Hey, welcome to today's English lesson in today's lesson, we are going to
break down a real English conversation.
I'm going to teach you the words and expressions that were used during the
conversation so that you can start speaking like a native English speaker.
Are you ready?
Well, then I'm Teacher Tiffani.
Let's jump right in.
Now the conversation actually happened between me and my friend Stewart,
and we were discussing crimes.
I want you to pay close attention to how we speak during the conversation.
Now this is a short clip.
Let's watch clip number one, pay close attention.
Okay.
So is there violence in America?
Yes.
Um, is that something that you necessarily.
Have to worry about when you're here.
Yeah.
It's in the back of your mind, you gotta be alert, you gotta be smart.
Um, but uh, now that, now that we're, you know, having some kind of constraints,
I kind of shift gears and I'll say that the most common crime in America I would
say is what you would consider white collar crime and, and, uh, you know, for,
for backup, uh, lack of a better term.
That's, that's the big guy screwing over the little guy.
All right now that was a short portion of our conversation, but there were
so many new words and expressions.
Now I don't want you to worry because I'm going to explain each and every one of
them and help you use them so that you can sound like a native English speaker.
So let's get started with the first one.
Now the first part of the conversation in the first part, Stewart, my
friend said this, is that something that you necessarily alike have
to worry about when you're.
Yeah, it's in the back of your mind now, repeat after me in the back of your mind.
Good again, in the back of your mind.
Excellent.
Now, what does this actually mean in the back of your mind?
Here we go.
You can actually say in or at the back of your.
And if something is at, or in the back of your mind, you intend to do it, but are
not actively thinking about it right now.
For example, let's say you're going to work, right.
And you're working hard all day, but you know, when you get home, you
have to make dinner for your family.
So all throughout the day, it's at the back of your mind, the fact that you
have to cook for yourself, Makes sense.
Right?
So we use this all the time.
Now let's check out this example sentence.
Here we go.
It's been at the back of my mind to call Jose for several days now, but
I haven't gotten around to it yet.
So again, I'm going to call Jose.
I know I need to call him, but I haven't, I haven't done it just yet,
but I'm still thinking about it.
It's apt or it's in the back of my mind.
This is something I want you to start using.
Now, the next part of the conversation, he actually said this, you gotta be
alert and you gotta be smart again.
You gotta be alert and you gotta be smart.
So after me be alert.
Good again, last time.
Be alert.
Excellent.
Now, what does B alert actually mean?
So be alert just means quick to notice in the unusual and potentially
dangerous or difficult circumstances or vigilant again, you're always
ready just in case something happens.
You are.
Now my dad, he was in the military for 30 years.
That's right.
He was in many of the wars that happened in the nineties and the two thousands.
So my dad is always quick to act.
He's aware of his surroundings.
He's always alert.
Makes sense.
Right.
So maybe your dad or your mom, maybe they're very.
Let's check out this example sentence.
Here we go.
And alert.
Police officer discovered a truck full of explosives.
Again, the police officer was aware of what was going on and looked around
the truck and found the explosives.
So again, we have B little.
Now what about the third thing that happened in the conversation?
This is what was said, but now that we're having some kind of constraints, I'll
kind of shift gears and I'll say that the most common crime in America dot.dot.
So after me shift gears.
Good again, shift gears.
Excellent.
Now, what does shift gears mean again, in the conversation?
He said I'll kind of shift gears.
So shift gears actually.
Huh?
You heard that shift gears.
It actually just means to start thinking or acting in a new.
Especially more quickly than before now this is something that
I also use on a regular basis.
For example, right now I'm teaching you English and I'm enjoying it.
Right.
But maybe right after this class, I'll need to go and
take care of some other things.
So I'll have to shift gears.
I'm in teacher mode right now, but right after this class, I need to take care
of something that's not related to.
I'm going to have to shift gears, make sense.
Right.
All right.
So shift gears.
Now let's check out the example sentence.
We have to shift gears.
At the end of the year, we had to change the way we were thinking
we had to act in a new or a different way again, in English.
We like to say.
Shift gears.
Great job.
All right.
Now, after he said this, he said something else.
That was very important.
You see Stuart said this I'll sit at the most common crime in America.
I would say what you would consider a white collar crime
again after me, white collar crime.
Excellent.
Last time after.
White collar crime.
Excellent.
So white collar crime.
This is something that we use on a regular basis during English conversations.
So what is a white collar crime?
You see a white collar crime is a crime that typically involves
stealing money from a company.
And it's done by people in important positions, again, a white collar crime.
So it's something that a C O or a business owner or someone really
rich would do someone at a company.
Again, something that happens where money is stolen and usually from a
company or within a company, we saved.
Those are.
Collar crimes.
So what's an example sentence using this expression.
We have this one white collar crimes.
Woo.
Are a big issue in America.
Again, white collar crimes are a big issue in America.
This is very true.
White collar crimes happen all the time.
And that's exactly what.
Stuart during the conversation mentioned white collar crimes
being so prevalent or so abundant in America, white collar crimes.
Now the next thing that Stewart said, that was also very interesting after he said
white collar crimes was this right here.
He said, as you know, for lack of a better term, that's the big one.
Screwing over the little guy after me screwing over the little guy.
Good.
Last time, screwing over the little guy.
Excellent.
Now you're probably wondering teacher.
What does screwing over the little guy?
Actually me.
So when we use this expression, this is what we're meaning.
It means to treat someone unfairly.
Or to cheat or swindle someone kind of like taking their money.
And again, remember he said white collar crimes, those in powerful
positions taking money from the company.
Well, that means the employees will be affected screwing over the little.
This is why we use this in English.
So let's check out the example sentence.
They try to screw them over again.
Screw them over.
Now.
I want to let you know this again, this expression, even though it's used during
English conversations, you need to be careful because screwing someone over.
Sometimes it can be not the best expression to you.
In a professional environment, it's more for conversations between.
Notice how Stuart said, uh, for lack of a better term, he knew that, Hey, this
may not be the best expression, but it matches what we're talking about.
So again, be careful not to use this in a professional environment.
So screwing someone over now real quick.
I want to remind you, if you want to improve your English pronunciation, I'm
teaching you how to say these things.
Don't forget to download my app English with Tiffani.
The link is right in the description.
I have a ton of lessons helping you to actually pronounce words better.
So download the app.
The link is in the description.
Now we've understood now how to use screw someone over and also the other.
So let's check out that clip one more time now that you
understand all the expressions and then we'll go to the next one.
Here we go.
And listen closely.
So is there violence in America?
Yes.
Um, is that something that you necessarily.
Have to worry about when you're here.
Yeah.
It's in the back of your mind, you gotta be alert, you gotta be smart.
Um, but uh, now that, now that we're, you know, having some kind of
constraints, I kind of shift gears and I'll say that the most common crime
in America I would say is what you would consider white collar crime.
And, and, uh, you know, for, for backup, uh, lack of a better term next, that's
the big guy screwing over the little guy.
Now.
It all makes sense right now, you understand everything that Stewart was
saying before, because you understand all of the expressions, this is
what happens when you pay attention to real English conversations.
But now I want us to kind of break down the conversation.
Let's analyze it a little bit.
You see what Stuart was doing was reef.
And this part of the conversation, Stuart is giving more details about his response.
He first says his answer and then rephrases it to make sure his
words have been clearly understood.
This is something that is very important to English.
When you're having a conversation, you can state your answer or give your
response, but you don't stop there.
You want to make sure the person listening understands.
So you say it a different way.
For example, I love vegan ice cream.
No, like I have it on a regular basis.
I love the flavors.
I'm rephrasing what I said and giving you more information.
Rephrasing is very important when you're trying to have an English conversation.
So here are things to remember.
Remember these three things, when you are trying to clearly express your
opinion, number one, state your opinion.
You want to make sure that everyone knows what you're saying first and
foremost, after you stated your opinion, number two, restate your
opinion, using different words.
This is where your vocabulary is going to be important.
You want to use different words to say the same thing.
Finally, number three, make sure that you restate your opinion using simpler words.
This is where all the words you've learned.
Even the easy words will come into play and you'll be able to use them.
So again, Number one, state your opinion.
Number two, restate your opinion, using different words and number
three, make sure that you restate your opinion using simpler words.
This is very important.
Now one is to check out the second short clip from the conversation I had
with Stewart still discussing crimes.
I want you to pay close attention.
Here we go.
So many.
Lower-class Americans are, are being taken advantage of by these, um, by people
that have it, you know, like people that don't need to take advantage of, um,
you know, there are people like, you know, the hardest, some of the hardest
working people are, are getting less for their work, at least for their work.
Um, and then on top of that, they, you know, their, their, their pockets are
literally being stolen from, um, you look at a country at a, um, Uh, scenario
like Enron, these people will work for this company, you know, and like
the guy who ran the company literally pocketed their retirement and, and
he was just like, yep, sorry guys.
Like, you know, like your money's gone.
He does a short little stint in jail and he still gets to keep that money.
And meanwhile, these people that have worked for this company, regular people
like you and me, they're out there.
They're straight out of luck.
That's going to change their life.
You know, that's life changing.
Now you see in this part of the conversation, Stuart gave more
information, but again, there were so many things brought up during
this part of the conversation and so many new words and expressions.
So I want us to dive deeper into the words and expressions that Stuart actually used.
So let's start with the first one.
Here we go.
Stuart said this during the conversation.
So many lower class Americans are being taken advantage of by people that have.
You know, so again, after me lower class.
Good again, last time, lower class.
Excellent.
So what does lower class actually mean and why do we use it
during English conversations?
So lower-class refers to the economic group with the least
wealth and power in society.
So again, basically the individuals that don't have power or for lack of a better
term, The poor people, another word for poor people, or that group is lower class.
So let's see an example sentence.
Using this expression.
He claims his flat tax proposal would help middle class and lower class Americans.
So we're seeing, again, this expression, lower class is used in
many different situations, and I want you to be able to use it as well.
When you speak with another English speaker.
So what about this one?
The next thing that Freddy, not Freddy, that's another one of my
friends, but Stuart said is right here.
Take advantage of something.
So.
So many lower class Americans are being taken advantage of by people that have it,
you know, so again, he said being taken advantage of good one more time after
me last time being taken advantage of.
Excellent.
So what does being taken advantage of actually.
This just means if someone is taking takes advantage of you, they treat you unfairly
for their own benefit, especially when you are trying to be kind or to help them.
So I want you to think about this situation, you know, in school, uh, you
have some kids that enjoy getting good grades and some kids that don't care.
Right.
So imagine a scenario where there's one individual and he's super.
And then one of the athletes in class that hates studying and only focuses on
sports, comes up to him and punches him in the shoulder and says, Hey, listen,
you're going to take my test for me.
And you better not complain.
Now the boy looks up and realizes the athlete is very big and he's
so small that athlete was taking advantage of this young boy.
He knew that he was smaller than him.
Makes sense.
Right.
So how can we use this in a sedentary?
She took advantage of him even after they were divorced.
So you see, this is very commonly used in real life, in real English conversations.
And I want you to start using it so that you can sound more
like a native English speaker.
Now there's something else that he's.
Here's the next thing.
He does a short little stint in jail and he still gets to keep that money.
So after me stint.
Good again, stint.
Excellent.
Last time stint.
Very good.
So what does this word stint mean again?
Because he used it during the conversation.
So stint is a period of time, which you spend doing a particular job or activity
or working in a particular place.
So for example, I live in South Korea for about 10 years.
So my stint in Korea was about 10 years.
You see what happened, right?
The time period, the amount of time I spent in South Korea.
So in English we say.
Now let's check out an example sentence.
Here we go.
He is returning to this country after a five year stint in Hong Kong.
Make sense, right?
You caught that he was there for five years.
Now.
What about this one?
He then said this Stuart during the conversation, he said
they're out of luck after.
Out of luck.
Good.
Last time after me out of luck.
Excellent.
So out of luck is something again that native English speakers use very often.
So what does out of luck actually mean?
It means having bad for.
Or experiencing a misfortune, Hey, you're out of luck.
We can't help you again.
You know, in America, if you're trying to get into college, colleges
are extremely expensive in America.
If you want to go to university or to a college, you need to
have a lot of money saved.
So many people get loans or try to get scholarships.
But if you're not able to find a scholarship or a loan, you're out of luck.
Now here's the example of.
I think you are out of luck, make sense?
Right.
Okay.
So I want us to look now at this last one right here.
Again, we just looked at out of luck.
This is something again that Stewart used during the conversation.
So now you understand all the expressions.
Let's take a look at the clip one more time.
Now that you know the meanings, here we go.
Pay attention.
So many, um, lower-class Americans are, are, are being taken advantage of by
these, um, by people that have it, you know, like people that don't need to take
advantage of, um, you know, therapy, like, you know, the hardest, some of the hardest
working people are, are getting less for their work, at least for their work.
Um, and then on top of that, they, you know, their, their, their pockets
are literally being stolen from, um, you look at a country at a.
Uh, scenario like Enron, these people will work for this company, you know,
and like the guy who ran the company literally pocketed their retirement and,
and he was just like, yep, sorry guys.
Like, you know, like your money's gone.
He does a short little stint in jail and he still gets to keep that money.
And meanwhile, these people that have worked for this company,
regular people, they're out there, they're straight out of luck.
That's going to change their life.
You know, that's life changing for them.
Now you understand, right.
You understood the whole conversation from that clip, right?
Because you understand the expressions that were used and the
words, but I want us to break down the conversation and analyze you.
See what happened during that conversation.
Stuart gave a real life story or example in this part of the conversation.
Stuart starts to talk about Enron.
Now in rod, you can check online.
That was a really bad situation.
So he gives details about the owner and the employees in order to prove
his point about the lower class being treated in an unfair way.
Now, this is something very commonly done during an English conversation.
You give a real story or a real example, and that helps the listener follow along
more and it shows your English fluent.
So I wanted to remember these things right here, things to remember this
rule, when you are giving your opinion or story, always tell a connecting
story that will help people understand the reality of what you are saying.
It's so important to support what you are saying.
This is what English fluency and mastering English conversations is all about.
Now I really hope you enjoy today's lesson.
Remember this lesson was to help you start sounding like a native English speaker.
All right.
Now, remember, I want you to keep studying with me.
All you have to do is go to www dot let's.
Jump right in.com.
I have over 365 days of English.
Ready for you and roll now and join thousands of students
from around the world.
All right.
I hope you enjoyed the lesson.
I'll talk to you next time, but as always remember to speak English.
you still there?
Ah, you know what time it is?
It's story time.
I said it's story time.
All right.
So for today's story time, I'm actually going to tell you a story
related to crime and violence.
Don't worry.
It wasn't me.
All right.
So I have always had a passion for helping homeless people.
When I was in Korea, I helped homeless people and every, every
place I've been, I've always been focused on helping homeless people.
When I was in college, living in Alabama and Maryland, DC, I
always wanted to help homeless.
So I remember when I was in Korea, I started this program where once a month
we would go out and help these homeless people and living in a certain area.
And one day, instead of going with my friends, I decided to go by
myself because I wanted to make sure everything was prepared for
when we came a few weeks later.
And among the homeless people, there was one.
He was known as the guy in charge, really tall, big guy looked really
strong, but he and I really got close.
Now, remember I spoke Korean, so we were able to talk to each other and
we have many great conversations.
He was really a great guy.
So I remember one day I went and I was just having a good conversation with him.
And during our conversation, all of a sudden we heard a
commotion, some loud noises.
And we looked and there were a group of guys and they were arguing
and they were all very drunk.
Now I immediately got a little bit nervous because again,
as a female, I was by myself.
I was a foreigner, even though I spoke Korean, I wasn't Korean.
I was the one that was odd out of the, in the whole situation.
So the guy was standing next to me again, the guy in charge,
and he said, don't worry, TIF.
I got.
So we stood there and right in front of us, the men that
were drunk started fighting.
I mean, it got bad.
They were punching, there was blood flying everywhere.
And again, my initial reaction was to run and go away, but the tall guy
held my arm and said, TIFF it's okay.
And then all of a sudden with a big, booming voice, he said, okay, come on.
Hey.
Now come on.
Aid just means it's time to stop.
I said it in Korean, but it means stop and immediately.
Everyone's stopped.
The fighting stopped.
Everyone walked away and the guy looked at me and said, TIFF, I told you I got it.
You're safe with me.
And I never will forget that situation because again, if someone was on
the outside looking in, they would probably wonder, what is she doing?
But because I was with him, I was safe.
I was protected.
And from then on out, I started calling him the mafia leader.
He didn't know I called him the mafia leader, but I said,
this man can control anybody.
And I felt safe.
So even though crime is a reality, when you are with someone that can
protect you, you don't have to worry.
Maybe you've experienced something like this before with your family
members protecting you or your friends, or maybe someone like the mafia.
Protected you.
I hope you enjoyed this short story guys, and I hope you
continue to improve your English.
Remember, keep studying with me by going to www dot let's jump right in.com.
The link is in the description and I'll talk to you next time.