Vanessa: Are you fluent in English? Well,
you know you're fluent in English when you can understand nuance to jokes and
memes. What's a meme, Vanessa? A meme is often a joke within an image. And that's
what we're going to take a look at today to test if you are fluent in English. Hi,
I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com, and today I have created a very fun lesson for you,
including a free PDF worksheet that includes all five of today's jokes,
memes, ideas about why they're funny. This often includes cultural references, plays on words,
advanced vocabulary. So make sure that you download the free PDF worksheet so that you
can level up your fluency and laugh when everyone else is laughing. It's such a great feeling. You
can click on the link in the description to download that free PDF worksheet today. If
sitting around the table with all English speakers makes you feel uncomfortable, what should I say?
Will they understand me? What if I don't understand what they're saying? Well, I'd like
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This limited time discount is only available this week, and you can click on the link below
this video to join me and thousands of other motivated English learners level up your English,
speak real English together. All right, are you ready to test your English fluency skills with
these jokes and memes? Let's do it. Our first English joke, or we can call it an English meme
because it includes a picture, is this silly one. What's the difference between a cat and a comma?
One has claws at the end of its paws and the other has a pause at the end of its clause.
All right, let me break this down. If you did not think this was funny,
that's okay. That's why I'm here. A cat, the animal, has four paws. This is what we
call a cat's hands and feet. Notice the spelling. A cat has four paws, and each of those paws have
claws. Notice the spelling here. So we're talking about a kind of play on words or a tongue twister.
A cat has claws at the end of its paw, but a comma, you use a comma when you're pausing,
you take a breath in the sentence, or there's a slight pause at the end of a clause. Notice the
spelling here. So a clause is a grammatical term, but you can really just think of it as a thought.
So when you say chocolate cake, which is my favorite kind of cake, is going to be at my
birthday party, we have a comma around this clause because there's a little pause here.
Well, we are just making a play on words. There are commas around this clause or there are pauses
around the clause. Ha, ha, ha. All right, let's go on to our next English joke or meme.
Are you from Tennessee? Because you're the only 10 I see.
All right. This is what we would call a very cheesy pickup line. A pickup line is when someone
is trying to get someone else to be romantically interested in them so they'll say something silly,
maybe something clever, maybe something loving or romantic to get that other person to be interested
in them. So maybe he would say something like this, are you from Tennessee? This is
a state in the US, because you're the only 10 I seek. So here we're dealing with a cultural
reference. First of all, the state in the US, Tennessee. But also, 10 is sometimes a term we
would use for someone who's extremely beautiful. He's a 10. She's a 10. That means they are the
height of beauty. They are a 10. So when you are trying to get someone to be interested in you,
you want to say a compliment, you want to say something very nice and exciting. So you might
say, you are the only beautiful person I see. Well, it's not quite as exciting unless you say,
are you from Tennessee? Because you are the only 10 I see. No one else here is as beautiful as you.
You're the only 10 I see. Our third joke is quite a literary one, but I don't know. I'm a nerd,
so I thought it was funny. When it rains, it poes. Well, do you know who this guy is? This guy is a
famous English author. His name is Edgar Allen Poe, and he is famous for writing stuff that's
pretty dark and gloomy, not much positivity and joyfulness and sunshine in his writings.
Nope. It is pretty dark and gloomy. Well, in order for this to be funny,
you need to know the original English expression. When it rains, it pours.
Here we use this when you are trying to emphasize that when something bad happens, not just one bad
thing happens, it seems like all the bad stuff happens. So you might say, well, this morning I
was late for work, and then I realized I had on my pants inside out, and then I got stuck in traffic,
and then someone bumped into my car. Ugh. When it rains, it pours. Not just a little bit of rain,
a lot of rain. Well, we're taking this expression, twisting it a bit, making it a little bit of
a nerdy joke. When it rains, it poes. And there's a nice picture of Edgar Allen Poe.
So you might see this on the internet if someone is trying to have a little bit of visual fun and
someone is laughing, well, now you can laugh too. English joke number four is one that I thought you
would appreciate as you struggle on your journey to learn English. Well, you might think this is
funny. English is difficult, it can be understood through tough, thorough thought, though.
Okay, when you first see this picture, did all of these words look the same to you?
Because they did to me. I think that's kind of one of the points is that you look at this
and they all seem like they're a very similar word, but they're all pronounced differently.
Oh, boy. So English is difficult, but what does that last part even mean? English is
a difficult language, but with hard work and critical thinking, you can understand English.
So here we're just kind of putting all of these tricky TH words together in a sentence
that makes sense to emphasize the point that, oh yeah, English is really tricky.
I want to challenge you to try to say this with me. You want to try a little tongue twister just
for fun? Let's try to say it together. English is difficult, it can be understood through tough,
thorough thought, though. Let's say that final part again, it can be understood through tough,
thorough thought, though. Great work. The fifth and final joke today is another English related
joke, but I thought that you might get a kick out of it. That's an expression that means I
think it's funny once you understand it. Here's the joke. There are three voices in writing.
The active voice, "You ate all the bacon". The passive voice, "All the bacon was eaten by you".
And number three, the passive-aggressive voice, "You ate all the bacon and no one
else got one. But don't worry, it's fine. Clearly, you needed that bacon".
Can you tell by the tone of my voice and the rolling of my eyes, clearly you needed that bacon,
that I'm trying to say something that I'm not exactly saying?
Am I excited that you ate all the bacon? Absolutely not. Instead, I am being what we
call passive-aggressive. So let's start at the beginning of this little joke, meme. The first
one, an active voice. This is a real voice in English. The subject is doing the action. You ate
all the bacon. You're the one who ate the bacon. The second one, the passive voice is what we use
when the subject is not doing the action. Usually it's very indirect. All of the bacon was eaten.
We don't know who did it. But here we have a little parenthesis (by you), but I'm not trying
to directly say you ate all the bacon. That's very active. Instead, I'm going to be indirect.
All of the bacon was eaten. Oh, no. What am I going to eat today?
Well, then we get onto the third voice, which is not a real voice in English, but that's part of
the joke here, the passive-aggressive voice. I'm going to say something without really
saying it, but I'm going to show my anger and my contempt that you ate all the bacon, especially
with my tone of voice. Don't worry, it's fine. Clearly, you needed to eat all that bacon.
That tone of voice shows I really care. It is not fine. But this is just a funny way to say there's
a third voice in English. So did you get these five jokes, memes in English? I'm curious if you
understood them before or after my explanation, and if you understood them after my explanation,
congratulations, you have leveled up your English skills. That's wonderful. And now I
have a little challenge for you. I want to know in the comments, do you know any English jokes? Can
you share them with us in the comments? Read each other's comments and try to understand the jokes?
You can level up your English skills a little bit more and more. And don't forget to download
the free PDF worksheet for today's joke lesson where you can review these jokes,
review why they're funny, and try to level up your English skills so that you can be fluent,
understand jokes, understand humor, and don't feel left out when other people are laughing.
You can click on the link in the description to download that free PDF worksheet today.
If you enjoyed today's lesson, but you realized that you're not quite fluent in English,
there's a lot still that you need to learn. Well, I invite you to join me in the Fearless Fluency
Club this week so that you can get a $200 off discount. Join me and thousands of other motivated
English learners who are learning real English vocabulary, phrasal verbs, clear pronunciation,
and speaking together on a weekly basis. You can click on the link in the description to join us
and save $200 this week only. Well, thank you so much for learning English with me,
and I'll see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye. But wait,
do you want more? I recommend watching this video next. This is my English fluency test. Number
nine is can you understand jokes and humor in English? But what about all of the others? Well,
I want you to take the test and find out if you're really fluent in English. I'll see you there.