Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com. Oh, I
don't feel so great. Could you help me? Let's talk about it.
Let's imagine this situation. You are visiting the US, you're walking down the street and you see me,
but when you see me, I look like this. I don't look so great. Do you know what to say to me?
Could you help me in this situation? Well, never fear. Today I'm going to help you
learn how to speak about feeling sick and also help other people when they're feeling sick.
We're going to talk about some common questions to ask when someone is sick and some common questions
someone might ask you when you're sick. Some common vocabulary that you can use and also we'll
have a sample conversation between my husband Dan and I. You'll see how to talk about this
and then it will be your turn. You'll have the chance to speak with me and talk about feeling
sick. I hope this will boost your confidence and give you the tools that you need so that when you
use this in real life, you will feel ready to go. All right, let's get started. To help you never
forget what you are about to learn in this lesson, I have created a free
PDF worksheet that you can download all of today's questions, vocabularies and sample sentences plus,
you can answer Vanessa's challenge question at the bottom of the worksheet. This free PDF is a gift
to you to help you review and remember everything that you've learned. You can click on the link in
the description to download this free PDF today. All right. Let's get started with some common
questions about health and when you're feeling sick. Do you feel okay or are
you feeling okay? You don't look so good, do you feel okay? I saw you fall, are you feeling okay?
These are great introduction questions when you suspect that someone is not feeling their best.
Where does it hurt? I use this question a lot with my sons when they fall or get hurt and I
see their crying. After helping them emotionally for a moment, I often ask them, where does it
hurt? Is it your arm, your leg, your stomach, your head? Where does it hurt? Do you want to sit down?
Do you want to lie down? If you saw me walking around the streets not looking so great, this
would be a great question to ask me. Hey, Vanessa, I'm glad to meet you, but you don't look so great.
Are you feeling okay? Do you want to sit down? Here's a bench. Oh, I would feel so taken care of.
Have you taken anything for it? If I told you that I had a headache, you could ask me this question.
Have you taken anything for it? It means have you taken any medicine yet. Can you stand?
Can you wiggle your fingers? Can you walk? This is sometimes an assessment
that a doctor or maybe a parent would use. When I was a kid, my parents said this to me
and I say it to my children as well. It's a good way to see if they're capable of doing something,
but I think it also helps your child feel like, oh, I can wiggle my finger, I'm okay. It's not too
serious. Can I bring you anything? This is lovely, you're offering to help. Can I bring you anything?
Maybe some hot tea. Maybe a hot pad to put on your back because it hurts. Maybe a chair
so you can sit down. Can I bring you anything? Our final question is one that the sick person
can ask. Do I feel hot to you? Maybe if you're feeling a fever coming on or you're just not
feeling that great and if you don't have access to a thermometer nearby, you might ask someone, do I
feel hot to you? They'll probably put their hand on your forehead either like this or like this and
assess roughly if you feel hot which means you probably have a fever and you're not feeling well.
All right, let's talk about some common phrases that you might use
when you're sick. I feel dizzy. Oh, those flashing lights are making me feel dizzy. I feel woozy. I
had the stomach flu last week and this week I'm still feeling woozy. It's just similar to dizzy,
but it also means that maybe your stomach doesn't feel well too. I feel nauseous. This means
you feel like you're going to throw up. I took some medicine without eating any food and ugh,
now I feel nauseous. Notice the pronunciation here. The S in the middle sounds like ssh,
nauseous. Nauseous, I hope you don't feel nauseous. I feel achy. It's kind of continuous
dull pain, especially if you've been sick or you have a fever and you're in bed,
you probably are going to feel just achy all over. I feel clammy. Usually we use this for our hands
when they're wet or sweaty, but it's kind of cold. I feel clammy. It doesn't feel
great. I feel fatigued or lethargic and this means you feel really tired. It kind of feels
like you're swimming through the air. I just can't do anything quickly, I feel lethargic.
Some general expressions about how you feel. You might say, I feel a bit under the weather.
That means you're not feeling well. I feel a little bit under the weather or just I feel
under the weather today. I think I'm going to cancel our get together. I feel under the
weather. I don't feel so hot. This means I don't feel well. Ironically, maybe you have fever and
you actually are hot, but overall, it just means I don't feel well. I don't feel so hot today.
Or you might say, I think I'm coming down with something. To come down with something means that
you're getting sick. You're getting a virus or you're just getting some kind of sickness. I think
I'm coming down with something. It's probably better for me not to go to the party today.
If someone else is sick, you can always tell them get well soon or I hope you feel better soon.
Both of these phrases are very kind and it can help to express that you care.
Get well soon or I hope you feel better soon. All right, now we're going to go through some
vocabulary of some common problems or some common sicknesses that you might experience. I have a
headache, can you please turn that loud music off? If you have a fever, you should probably stay
home. I fell and hit my head and now I have some blurred vision. I should probably call the doctor.
A bee stung me on my finger and now I have swelling all over my finger. I think I need
to take something, I might be allergic. I always have a stuffy nose or I always have congestion
in the springtime. Right now when all of the flowers are blooming, I always have a stuffy nose.
I was sick last month and now I feel better, but I still have a little cough.
I still have a little cough. I don't know what it's like in your country, but here in the US,
if you have a little cough and you know that you don't have COVID, but if you cough in public,
everyone says, oh, and they feel a little bit nervous that maybe you're coughing because of
COVID. In reality, there are many reasons why someone might cough, but it's still in our
minds and we're still a little worried about it. I have a sore throat and it hurts to talk today.
I have a muscle cramp in my leg and it hurts to walk. A muscle cramp. Notice that the c
in the word muscle is silent. Do not say mus-cle. Instead, it's just muscle. My
muscles are sore or I have a cramp in my muscle. I have a family history of nut allergies. I have
a family history of... This is a common phrase you might use at the doctor when the doctor wants
to know what your parents or your brothers and sisters or your grandparents had problems with.
They need to know that to better assess you so you might use this phrase. I have a family history of
diabetes. I have a family history of something. Another way to phrase this is diabetes
runs in my family. We're not talking about running. We're just talking about something
that's gone from generation to generation and a lot of people in your family have this problem.
We might say allergies run in my family. Diabetes runs in my family.
Next, let's talk about some common vocabulary for things that might happen to you or someone
you know. I jammed my finger playing basketball or I sprained my wrist playing volleyball. I twisted
my ankle and now it's swollen. I broke my arm when I fell out of the tree. I tweaked my back
trying to pick up that heavy box. I cut my finger by accident with a sharp knife in the kitchen.
My son tripped and skinned his knee. This means it's not so serious, it's not a deep
cut. It just means that a layer of skin has come off. This happens often to children,
especially on their knees or the bottoms, the palms of their hands. You might skin
your knees or skin the palms of your hands. Oh, I pulled a muscle trying to pick up that heavy
box. Now I need to sit down and put some ice on it. I pulled a muscle. If you are a parent, this
probably happens to you a lot. I always stub my toe on my kids' toys. Maybe that means we need to
clean them up more often. If you have ever stubbed your toe, you know it doesn't feel any good.
When you have any of these problems, you might go to the doctor and the doctor might tell you
to do something. The doctor might tell you to take some medicine. I have a headache and now I'm going
to take some medicine. We often sometimes say, take my medicine so you can either say, I need to
take my medicine, it's three o'clock or you might take some medicine if you want to be more general.
I need to take a Tylenol. I need to take an ibuprofen. These are the kinds of medicines
that you might take if you have a headache, if you have some pain in a specific place and it's
not a major injury, you might take an ibuprofen or you might take a Tylenol.
I feel hot. I think I need to take my temperature. I need to take my temperature. The doctor said,
I need to take it easy for a couple days. This means rest and relax. We also use this phrase
for someone when they're not sick, just to say goodbye. You might say, bye, see you later,
take it easy. This doesn't mean that they should lay on the couch because they're sick.
It just means have a good time, have a relaxing weekend. Take it easy, a very common phrase to say
goodbye and we can also use this when someone's sick. Hey, you should really take it easy and
don't do too much work this weekend. Just stay on the couch and try to recover. Take it easy.
When I had the flu, the doctor told me I need to get a lot of fluids so that I would feel better.
This could be water, it might be soup, it might be tea. Some kind of fluids or liquid in our bodies.
The doctor told me I need to get a box of Kleenex so that I don't sneeze everywhere
and get other people sick. In the US, we often use the brand name Kleenex instead of saying tissue,
but it's the same thing. You can also say, can you me a tissue? I need to blow my nose.
A lot of people say, can you get me a Kleenex? I need to blow my nose.
Ah, I cut my finger. I need to get a Band-Aid. A Band-Aid, this is another brand name that we
use for a generic item so you could say a bandage, but in the US a bandage feels very serious. You
have a big cut, only really a doctor would give you a bandage. If you have just a small cut,
you can use a Band-Aid. If you have children, sometimes a Band-Aid solves many problems. If
there's just a little cut, but they feel like it's so serious, a Band-Aid can always help.
If you have a bigger cut, you might need to get stitches. Ugh, I really hope I don't
need to get stitches on my finger, I hate needles. Have you ever had to get stitches?
When I was in high school, I broke my wrist and I needed to get a cast. A cast is very hard
and it helps your broken bone. For me, it was my wrist, to feel better within a couple weeks and to
be able to heal. You might need to get a cast. When you're simply not feeling well,
you need to make an appointment or make a doctor's appointment and the doctor can give you a more
professional assessment better than your friends and family and doctor Google.
It's a good idea to make an appointment. Another way to say this is I'm feeling
a bit under the weather, I think I need to see the doctor. I think I need to go to the doctor.
These are all ways to say, I need to get a professional's opinion.
How are you feeling? We just covered a lot of questions in vocabulary that I hope you can
use in your day daily life. Now it's time to see a sample conversation. My husband,
Dan and I are talking about some time that I did not feel well and he's trying to help me.
Listen for all of the key phrases that you just learned because after this conversation,
it's going to be your turn to speak with me and use those phrases too. All right,
let's watch. Vanessa:
Morning. Dan:
Morning. Are you feeling okay? Vanessa:
I don't feel so hot. I woke up this morning feeling woozy and now I feel achy and lethargic.
Dan: Oh no. Do you want to lie down?
Have you taken anything for it? Vanessa:
No, I haven't, not yet, but I think I'm going to call the doctor today.
Do I feel hot? Dan:
Yeah, you do. Why don't you lie down on the couch and relax. Can I bring you anything?
Vanessa: I need to get some more fluids so
some hot tea would be great. Dan:
Well, you took care of me when I cut my hand and needed stitches.
Now it's my turn to take care of you. Take it easy and I'll make an appointment for you.
Vanessa: Thanks hun.
Okay, are you ready? I'm going to be asking you a question and pausing and I want you
to use what you've learned today and respond to me. Pretend like we're having a conversation. If
you need to pause this video so that you can think about it or answer for longer, great. You can do
that. That's the benefit of a video and you can always go back and review this section again and
again. Are you ready? Let's do it. It's your turn. Hey, you don't look so well. Are you feeling okay?
Have you taken anything for it?
Well, you should take it easy and get some rest. Can I get you anything?
All right, I hope this helps. Get well soon.
Well, how did you do? How are you feeling? I hope that that sample conversation was a good way to
test your skills and also to do better and better each time that you do it. Please go back
and review this section again and again. Now I have a question for you. Let me know in the
comments, when was the last time that you were sick and how were you feeling? Can you describe
some of your symptoms? Maybe you felt woozy or clammy or you had a fever. Let me know in the
comments and don't forget to download the free PDF worksheet. This is a big one with all of today's
questions and vocabulary. All of these great phrases that you can use to describe when
you don't feel well and also you can use them to help other people when they don't feel well. Make
sure you download the free PDF worksheet. There is a link in the description so that you can never
forget these phrases and you can answer Vanessa's challenge question at the bottom of the worksheet.
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. The next step is to download the free
PDF worksheet for this lesson. With this free PDF, you will master today's lesson
and never forget what you have learned. You can be a confident English speaker.
Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for a free English lesson every Friday. Bye.