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last time we talked about american
supermarkets and how they're unique this
time we're going to look at how much it
actually costs to live in new york city
when you think about america
perhaps one of the first things that
might come to mind is the bright lights
and the fast pace of the big city for
sure in new york city everyone who
visits wants to go to the big tourist
locations central park times square the
statue of liberty but how much does it
actually cost to live there in this
video we're going to talk about the
actual living costs of new york city
let's start with the most basic thing
you need to live in new york an
apartment without an apartment you can't
really say you live in new york city but
if you want to live in the city you
should be prepared to live in a small
space more than half of the apartments
in new york city are 700 square feet or
smaller that's about 65 square meters
this could be for a studio apartment
which has no walls between the kitchen
and the bedroom
or it could be a one-bedroom apartment
which does have a separate bedroom
these kinds of places cost on average
one thousand eight hundred ninety
dollars or two thousand one hundred
dollars respectively so expect to pay a
pretty high price if you want to live in
the city
but keep in mind that a separate payment
is required for heat and water in your
apartment for an average apartment about
915 square feet in new york city about
145 dollars is required for utility
bills this covers heating electricity
water and garbage for internet and phone
however that's a totally separate
payment
one of the best things about living in
new york city is how convenient things
are if you walk down the street you can
quickly find a coffee shop a bookstore
or a supermarket because of this people
who live there rarely have cars it's
quite expensive to keep one in the city
instead people use public transportation
like buses or the subway for a monthly
transit pass you can expect to pay about
120
and if you want to use a taxi fares
start at two dollars and fifty cents
new york city is known for its wide
variety of delicious restaurants you can
find food from all over the world you
can get anything from a food cart hot
dog to an expensive steak dinner in new
york city because of this wide variety
however it's hard to determine a
specific average for a meal when living
in new york city you can imagine going
to concerts shows baseball games and so
on but the cost of these can get pretty
pricey if you want to see the latest
film in new york city you can expect to
pay about 15 per ticket if you want to
do something a little more exciting and
check out a yankees baseball game for
example it'll cost you about 50 a ticket
and if you want to check out broadway
and see one of the latest shows you can
expect to pay about a couple hundred
dollars for the best seats there are
lots of ways to determine the cost of
living in new york city but these are
just a couple important aspects so how
does new york city compare to big cities
in your country what are some things
that are different and what else would
you like to know about american culture
let us know in the comments hi everybody
my name is alicia in this lesson i'm
going to talk about formal request
patterns these are a few different
patterns that you can use when you're
making formal requests so these are
great for business emails and other
situations where you need to politely
ask for something i'm going to introduce
the patterns and then i'm going to share
a couple of examples as well these are
not the only patterns you can use
they're just a few ideas to help you get
started so let's take a look okay
first one let's begin with the first one
you'll see some of these patterns today
we'll use the word wood at the beginning
remember we can use wood as a common
word to begin a request so the first
example includes this would you be so
kind as to something
another thing you'll see in many of
these examples is the word to
before kind of the extra information
portion this is a great hint that we
should follow this part with some kind
of verb so two plus the infinitive form
of a verb we'll see a lot of examples of
this so the first one i've included be
so kind as to do something so this is
making a request and this part be so
kind as to shows us that the speaker is
asking for the kindness of the listener
or the reader in doing this action which
we're about to describe so let's look at
an example of this
would you be so kind as to
send me the files so here the verb we're
using is send as i said we need to
follow this to
with the infinitive form of the verb
send
and send me the files finishes the
phrase so would you be so kind as to
send me the files means please send me
the files but it's a more formal
sounding request you're saying
it would be really nice of you if you
would send me the files it just means
please send me the files but it sounds
more polite okay
let's look at another one similar again
this one begins with wood and ends with
two in the introductory part of this
pattern however here we have possible
would it be possible to
this sentence or this pattern rather
this is another way of saying can you
can you but would it be possible to
sounds much more formal than can you or
in some cases can i so let's look at an
example of this one
would it be possible to
discuss this later would it be possible
to discuss this later again we have this
two here which shows us we should use
the infinitive form of the verb the
regular form of the verb to discuss this
later
this part would it be possible to
can so in other words can we discuss
this later that's what this request is
but it sounds more formal would it be
possible to discuss this later we're
connecting if you're using this in
speech
we're connecting these sounds would it
be becomes would it be would it be
possible would it be possible to discuss
this later okay
so this is a good one to use for can
situations if you would use can in a
regular request you could try would it
be possible to in a formal request okay
let's go along to the next one may we
ask you to may we ask you to
this is a formal way of saying please
please please do this thing so again
we're ending the pattern with two
here we have this kind of confusing
maybe may we ask you so you know that we
use may to ask for permission to do
something but we're also using ask so
really this
combination makes a very soft request
here i'm using we this we could mean
your group or your company or your
department perhaps so may we ask you to
is kind of making yourself sound quite
humble so you're kind of lowering
yourself and making a request from the
other person but again this just means
please please we're just using a more
formal expression again we're going to
need to use the infinitive form here
because we see two at the end of this
introductory section so let's look at an
example
all right
may we ask you to submit the application
by tomorrow
so again to our infinitive form
and
here may we ask you to submit the
application by tomorrow i phrase this as
a question really if you're using please
you could just say please submit the
application by tomorrow period not a
question mark here because we're being
formal and polite we say may we ask you
to submit the application by tomorrow so
may we ask you it's like you're asking
permission to ask for something from
someone if that makes sense so it's kind
of a very soft expression but um we're
phrasing this as a question here again
this just means please submit the
application by tomorrow okay
on to the next one
the next one is also a possibility
expression do you think you would be
able to
so here we see would do you think you
would be able to this means that in the
future you're asking about someone's
future abilities something that someone
could do or would be able to do in the
future
so do you think you would be able to
verb phrase here we should follow this
with the verb
again this part do you think you would
this is maybe kind of softening it
instead of would you be able to it's do
you think you would be able to
here as well a pronunciation point this
you would
we reduce this to you'd
do you think you'd be able to do you
think you'd be able to in speech in
writing we can use the regular form the
non-reduced the non-contracted form
let's look at an example of how to use
this
do you think you would be able to have
it ready by tomorrow so this could be a
document for example do you think you
would be able to have it ready by
tomorrow if we want to make this really
really simple
do you think you would be able
to have it ready by tomorrow
is
can you have it ready by tomorrow that's
really what this means it's just a very
formal way of saying that do you think
you would be able to have it ready by
tomorrow so it's quite soft it's like
giving the other person a chance to say
no i'm really busy but it means can you
can you have it ready by tomorrow do you
think you would be able to have it ready
by tomorrow quite nice okay let's move
along too
the next one again we're starting this
with wood so another soft request
pattern would you have some time
available too so this is asking about
someone's schedule would you have some
time available
to verb we need to follow this with the
verb so let's look at the example would
you have some time available to chat
about this so again here's r2
our verb to chat about this in other
case this just means do you have time to
chat about this but this would you have
some time available in the future in
other words
or do you think that
it would be possible to chat about this
is another way to say that so just a
quite uh formal expression again do you
have time to chat in other words
okay let's move along to the next one
for
very kind of direct requests but that
are also formal we can use a pattern
like this i would like to request i
would like to request here you notice uh
there's no two at the end of this so we
should probably use a noun phrase here
there's something that you want to
receive so i would like to request
something example
i would like to request your attendance
at the meeting i would like to request
your attendance at the meeting this is a
formal sentence which means please come
to the meeting please come to the
meeting so i would like to request you
can imagine this as meaning i want or i
need
or please do this i would like to
request something i would like to
request a letter i would like to request
an application form please i would like
to request your attendance at the
meeting as well so these mean i want
something but
as i've got over here try to avoid using
some of these expressions in formal
requests
i want and i need can sound very casual
and too direct especially in business
situations
when you're making a request i tend to
avoid using these
if you're trying to give some supporting
information for your request maybe
that's okay so for example i would like
to request your attendance at the
meeting because i need your approval for
my project for example in that case
using i need could be okay but if you
make your request your first kind of
introduction to your request using i
want or i need in some cases it might
sound a little too direct so please kind
of be cautious i tend to avoid these
same thing with can i can i can sound a
little bit
casual sometimes so you can kind of feel
the situation and how close you are to
the person you're speaking to or writing
to okay
let's move along to the next one the
next one is great
in emails and written correspondence so
this is when you are maybe introducing
yourself in an email or you're
introducing a request in an email
i am writing to
request this is very clear i like to use
this when i'm writing to someone that i
don't know i use this after i introduce
myself hi my name is alicia i'm from abc
company and i am writing to requests so
this is in other words why am i writing
to this person so i'm writing to request
a meeting i'm writing to request to
request this document for example i'm
writing to request noun phrase
here i am writing to request a letter of
recommendation so
um in other words this is the thing i
want i'm writing to request this thing
this is great to use in emails
when there's some specific thing that
you want and you want to describe it
quickly and clearly that's quite nice
all right let's move along to the next
one
when you need to ask permission to do
something so here you'll see we go back
to this 2 at the end of the pattern
meaning we should use a verb here
may i or may we
have permission to in other words is it
ok to but this is a formal way to ask
permission example sentence
example sentence may i have permission
to use your video in an article so this
is actually i think this is a similar
similar to a comment we received on the
channel may i have your permission to
use your video in an article in this
case so in other words is it okay if i
use your video in an article this is a
much more formal a much nicer way to ask
if something is okay to do or not all
right let's move on to the last uh
pattern for today could you please could
you please here you'll notice i've used
you you can change this if you change
this to like could i please it means you
want something like you want to receive
something
here you're asking for someone else to
do something for you could you please do
something example
could you please let me know if this is
acceptable so this part
let me know if this is acceptable means
please let me know
if this is okay acceptable means okay
really but more formal so could you
please let me know if this is okay is
what this means
um but you can change this uh this you
to whoever like could he please give me
the information or could i please meet
with you later for example
you can change this could uh this could
you um depending on the situation
depending on who is giving and who is
receiving uh information or a favor or
so on so
this one there's quite a lot of
flexibility with this so keep that in
mind okay so those are a few different
patterns that you can use when you're
making formal requests so as i said this
is really good for business emails and
formal situations so i hope that you got
some new ideas of course if there's
something else that you like to use in
your formal requests please let us know
in the comments hi everybody my name is
alicia in this lesson i'm going to talk
about how to make negative requests by
negative requests i mean how to make
requests for someone not to do something
or to stop a behavior so i'm going to
talk about some formal and some very
casual examples of this i hope that it's
useful let's get started all right first
one the first one is probably the most
useful and the easiest to remember it's
kind of polite a little bit but it's
also very clear and direct the pattern
is please don't verb please don't verb
so put any verb here
in the regular like plain infinitive
form no change to the verb just please
don't
plus a regular verb example
please don't take my pens
please don't fire her so in these
examples my verbs are take and fire
please don't take my pens please don't
fire her so we can make very simple ones
too like please don't sit there or
please don't smoke for example these are
very quick short direct easy to
understand requests to stop or not to do
something
okay
let's go to a very formal expression you
might see this on signs or you might see
this in official rules in regulations
policies for example this is not
something that is commonly used in
everyday speech please refrain from
verb ing so we tend to use the ing form
of the verb here
please refrain from please refrain from
this refrain from means don't please
don't and instead of using the regular
infinitive form of the verb here we use
the ing form here so this is like the
more formal version of the first pattern
please don't verb to make it more formal
please refrain from verb in examples
please refrain from feeding the pigeons
so here
feeding
is in the ing form please refrain from
feeding the pigeons if i want to use
another simpler example like in this
sentence i used please don't smoke we
could use that here please refrain from
smoking that's a very common one that
you might see posted in restaurants like
on signs please refrain from smoking
please refrain from
ing form verb a formal way to say don't
do this behavior okay
let's go on to three examples that are
very casual these are ones you'll use
with kids you'll hear among close
friends family members and in some cases
these are the easiest to use because
they're so direct
first one
stop
verb plus ing so
this is very very direct there's no
please there's no could you it's just
stop so this is a very direct request
stop verb ing examples stop hitting your
sister hitting is the ing form stop
hitting your sister stop looking at me
so these are very direct so we can
imagine these might be from like a
parent to their child or perhaps us to a
close friend for example so these are
used in situations where we're very
close to the listener stop ing in the
verb form okay let's go to another one
don't plus a verb sometimes if the verb
is very clear if the action is very
clear we drop the verb and we extend
this don't sound so let's look at some
examples with a verb first don't plus a
verb it's just like this please don't
verb but even more direct more casual
don't put your elbows on the table so
elbows remember this part of your body
and putting it on a table like at a
dinner table for example is considered
rude so don't put your elbows on the
table don't plus our verb and some extra
information here don't put your elbows
on the table
don't chew
with your mouth open so chewing is the
action this action of your mouth
and chewing with your mouth open instead
of closing your mouth as you chew is
also considered rude so these are a
couple quick
maybe reminders from a mother or father
or other parent figure don't put your
elbows on the table don't chew with your
mouth open don't plus a verb
so
you might hear especially young kids and
kind of adults who are having a little
bit of fun with language you might hear
the verb get dropped
so
a great example would be
like if a kid is fighting with their
brother or sister and the kid is getting
punched like there's someone like that's
hitting the kid the kid might just say
don't
so because the action they want to stop
is quite clear like don't hit me is what
the is what the speaker the little kid
means but they drop the the verb because
it's very clear the unpleasant action is
very very clear in those cases you might
hear speakers drop the verb completely
don't when it's very clear we know which
action we don't want so you might hear
that in lots of cases though we do
include the verb
okay let's go to another one though a
pair
stop it and stop that stop it and stop
that so here the difference is it and
that
um this just depends on the speaker's
feeling really stop it means stop the
behavior
stop that also it means stop the
behavior stop that
is probably used more when we want to
point out a behavior a little bit
removed from us so if i'm watching bad
behavior across the room i could say
stop that stop that
i could say stop it as well if i want to
it just kind of depends on the speakers
the speaker's mood a little bit so stop
it or stop that are quick commands again
often from parents to mean stop that
behavior so stop that behavior stop it
or stop that so you can use both of
those
um maybe a question some of you might
have stop this stop this we don't use
that one very much stop you could say
stop this
car for example if you want to talk
about an object or something that is
moving that you want
to stop moving you could say stop this
car or stop this bus for example but
when you're talking about behavior we
don't use stop this we say stop that or
stop it interesting point okay
let's go along to a very casual kind of
more common in the last maybe 10 to 15
years i would imagine i'm not sure
specifically but this is one we see a
lot on the internet these days and a lot
used among young people could you not
plus maybe do that sometimes this is
dropped so this is very similar to don't
but
what makes this interesting is it's
phrased as a polite expression could you
could you is used in polite requests
here we're using not though so could you
not
do something could you not do that
this is actually not used in formal
situations yes we use could and you here
making us think oh well maybe it's
formal but this is actually a very
casual expression could you not do that
we use this with that sort of intonation
could you not do that we use it with
close friends only so examples
could you not post such embarrassing
pictures of me online
so this is used with someone that we're
quite close to we make kind of a direct
and slightly sarcastic maybe request
sometimes to people
so again as i talked about with don't
if the action is very clear
we can drop this whole part of the
sentence and just keep could you not so
if for example
maybe a close friend is singing really
really loudly in my ear i could say
could you not or i could say could you
not do that which means please stop
please stop so this is kind of an
interesting and interesting pattern it
sounds kind of formal it seems like it
could be formal but it's not actually
it's quite uh it's quite casual okay
let's go on to the last one for today uh
this one is a formal expression
if you could please not verb
we would appreciate it if you could
please not verb we would appreciate it
so again this might come from maybe a
service staff or you might see this on a
sign in a restaurant or perhaps at like
um i don't know some other kind of
gathering place where lots of people
visit
so if you could please not regular verb
form we would appreciate it so a formal
expression at the beginning and at the
end so
example if you could please not
feed the animals at the zoo we would
appreciate it so here's my verb feed the
animals at the zoo i have an object here
we would appreciate it or if you could
please not smoke we would appreciate it
so this is a formal request not to do
something and we include
an appreciation expression too so this
is another nice formal expression you
can use if you forget though this one is
maybe the easiest to remember it's good
in polite situations good in casual
situations please don't verb pretty
simple so i hope that this was useful
for you of course if you have some other
patterns that you know of or if you have
any questions please feel free to let us
know in the comment section
let's begin with the basic definition of
this verb the basic definition of the
verb to put is to place something in a
location examples
put your bag over there
don't put your feet on the sofa
let's look at some conjugations for this
verb now
present put
puts
past put
past participle
put
progressive pudding
let's talk about some additional
meanings for the verb to put the first
one is to write to write examples
put your name on this line
she put her name on the list
so when we say put in this way we refer
to writing so you're adding some
information to a written document or a
typed document as well so it can mean to
write or like to type information so put
your name on this line means like write
your name or type your name on this line
in the second example sentence she put
her name on the list it means the same
thing she wrote her name on a list or
she added her name to a list in some way
it means writing information okay let's
go on to the second additional meaning
the second additional meaning is to use
words to express something to use words
to express something examples
how should i put this
you're putting it quite simply
so we can replace the word put with
express like how should i express this
in the first example sentence but we use
put because put sounds much less formal
than express how should i express this
it sounds way too formal way too polite
instead we say how should i put this we
use that uh expression when we're not
quite sure how to say something like
we're maybe talking about a sensitive
topic and we don't know the correct
words to use or it's difficult to
explain you can say how should i put
this in the second example sentence
you're putting it quite simply it means
you're expressing things quite simply so
maybe it's a complex situation but the
listener is explaining things or
expressing things maybe too simply so
the speaker in this case could say
you're putting it quite simply okay
let's go on to the third meaning the
third meaning is rather open and kind of
vague which is to cause to be in a
situation to cause to be in a situation
let's look at some examples
this change puts the whole company at
risk
your terrible driving puts us all in
danger
so in these examples we see put is used
to refer to a
situation that some group of people or
some person is caused to be in so in the
first example sentence this change puts
the whole company at risk this change
causes the whole company to be at risk
in a situation of risk in a condition of
risk we use put to refer to that to
refer to being caused to be in the
situation of risk the second example
sentence is the same your terrible
driving this is the reason
why the people are in danger in this
example sentence your terrible driving
puts us all in danger your terrible
driving causes us all to be in a
condition of danger it's very clumsy but
we use the verb put to make this quite
short and easy to say your terrible
driving puts us all in danger okay
there are so many variations so many
phrasal verbs to use with put yeah so
check a dictionary for more these are
just a few i'm going to introduce but
check a dictionary for this the first
variation for the verb put is put aside
to put aside so to put aside means to
stop thinking about something to seize
or to pause an activity while you do
something else examples
put aside your worries and relax for a
day
i put my phone aside and tried to focus
on my work so in both of these example
sentences we see that one thing is kind
of being moved away from the focus so
for example in the first example
sentence put aside your worries it means
like stop thinking about your worries
like put those to the side in your mind
like like uh don't think about those
things for a while so in the second
example sentence i'm talking about my
phone where i'm saying i can literally
put my phone aside put my phone to the
side of the thing i'm doing and focus on
my work i put my phone aside so we can
use this to talk about a concept in our
minds or to talk about a physical object
as well okay let's go on to the next
variation so the next variation is to
put someone down it means to disrespect
someone or to make fun of someone to
make them feel bad about themselves some
examples
don't put down your classmates it's rude
his boss keeps putting him down in front
of his
co-workers so in both of these examples
we see situations where one person is
being disrespected by another person so
don't put down your classmates it's rude
so this in this case the listener is
maybe a kid in school
who is disrespectful to his or her
classmates so a parent or a teacher
might say don't put down meaning don't
disrespect your classmates don't be mean
to your classmates don't make fun of
your classmates so you know be kind to
them in other words don't put down your
classmates you could also say don't put
your classmates down if you like that's
fine too in the second example sentence
we see a work situation like his boss
always puts him down in front of his
co-workers means the boss disrespects
this person in front of his co-worker so
it's a disrespectful situation okay
but one point about this the expression
to put someone down refers to disrespect
with regard to humans however when
talking about animals like we had to put
the cat down we had to put the dog down
it means usually due to some serious
sickness or some serious injury or
illness
the
owners of the pet usually a pet or the
animal
decide that the pet should have
doctor-assisted death so to put down an
animal means to choose to allow the
animal to die peacefully instead of
suffering so we used that expression i
had to put my cat down this is a much
more soft expression than
the doctor killed my cat which is
essentially what happens but
it's because of some kind of suffering
or some kind of illness or injury the
owner wants to prevent we use the
expression to put an animal down in
those cases we do not use this for
people we don't say i had to put my
brother down though we do actually have
an expression for babies which which we
use when we put babies to bed like i'm
going to put down the baby for bed we do
have that but please be cautious of the
differences between animals and humans
with this expression to put someone down
has very different meanings okay
let's go on to the next variation which
is to put up with to put up with means
to tolerate something examples
i don't want to put up with this crazy
schedule anymore
don't put up with their bad behavior
in these examples put up with refers to
tolerating or being able to stand
something or continuing to live with
something in the first example sentence
i can't put up with this crazy schedule
anymore means i don't want to live with
this crazy schedule anymore i can't
stand it i don't want to do it anymore
in the second example sentence don't put
up with their bad behavior it means
don't tolerate their bad behavior so put
up with something means like to continue
living with something and we often see
it in the negative form as in don't put
up with something okay so those are a
few new ways i hope to use the verb put
i hope that you found something new and
as i said there are a lot of phrasal
verbs that can be used with put so
please check a dictionary if you'd like
to see some more how to improve your
language and speak more through
preparation do you think it's possible
to speak more of your target language by
preparing lines ahead of time today
you're going to learn one why you should
prepare for conversations ahead of time
and two how you can prepare for
conversations in your target language if
you've always wanted to speak more of
your target language but didn't know how
this tactic will give you more to talk
about
[Music]
how to improve your language and speak
more through preparation
okay let's get into part one why you
should prepare for conversations ahead
of time
if you're a beginner you can probably
relate to this when it comes to speaking
you tend to run out of things to say and
that's because you don't know enough of
the language to express yourself
and that's where preparation comes in
you may think that the conversations we
have in our daily lives are spontaneous
that you can't prepare for them you're
right to an extent
but imagine meeting someone for the
first time
both of you will go through some common
questions and phrases like what's your
name my name is where are you from and
how long have you been studying the
language
as a language learner you'll have these
kinds of conversations with almost every
native you meet guaranteed they'll
always ask you about how long and how
you've been learning
and even with your friends some
conversations start the same way for
example you say things like hey how are
you how are things how was your weekend
my weekend was good and you let's say
you went to a restaurant this weekend
and now you want to talk about it well
that allows you to prepare and learn
some phrases like i went to a restaurant
the restaurant had delicious food
the point is some questions and phrases
come up often in conversations so it
makes total sense to master them ahead
of time and you can always plan ahead
and prepare for things you want to talk
about
when it comes time to speak you know
what to say how to respond and you don't
run out of talking points as quickly so
how do you prepare let's jump into part
two
the first thing you can do to prepare is
check out our 25 questions you need to
know lesson series
this series is specifically designed to
help you with the first time
conversations you'll have with native
speakers you'll learn the 25 most common
questions and answers used in
conversations just listen to the lessons
repeat out loud then put what you
learned to use these will serve as
talking points so you can keep your
conversations going
number two
print out the curriculum for this lesson
series so you can review all of the
lessons at once
the curriculum gives you the lines and
vocabulary used in all lessons up front
so you can use this to review key
questions and responses
this will allow you to control
conversations and ask questions instead
of just having the native speaker ask
you all the questions in other words
you'll sound like a fluid confident and
experienced speaker
number three check out our printable
conversation cheat sheets this is
another free resource that gives you
lines and words for all kinds of topics
for example talking about hobbies your
family and much more number four ask
yourself what do you want to talk about
come up with some topics and for each
topic write out potential questions and
phrases that would come up in a
conversation
for example if you want to talk about
restaurants you can have lines like my
favorite restaurant is my favorite food
is what's your favorite restaurant and
then run these lines through a
translation app it won't be perfect but
it'll give you lines to use that you can
correct later
number five look for lessons that are
related to your topics with our lesson
library on our site we have hundreds of
lessons that teach you conversations so
if you're looking for lessons related to
restaurants and food you'll get all
kinds of conversations that you can use
for yourself
and number six if you're a premium plus
user get in touch with your teacher be a
my teacher and try a conversation with
them they'll help you every step of the
way correct your writing and give you
the lines to use in a conversation
that way you can prepare ahead of time
and when it comes time to speak you'll
know what to say
[Music]
alright everyone here's a challenge for
you yes everyone watching this record a
30 second to one minute video or audio
clip tell us what's your language
learning goal for 2020 if you do you'll
win a one month premium plus
subscription
to submit click on the link in the
description sign up for your free
lifetime account then fill out the form
attach the audio or video file and press
submit we may feature you in next
month's episode so a lot of learners
will see you and your progress and will
hopefully get inspired to improve and
master the language
to submit a recording click the link in
the description and follow the
instructions on the page
so thank you for watching this episode
of monthly review
next time we'll talk about how to start
conversations talking points for
language learners
most people don't like to hear this but
consistent hard work is one of the
biggest factors in your language
learning success
the course or method you choose makes a
difference too but at the end of the day
you ride or die by the work you put in
the quantity of time spent studying
language doesn't necessarily determine
the quality of your study
spending three hours a day watching
movies doesn't help you learn much if
you're not actively engaging with the
language
in this video we'll talk about three
ways to actively engage your mind while
studying a new language
number one think of your brain as a
muscle
you're probably familiar with the phrase
feel the burn or maybe no pain no gain
if you've been to your local gym
recently there's a chance you might have
heard one of these phrases or seen them
plastered on a wall there's an idea in
the world of sports and workouts that
the discomfort you feel when running
pumping iron or doing some other
physical activity is what brings results
during a healthy workout the muscles of
the body are affected at a microscopic
level the discomfort you feel is your
muscles being pushed to their limit
it's the limit pushing that strengthens
your muscles so that over time your
performance increases
in the context of language learning it's
helpful to think of your brain as a
muscle just as we need to push our
physical limits when exercising we also
need to push our mental limits when
learning a foreign language have you
ever studied or practiced your target
language in a way that left you tired or
even exhausted if so you've experienced
what it's like to push your brain out of
its linguistic comfort zone
number two practice active listening
one of the easiest ways to push your
language skills is to practice active
listening active listening is when you
listen to someone speaking your target
language and you do your best to
understand what you hear
the best way to accomplish this is by
using audio that you can't completely
understand on the first listen
preferably you want to use audio that
has subtitles or transcripts for you to
double check your understanding after
you listen to it you can use movies
youtube clips or even our language
program which has very useful
transcripts for each lesson
during a practice session you should
listen to the audio several times the
first time around it's okay if little to
no words stick out to you simply make a
mental note of any words or sounds you
recognize
the second time you listen you're likely
to recognize a little more than you did
the previous time
expect similar results with your third
or even fourth time listening
after you've hit the ceiling of words
you can decipher go ahead and look at
the language subtitles or transcripts
listen to the audio again reading along
with the text
odds are that you will see words in the
text you know but didn't hear correctly
you're also likely to encounter words
that are new to you completely as you
play back the audio and read along try
to guess what these words mean from the
context of the words around them
after you've read along a couple times
feel free to look up the remaining
unfamiliar words in a dictionary or
translator app this active listening
exercise routine is a great way to
increase your listening and
comprehension skills while picking up
some new vocabulary along the way
it also allows you to learn new words in
context which itself is a powerful
method to help you retain what you study
number three practicing with native
speakers
practicing with native speakers is the
epitome of pushing your language skills
using what you know to communicate in
real time is where the rubber really
meets the road
try to connect with a native speaker on
a weekly basis
regularity is what makes the difference
when you're learning a foreign language
if you live in a large metropolitan area
then there's a significant chance that
there are some local native speakers
nearby
try hitting up a local language exchange
or meetup group to make the necessary
connections
if you're unable to find a practice
partner locally then you can take your
search online
there are a number of sites out there
that help you find and connect with
other language learners from around the
world there are tons of language
learners around the world who have
learned or are learning a second
language you're likely to find someone
who knows your target language and is
looking to improve their own language
skills as well
learning a new language isn't always
easy but it's the discomfort that comes
with pushing your ability in the
language that produces results in your
studies don't be afraid to step outside
of your comfort zone the further away
you get from your native language the
closer you'll be to attaining fluency
also remember that language learning is
in every way a lot like an adventure
there will be fun times and times when
it feels like you're swimming up the
proverbial stream it's by keeping your
head up long enough through these ups
and downs that you will experience the
priceless satisfaction that comes from
learning a foreign language
just keep moving forward
let's be honest it's difficult to learn
a new language if you're new to a
language it's going to take consistent
and concentrated effort to start using
the language fluently however this fact
shouldn't discourage you while learning
a new language is hard it's far from
impossible in this video we'll outline
five tips you can use to jump start your
language learning follow these pointers
to learn your target language in a way
that is efficient and effective number
one
limit your native language use when
practicing the idea here is that when
you practice with native speakers you do
your best to refrain from using your
native language this is generally harder
the less you know but if you can manage
to stick to this rule you'll reap some
huge rewards if you commit to a no
native language practice session it's
not going to be easy most likely there
will be some frustrating if not
painstakingly difficult moments where
you either have trouble understanding
the person you're talking to or you
can't say what you want to say
it's precisely in these moments that
your language learning muscles are built
up to capacity the process really isn't
all that different from working out in
the gym
just replace the physical burn of
lifting weights for the mental burn of
thinking in a new language in the end if
there's no pain there's no gain
obviously this no native language rule
doesn't have to be written in stone
there are times when it's more
beneficial to break out of the target
language box and have something
explained to you in your native language
however this should definitely be the
exception rather than the standard
number two
have set times to practice speaking
throughout the week now that we've
discussed a good way to practice
speaking let's delve a bit into when to
speak
one of the best commitments you can keep
while learning a new language is to set
aside specific times to practice
speaking the language on a weekly basis
ideally these speaking sessions are on
set days at specific times and form part
of your weekly routine
if you don't make it a point to set
aside specific practice times you run
the risk of your language practice
falling through the cracks of your busy
schedule
i recommend writing down your practice
times and hanging it somewhere you can
always see it you could also input the
times into your phone and set an alarm
the point is to remind yourself of your
commitment every day so that it doesn't
fall by the wayside
number three get picky about vocabulary
whether you practice with a podcast a
friend at a coffee shop or a teacher
you're going to run into a flood of new
and unfamiliar vocabulary despite your
best efforts it's unlikely that you'll
be able to pin down every new word or
phrase you hear and study it later thus
you should pick and choose which new
words you focus on the defining quality
of each new word you learn should be its
practicality the more useful a word or
phrase is to you in a conversation the
more important it is that you learn it
don't feel like you have to cram the
entirety of your target language into
one week of study take it one step at a
time a few practical words here some
more there before you know it you'll see
your vocabulary improve
number four write and practice short
monologues
this tip can be a lot of fun
begin by selecting a topic you enjoy
discussing then simply write out a short
monologue or speech on the subject in
your target language the first thing
you'll notice while doing this will
likely be the holes in your grammar and
vocabulary
but when you try to write out your
thoughts in a foreign language you might
inevitably hit roadblocks you might not
be able to think of a word or know how
to formulate a specific idea or opinion
yet this can be great because these
holes are the exact areas where you
should focus your studies you can bring
up these problem areas in your next
lesson or browse through your favorite
language course or textbook in order to
find the answer
the constant process of finding these
language holes and filling them is what
keeps you moving along the path to
fluency
once you finish your short text it's a
great idea to practice reciting it or
even memorizing it the memorization will
help you internalize the new grammar and
vocabulary you've learned
reciting it will get your tongue and
mouth used to the sounds
number five
keep an up-to-date list on what you want
to learn
throughout your studies you should
always have a sort of language shopping
list as you practice and study you will
most likely come across things you'd
like to be able to say but don't know
how to yet especially if you follow our
previous tip write this wishlist down
it's one thing to learn the vocabulary
you pick up via a course or podcast both
of which are great it's a bit different
when your vocabulary gets personal
learn the words that matter to you
either because they're practical or
because you simply find them interesting
the more relevant the vocabulary the
more likely you are to retain it some
people might tell you it's impossible to
learn a new language for whatever reason
but it's important to remember that the
way you study and engage with a language
greatly affects how quickly or
effectively you learn it
want to speed up your language learning
take your very first lesson with us
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