Hi, I'm Gabby from gonaturalenglish.com where you can learn English fluency and confident communication
Let's talk about six things that native English speakers never say
This is a guide to help English language learners like you to sound more natural more
Native-like and I chose these six things based on real-life
conversations and things that
Non-native English speakers or English learners. Say to me all the time. So I know that
some people might disagree with me on these things that
native English speakers, never say so
let me just abridge the title just a little bit and say these are six things that
native English speakers will rarely
ever say and it's just not common or
Natural it's not
Normal to hear native English speakers say this that said I am an American English speaker and I teach American English
So these are quite
cultural things as well
They're actually
Grammatically, correct every single one of them. So the problem is not
Grammar the problem with these phrases is that they're just not
Drill normal or culturally, correct. So let's begin
Number one. May I practice my English with you? Obviously?
if you're a native speaker, you don't need to practice your English because it's a skill that you already have and
most importantly you realize that English is a tool that you use every day to
communicate not to practice English for English's sake but to use English in order to
communicate to connect to convey information
and to make friends so I highly suggest
That instead of asking. Can I practice my English with you that you approach?
Connecting with other English speakers in a more natural friendly way
do not view other English speakers as
Potential practice partners or people that should teach you English
Unless you're actually
working with a tutor or a teacher other English speakers are not
Necessarily interested in just practicing to help you improve your English. They are interested however in
Connecting with you if you have a common interest
Or perhaps a common career or a hobby
so look for those common threads between you and people who happen to speak English and
you'll be able to practice your English in an
indirect way when you simply connect with people who are interested in the things as you
Okay, number two. I am fine. Thank you. And you?
I
Know some people say this in English
But it sounds to me very stilted and unnatural because it's not very common
It's quite rare to hear this it does get used but I used to hear this
99% of the time in
99% of the conversations that I had when I was teaching English in Japan. I don't know. I don't know if there's a
Certain textbook series that teaches this to everyone in Japan but everyone and not to pick on my Japanese students
But I spent three years teaching in Japan. So I have a lot of experience there and people would always
Japanese English learners would always use this. I am fine. Thank you and you
And it's just not used as much in the United States. In fact, it almost sounds too
Formal to me because with my colleagues and friends we use a variety of greetings. Like, how are you? How are you doing?
How are you today? How's it going? But I don't remember the last time that I've said I am fine
Thank you and you to respond, you know normal responses would be great. How are you or
Fine what's going on or I'm good what's going on with you?
awesome
how about you so even how about you or how about you is a little bit more common than and you
so, what do you think tell me in the comments if you
Hear native English speakers saying these phrases number three. How do you do?
How do you do? This is definitely not American English
I don't think I've ever heard an American English speaker use this unless they were
Imitating a British English speaker or trying to be funny. It's just not common
I don't know is this more common in England or in other countries? I can tell you for sure
American English speakers do not ask. How do you do? The only time that you'll hear an American English speaker asking?
How do you do is if there's more words in the sentence, like how do you do that or?
How do you do your hair? It looks great, or
How do you do your homework?
We never ask simply. How do you do to ask someone? How are you? Okay number four in general
Negative observations are just not really socially savvy so so many times I've had
students and even international friends
just directly tell me negative observations about my appearance and
It's not normal for me. So it was really shocking they would just say wow. You look really tired or
You look hungover, or you're looking a little fat and for me as an American
this is
So shocking because people don't normally comment on your appearance
Unless they're your friend. So I'm talking about
Acquaintances or people you just met or people that you don't know very well so family members close friends
We might say like she look a little tired
Are you okay? But I don't think I would even tell my best friend if
She looked fat to be honest because it's like it's like a big insult. I
just it's you know, it was really shocking for me when I
in
Other countries and people would just tell me straight up
Directly, oh, you're looking a little fat or like in Spanish. There's this word gordita. Like wow, did that gordita?
Oh great good for you that we'll need that
Banker deed, that would be like, excuse me
I'm a little fat but apparently in Spanish and
In other cultures, this could be a good thing in American culture unless you want to offend someone I would not
Behind you to tell them they're looking a little fat
Number five. Are you married? I get asked this question a lot and
If you've just met someone it's really direct. So any kind of personal question
Are you married? Are you single?
Are you rich? I don't know like weird. What street do you live on?
It's a little too personal if you don't know the person like if you haven't met with them several times
I guess it's more common in other cultures to ask
Directly straight away if someone is married, maybe it's like getting it out of the way to know how to interact with each other
I've had so many Buber drivers ask me if I'm married and it makes me really uncomfortable
Because I'm like, I'm just here for a ride to the airport. Didn't want to date you
So why are you asking if I'm married so for me?
It's really strange and in American culture in general
If I could be a representative of American culture here since I am American
It's just not normal to ask someone if they're married if you don't know them already
So like if you just met someone like if they're your uber passenger or your uber driver
not just a passenger if they're your uber passenger or your driver, or maybe
someone you just met it's
Cafe or something
Don't ask if they're married there's some indirect ways that you could kind of figure out if they're married
You could maybe ask like, oh are you?
here with your
Husband or boyfriend. I mean even that sounds pretty direct
so in American culture
We don't really ask if someone's married or a single until we know them a little bit so that might feel strange to you
But that's just how it is
Also in this category of personal questions would be age. It's
totally
Not normal to ask someone how old their unless your filling out
Some special paperwork like for your doctor and they need to know your age
We don't ask people how old they are if we just met them similarly
We don't tell people how old we are if we just met then I remember I had an English class
I mean, I was teaching an English class where there were people from all over the world and we had to introduce ourselves and
all the students there adult students, they all started saying their pages and it just felt so weird to me because
In the United States American students would not
share their age in a self-introduction
in fact in job interviews
It's illegal to ask someone how old they are or if they're married or personal details
Like that because it's discrimination and finally number six
How much rent do you pay?
So this could be lumped in with the personal questions that I just talked about
But this is more of a money question
So any question that's directly related to money
Like how much do you make or how much rent do you pay or how much did you pay for your car?
questions like this are
not
Appropriate culturally in the u.s. So native speakers
don't ask
Unless you already know the person so the key here is how close are you to the person?
Are they really your friend and you had several conversations with them have they asked to use some personal details?
You could ask is it? Okay if I ask you something personal?
Before you ask a money question or a personal question
if you really really want to know otherwise
We're just nice to wait because it just feels like an invasion of privacy to an American if you ask how much they paid for
something
Yes, there's exceptions
If you're in a situation when people are openly talking about money
Like if you're at a business conference or something, I don't know
Yeah, there's exceptions
But in general when you just meet someone for the first time stay away from questions about money
Personal information and that guy you are married and
Appearance or especially negative points about their appearance
Don't say how do you do don't say I am fine? Thank you and you and
if you want to practice your English don't ask to practice your English just talk to people and
Preferably not with any of these questions that I just shared with you because these are things that native English speakers
Just don't generally say so. Thank you so much for watching
Let me know your thoughts in the comments
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