you know what? You can use this type of English in business and academic English as well. It's really just a rule that people say in the classroom, but it's not really anything that's used in real life, even in these more formal situations. To help you remember this and also just a little joke, I heard a great joke about not ending a sentence with a preposition. Let me tell it to you. There was a new student that went to Harvard and when he met one of his classmates, he asked his classmate, where are you from? The student looked at him, saw that his shirt wasn't very clean. He didn't look very rich, very intelligent. And he said, where I'm from, I know not to end a sentence with a preposition because he asked, where are you from? And from is a preposition. So the new student said, oh, sorry, where are you from, stupid? Because really the thing here is that the question, where are you from, is totally fine. But that other student wanted to have a snobby response, where I'm from, I know not to do that. But in reality, it's totally fine to say, where are you from? So he just kind of made it a little bit humorous. Great work. Well, now that you know how we speak in real life, in real conversations, I want to help you be able to have the words that you want to say in a conversation. And usually when we have a conversation, we need to ask questions and give answers. Like what have you been up to lately that I asked at the beginning of this lesson? So here you are going to learn the top 50 questions and answers in English. You can take notes or you could simply download the free PDF worksheet for this lesson so that you always have these top 50 questions and answers to review. Let's go. Are you ready to get started with category number one? I'm ready. All right. Our first category are greetings. How's your day going? Pretty good. How about yours? You been doing okay? It's been kind of a hard week, but it's getting better. How you been? I've been good. I haven't seen you for so long. How have you been? What's new with you? Oh, we just had our third baby. My family's so excited. What's new in your world? Well, we have a newborn, so everything's new, but we're getting adjusted to our new routine. What's been going on? Well, our boys are excited about going back to school. I'm excited about growing the business. It's just been a busy time, but so far so good. How's it going? It's going. It's been a hard week. I hope that I'll get to relax this weekend. Just a little note, if you're having a hard week, you can just respond to this question by saying, it's going. It's going. What's up? Not a lot. Just enjoying these last days of fall before winter gets here. What about you? How's everything? Or, how's everything going? Pretty good. We've had a busy summer, but I think we're all ready to get started with the school year and just see what this year holds. Hey, you doing all right? Yeah, I'm okay. I just need to take a nap and eat something. Just a little note, this question is a great one to ask when you think someone's not looking so well. Maybe they're feeling a little sick, a little tired. You can ask this question just to kind of check up on them. Yeah, especially if you're a friend. Yes. Wouldn't necessarily say a coworker you don't know that well. Yeah. This is good for someone you care about. Yeah. All right, our next category are 10 questions to ask about plans. What are you up to today? Or what you up to today? Well, I kind of have a busy day. I need to do some work in the morning, do some housework in the afternoon, and then finish all of this before I pick up my kids from school. Do you want to hang out later? Yeah, if I can get all of my work finished by this afternoon, I'd love to. You doing anything fun this weekend? Yeah, we're gonna get together with some family that's coming to visit from out of town. You got anything fun planned? Yeah, this weekend we're gonna have a big surprise birthday for my best friend. Want to grab lunch later? Actually, I was about to make a big salad with vegetables from the garden. Want to join me? Where you headed? I was gonna go drop some books off at the library and then head to the farmer's market. Want to join me? What you got going on this weekend? Well, we're gonna go on a big family hike because it's supposed to be great weather all weekend. What are your plans for dinner? I don't really have any. Do you? Are you gonna be around later? Yeah, give me a call around two o'clock and I can talk. Just a little note, this is a great question to ask when you don't have time to have a conversation now, but you really want to tell someone something, so you're just asking about their availability for later. Have you decided where you're going on vacation? Yeah, I think we're gonna take a big road trip to visit some friends and then we'll go to the lake together. All right, let's go to our next category, which are the top 10 questions to talk about your interests or hobbies. What do you like to do in your free time? Well, I like to make jewelry out of recycled things and sell them at craft shows. How long have you done that? I just started in the last few years. What got you into that? Well, I like being creative and I like trying to reduce waste where I can. You want to try? Well, I don't have much time right now, but maybe tomorrow. What are you into? Well, I love being outdoors and in nature, so I'm into hiking, gardening, really anything that involves being outside. What's that like? Well, to go hiking, especially in the rain or inclement weather, you have to be pretty tough, but it feels fun and you feel courageous. I think it's personally pretty exciting. How'd you learn that? Well, I learned a lot about gardening online by watching YouTube videos, but it's also through trial and error. Have you seen the latest Batman movie? I haven't seen it, but I've heard it's pretty good. Have you read the book Atomic Habits? No, I haven't. Have you? I think I want to learn piano. Can you teach me? Sure. I love teaching people. Alright, let's go to our next category, which are the top ten questions that you'll ask around the house. Can you help me with something? Sure, give me a second and I'll be right there. Have you seen my jacket? Yeah, I think it's on the chair. Did you check the closet? Yeah, I did check the closet, but I didn't see my shoes in there. Can you pass me the salt and pepper? Sure, here you go. Did you check the mail today? I did. Our package didn't come yet. Have you fed the cats yet? Actually, I watched while the boys did it. They did a great job. Is it time for dinner? Well, it's a little early for dinner, but I'm hungry. Let's eat. Would you rather fold laundry or put away the dishes, because both have to be done? Well, I'd rather fold the laundry if you put away the dishes. Do I have to? I know, I don't like doing chores either, but they have to be done. This is a really common question that children will often ask in this whining tone. Do I have to? When they don't want to do a chore, but they know it's required. Will you hit the light? Yeah, in just a sec, I want to finish reading this page. This is a great question that you can ask for turning on or turning off the light. Will you hit the light? All right, here's our final category with the top 10 questions and answers to use about your job or work. How's the project going? It's going pretty well. Well, I like working with my team, and I think we're going to finish by the deadline. Are you working on anything fun? Well, there's nothing too exciting right now, but we're about to start a big new project next week. What do you do? Or what are you studying? I'm a teacher. Or I'm studying to become a teacher. What's your dream job? Well, I don't really have a dream job, but a lot of things that I like involve working with people. So maybe my dream job is working with people in some way. I'm looking for a job. Is your company hiring? You know, I'm not sure, but I'll ask around. What kind of work experience do you have? Well, I really love working with technology and computers, so that's what I've been doing for the last five years. What's your favorite part about your job? Well, I really like working with people, so it really makes me happy when I see them grow and develop and progress. What's your least favorite part of your job? Well, sometimes I don't really like the business parts of running a business. Taxes, payroll, spreadsheets, all that stuff. Blech. Would you rather do manual labor or have a desk job? Well, manual labor can be really tough, especially in inclement weather. So I guess I would rather have a desk job as long as I got to have long stretches of time where I could go outside and get fresh air. How long have you worked in education? Well, technically I've worked in education for the last 15 years, but I've been doing this job, teaching online, for the last 10 years. I can't believe it. Well, great work learning those top 50 questions and answers, and now I have a challenge for you. You have learned a lot of important words, what to say, what not to say, and now it's to put on your thinking cap and learn the most important thing that you need to know in order to speak confidently and clearly in English. In this next lesson, I'm going to give you some tips about how to really speak the best English that you can speak. Let's go. Are you wasting your time learning English? You probably are. Let's get started by talking about the first time waster. It is learning English without a plan. This is the number one time waster when you're learning anything new. If you're just randomly learning some vocabulary here, phrasal verbs here, and oh, I forgot about pronunciation here, well, you are going to be wasting your time because you don't have a plan. But you might think, Vanessa, making a plan is hard. How do I do that? I don't even know where to start. Well, that's why I'm here. The number two most common mistake that English learners make and waste their time is they just memorize instead of truly learning. I think we all experienced this in school where we knew we had a test coming up, so you just studied and studied and studied and memorized, and after the test, did you remember what you studied? Absolutely not. You just completely let it fly out of your brain and you didn't retain that information. But that's no good when you're learning English. You want to be able to learn something, learn some new vocabulary, learn the correct pronunciation, and when you have a conversation, you need to be able to remember it. So how can you learn something and not just memorize it? The best way to learn instead of memorize is to have a context, not just simply remembering where's the bathroom, where's the bathroom, where's the bathroom, where's the bathroom. Okay, where's the bathroom? No, instead you need a context where you're able to use that in a conversation, know when it is used and how it's used in daily life. All right, let's go on to the third way that English learners waste their time when they learn English, and it is that they don't take notes or use worksheets as they're learning. Scientific studies have proven that when you write something down specifically on paper, but you can take notes on a device as well, this helps to connect those concepts to your brain so that you can remember them more easily. So I highly recommend taking notes as you watch my YouTube lessons, download those worksheets, and take notes as you're watching my YouTube videos. The goal is to be able to remember everything that you've learned, not just mindlessly watch English lessons, but to really remember it and taking notes can help you to do that. I remember that when I was first learning French, I would go to my French professor's office for about 30 minutes a couple times a week and she would ask me simple questions like, what did you do this weekend? Or what are you going to do tomorrow? And I didn't have much vocabulary to explain what I wanted to do or what I had done, but when she gave me some vocabulary that I could use, I wrote it down. I had so many pages of notes and this was extremely helpful. Sometimes I went back and reviewed them, sometimes I didn't, but the act of writing it down helped it to not just go in one ear and out the other, instead it went in one ear and it stuck. So I highly recommend taking notes and using the worksheets for my English lessons can help you have an outline that you can take notes with. The fourth way that English learners waste their time while they're learning English is a really big one. I have a question for you. Are you a perfectionist? A perfectionist is someone who cannot stand, they can't handle when things are not perfect. It has to be perfect before you take that first step. Maybe you're trying to do something new and you can't take that first step because you know that you're probably going to make a mistake. You can't have a conversation in English because you're so worried about making a mistake. What if I don't have the right word? What if they don't understand me? What if I can't understand them? And then you decide to just not do anything. Being a perfectionist can be in a huge roadblock for your English learning and this will really make you waste time because really the faster that you get started, the better it will be. So what's the solution if you are a perfectionist? Well my tip for you is to just take a simple step. You don't need to just jump in and give a huge presentation in English. Instead, start slowly. Look around your room and see if there's a way that you can describe what you see. I see a computer monitor. I see a couch. Out the window, the birds are... What's that word? I don't know the word for what birds, what sound birds make. Ah, I'm going to look it up. Chirping. The birds are chirping. Okay, here you are making mistakes in a safe environment. You're learning new words and we can use the previous tip. You can write down the birds are chirping so that you can remember that. But starting slow. Don't jump into a scary scenario where you're giving a presentation that will trigger every bit of perfectionism in you. Instead, start slow. Talk about the things you see around you and build up that confidence. The fifth and final way that English learners often waste their time while they're learning English is that they wait until they think their English is good enough to begin speaking. Maybe you started learning English when you were in elementary school. And oftentimes in these classes, the teachers will ask students to repeat things. Where's the bathroom? I have a pencil. So you repeated things with the teacher, but were you really speaking and having a conversation? Not really. So if you can understand my YouTube videos, your English level is high enough to start having English conversations. A great way to start doing this is just to take a little step and you can use one of the videos in my series, Speak With Me, where I will ask you a question in the video and then I'll pause and you'll have a chance to be able to speak back. I'm not going to tell you the exact words you need to say. You need to create them from your brain. But this will be a safe environment for you to start speaking. So the next time that you see someone who's an English speaker, maybe your coworker says, Hey, how was your weekend? You feel much better because you've already practiced speaking in that safe environment. I highly recommend that all of my English students speak English in a conversation setting at least once a week. This is a great way to have a deadline so that you know, okay, Tuesday's coming. I'm going to be speaking in English on Tuesday. I need to listen to some podcasts. I need to watch some of Vanessa's videos. I need to prepare my mind a little bit for English. And then on Tuesday, you got it. You can speak in English. Well, great work learning how to have great English conversations over the last 30 minutes. And now I have a question for you. Are you a perfectionist? Are you someone who strives for perfection and you have a hard time forgiving yourself when you make a mistake? What about when you make a mistake when you speak in English? Can you forgive yourself and move on? This is essential for speaking clearly and confidently in English. Let me know in the comments if you are a perfectionist or maybe you are a recovering perfectionist. You're trying to forgive yourself more and more. That's important. Well, thanks so much for learning English with me. And don't forget to download the free PDF worksheet for today's lesson with all of these speaking tips and tricks, questions and answers, ideas and theories and ways for you to actually have real conversations in English. Plus, at the bottom of the worksheet, you can answer Vanessa's challenge question so that you never forget what you've learned. You can click on the link in the description to download that free PDF worksheet today. It is my gift to you. Well, thank you so much for learning English with me and I'll see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye. But wait, do you want more? I recommend watching this video next where you will continue to improve your English conversation skills, including the top small talk questions and answers that you can use so that you can seem friendly and not creepy. Make sure that you use them correctly and find out how in this lesson. I'll see you there.