Hello! Hello! Hello Everybody!
and welcome to
my name is Steve Ford and today I have a question from Mustafa from Turkey
so let's take a listen
hello Mustafa and hello Turkey!
so Mustafa your first question for trying to learn new vocabulary is a great one
and it works for many people
so you can simply create flashcards of new vocabulary with a word or phrase on one side
and on the other side an explanation in English or if you're not that advanced in your own language
flashcard apps?
I checked out some free apps for iphone to make your own flashcards
and after a few minutes, I was able to make my own
and this would be convenient for anyone who has to take the bus or the subway or if they're travelling a lot on a plane
and I will post a link for that so that you can download it for free
but it's super cool!
(let's) see if I can show you quite quickly here what it looks like
and then it flips to the other side
then you can go to your next one
and then you just touch and it shows the definition on the other side
so really handy and it's a free app
so I highly recommend it as something more modern in terms of improving your vocabulary
draw a picture, now I know we're all not artists
but even "Joe Average" can draw stick figures to show a certain situation
I used to do this when I was teaching myself other languages
and it worked like a charm(very well)
I would write the new word, then because I often learned the words from movies I had fun redrawing the scene
now let's say that you don't want to redraw the scene
well I found a cool free website which allows you to create your own captions
using your own pictures
so let's say that you don't know what "laid-back" means
well it means: relaxed, calm, nothing makes you nervous
so I chose a picture of one of my cats
and she is extremely laid-back
and then all you do is upload it
and you're able to insert a speech bubble
and then you can type in the caption there
and you can download that file through your browser directly onto your iphone or
or if you want to directly download it onto your computer so that you have it
and then you can make a collection of those to help you remember new vocabulary
associating it with your own pictures
so since we're talking about expanding vocabulary, I have a lesson for you on the many uses of "deal"
the first one that comes to my mind is trying to resolve something
"deal with", to take action to do something
for example, the best way to deal with stress is by finding something that makes you laugh
a good second meaning is to manage, to handle, to cope with
for example, she's dealing with her divorce quite well
she's already found a new boyfriend
a great deal of, we can use it quantitatively
she got a great deal of encouragement from her boyfriend
(it) sounds a little formal
adverbially, also a little bit formal
and then highly, he thinks a great deal of you
deal can also be used to close an agreement
more informally than saying, "do we have an agreement", you can say, "deal?" and the reply is, if you agree, "deal!"
great idioms: make a big deal out of something
this is a great idiom, one that I mentioned in a previous lesson of mine
"Steve in Brazil part 2". This means that you take a small problem and think it is bigger than it really is.
Well everybody, I hope you enjoyed my lesson and feel free to send me your recorded question at the link below my video.
and we'll see you next time
Bye for now!