hello I'm Emma from English welcome to
the first English lesson of 2020 today I
want to inject some new expressions into
your vocabulary expanding your knowledge
with some new idioms and some phrasal
verbs you're about to learn some
advanced expressions that will help you
sound smart and interesting in English
conversations but watching this video is
not enough you need to put them into
practice so get ready to type I'll be
inviting you all the way through this
video to write sentences in the comments
below before we get started a quick
shout out to our friends at lingo des
who've made it possible for us to bring
you today's lesson if you've already
decided that 2020 is the year to take
your speaking skills to the next level
then why not jump right in and get it
done faster by joining the next lingo
des language sprint I can't think of a
better way for you to start the year
especially if you register for the super
sprint which is a massive 30 classes a
month for three months and if you
complete every class blingo des will
reward you with a 100% refund of your
payment now if you don't have enough
time for the super sprint you also have
the option to do the regular sprint
which is 15 classes a month also for
three months very achievable and if you
complete every class you'll get a 50%
refund guys this is an awesome race that
I would love to see you win you'll
accelerate your speaking skills your
confidence and your fluency in a short
space of time and set yourself up for a
really fantastic year ahead I've taken
this challenge before and you've
probably heard me say that it was one of
the best things that I ever did for my
confidence to speak Spanish it's not
just that the classes are available 24/7
or that they have native teachers and
recognized certifications for me it was
really about being held accountable
it was urging me to show up every single
day and keep improving my Spanish
speaking skills and you can do the same
in English business English German and
French too registrations for the sprint
are closing on the 27th of January so as
always I'm gonna put the link in the
description below if you use this code
right here you'll get a cool 10 euro
discount at the checkout all right let's
get started with these advanced English
expressions that you can use in everyday
conversations starting with on the whole
now this is a really useful expression
when you're generalizing about something
and you're coming to a conclusion so
once you've considered everything the
good and the bad
you know we generalize and we say that
this is generally how we feel about the
situation sometimes my brother and I
have disagreements but on the whole we
get on really well so considering the
good and the bad
we mostly get on well on the whole it
was a great speech yeah there were a
couple of things that could be improved
but on the whole the speech was quite
good so with this expression it's not
necessary to go into detail about the
negative things you don't have to
because the expression already tells us
that something wasn't or isn't perfect
and let's face it not many things in
life are perfect right so this
expression is a really useful one to
know on second thoughts now we use this
one when we change our mind about
something and it's usually only used in
spoken English it's not very common to
see it in written English because it's a
tool to help you change your mind in the
middle of a conversation to change
whatever it is you just said usually to
the opposite I'll meet you at the office
after lunch on second thoughts let's
just go there now so can you see how we
use this as a tool to change what we
said in the middle of a conversation to
change your mind imagine if someone
offered you a beer
you said no thanks but I'd love a coffee
but then you quickly change your mind
actually on second thoughts I'd love a
beer
at the end of the day this is such a
good expression to know and to use we
use it to summarize what's most
important in the end at the end of the
day what matters most is that we're all
together so it doesn't really matter
whatever else has happened before
perhaps there was chaos and there was
arguments within the family but when
everyone sits down to share a meal at
the end of the day what's most important
is that we're here together we usually
use it when we're talking about what
happens or what's important after a
whole series of events or considerations
even though it was the children who
caused the damage at the end of the day
the teacher is responsible for what
happens in the classroom off the top of
my head this is a really useful
expression to use when you respond to
something immediately without thinking
too much about your answer so if someone
asked what percentage of the population
lives in the city hmm off the top of my
head I'd say about 70% how many hectares
of forest and bush land were burned in
the bush fires off the top of my head I
think more than 6 million hectares have
been burned so far now you can also use
this expression in the negative when
you're trying to think of something but
you can't remember there's a really
great Italian restaurant I can't think
of the name off the top of my head Oh to
be in or out of the loop this is a
really interesting expression the loop
is about being informed and knowing
what's happening so if you're in the
loop then you know what's going on
you're good but if you're out of the
loop
you don't know what's going on
I wasn't in the office last week so I
feel like I'm out of the loop what's
been happening and we commonly use it
when we're instructing someone to tell
us information and we often use it with
the verb keep so we say can you please
keep me in the loop or pull needs to be
kept in the loop make sure you tell him
what's going on to be out of touch have
you heard this one before it's used to
describe someone who doesn't really have
current or up-to-date knowledge about
something anything so this is quite a
negative expression it's really common
to hear it used in a political context
or even when children are talking about
their parents because it's when they
think that someone doesn't really
understand the present issues because
they're stuck in an older way of
thinking many young people feel that
politicians are out of touch mm-hmm
getting quite touchy here to touch base
a Belgian friend of mine once told me
that he was really weirded out by this
expression like it sounds creepy which I
never really thought of before but I
guess it kind of does sound a little
creepy but the meaning is not creepy
if you touch base with someone you
simply connect with them or you
reconnect with someone that you already
know so usually you're reconnecting
about a particular topic or about a
particular issue so for that reason it's
really commonly used in the workplace so
when you're working on a project with
someone and you're gonna do some
research separately before you come back
together to write your report this would
be really useful why don't we get
started on our research and then touch
base again later in the week do you have
to touch base with anyone when you're at
work like where you do things separately
but then you come back together to share
what you've been doing what types of
things do you have to touch base about
see if you can share some of them in the
ments below to be struck by something
this is a really great way of explaining
that something has impressed you I was
struck by how beautiful the forest
looked at dawn so I'm suggesting that
the beauty of the forest
stopped me I was mesmerised for a moment
when you visit a city and you notice
something interesting or unusual then
this expression will help you to sound
really intelligent when you share it I
was struck by just how few trees and
parks there were in the city in the wake
of the bush fires we were struck by how
resilient the community was now this
phrasal verb has another common use
because it can mean to be hit by
something the cyclist was struck by a
passing car and commonly this is how
it's used in the news so if you read the
English news quite a bit then I'm sure
you'll see this phrasal verb in use to
be sure of oneself if you're sure of
something then you're quite certain
about it right you're confident that
it's true but did you know that you can
also use this expression to talk about
how a person feels about themselves it
means that you're quite confident in
your own ability you're very sure of
yourself but usually it's an observation
that you make about someone else if they
seem confident like they know what
they're doing then they're very sure of
themselves so the way to use this
expression is with the be verb she is
quite sure of herself but probably even
more often we use the verb seen or
appear he seems quite sure of himself or
they appear to be quite sure of
themselves - hang in there now we use
this expression when we're trying to
tell someone that they need to remain
persistent and determined in really
difficult circumstance
so this expression is a really good one
to use when you're offering sympathy or
encouragement to someone who is having
difficulties so when you use it you're
telling them keep going you can do it
you know persist I know that it's
difficult right now but you'll make it
through so it's a really reassuring
expression if your friend is having some
difficulties at work maybe their boss is
frustrating them or they've started
talking about quitting for some reason
you could say hang in there mate you'll
be right that was a really Australian
expression hang in there mate you'll be
right you'll be right means you'll be
okay to get your head around something
hmm when do you get your head around
something you understand it it's taken
me a while to get my head around it but
now I've got it it's been difficult for
all of us to get our head around the
scale of the Australian bushfires have
you got your head around these different
expressions yet it might take you a
little while they're quite advanced
English expressions and it's definitely
challenging to use them fluently in
conversations there's lots of idioms
lots of phrasal verbs so they're going
to take a bit of practice but you'll get
there hang in there alright so here's
your challenge if you can use five of
these expressions together in a
paragraph I want to read it in the
comments below I want you to practice
writing a little story that focuses on
bringing a few of these expressions
together in one place like I said at the
start of the lesson watching is not
enough to remember these expressions you
need to put them into practice and
actually use them I hope that you
enjoyed this lesson and that you
subscribe to my channel just down here
but new lessons every week 2020 is here
and I'm excited to help you improve your
speaking skills throughout the year
ahead so to keep practicing with me
right now you
know where to find me