Vanessa: Hi!
I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Let's have a real English conversation.
Today I have something super special to share with you.
I'm going to share with you a real conversation that I had with a local yoga instructor here
in my city.
She also teaches yoga on YouTube, so you can check out the link to her channel in the description.
Here you're going to meet Gayle.
Vanessa: Gayle teaches yoga, and she talks about her journey, getting into yoga, and
just what it means to her life.
I'm sure you also have hobbies and passions and interests, so it's a good way to hear
how she talks about it, and to try to imitate that style of speaking, because we all want
to talk about our passions and share them with other people.
Vanessa: Throughout the conversation you're going to see little subtitles pop up.
These are for vocabulary expressions, phrasal verbs, and also some special pronunciation.
After the conversation with Gayle, you're going to also have a vocabulary lesson today.
Wow!
You're going to see my husband, Dan, and I explain these vocabulary expressions in detail.
This is a really great way to engrain them in your memory, and I know a lot of you have
difficulties with remembering words after you've learned them.
So, hearing them in the conversation with Gayle is a good first step, but it's also
great to hear us talk about it later, give examples, make it more vivid in your mind.
Vanessa: So, you're going to watch that vocabulary lesson, and then you're going to watch a phrasal
verb lesson.
This grammar lesson is super helpful for helping you sound like a native speaker, because we
use phrasal verbs all the time.
Vanessa: Finally, we're going to practice some in-depth pronunciation so that you can
speak exactly the way that Gayle and I did in our conversation.
Are you ready to hear a real English conversation?
If you enjoy this lesson today I hope that you can join the Fearless Fluency Club, which
is my monthly course.
You'll get information and lessons like this every month.
This is just a short clip from it.
About half of the material, or actually less than half, maybe a third of the material,
but you'll get an even longer lesson sent every month when you join the course.
Vanessa: Alright!
Let's meet Gayle and learn real English.
Vanessa: Hi, everyone!
I'm here today with Gayle.
Gayle: Hi.
Vanessa: We're going to talk about yoga and all of your experience with that, and really
anything that comes up along the way.
Gayle: Sounds great.
Vanessa: Yeah.
So, can we start at the very beginning?
When did you first start with yoga?
Then we'll go on to what's happening now.
Gayle: Well, that's interesting.
I was living in New York City at the time, pursuing a career as a professional freelance
photographer.
Vanessa: Oh!
Quite different from yoga.
Gayle: Yeah.
Although, you know, everything kind of ... It's a lot about your vision and being mindful
and exploring.
And so, they kind of weave together in some ways.
Vanessa: I could see that.
Gayle: But anyway!
I just dabbled in it.
One thing that I always remember, and, I think, one of the funniest things, is my first class
when the teacher said, "Pay attention to your breath.
Like, focus on your breath."
I thought, "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
Like, I'm here to move and do some cool poses.
Like, why would I think about my breath?
I'm breathing."
Right!
So, let's get to the good stuff.
You know?
Gayle: Then as I progressed in my yoga, I just realized like, breath is everything.
Breath is so key.
So, now I focus on that, or I try to focus on that, more than anything.
It's really a powerful healing mechanism.
Yeah.
We do it all the time.
It's part of our sympathetic nervous system, so we'll breathe.
I mean, if we tried to stop breathing we'd pass out and then we'd breathe again.
Vanessa: Your body wants to breathe.
Gayle: Right.
But still, there's ways of like, breathing more fully, breathing more mindfully, that
can, you know, help your overall health.
Vanessa: That's funny that at the beginning you thought, "What is she talking about?"
Gayle: I thought it was ridiculous.
Vanessa: Especially if you've never heard that kind of phrasing before.
Gayle: Yeah!
Vanessa: Everyone breathes.
I feel like, for me, whenever they talk about breathing in yoga class, I realize, "Oh, I
have been breathing all this time, all day, and haven't been thinking about it."
Then when you start to think about it maybe it's just that physical element, but I kind
of ... It clears my mind a little bit.
Once you focus on breathing it's not hypnotic, but I almost feel like I'm in the zone or
like, when you're thinking about your breath you can focus more on what's going on, at
least for me.
Gayle: No.
That's totally it.
Here's the thing.
Yoga is about union, and the union of opposites complementing each other.
So, the breath is composed of two opposites, right?
The exhale and the exhale, and it's kind of got an ebb and flow.
So, like, if you sit by the ocean or by a waterfall when you have that kind of constant
repeating noise, it really relaxes you.
So, when you turn into your breath, it's kind of the same thing.
Gayle: A lot of the times when you pay attention to your breath, you might realize that your
inhale is stronger than your exhale.
What we're really trying to do is balance the breath, because the inhale is more energetic
and the exhale is more relaxing and soothing.
So, if you're like, feeling stressed out or anything like that, if you just take moment,
focus on the breath, and really letting that exhale draw out, it's amazing how much it
can calm you.
Gayle: You're like, totally right on there.
Vanessa: This seems like a simple thing, but it could do a lot.
Gayle: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa: So, I'm curious what happened after that.
First, you were at class, you thought, "What in the world is she talking about?
Breath?
Okay."
Did you just go in full force after that, or was there just a slow progression?
Because you've been doing yoga for ... Gayle: A long time.
Vanessa: A long time.
Gayle: It was like ... I dabbled.
You know, when I was in New York City I dabbled.
Like, sometimes I would go to class, but I never completely committed like I did later
on.
So, I dabbled in New York, and then I moved from New York to Bryson City, North Carolina
and got into white water paddling.
Gayle: So, occasionally ... I knew how to do sun salutations and occasionally I would
do some yoga.
I was teaching kayaking at that point, also white water kayaking.
So, occasionally I'd lead people through a little bit of yoga but not that often.
But then when I left Bryson City and moved to Asheville, that's when I really committed,
and I found a class I liked.
It was just like, Tuesday night, that's what I was doing.
Yoga.
Gayle: I did that class religiously for two years.
Vanessa: Oh!
That's dedication.
Gayle: Yeah.
Then the yoga teacher started offering yoga teacher trainings.
So, I thought, "Oh, I'll do that.
You know, I don't know if I want to teach but, you know, I'll just ... Why not?"
I wanted to learn more.
Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Gayle: And so, that helped to grow it more.
So, I got to the point where instead of like, waiting for what the teacher was going to
say, I could do my own poses.
Vanessa: You had that confidence to just branch out yourself.
Gayle: And so, then after that I stopped going to yoga classes because I'm like, "I want
to breathe how I want to breathe.
And I want to take as long in a pose as I want to take, and not just be dictated to
all the time."
I learned a lot of poses, I understood them more.
So, I started more of my own practice.
Gayle: But then, unfortunately, I got this tech job where I was sitting at a desk, and
I was sitting, and sitting, and sitting.
I had never sat so much in my whole life.
Vanessa: It takes a toll on you.
Gayle: Oh!
I knew it was.
But I just thought, "I've got to do this."
Vanessa: Sure.
Gayle: But it did take a toll on me, and actually, I had a habit, which I wasn't even aware of,
but I would lean on my left elbow, put my chin, and stare at the screen, and then, you
know, use the mouse here.
I had meanwhile, had kind of lapsed in my yoga, hadn't really done yoga in a while.
Like, a while.
Gayle: Then I went to a yoga class, and I couldn't reach my arms, lying down to the
floor.
I couldn't do dolphin pose, and I was like, "What's up with my shoulders?"
My left shoulder had lost all this range of motion from doing this thing.
Sitting like that for hours at a time.
Vanessa: That can make a big difference.
Gayle: Yeah.
Vanessa: That's just an unconscious movement that you're making.
Gayle: Right.
I thought, "What happened?
I didn't fall on my shoulder.
Like, why would it be like this?"
As soon as I thought, "I'll observe myself," which is one of the things that yoga teaches
you, also, is to observe yourself and to get to know yourself better, even though you think,
"Well, of course I know myself.
I'm myself."
Vanessa: I know I'm breathing all the time!
Gayle: Yeah.
So, as soon as I saw that, I knew that's what it was because I was rounding forward, stretching
this, weakening this.
And so, it took me like, a year to rehab.
But it was yoga that kind of showed me, and that's what yoga will do.
It'll show you your limitations.
It can show you where you're injured.
It can show you like, the good stuff and the bad stuff, essentially.
Gayle: Then it's up to you to pay more attention, to deal with it, and to not be ... not like,
get too wound up in self criticism.
You know, because you realize like, "Well, I'm not very strong or I'm really limited."
Yeah.
Exactly.
So, that was like, a whole journey.
Then I decided to teach yoga.
Vanessa: Oh!
Gayle: Yeah.
Then I really got into it, and I started off teaching in businesses around Asheville, did
that for a while.
Vanessa: So, the businesses would just hire a yoga teacher to come in and like, teach
their employees?
Gayle: Yeah.
I mean ... Vanessa: That's amazing.
Gayle: All businesses should do that.
Bring yoga to your business.
Vanessa: That's a great idea.
Gayle: Yeah.
So, I had a couple places like Volvo and Liberty Bikes, and, you know, a couple other offices
that would bring me in.
A lot of times the company would pay.
Sometimes the people would pay.
So, that was good.
But then that kind of dried up a little bit.
And so, then I got into teaching more public classes, and teaching privates.
Gayle: That's what I really like, is teaching privates.
Because it was one on one.
I could focus on that person and what they need.
It's interesting.
In a class people are trying to cue to the common issue, but there's other people that
are going to get ignored.
If they don't understand like, how to pay attention to their body, the cues might not
even be the best cues for them.
Vanessa: Like, what the teacher is suggesting.
Gayle: Yes.
And as I've gone through the years it's like, things that I thought or was taught years
ago, I'm questioning now.
I'm realizing that things are changing.
20 years ago people didn't think fascia was important.
Like, when they would cut up a cadaver it's just like, "Get this wrapping paper out of
the way."
You know?
Now it's like, we realize the fascia is this big connected network that connects everything
in our body.
Gayle: So, even though our muscles have points of origin and insertion, really the whole
muscle's connected via the fascia to all like, our whole body.
So, if I like, pulled on my shirt, you know, this hole ... There's going to be a whole
thread that's going to feel that tug.
Vanessa: Yeah.
It's all connected in some way.
Gayle: Yeah.
That brings us back to yoga is about connection.
So, in a way, the last pose that you almost always do in a yoga practice is called [shavasana
00:11:05].
It literally translates to corpse pose.
So, in a way, it's like practicing our own death and letting go, because death is the
ultimate letting go.
Just can we let go, and can you relax in savasana?
For some people it's the hardest pose.
Gayle: They just want to jump up and run and start doing things again.
You know, their mind is so busy.
But can you relax your mind, relax your body, and the two are very connected, so that when
your body's relaxed it is easier to relax your mind.
If you've been focusing on your breath the whole time doing your yoga practice, you will
feel more centered, because you haven't been thinking about all the other stuff that's
driving you crazy.
Right?
Vanessa: Yeah.
Gayle: So, you know, it's like, a whole really interesting system.
Then you can come into the whole thing of what is yoga.
Vanessa: Yeah.
What is yoga?
Gayle: You know, is it just mindfulness?
Mindful action?
Being aware of your thoughts?
You know, they say your thoughts become words, and your words become actions, and your actions
becomes your life.
We oftentimes, you know, myself, very much so.
You think about all this negativity and don't realize like, that has a lot of implications
down the road.
Vanessa: I think that's been pretty proven that your thoughts have a physical effect
on your life, whether it's just your mental health or your body's physical health.
Gayle: Right.
Vanessa: Like, what you think is really important, and if yoga can help you to kind of calm down
those anxious thoughts or whatever else is going on, that's great.
It's also good exercise, but it works for your mind.
That's really awesome.
Gayle: Right.
We just, you know ... There's different types of yoga, different styles, and some yoga can
be more rigorous, vigorous.
Some is more relaxing.
But I think we need to balance it, because yoga's also about balance.
How do we balance opposite actions, opposite energies?
Like, the breath, the inhale, the exhale.
There's a rising up, kind of an energizing on the inhale, then there's a relaxing, settling
down, connecting to the earth on the exhale.
Gayle: And so, in every yoga pose ... Like, the asanas, the poses, are really a way of
bringing things up for you, and noticing like, are you impatient?
Do you have a lot of negative self talk?
Are you distracted?
Are you just like, thinking, "I just want to get this done," but meanwhile you're thinking
about what you're going to eat after class.
Vanessa: Yep!
Gayle: But if you can be fully present in the moment, in this moment, then that's when
your mind starts to relax.
You do have that sense of ... At the end of yoga class, it's really interesting how people
will feel very relaxed, but also have energy.
But it's not that crazy kind of energy that just like, you know ...
Vanessa: It's not chaotic.
Gayle: Yeah.
It's like, really getting your nervous system all wound up.
It's a more like, you know, I'm ready for whatever life presents kind of energy, and
I have energy to do things, and I feel inspired.
Vanessa: That's the kind of energy you want.
Gayle: Yeah.
People think it's all about flexibility.
Well, it's about balance.
It's about building strength and flexibility, and trying to have the two be more or less
equal, so one isn't overpowering the other.
And also to have different muscle groups balanced, so, you know ... For example, oftentimes our
quads are really strong, but the hamstrings are weak.
That's like, really common.
Gayle: So, you know, a good practice, which takes some thought and takes some like, kind
of understanding what's going on, is to try and balance those two energies.
But the more ... That's why it's nice to have a home practice too, because you might discover
something in a yoga class that was brought up, and then you can practice on, you know,
practice that at home.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Taking care of yourself in the way that you need to do, not just what the teacher has
prepared for the day, which is kind of like, learning English.
You know, maybe go to a class and the teacher says, "Hey, we're going to talk about this
today," but you want to learn that and other things.
You know, taking charge of your own education or exercise is always going to be a recipe
for success.
Vanessa: How did you enjoy that conversation with Gayle?
Was it a little fast?
Was it a little tricky?
Did you understand everything?
What we're going to do now is we're going to go on to the vocabulary lesson.
You're going to see my husband, Dan, and I, going back and explaining some vocabulary
expressions that we used in that conversation.
You're going to see a short clip from the conversation with Gayle, so that you can remember,
"Oh, yeah.
That's what she said."
Vanessa: Alright.
Let's go on to the vocabulary lesson.
The first expression we're going to talk about today is vision.
Dan: Vision.
Vanessa: What does this literally mean, and then we're going to talk about it in the figurative
sense.
Dan: Well, it literally just means your sight.
Vanessa: Yeah.
To see.
Dan: Yes.
My vision is seeing the room.
Vanessa: Yeah.
So, do you have good vision?
Poor vision?
Dan: Oh.
So, my real vision is very bad.
I have to go to the eye doctor and get classes and contacts.
Right now I'm wearing contacts.
They kind of hurt my eyes.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Your prescription is pretty strong because you have poor vision.
Dan: Yes.
I have poor vision.
Vanessa: Yes.
Dan: It's a general way to describe sight.
Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative), but if we want to talk about this in a figurative way, you
can kind of imagine your mind or your heart seeing in the future.
It's kind of your plan or goal for the future.
Dan: Yes.
Vanessa: What is your vision for the future?
You might even use this for English.
"I have a vision for my English studies.
I'm going to become a fluent English speaker.
I'm going to speak confidently and make a lot of friends around the world."
That's my vision.
It's kind of your dream.
Dan: I think it is more emotional than plan or goal, because essentially it's a plan or
a goal but when you say it's a vision you're picturing yourself in that moment, how you're
going to feel, what's your vision for your English lessons?
Are you envisioning going to America and meeting all the new people, meeting Vanessa and speaking
perfect English?
Vanessa: Whoa!
Dan: That's your vision.
Vanessa: So, you can tell there's a lot of emotion behind this, a lot of passion behind
it.
It's your vision, and that's pretty much how Gayle used it in the conversation.
Dan: Yes.
Vanessa: When she talked about her vision.
I think that you'll see that in the clip in just a moment.
Are you ready to watch it?
Dan: I'm ready.
Vanessa: Alright.
Let's watch.
Gayle: Yeah.
Although, you know, everything kind of ... It's a lot about your vision and being mindful
and exploring.
And so, they kind of weave together in some ways.
Gayle: It's a lot about your vision and being mindful.
Dan: The next expression is a casual expression, and it is to dabble in something.
And this basically just means to try something.
But it means try something not seriously.
So, "I dabbled in baking."
Actually over this last holiday I baked some waffles.
It was Belgian waffles, really sweet dessert waffles.
I would say I just dabble in baking, because I only make that every now and then.
Vanessa: Yeah.
You don't bake every week or every day, just every couple months you make these amazing
Belgian waffles.
But it's just, you know, casually, not so seriously, every now and then.
Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa: So, you can use this for really any hobby that you do that's not so serious.
So, that's how Gayle used it.
She said that, "I dabbled in yoga."
Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa: I did it occasionally, maybe once a month, maybe once every couple months.
It wasn't a big important part of her life.
Dan: Yeah.
When I've heard this used it's usually when somebody asked you if you do something, and
you just say, "Eh.
I dabble."
Vanessa: Oh.
So, you don't want to show them, "I'm so serious about this."
Dan: Yeah.
Vanessa: You just want to say, "Oh, it's not so serious.
Oh, yeah.
I dabbled in art for a while.
I dabbled in painting, but, you know, it wasn't anything serious."
Dan: Right.
Vanessa: So, you're kind of being modest.
You're not really saying, "I love this!"
Dan: Yeah.
"I do it all the time!"
Vanessa: Oh, yeah!
Instead it's a little more casual than that.
So, I hope that you'll be able to see that from the conversation with Gayle.
Let's watch it.
Gayle: I just dabbled in it.
One thing that I always remember ... Gayle: I just dabbled in it.
Gayle: I just dabbled in it.
Vanessa: The next expression is to be mindful.
Dan: Mindful.
Vanessa: Mindful.
Your mind is your brain.
So, you can kind of imagine here that you are aware.
You are intentional.
You're not doing something by accident.
You are intentional.
You're doing it consciously.
You are aware.
You are mindful.
This is a word that's often linked with yoga, because you are not just doing say, boxing,
where you're punching.
No.
Vanessa: Instead you're thinking about each muscle.
It's kind of slow and careful.
So, you're in your mind, you're thinking about each movement, you are mindful.
You're careful and intentional.
Dan: Yes.
Vanessa: With each movement.
We can use that for other activities as well.
So, what about for you?
How would you use mindful?
Dan: Well, I think this has become a pretty popular thing in modern society.
Actually, we have a whole extra term, which is mindfulness.
Vanessa: Mmm.
Dan: So, this is the art of being mindful.
I assume that probably, you know, 100 years ago, everybody was being mindful at some point,
because they had more time.
Vanessa: And they didn't have too many things to distract them, like screens.
Dan: Yeah.
Not as many distractions.
But now you have to say, "I practice mindfulness."
Vanessa: Mmm.
Dan: So, that just means at some point in the day I stop and I think about my body,
my thoughts ... Vanessa: My life.
Dan: What's just going on in my mind?
I'm not looking at my phone.
I'm not watching a TV show.
I'm being mindful.
Vanessa: Yeah.
I think that that's actually a really good New Year's Resolution that a lot of people
make, is, "I'm going to be mindful every day."
It could just be, "Okay, I'm going to sit down for 10 seconds, and just sit down and
breathe, and think about nothing, or think about, 'Oh, what was my posture like?
How do I feel today?'"
Dan: Let the emotions hit you right, left, anger, sorrow!
Vanessa: And really just [crosstalk 00:20:49] conscious about that, being mindful about
it.
Or we can use this same idea and talk about more of a concrete situation.
So, for example, if you are a teacher and you have a classroom, you have to be mindful
of all of the students' behavior.
This means aware of their behavior.
Just like I'm mindful of myself, I'm aware of my own thoughts and feelings, you can be
mindful of the students, and kind of aware of that situation?
Vanessa: What about the verb to mind?
Dan: Yeah.
Just to mind something.
Vanessa: How would you use that?
Dan: I mean, it's basically the same thing, be aware, but it's almost like, be careful.
Like, mind the puddle.
Vanessa: It's usually used as some kind of warning.
Like, "Mind the puddle!"
That might be a little bit ... Dan: Don't step in the puddle.
Vanessa: Old English, maybe?
Dan: It's not super common.
Vanessa: I feel like there's a phrase where we definitely use it.
Dan: Yeah.
What's that?
Vanessa: Mind your manners.
Dan: Oh, that's right.
Of course.
Vanessa: I know that parents say this all the time.
If you were a kid and you were at the dinner table, you just had your hands everywhere,
and you're eating, your parents would probably say, "Mind your manners."
Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa: This means be careful of your manners.
Don't put your hands all over the table.
Be kind of more responsible and mature.
Mind your manners.
Dan: Yeah.
This is also definitely an old term, but it's carried over into modern popular culture.
Vanessa: Yes.
Have you ever visited London and seen this expression?
Do you remember where this is in London?
Dan: Mind the gap?
Vanessa: Mind the gap!
Yes.
If you go on the subway or the underground, or they call it the tube, everywhere there's
signs that say, "Mind the gap."
The gap is the space between the platform and the train.
Don't fall there.
It's dangerous.
So, they're saying, "Watch out!"
Dan: Remember.
Vanessa: Be careful.
Dan: Look.
Vanessa: Of the gap.
But it's a really polite way of saying, "Mind the gap.
Be careful."
So, if you go to London you might see that expression everywhere.
You might even hear the announcer say, "Mind the gap as you get on the train."
Dan: But would you say, "Be mindful of the gap?"
Vanessa: You could.
It makes sense.
Dan: Technically, it's right.
Vanessa: It's a little bit weird.
Dan: It's strong.
Vanessa: Yeah.
It's like, a little bit too strong.
Dan: Be mindful of is like, really watch.
You can work with this thing.
You can't really work with a hole in the ground.
You're just trying to miss it.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Avoid the gap in the ground.
Just step over it.
Yeah.
So, I feel like if you say, "Be mindful of something," it's more, "Be thoughtful about
it.
Think about it."
Kind of more than inner feeling like, with yoga.
Vanessa: Alright.
Let's watch the clip so that you can see how it was used.
Gayle: But still, there's ways of like, breathing more fully, breathing more mindfully, that
can, you know, help your overall health.
Gayle: There's ways of like, breathing more fully, breathing more mindfully.
Dan: The next expression is to clear your mind.
This is a pretty self explanatory expression.
It just means to forget, usually, your problems.
Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Yes.
We can imagine you're erasing the problems, you're clearing the problems from your mind.
Dan: Yeah.
It might not even just be problems.
Maybe you're just doing a lot of things.
Maybe there's a lot of noise around you.
So, you need to go outside.
I would say usually it's going outside to clear your mind.
Vanessa: Yes.
I this was something that happened to us a couple months ago over Christmas break.
We went to Dan's parents' house.
There were a lot of people there.
Every day there was so much going on, especially when we were running after our toddler.
It was just so busy.
Every day it was like, "Okay, we need to get outside, clear our minds."
So, every day we went for a walk, we went to the park, and it was kind of necessary,
because in that busy environment we're not really worried or, you know, stressed.
It's just a lot going on.
Vanessa: So, it's nice to step outside, and clear your mind.
Dan: Yeah.
I definitely would say though, it is mostly associated with stress.
So, if you're ... Vanessa: It was a little bit stressful with
lots of people and a toddler.
Dan: It was.
Yes.
So, like, if you're in an argument with somebody, and you just need to walk away because you
can't solve the problem now, you might need to say, "I just need to go and clear my mind.
We'll come back to this problem."
Vanessa: That's a very responsible thing to say.
"Go clear my mind, and then we'll get back to this."
Vanessa: Just to let you know, a quick grammar about this, make sure that our possessive
pronoun, clear my mind, clear his mind ... Make sure that it matches with the subject.
You can't say, "I need to clear his mind."
Dan: No.
Vanessa: I, his.
It doesn't really work.
You can only clear your mind.
Dan: That sounds like a threat.
Vanessa: I need to clear his mind!
Kind of like you're going to erase his memory.
So, instead, make sure that your subject matches that possessive pronoun.
He needs to clear his mind.
She needs to clear her mind.
I need to clear my mind.
Vanessa: Alright.
Let's watch the clip.
Vanessa: Then when you start to think about it maybe it's just that physical element,
but I kind of ... It clears my mind a little bit.
Vanessa: It clears my mind a little bit.
Vanessa: The next expression is one that I love.
It's to be in the zone.
We can kind of imagine here, this thing that Dan's doing with his hands.
In the zone.
You're completely focused.
You're not looking at other things.
You're not distracted.
You're so focused, you are in the zone.
We can kind of imagine that mental thing that's happening where your mind is blocking out
other things.
You are in the zone.
Dan: Yeah.
You're not thinking about anything else.
Vanessa: Yes.
I mentioned this in the conversation with Gayle.
This happens to me in yoga class sometimes, if I really concentrate on breathing, and
then also my emotions, I am thinking about my breathing, I am thinking about my emotions.
There's not space in my brain to think about other things.
So, I kind of forget what's for dinner.
I forget what else I was doing.
I can just focus.
I can be in the zone.
It's kind of a great place to be.
Vanessa: You feel relaxed.
You're blocking out other distractions, as long as that's okay.
So, what about for you?
When have you been in the zone?
Dan: Yeah.
I definitely used this term for sports.
So, when I play hockey I get in the zone.
I'm not thinking about anything else.
But I would also say for sports, when we say, "in the zone," that also means you're playing
very well.
Vanessa: Oh, right.
Dan: Like, if you said, "he's in the zone," that means that he is scoring goals.
He's playing really well.
He's not making many mistakes.
Vanessa: He's not distracted by other things.
He's doing well.
You're in the zone.
Vanessa: So, I want to know for you.
You can even use this when you're studying English.
When you're studying English, are you so focused, you're so into it, your brain is tuning out
other things, your brain is ... You're clearing your mind of other things, and you're in the
zone, and studying English.
Vanessa: I want to know if that has ever happened to you?
Maybe there's a lot going on in your house, where it's not so possible ...
Dan: Yes.
I think they call it a flow state, as well.
Vanessa: Oh.
Sure.
Your brain is just flowing, and you're just going.
Dan: In the flow.
Vanessa: In the flow.
That's another great way to say this.
In the zone.
In the flow.
It means you're just going, and going, and going.
You're really on the ball.
Oh, so many good expressions.
Dan: On the ball too!
Vanessa: Yeah.
You're on the ball, you're really just focused.
So, I hope that all of these expressions, in the zone, on the ball ...
Dan: In the flow.
Vanessa: In the flow.
I hope that all of those are useful to you.
To me, the similar thing of focused.
Vanessa: Alright.
Let's watch the clip.
Vanessa: I almost feel like I'm in the zone or like, when you're thinking about your breath
you can ... Vanessa: I almost feel like I'm in the zone
or ... Vanessa: I almost feel like I'm in the zone
or ... Dan: The next expressions is religiously.
This just means to have full commitment to something.
Vanessa: Yes.
Dan: Almost in like, a spiritual way.
I would say nine times out of 10, you're going to use this as a joke or as hyperbole.
Vanessa: Exaggeration.
Dan: Yes.
So, "I eat pizza religiously."
Vanessa: It doesn't mean that three times a day you eat pizza.
That would be literally religiously.
Dan: Well, it would also mean you go to the pizza and you worship the pizza.
Vanessa: It's not that.
Dan: No.
You don't pray to pizza.
You just love pizza so much, and you eat it very often, and very regularly.
Vanessa: Yeah.
But it doesn't mean actually that you treat it like a religious.
So, in this way it's a hyperbole, which is a great way of saying an exaggeration.
Dan: Yeah, and I mean, technically, you could use this in a religious, a true religious
sense.
Like, "I go to church religiously."
Vanessa: Oh.
It actually is religion.
Dan: Yeah.
Vanessa: But you mean the same thing.
You do it often.
You're committed.
You treat it seriously.
Dan: Or if you say, "I prayed at church religiously," that doesn't really make sense, because it's
a given.
You're at church.
Vanessa: Of course, you're going to be doing it religiously.
Dan: Of course, it's religion.
Right.
Vanessa: So, I want to know for you, is there anything that you do religiously?
I know I can think of one thing.
Dan: Oh, no.
You can?
Vanessa: Yes.
Drink coffee!
Dan: Oh!
That's true!
I do drink coffee religiously.
Vanessa: Yes.
If Dan ... Dan: I maybe do pray to it too.
Vanessa: Secretly.
Dan: Thank you.
Vanessa: If you don't have coffee in a day, I'm pretty surprised.
Like, it happens every day religiously.
You're committed to it.
It happens every single day.
You can kind of see it's a little bit of a joke.
Dan: It's funny.
Vanessa: It's funny because ... Dan: I'm committed to coffee.
Vanessa: You're committed to coffee.
Dan: I'm following coffee.
Vanessa: Yes.
Dan: To my grave.
Vanessa: Yes.
So, I want to know, for you, what is something that you do religiously?
It can be a little bit of an exaggeration.
That's fine.
Or something silly like coffee.
Do you drink coffee religiously?
Vanessa: I would say I drink tea, but I don't drink tea religiously.
I don't drink tea absolutely every single day, and if I don't have it there's a problem.
Dan: You don't do very many things religiously.
Vanessa: Oh, yeah?
Dan: Yeah.
It's just chaos.
Vanessa: Just chaos!
Dan: Clearly.
Vanessa: I, especially with teaching English, there's a lot of things that I do religiously.
Dan: We hope you religiously watch Vanessa's videos.
Vanessa: Oh!
That means that you are committed.
Dan: Pray to Vanessa.
Vanessa: It doesn't mean that.
Dan: Worship Vanessa.
Vanessa: It doesn't mean that.
It means that you are doing it consistently.
Dan: That's what I do.
Vanessa: I hope that it's something that's a part of your daily life, at least learning
English is.
Vanessa: Alright.
Let's watch the clip, so that you can see how it was used.
Gayle: I did that class religiously for two years.
Vanessa: Oh!
That's dedication.
Gayle: I did that class religiously for two years.
Vanessa: The next expression is a great idiom, to take a toll or to take its toll.
Dan: Take its toll.
Vanessa: Both of these are the exact same thing.
We had a long discussion about what's the difference between these two, and in the end
we came to the conclusion that they're exactly the same.
So, good news!
You get two for one.
Dan: Yeah.
Do you know where it came from?
The term?
Vanessa: A toll?
Do you know what a toll is?
It's like, when you're driving and you have to pay ...
Dan: Yes.
Vanessa: To pass to another road.
It's a toll.
Dan: It's a road or a bridge that you have to pay to cross.
Vanessa: Oh.
Dan: So, that's the original meaning.
I was actually looking this up.
In ancient times, sometimes the toll on the road was a lot.
Vanessa: Oh.
Dan: It was a lot of money, or you had to give like, your cattle or something.
Vanessa: Something really valuable.
Dan: Yeah.
People would really make the toll expensive, to go across a bridge.
Vanessa: Oh.
Dan: Maybe there's only one bridge and you're like, "Hey, cross this bridge, but give me
your cow."
Vanessa: So, in this sense, back in the day, it was quite expensive to pay the toll.
Nowadays it's like, a dollar.
Dan: Yeah, there are roads and transport everywhere.
Vanessa: Yeah.
So, you don't really have to pay that much nowadays, but this meaning, it kind of seems
to go back to that original meaning of toll, to take a toll.
It means that something has gradually, over time, weakened something.
Dan: Yes.
Vanessa: So, let me give you a quick example.
You might say that, "I drove my car 60 miles every day, and it took a toll on my car."
Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa: That means that driving my car 60 miles every day, that's like, 60 kilometers,
we could say.
60 kilometers every day took a toll on my car.
It's a lot of driving.
So, my car gradually weakened because of that.
It took a toll.
Vanessa: What's another way that we could say take a toll or take its toll?
Dan: Yeah You often use this with just your body.
Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dan: So, maybe your job has taken its toll on you?
Or your job took a toll on your body?
So, if you stand a lot or you sit a lot, or maybe you're working with machinery, it can
take a toll.
Maybe you get injured, just over time, or you're 40 years old and all of a sudden, "Oh!
My arm.
I can barely move this arm."
Right?
Vanessa: Sure.
Dan: Or in the most general sense, you can even just say, "Life takes its toll."
Vanessa: That's quite dark.
Dan: Yep.
Vanessa: It's true!
Over time ... Dan: As time goes on you just get older and
weaker, and life is taking its toll.
Vanessa: Yeah.
That happens to everybody.
It's nothing to be ashamed of.
Vanessa: So, when you use this expression it's implying that something is weakening
over time.
We could say my car is weakening over time.
We have kind of a cause and effect.
Driving my car 60 miles took its toll on my car.
The cause is driving 60 miles, and its effecting my car, or maybe sitting down every day for
eight hours at my office took its toll on my body.
We have this ... Dan: Parenthood ...
Vanessa: Cause and effect.
Oh!
Dan: Is taking is toll on my mental well being.
Vanessa: Maybe that's ... Dan: That's a little strong.
Vanessa: Maybe that's just having a toddler.
Vanessa: So, maybe there's something in your life that is, over time ... The first time
it happens, maybe the second time or third time, it doesn't really effect you, but gradually
over time something has weakened you.
Maybe that's you physically, or maybe that's mentally, or it could be something else in
your life, like your car ... It's taking its toll.
So, I recommend checking out the lesson guide so that you can get a couple more sample sentences
for this.
This is an excellent idiom that we use in daily conversation.
So, make sure that you're familiar with it.
Vanessa: Alright.
Let's watch the clip.
Gayle: I had never sat so much in my whole life.
Vanessa: It takes a toll on you.
Gayle: Oh!
I knew it was.
Vanessa: It takes a toll on you.
Dan: The next expression is an idiom, down the road.
This is not literally down a road.
This just means down in the future ... Vanessa: Some time in the future.
Dan: Or up in the future.
Some time in the future.
It doesn't mean tomorrow.
It means in a later date, probably over a year, I'd say.
Vanessa: Yeah.
It's kind of vague.
If you don't want to say exactly when something will happen, you might say, "Oh, I'd like
to go to Japan down the road," or, "Some day down the road I hope to be fluent in English."
This just means in the future.
We can kind of imagine the road of life, and somewhere down the road of life you will go
to Japan, or you will be fluent in English.
Dan: It's obviously very non-specific and non-committal.
Maybe it will never happen.
Vanessa: Yeah.
So, you don't want to use this if someone says, "Hey, can you help me to clean the floor?"
"Oh, I'll do it down the road."
That's not a good way to use this.
Dan: Some day down the road I'll clean the floor for you, honey.
Vanessa: That means maybe next year.
So, we want to use this in situations where it's pretty far in the future, or just some
unknown time in the future.
Maybe some kind of goals you have for your life, or you have a vision for something that
will happen in the future, and you say, "Oh, down the road I would like this to happen."
Dan: Gayle actually used it in a negative way.
She was saying negative thoughts can have implications down the road, or bad implications,
which means ... This is like, an unspoken thing that will happen.
Vanessa: Yeah.
So, something will happen down the road if you have bad posture, if you don't exercise,
something negative will happen down the road if you don't take care of yourself now.
So, this might be motivation for you to start exercising or eating healthy, or making some
kind of lifestyle change.
Vanessa: Well, if I don't start eating more vegetables, I will be very unhealthy down
the road.
So, I need to change something now in my life.
You're kind of looking towards that unspecific time in the future.
Down the road.
This is another lovely expression.
We've got a lot of lovely expressions in this lesson.
So, I hope that you'll be able to use it yourself.
Vanessa: Let's watch the clip so you can see how it was originally used.
Gayle: You think about all this negativity and don't realize like, that has a lot of
implications down the road.
Gayle: That has a lot of implications down the road.
Vanessa: How did you enjoy that vocabulary lesson?
I hope that you learned a lot, and you can include those into your daily vocabulary!
Vanessa: Next, it's going to be time for the grammar lesson.
This is phrasal verbs.
You're going to be learning some important phrasal verbs, four to be exact, so that you
can use these and integrate them into your daily conversation.
Let's watch.
Vanessa: The first phrasal verb that we're going to talk about is to tune in to something.
In the conversation with Gayle, it kind of sounded like she said turn in, but really
the expression is to tune into something.
This means to have an understanding of something, maybe a deeper understanding of something.
So, you tune into your thoughts.
It means you're thinking about your thoughts, tuning into your thoughts.
Vanessa: How would you use this get phrasal verb, to tune in?
Dan: Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is tuning into a radio station.
Vanessa: This is a good physical, literal way to use that.
Dan: This is a little more old school, but people still say this today.
Tuning in for a TV show.
Tune in on Friday to see the brand new episode of ...
Vanessa: Dan's TV show.
Dan: Dan's TV show.
Tune in Friday night.
Vanessa: So, you can tune into the radio station, which means that you can try to hear it more
clearly.
You're changing the stations.
You're hearing it more clearly.
But this also works in a figurative way.
Maybe you could tune into your body.
This means that you're thinking about the different muscles.
How does my back feel right now?
How do my feet feel?
You're tuning into the specific understanding.
Dan: Yes.
I think, perhaps, the origin of this comes from tuning in music.
Vanessa: Oh.
Dan: So, if you're tuning in, everybody's trying to get on the same page, and sound
the same.
Vanessa: Yeah.
So, you're tuning your instrument.
You're making your instruments all sound similar.
So, you could even say this as a teacher.
I need to tune into the needs of my students.
Dan: There needs to be harmony.
Everything needs to be together.
Vanessa: I need to have a deeper understanding of the needs of my students.
Vanessa: So, let's go ahead and watch the clip where you heard tune in.
It kind of sounds like turn in, but try to hear tune in ...
Dan: Tune in.
Vanessa: Then we're going to talk about a little bonus expression, which sounds like
the opposite.
Vanessa: Alright.
Let's watch the clip.
Gayle: ... it really relaxes you.
So, when you turn into your breath, it's kind of the same thing.
Gayle: ...it really relaxes you.
So, when you turn into your breath, it's kind of the same thing.
Vanessa: Now for the special extra material section!
In this section, I'm going to be quickly explaining some extra material that's not in the conversation
with Gayle, but it relates to what we just talked about.
Vanessa: So, we just talked about the phrasal verb, to tune in.
So, what you're going to do is you're going to be listening to a short clip from a song
called Incense and Peppermints by the band Strawberry Alarm Clock.
In this song they say, "turn in, tune in, turn your eyes around."
Vanessa: In this song ... Now, I'm just interpreting this from my own opinion, but in this song
they're talking about realizing the world for what it really is.
Look past all of those false things, all of the things that everyone says you should pay
attention to, and tune in, pay attention to, really understand what matters in life.
Vanessa: So, you're going to listen to this short clip of the song, and I hope that you'll
be able to gain a deeper understanding, you'll be able to tune into the meaning of this song.
Vanessa: Alright.
Let's watch the clip.
Singer: Incense and peppermints, meaningless nouns.
Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around.
Look at yourself, look at yourself.
Singer: Incense and peppermints, meaningless nouns.
Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around.
Look at yourself, look at yourself.
Vanessa: The next phrasal verb that we're talking about is kind of a bonus one.
It wasn't in the conversation with Gayle, but because we talked about to tune in, I
thought we'd talk about ... What's the opposite?
Dan: Tune out!
Vanessa: To tune out.
Dan: La, la, la, la, la.
Vanessa: Yep.
It means that you're ignoring something that somebody says.
You are not gaining a deeper understanding.
Dan: It's the opposite.
Vanessa: It's the opposite.
You are closing your ears, tuning out.
So, if, maybe you know someone who talks a lot, or maybe they talk about something that
you just don't want to hear, you can tune them out.
Dan: Yeah.
I tuned her out.
Vanessa: Yes.
When she was talking too much.
Dan: Not her, somebody else.
Vanessa: I just tuned her out.
There's someone particular that I'm thinking of.
At Christmas this past year, Dan has a family member who talks all the time.
Dan: Quite a lot.
Vanessa: 24, seven, about everything, everything in the world, every pastry she's ever baked,
every friend she's ever had who's broken a hip or an ankle.
Oh, and it's just non-stop.
So, after a little bit of time I just had to tune her out.
Dan: Yeah.
Vanessa: I couldn't listen carefully to every single word.
It's too much.
Dan: Yes.
Sometimes you have to do this to family members, certain family members.
Vanessa: You have to tune them out.
Dan: But this is definitely considered to be rude.
Vanessa: Yeah.
You don't want to show that you're tuning them out.
Dan: You don't want to tell people, "I'm tuning you out."
If you say that to somebody, that means, "I am ignoring you.
I am not listening to you.
I'm trying to pretend you're not even here."
It's very strong, if you're tuning somebody out.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Dan: Or, alternatively, you can tune something else out.
So, a lot of times in modern times we say this for maybe the news?
Or maybe Twitter.
You've got to tune out Twitter.
I don't even know why you'd be on Twitter.
I don't have Twitter because it just annoys me.
If you're tuning out the news you're just ... Talking heads just talking about all the
problems in the world, all the stuff.
There's all these bad things going on, I can't take it.
No.
You just have to tune it out and focus on the good things in life.
Vanessa: Yes.
You'll notice that oftentimes we split this phrasal verb.
In the lesson guide I specify, if you can split a phrasal verb and then how to do it,
but I'll just mention this briefly here.
We often split tune her out.
Tune it out.
If you're talking about the news, this is often done.
So, make sure you check out the lesson guide for some more examples.
Vanessa: The next expression and a great phrasal verb is to wind up.
There are two different meanings for this.
The first one ... Well, this is a literal sense, is to twist something.
You are winding up the clock.
Dan: You're making it tight.
Vanessa: You're making it tight.
So, this also links to the figurative sense.
Vanessa: What is that figurative sense?
If you say, "Oh, I was so wound up after work."
Dan: Yeah.
It means that you are stressed out.
Usually we mean this in a stressed out way.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Dan: But it could also be excited.
I'm all wound up for the concert.
But, you know, I'd usually say it's probably associated with stress nowadays.
Vanessa: Yes.
And why are we using wound instead of wind here?
We're using the past tense, because we only use wound, "I am wound up," when we're talking
about that figurative sense.
I feel so wound up, like, a clock, like, a rope.
I'm so tight.
Dan: Yeah.
Vanessa: I feel uncomfortable.
Dan: It's how you feel now and it's something that happened in the past to make you feel
this way.
Vanessa: Yeah.
So, I am wound up.
But if you say the second meaning of this phrasal verb, "I was driving down the road,
and I was following my directions.
I don't know how ... How did I wind up here?"
Dan: Wow.
Vanessa: What does this mean, the second meaning?
Dan: This means you end or conclude somewhere.
Vanessa: Surprising.
Oh, I thought I was following my directions, but then I ended up here.
That's another phrasal verb.
Ended up means wind up.
How did I wind up here?
Dan: Yes.
Vanessa: How did I end up here?
I thought I was following my directions.
Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa: So, it's kind of a surprising place that you go.
Dan: Yeah.
You weren't planning on something happening.
If you wind up somewhere ... For example, maybe you go to college and you are taking
biology ... Vanessa: Like Dan!
Dan: This happened to me.
Well, I started out in biology but I wound up studying business.
Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
So, when you use it in the past tense, for this meaning of surprisingly going somewhere.
You can use it in the present.
How did I wind up here?
Or we could say it in the past, "I wound up here."
We need to use both of those when we're using this specific meaning.
Vanessa: So, Dan wound up as a business major.
How did it happen?
How did I get here?
Dan: Yeah.
Vanessa: This is a little bit surprising.
Dan: I went to college and I wound up with Vanessa.
Vanessa: Wow!
How did that happen?
So, it's some kind of surprising conclusion.
Vanessa: So, make sure that you check out the lesson guide so that you can get both
of these meanings, and make sure that you get the grammar correct.
Gayle: ...and to not be ... not like, get too wound up in self criticism.
You know, because you realize like, "Well, I'm not very strong or ...
Gayle: ...and to not be ... not like, get too wound up in self criticism.
You know, because you realize like, "Well, I'm not very strong or ...
Vanessa: The last phrasal verb that we're going to talk about today in detail in this
grammar lesson is to bring up something.
Dan: Yes.
We want to bring up the term bring up.
Vanessa: Yes.
That is the first way that we are going to bring it up, and that is to just introduce
something in conversation.
For example, in the US we rarely bring up religion in conversation.
This means we rarely talk about the topic of religion spontaneously with, maybe people
we don't know that well.
Dan: It gets personal.
Right.
Yeah.
So, bringing up is definitely the first introduction.
Vanessa: Yes.
Dan: Right?
Sometimes if you say, "All of a sudden he brought up politics ..."
Vanessa: Oh!
Dan: Or he brought up religion ... Vanessa: Oh!
Dan: It's suddenly.
Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dan: So, it often means it's a sudden thing.
Vanessa: Yes.
It's entering into conversation.
So, there are two main ways.
They have the same meaning, but they're two main things that are often brought up.
One is topics.
It is spontaneously entered into conversation.
Or what if you look at a picture of your childhood, and you see your brothers there, you see your
friends from across the street are there, and you're playing with your favorite soccer
ball?
It kind of brings up some warm feelings inside of you.
Dan: Perhaps it brings up some nostalgia.
Vanessa: Oh, nostalgia.
Dan: Nostalgia.
Vanessa: That warm feeling from your past.
So, it's bringing up some feelings inside of you.
It is rising.
It's not coming up in conversation.
But it's just coming up within you.
Dan: Yeah.
It could just be internal in the feelings, the emotions.
Vanessa: Yeah.
So, when you think back on our time, let's say our time when we first were married and
we lived in Pennsylvania.
What does that bring up within you?
Dan: What feelings does it bring up?
Vanessa: Yes.
Dan: It brings up a sense of ... It's good memories, I'd say.
But overall, I'm glad we're not there.
Mostly because we lived in a very cold house.
Vanessa: There are no heat in Pennsylvania.
Dan: We were very, very poor.
Vanessa: And very busy all the time.
Dan: Living off of a Starbucks salary.
Vanessa: We were really busy.
I think we had four jobs, and no heat in our house.
So, when I think about our first year married, it brings up a lot of mixed feelings.
Dan: Mixed emotions.
Vanessa: It was a special time because we were first married, but also we were really
busy.
So, it was quite difficult.
It brought up some mixed feelings inside of me.
Or maybe when you're thinking back on a difficult time.
"Oh, it brought up some sad feelings."
Or it brought up some excitement from my past.
It brought up some warm memories.
Dan: Yes.
Going back to the first meaning, you can also split the phrasal verb up.
So, you could say, "bring it up."
Or bring ... Vanessa: Bringing a topic up.
Dan: Bring blank up.
Right.
So, a lot of times as people are having an argument, they might say, "Why did you bring
it up," or, "Why did you bring that up?"
Vanessa: Something from the past.
Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa: It's not a good idea to bring up stuff from the past.
Don't bring it up.
Don't bring it up now.
Someone might say that in an argument.
"Don't bring it up now."
Dan: Right.
Vanessa: Don't talk about that now.
Dan: That would mean don't talk about it.
Don't speak of it.
Vanessa: Yes, yes.
So, there is one main meaning to arise with bring up, but it could be topics in conversation,
or it could be feelings within yourself.
Vanessa: So, let's watch the clip so you can see how it was used.
Gayle: ... you might discover something in a yoga class that was brought up, and then
you can ... Gayle: ... you might discover something in
a yoga class that was brought up, and then you can ...
Vanessa: Were those phrasal verbs new to you?
I hope that you learned something new about using them in your life.
Vanessa: Alright.
Now we're going to go on to the pronunciation lesson.
This is where we take an in-depth look at some of the vocabulary expression sentences,
and try to say them as naturally as possible.
I want you to try to repeat after me.
Speak out loud.
Try to really follow my prompts, so that you can speak naturally.
Vanessa: Let's go.
Vanessa: What we're going to be doing is breaking down each sentence.
I'll show you the clip from the conversation, we'll break it down in detail, you'll have
a chance to repeat with me.
Please be active during this lesson.
Please repeat with me.
Try to speak out loud as much as you can.
When I pause, make sure that you fill in the blanks.
I'll be giving you some instruction so that you can follow along.
Then we'll watch the clip again, so that you can hear every little thing that we talked
about.
Vanessa: I'm sure that this will be useful to you now as you improve, and also as you
go into the real world and have real conversations.
Vanessa: Alright.
Let's get started with the first clip.
We're going to listen to the first sentence from the conversation with Gayle.
Gayle: Yeah.
Although, you know, everything kind of ... It's a lot about your vision and being mindful
and exploring.
And so, they kind of weave together in some ways.
Gayle: It's a lot about your vision and being mindful ...
Vanessa: Did you hear the vocabulary word, vision?
Vision?
We're going to be talking about this word, and also the rest of this short sentence.
It's a lot about your vision.
Vanessa: Let's start at the beginning.
Can you say with me, "It's."
It's.
Then we're going onto this next word, but it's actually two words together, a lot.
A lot.
Vanessa: Do you hear a lot?
Really, this is something that's reoccurring in American English, that that final T is
stopped.
Your tongue is at the top of your mouth.
You're going to make that T sound but you don't.
Instead it just gets cut short.
Your tongue stops at the top of your mouth.
Vanessa: So, can you say that with me?
A lot.
Is your tongue on the top of your mouth?
I hope so.
A lot.
Don't let air pass through.
Don't say a lot.
Instead just let it stop there.
A lot.
Vanessa: Let's put those two words together.
It's a lot.
Okay.
Let's go onto the next word.
Vanessa: The next word is about.
About.
Do you hear something similar happening here?
That final T gets cut short.
Your tongue is at the top of your mouth, but there's no air going through.
Say it with me.
About.
Let's say the full sentence up to this point.
Vanessa: It's a lot about.
It's a lot about.
Vanessa: The next word is your, but those two vowels in the middle, O, U, instead they
change and become E. Your.
Your.
This happens when native speakers are talking quickly.
So, I want you to be able to imitate this and use it yourself.
Vanessa: Your.
Your.
Can you say that with me?
Your.
Let's go and say the full sentence to this point.
Vanessa: It's a lot about your.
It's a lot about your.
Vanessa: The final word is our key word here.
Vision.
There's a lot of vibrations that are happening in this word.
First with the letter V.
There should be some vibrations here, happening with your lips.
That final sound is in.
In.
Just like I'm in my house, in.
Vision.
Those vowels are the same.
They're both short Is.
Vision.
Can you say that with me?
Vision.
What's your vision?
Vision.
Vanessa: Let's go back and try to say this full sentence all together, and then I'm going
to pause so that you can say it by yourself?
Ready?
Vanessa: It's a lot about your vision.
It's a lot about your vision.
Vanessa: Alright.
I'm going to pause.
I want you to say it by yourself.
Go ahead.
Vanessa: Great work!
Alright.
Let's listen to the clip so that you can hear Gayle say the sentence.
Gayle: It's a lot about your vision and being mindful ...
Gayle: It's a lot about your vision and ... Gayle: It's a lot about your vision and ...
Vanessa: The second sentence that we're going to practice shadowing features the expression
it takes a toll.
It takes a toll.
If you've already studied the vocabulary expression you understand what this means.
Let's watch the clip where I said this, and then we're going to repeat it together.
Gayle: I had never sat so much in my whole life.
Vanessa: It takes a toll on you.
Gayle: Oh!
I knew it was.
Vanessa: It takes a toll on you.
Vanessa: I said, "It takes a toll on you."
I said this quite quickly in the conversation.
It takes a toll on you.
So, let's practice this together.
Vanessa: The first two words together have something unique happening, but we've already
talked about this.
So, I hope that it will just refresh your memory.
Vanessa: It takes.
The word, it.
That final T. The same thing is going to happen, what we talked about the T stopping short
on the top of your mouth.
It.
We didn't say it.
But the tricky thing here is the next word starts with a T. So, it kind of sounds like
one word.
It takes.
Just imagine putting a short I before the word takes.
It takes.
You don't need to say it takes.
We don't need to two Ts.
Instead there's just one T and these words are linked together.
Vanessa: This is going to help you speak quicker and link those naturally.
It takes.
Can you say that with me?
It takes.
Vanessa: In the final part of this sentence we have three different O sounds.
So, we're going to practice that together.
Get your lips ready.
We're going to practice these three different Os.
They are it takes a toll on you.
Let's start with that first word.
Vanessa: Toll.
Toll.
Can you make your lips look mine?
If you have a little mirror try to look at your lips in that mirror so that you can see
if they're imitating me.
Toll.
Vanessa: Then the next one is a little bit longer.
On.
Toll on.
Vanessa: The final one, we're going to kind of pucker our lips a little bit like a kiss.
You.
Toll on you.
So, it's starting small then tall, and then puckered together.
Toll on you.
Vanessa: Can you say that with me?
Toll on you.
Make sure that you kind of exaggerate your mouth like I'm doing.
Then we're going to say it faster, and it's going to be a little bit less exaggerated.
You're not going to see in the conversation my lips saying toll on you.
It's not going to be quite so clear.
But when we say it we're going to be using that same pronunciation, just a little bit
subtler.
Vanessa: So, let's go ahead and say it together.
Toll on you.
Can you say that with me?
Toll on you.
Let's say it faster.
Toll on you.
Vanessa: Alright.
Let's piece the sentence all together.
It takes a toll on you.
Vanessa: Are you saying that with me?
Say it with me.
It takes a toll on you.
Alright.
Then a pause, and it's your tune.
Go ahead.
Vanessa: Excellent.
I hope that this practice doesn't take a toll on you.
I hope that it's helpful to you instead.
Let's watch the clip.
Vanessa: It takes a toll on you.
Vanessa: The next sentence that we're going to practice includes the vocabulary expression,
down the road.
Down the road.
Let's listen to that clip.
Gayle: You think about all this negativity and don't realize like, that has a lot of
implications down the road.
Gayle: That has a lot of implications down the road.
Vanessa: Gayle says, "That has a lot of implications down the road."
That has a lot of implications down the road.
Let's break down the sentence starting with the beginning.
Vanessa: The first word is that.
Do you notice that final T here?
I hope that you do.
I hope that you can say this now naturally with me, your tongue at the top of your mouth,
stopping.
That.
Are you saying it with me?
That.
Vanessa: Has a lot.
Has a lot.
Has.
Here we have a Z sound.
Has a lot.
Ooh, we have another T that's cut out.
Same word as before.
Has a lot.
That has a lot.
Can you say that with me quickly?
That has a lot.
Vanessa: Next let's try to tackle this beautiful word, implications.
Let's break it down.
Try to say it with me as I say it.
Implications.
There needs to be a short I in the middle.
Impli ... That's the short I. Implications.
Implications.
Vanessa: Let's say the full sentence up to this point.
That has a lot of implications.
Say it with me.
That has a lot of implications.
Are your mouth muscles warmed up?
I hope so.
Vanessa: Let's go to the final part.
Our key expression, down the road, has one special element we're going to focus on.
It's the final letter.
Road.
Something happens with that D sound that we've already talked about with the T. It isn't
really pronounced.
Your mouth is in the position to say it, but there's really no air that comes out.
Vanessa: So, let's practice saying road.
Not road, but road.
Your tongue is there in place, about to make the D sound, but there's no vibration and
air that comes out.
Let's say that expression.
Down the road.
Vanessa: Of course, you can say down the road.
It's fine to add the D. But here in the conversation we didn't add it, so I want to make sure that
you can really imitate exactly the way that we're pronouncing, because once you learn
to break down sentences like this, you can also do it on your own.
You can listen carefully to a short clip, like, one sentence, like we're doing now,
and practice this yourself.
Vanessa: If you hear something in the conversation and you wonder, "Why could I not understand
that," you can break it down piece by piece like this.
I hope I'm giving you some general tools to help practice your pronunciation yourself.
Vanessa: So, let's say this full sentence together.
Don't forget the word implications.
Don't forget cutting off Ts, and then that final word, road.
Vanessa: That has a lot of implications down the road.
Make sure that your flow is natural.
Follow my hands.
That has a lot of implications down the road.
Like a wave.
That has a lot of implications down the road.
Can you say that with me?
That has a lot of implications down the road.
Vanessa: Alright.
I'm going to pause, and I want you to say this wonderful sentence yourself.
Go ahead.
Vanessa: Great work.
Alright.
Let's watch the clip again.
Gayle: That has a lot of implications down the road.
Vanessa: Are your pronunciation muscles warmed up?
Along with the conversation, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation lessons in the Fearless
Fluency Club, you'll also get access to the MP3 versions of all of these lessons, and
full PDF transcripts so that you can follow along with each word, because I know there
are a lot of new things that you can learn with really every sentence.
Vanessa: You'll also be able to study with the story.
Let's take a look at that really quick.
Vanessa: The story is a fun, one page combination of all of the things that you learned this
month.
You'll see the vocabulary expressions, the phrasal verbs, the idioms, everything that
you have learned is combined into this short story that you can repeat and listen to, and
say out loud, and even memorize if you want.
Vanessa: I also host live lessons in our private Facebook group so that we can interact with
this material every week, and also so that you can meet each other.
A lot of members like to talk together, and I think it's a good way to increase and improve
your vocabulary, and just improve your speaking skills.
Vanessa: So, now I have a question for you.
Have you ever done yoga before?
If you join the Fearless Fluency Club in the month of April, which is this month, April
2019, you'll also see a short clip of Gayle teaching me some yoga poses.
It's kind of embarrassing because I usually don't do this for my English lessons.
But it was fun, and it was a good chance for you to be able to see Gayle's teaching style.
But I want to know, have you ever done yoga?
Let me know in the comments.
I'll see you again next Friday, here on my YouTube channel, for another video.
Vanessa: Thanks so much for learning English with me.
Bye!
Vanessa: The next step is to download my free E-book, Five Steps To Becoming A Confident
English Speaker.
You'll learn what you need to do to speak confidently and fluently.
Don't forget to subscribe to me YouTube channel for more free lessons.
Vanessa: Thanks so much.
Bye!