Do you know how to describe yourself in English?
Well, in this English lesson I'll help you learn
how to do just that by describing myself.
I'm going to look at some questions
that some of you submitted the other day.
And as I answer those questions, as I talk about myself,
I will give you some example and model sentences
that you can use to talk about yourself.
So if you're not sure how to talk about yourself in English,
I think this English lesson will help you out.
(bright upbeat music)
So the first two questions are from Mohd Ags.
"What has been the most difficult part of being a teacher?
"When do you have a happy moment as a teacher?"
Well, one of my least favorite things about teaching
is when someone tells me what to do.
I like having my own ideas,
and sometimes my boss or the ministry of education
tells me what to do and I find that difficult.
It's one of my least favorite things.
One of my favorite things about teaching
is when a student says, "Ah I understand."
It's a very cool moment.
So questions like this, questions where people are asking
you about work or school, are often asked in different ways.
A common way would be this,
"What is your least favorite thing about work or school?
"What is your favorite thing about work or school?"
And you can use the same format I used to answer them.
If there's one thing that is your least favorite,
you say "My least favorite thing is..."
If there's more than one you could say
"One of my least favorite things is..."
If you are talking about your favorite thing
and there's just one, you could say,
"My favorite thing about work is..."
And if you have more than one you could say,
"One of my favorite things about work is..."
So that's how you would answer these common questions
about how much you like your job,
what your least favorite thing is,
and what your favorite thing is.
This next question is from Rachita.
"What inspired you to become a teacher?"
I became a teacher because I just love languages.
I love English, I love French,
I love the complexity of languages.
I like learning about them, and then teaching them.
So what inspired me to become a teacher?
I became a teacher because I loved languages.
And that is a very common question
that you should be ready to answer.
If you're a police officer, someone might say
"What inspired you to become a police officer?"
And you would start with the same phrase as me.
"I became a police officer because..."
And then you would talk about the reasons
why you became a police officer.
So what inspired you to be what you are?
Think about that, and then think about an answer
that starts with, "I became a..." you fill in the blank,
"Because..."
The next one is from Best Mind.
"In one word, tell me the best way to learn English."
Repetition.
Either repetition or routine.
I know that's two words,
but if I have to use one word, I would say repetition.
Yeah, do things over and over again.
That's the best way to learn any language.
This is a common thing that people might do.
They might ask you to describe yourself using one word.
In one word describe yourself.
If I had to do that, I would use the word curious.
I am a very curious person.
How would you answer it?
In one word describe yourself.
This next question is from Amira.
"Did you and Jen learn gardening at a specific Institute?
"And did you inherit the farm from your parents?"
So no and no.
Jen and I learned how to farm from our parents.
Although our parents didn't grow flowers,
they grew other crops.
So we learned about soil and irrigation and fertilizer
and seeds and germination.
And we took that knowledge and used it to grow flowers.
And no, we didn't inherit the farm.
I bought the farm from my mom.
I went to the bank and got a mortgage.
A mortgage is a loan you get to buy a property,
a house or a farm.
So we learned how to farm from our parents,
and I bought the farm from my mom.
So this type of question is quite common in English.
Questions that start with, did you,
did you buy the farm from your mom?
Did you learn that in school?
And you should be prepared to answer them as well.
People might ask you questions like this,
Did you do your homework last night?
Did you go to the store yesterday?
Did you buy carrots?
It's a very common way to start a question
where someone is just asking for a factual answer.
So did you watch last week's lesson?
I hope you did.
This next question is from Haidy.
"What's it like teaching on YouTube?"
Well, it's pretty normal now
but originally it was really strange.
You just talk to a camera.
You don't have actual students in front of you.
You're not in a classroom.
You just talk to a camera.
I like live streams on YouTube the best
because I can see people in the chat
and I can answer their questions.
When I'm making video, like a video like this,
it's a little bit strange.
I'm just standing out in my yard talking to a camera.
So what's it like teaching on YouTube?
It's a lot of fun, but it's also still a little bit strange.
And that's a pretty common type of question
in English as well.
To say to someone "What's it like?"
And then to ask them about their life or their job
or something they're doing.
what's it like being a brick layer?
What's it like being a carpenter?
What's it like being a plumber?
That's how you would ask someone about the job they do.
So think about your job
and then make the question for yourself.
"What's it like being a..." and then try to answer it.
This next question is from Ario.
"What do you think about long distance relationships?"
So again, I changed the question a little bit, Ario to,
this is the most common way that someone would ask it,
"What do you think about long distance relationships?"
This is when you date someone who lives far away.
And my response would be, it's very, very difficult,
at least my memory of it is.
When I was younger, Jen and I lived far apart
for about half a year.
Jen was still in university and I was done.
So for half a year we had a long distance relationship
and it was really hard.
But we didn't really have the internet back then.
I mean, we had email, but we couldn't do any facetiming.
We couldn't do Skype, none of that existed.
I wonder if today, if it's a little bit easier.
But what do I think about long distance relationships?
I think they can be really, really tough.
And, again, this is a common way
to ask a question in English.
"What do you think about..."
and then to talk about something that you're interested in.
What do you think about remote learning
when students learn at home?
What do you think about Hollywood movies?
And then you would respond by talking about how you feel
and things you think about that particular subject.
So the, what do you think about,
Is a very common way to start a question in English?
So you should be ready to answer it.
This next question is from Juan.
"Are you afraid of running out of ideas
"when it comes to lesson ideas for your videos?"
No, I live a crazy busy life, and as I go through my day
and as I go through my week,
there's always an idea somewhere for a lesson
and then I quickly write it down or email it to myself.
So no, I'm not afraid of that.
And that was a great way to ask a question by the way.
People in English will often ask questions like that.
"Are you afraid of...?"
So they might say something like this,
"Are you afraid of losing your job?
"Are you afraid of failing your class?"
And then you will talk about whether you are
or aren't afraid of that happening.
So think of a question you could ask yourself
that starts that way.
Are you afraid of, and then think of
how you would answer it?
It's a very common type of question in English.
This next question is from Juanita.
"Hello, Mr. Bob, how do you manage your time
"with so many tasks?"
I make lists.
I firmly believe that at the beginning of every week
you should make a list of everything you have
to do that week.
If I don't make lists, I can't keep my life organized.
So that to me is the solution.
And that's another very common type of English question.
How do you...?
When you know someone knows how to do something,
you start by saying how do you.
How do you get your kitchen table so clean?
How do you cook spaghetti?
It's a great way to start a question.
So do the same as you did with the last question.
Think of about how do you for yourself,
so that if someone asked you that you would know
how to answer it.
So we're gonna speed this up a bit.
Here's a few rapid questions and answers.
So just look at how I answer them
and see if you can model it.
Miriam says, "How did you discover
"that you were passionate about languages?"
Well, this is a simple one.
I liked doing my French homework when I was in high school.
I didn't like doing homework for any of my other classes
but I liked doing my French homework.
And because I liked doing it, French class
was really really easy.
When you do all of the work, the class is easy.
So that's how I discovered I was passionate about languages.
It was just really easy to do the homework.
This next question is from Iqbal,
"Do you have plans to do anything other
"than teaching and farming in the future?"
Well, one of my biggest plans is to retire someday.
I'm in my early '50s, and someday I would like to not work,
but not entirely.
I have this little plan that someday I will not go
to work every day, but I will help Jen on the flower farm
and I will still make YouTube videos.
And that will kind of be my semi-retirement.
So do I have any plans other than teaching?
Yes, little bit of farming,
and I'm gonna keep making these little videos on YouTube.
This next question is from Roxytana.
"What song has been living rent free
"in your head this week?"
"500 Miles" by The Proclaimers.
I listened to it on Sunday when I was making my week
at a glance, and it it's kind of stuck there now.
If you don't know the song
it's by The Proclaimers, "500 Miles" look it up,
it's a lot of fun.
And by the way, that's a great modern question.
When something lives rent free in your head,
it means it's kind of stuck there
and you think about it a lot.
So that's the song that's living rent free
in my head right now.
It's a good song by the way.
And the next question is from Septian.
"How do we stop comparing ourselves to others?"
Yeah, this is a difficult question
and it's extremely difficult in this era.
The time we live in
I would say number one, get off social media.
At least take breaks from social media
especially Instagram and Facebook.
When you see other people's lives on Instagram and Facebook,
it can make you jealous.
It can make you feel like your life isn't exciting.
But remember this, they're only showing you
the happy, fun parts of their life,
and their life has its own challenges as well.
So how do you stop comparing yourself?
Number one, take a break from social media
or just get off of it completely.
Okay, last question and then I gotta wrap this up.
Vitor says, "What makes you laugh the most?"
A good joke.
When I was a kid, my dad's brother, my uncle came over
and he worked somewhere where everyone told jokes
all the time.
So when he came over, he would always have new jokes
and they just made me laugh.
I just love a good joke.
It's just, they're just super funny for me,
and they make me laugh.
When I'm sitting around a campfire with my family,
if someone tells a joke,
it's one of my favorite things in life.
And that's when I have usually my biggest laughs,
when someone tells me a good joke.
So if you know a good joke, put it in the comments below.
Well hey, thank you so much for watching
this English lesson, / Bob talking about himself,
/ you learned a few new ways to ask
and answer questions hopefully.
I know I rushed to the second part of it,
but I was running at a time, that happens sometimes,
I actually need to go to work.
So anyways, thanks for watching.
If you're new here don't forget to click
that subscribe button, gimme a thumbs up, leave a comment.
And if you have the time, why don't you stick around
and watch another English lesson.
(bright upbeat music)