one of the biggest challenges of
speakers of English as a second language
is that we settle we settle for a word
that it's not the right word but it's
close enough we settle for being general
then being specific and we settle for it
not sounding as intelligent and
sophisticated and witty as we may be in
our native language and the reason why
that happens is mostly vocabulary now if
you haven't watched my video about how
to enhance your speaking vocabulary then
I really recommend that you watch it
after watching this video I'm going to
put a link to it in the description but
what I said there is that usually when
communicating we have a circle of basic
words that we retrieve rather easily
that are really easy for us to use in a
conversation we don't need to think much
and we don't have to hesitate before
using them and then there is another
circle of words that circle is the words
that you know but you don't use also
known as passive vocabulary and that's
like a really broad and incredible list
of words that when we hear those words
we know exactly what they mean but we
never seem to be able to pull them out
when we need them and what I recommend
in that video is to focus on those words
and the last circle is words that you
don't know and you don't use and a lot
of times people put all their efforts
into learning words that they don't know
and they are less likely to use and that
is counterproductive so what I
recommended in that video was to focus
on taking all that passive vocabulary
and turning it into active vocabulary so
basically growing the smaller circle
what I'm going to offer in this video
and in the series of videos hashtag
vocabulary upgrade is the list of words
that are basic words are probably easy
for you to retrieve but I'm going to
offer different words for you to use
instead of those words so these are
probably words that you know or phrases
that you know but you tend to never use
so I would just point out those words to
you and at the same time at the end of
the video so stick around
till the end at the end of the video I'm
going to share with you the technique
and strategy to integrate it into your
speech because it's all nice and fun
when you see a video and you're like oh
yeah these words but then you never use
it so we want you to see a results so at
the end I'm going to share with you how
you can actually do that so stick around
if you are new to this channel welcome
and I want you to know that this is the
right place for you if you want to
improve your confidence your clarity and
your fluency in English and we are going
to make you feel super happy about who
you are and how you speak in English
even if English is not your first
language let's get started with the
first word so the first word is I think
we use I think all of the time and
that's totally fine you are a human
being and human beings think and you
want to share that but then you find
yourself using I think I think I think I
think I think all of the time and
sometimes you just want to vary it a bit
or you want to sound smarter to yourself
again it's not necessarily about the
other person and how they perceive you
it's about how you feel yourself
expressing yourself hearing yourself
using the same word over and over again
that's the frustrating part and as you
feel more varied it also boosts your
confidence and when you're more
confident
obviously the words are more accessible
in general because nerves and judgment
and anxiety all of these things just
shut down your fluency and we don't want
that so I think if you constantly say I
think here are a few phrases that you
can use instead I often use I feel that
okay it's a little different because I
feel and I think are two different
emotions a lot of times I would use I
feel instead of I think I feel that we
really need to consider all our options
first before making a decision I feel
instead of I think or it seems to me
that you are not really paying attention
to what I'm saying it seems to me that
now yes of course there are nuances it's
not exactly the same as I think but this
is yet another way that you can use
instead of just saying I think it seems
to me that
you know this might not be the right
decision for us another phrase if you
ask me so I could say I think it's a
little too soon or I could say it's a
little too soon if you ask me or if you
ask me it's a little too soon as far as
I can tell that's another way to say I
think I think that no one will forget
this time as far as I can tell no one
will ever forget this time as far as I
can tell to me things really need to
change to me I think I think things
really need to change here I think
things really need to change your to me
things really need to change here so you
can also say that the next word is hard
this word pops up really easily whenever
we experience this emotion or we want to
use this word but if you don't want to
use hard and hard is also a harsh word
then in some situations or in some
context and it's very direct so you
could use other words like challenging
it doesn't have the same connotations
and also that's another word a fancier
word for the word hard it's a really
challenging project it's been really
challenging for me lately
instead of it's been really hard for me
lately now I'm not saying you can't use
hard but if you want to have that extra
edge or you feel frustrated with the
fact that that's the word that you go
back to every time you want to express
something with that idea then these are
your options it's tough right things are
tough right now it's not that simple
or it's not so simple or it's not so
easy that's another way to say hard but
in a different way okay so yeah you're
not using fancy words here but it's just
another way of expressing something that
is immediate that we constantly use and
constantly express right it's tricky I
don't know the situation is really
tricky instead of hard right it's a
tricky situation
it's a tricky decision
so it takes the edge off of it so if
something is really hard Oh use hard but
tricky is a little more subtle so you
might want to use that that's the thing
about English and about becoming fluent
and about enhancing your vocabulary a
lot of times we look for those really
nice fancy words look those big words
and that's great too and I'm probably
gonna add those in this video series but
I want to tell you that sometimes the
basic words that we use can be polished
a little bit and we could use different
variations for each word because these
are very very frequent words and we
don't want to get repetitive for
ourselves the next word is happy what a
great word we don't want to delete this
word from our vocabulary Marinol so
sometimes if we want to be a bit more
expressive we could just add an
adjective to it I'm genuinely happy for
you or I'm so incredibly happy for you
right so we can upgrade it a little bit
by adding an adverb that supports it and
and enhances it and you we can also use
other words like I'm thrilled I'm
thrilled to be here I actually love the
word thrilled because I know for some of
you it may sound a little over the top
but in American English it is frequently
used like you don't have to be so
thrilled to use this word right I'm
thrilled to be here with you that's cool
too right instead of saying I'm happy to
be here with you so don't feel like
you're turning it into like a really
really excited teenager when you use the
word thrilled and if you go to youkilis
for example you will see how often it is
being used in videos if you don't know
you glish you should I'm gonna put a
link to it in the description as well
another word you could use is excited
again it's not exactly the same but it's
another way of expressing something like
happy about something or excited about
something and yes excited is also a
little overused but if you don't use it
that much then you can definitely start
using it more I agree if you want to
agree with something you could say yes
or I agree or sure so these are
the basic words that we use to show
agreement with someone but here a few
more options absolutely definitely oh I
definitely agree with you
you can even still use the word agree
but you added something to it that's the
upgrade I'm talking about and then you
feel a bit more expressive yeah so it's
not yet you using academic language okay
but is that really the goal you want to
be conversational and you will notice
that great speakers they don't use fancy
words they don't use words other people
don't understand or words that are
rarely used in the language because when
you use that in speaking it feels like
you're a little stuck up or maybe
patronizing it feels like you're
positioning yourself above others so the
purpose is not to find those fancy 10
syllable words just like something was a
little different a hundred percent or
100 percent I love that a hundred
percent I it's like that's it that's
enough you don't have to say much if you
really agree with someone I was just
thinking the same thing or my thoughts
exactly
or I feel that way too all of them
Express I agree important that's a word
that we use a lot for example it's
important that you remember that you
need to practice these words at home
before you use it in a conversation it's
crucial that you practice these words at
home first it's essential for you to
practice these words at home first it's
imperative that you learn the
pronunciation of these words first
before you try to use them in a sentence
crucial essential so these are a few
examples of how you can upgrade the word
important the word worried I'm worried
that we're not gonna be there on time
right an easy word to tap into and the
state that I'm constantly in I'm worried
that we're not gonna be there on time
I'm concerned that we're not gonna be
there on time I'm concerned or I'm
afraid that we're not gonna be there
so two more words to use instead of the
word worried I want this is such a great
word it's a primal word we use it all of
the time you do not want to delete it
from your vocabulary we want to use it
want what want I just said one like five
billion times but here are two other
ways to say I want just to make it more
interesting
I want I feel like instead of I want to
get some coffee I feel like getting some
coffee or I feel like drinking some
coffee right I feel like or I would love
to I'd love to go home after this
instead of I really want to go home
after this so instead of adding the word
really want I'd love to the word good
good is a great word but what if we say
valuable instead right it doesn't really
change the meaning it's just it makes it
a bit more varied maybe a little more
sophisticated I don't know why I always
go to like that British enunciation and
they say the word sophisticated instead
of it's a good idea it's a valuable idea
it's a helpful idea it's an exceptional
idea if you want to say something that
is really good right it's a helpful
feature it's worthwhile so these are
just a few other words to use instead of
just saying that something is good now
what is the best way to start using
those words in conversation or freely so
here's how I see it first of all all the
words all the other words that I
suggested are not challenging words
either to pronounce or to remember these
are not like long words or they're not
that rare in the conversation or in the
language so the thing is that you just
need to use it a lot what I recommend is
to take one substitution for each word
and just one don't overdo it this is why
I didn't give you an list of six seven
different synonyms I mean for that you
can go to the dictionary and look
or it I gave you common words that I
know would not be too challenging to say
and that will make it easy for you to
use them so choose one word or one
substitution that maybe you use but you
don't use that often or maybe you don't
use it all and write it down so now you
have a list of eight words then I want
you to say each of those new words out
loud like five six ten times if you're
not sure about the pronunciation then
google it and come back and say it make
sure you know exactly how to pronounce
each syllable and if one part is
exceptionally challenging instead of
really hard have you noticed what I just
did here so if one part is exceptionally
challenging even you want to repeat that
part again and again and again and again
okay
so that is about developing the muscle
memory of saying that word because your
mouth is not used to singing it that
much so you want to practice just saying
it out of context then you want to use
it in context because you know the
context in which this word should be
used then I want you to just create five
six sentences for each of those words
and use it and say it out loud do not
think it in your head you can't practice
English in your head you just can't it's
not going to be the same it will be
helpful but it's not going to be half as
helpful as saying it out loud because we
really discover the challenges when we
say it out loud it would discover when
we get stuck we discover when something
is not working when something does not
sound right this is why I want you to
say it out loud in context like I did
it's imperative that you pay attention
to the small details it's crucial that
you follow your morning routine so on
and so forth so you for each word and
remember just choose one for now please
just choose one I know you you want to
get it all down you want to practice
everything choose one but that one word
drill it in five six different sentences
the next step is to choose three words
out of the eight and use them
consciously and deliberately in a
conversation so you are aware of them
and
you try to use them because again these
are very very common words so you are
very likely to end up using a few of
them in almost every conversation if you
don't have a lot of opportunities to
speak in English then I invite you to
join our community on Facebook I will
put a link to it in the description
because there you'll get a ton of
opportunities to speak and it's totally
free we have weekly discussions where we
encourage you to post a video answering
one of the questions that we post we
have weekly activities and most
importantly we have group conversations
it's called the speaking Club it's on
zoom' we break into small groups so you
have the opportunity of speaking with
three four different people and we have
like four speaking clubs a week and
again it's totally free just for you a
great opportunity to practice so I
highly encourage you to come and join us
only with the best intentions only with
being fully supportive and don't forget
to answer the questions at the beginning
because we do not approve people who
don't answer the questions just so you
know okay that's it thank you so much
for watching if you have more ideas for
word upgrades for the words that I've
shared with you in this video let us
know in the comments below and if you
haven't yet subscribe to my channel and
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that is aimed at helping you feeling
freaking awesome about your English yeah
I said freaking awesome instead of good
because it is freaking awesome
have a beautiful week stay healthy stay
safe and I'll see you next week in the
next video
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