this is an all ears English podcast episode 1860 we are in awe of you find out why
welcome to the all ears English podcast downloaded more than 200 million times are you feeling stuck
with your English we'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection not
Perfection with your American hosts Lindsay McMahon the English Adventurer and Michelle
Kaplan the New York radio girl coming to you from Colorado and New York City USA and to get
your transcripts delivered by email every week go to allearsenglish.com forward slash subscribe
to be truly connected with someone in English you need to be able to say what
amazes you is it the mountains the ocean or just everyday people and situations
today learn one key English vocabulary word to communicate this and connect
hey Michelle what's shaken anything new uh another actually it's very sunny I'm looking on my window
right now and it's so nice because it's been very dark and sad and it's like I'm feeling
Sunshine is so good for the soul so good for this soul out here in Colorado honestly there's a lot
of sunshine a lot and so sometimes even too much like I need sunscreen in my office right
now because I'm getting so much sun do you really feel that way is it really that Sunny yeah because
you know you can get UV through a window um and you know a south facing window right and then
the Sun the intense sun is right on you it's like oh gotta protect the skin so but yeah I love Sun
I love being in the sun it's the best oh yeah for sure it really it's like crazy how much of
a difference it can make in your mood like it is crazy you can feel it immediately amazing I mean
I'm in awe of that fact Michelle I'm just look at this every episode now I'm just you do it again
yes I am in of the Sun as well and you know I am also in awe of our listeners they are incredible
um and that when we get listener questions we absolutely love it especially like very
specific questions and sometimes I'm just like you know really in awe of the questions that we get
um including the one from today so this was actually uh one that I found on our Instagram
guys if you aren't following us over on Instagram make sure that you have there
um but yeah this is from b-s-h-a-y-e-r-q
um so I'm not sure if that's yeah yeah um but yeah it's a it's a quick it's a quick question Lindsay
do you want to read it for us okay here's the question from our Instagram follower he says hi I
saw a sentence today and it was I'm in awe can you demonstrate and as a native do you use it a lot
good question right I like it when you guys see real English and then you come to us right and you
ask because these really good questions so send us your questions to Lindsay at allearsenglish.com
all right good stuff Michelle absolutely all right so yes that is a great question and that isn't a
very frequently used expression don't you think Lindsay I really do absolutely and it's nice to
be able to say what impresses you in the world right it kind of communicates emotion in a way
oh a lot of emotion I think especially like to be in awe because it's not it's not like just like
saying like oh yeah that's awesome I mean it is like saying that's awesome that's where awe but
it's a little different well yeah that's right I didn't even think about that it's the beginning
of awesome you're right um yeah but it kind of has a more magical feel to it I think than like
awesome you know it has a magical feel to it I want to write that down because that's a key
today you know you're communicating the the fact that a sense of magic is like washing over you
right so we're gonna get into this a little bit in a minute but I want our listeners to
go over and get their fluency score Michelle where can they go to get their fluency score
go to allearsenglish.com fluency score you'll take a quiz over there get your level so you
know where you're starting and you know where you're going and you'll get resources right
Lindsay yeah good stuff go over there find out if you are 50 65 or 80 fluent good stuff so Michelle
what exactly does it mean again to be in awe of something yeah it basically means you're
Amazed by something and I like Lindsay you said like this like feeling of of magic just
like washing over you it's true like like I'm picturing like a glowing like sparkly and just
like yellow I don't know it's true I mean it's just like you're so amazed by something
um Lindsay is there any what are you an off oh my gosh there's no question the one thing that
I am the absolute most in awe of probably more than anything else in the world is the ocean I
am I am in total awe of the ocean when I stand at the ocean or I look at the ocean and I think
about how big it is and how all-encompassing it is I'm just blown away by the ocean Michelle
um it's incredible yes the question is amazing um what are you in awe of um well I am in awe of
I mean I know it's gonna sound cheesy but I am in awe of my son has started you know preschool
um and I am in awe of how much he learns like that he comes home and he knows a new song and
I'm like where did you learn that oh of course it's at school and oh so I am in awe of the things
that he learns but another thing I'm in awe of health care workers oh I love that that's so
good you know I like that you said that because sometimes awe is used for big things right like
the ocean like the universe and the Sun and the mountains nature but really what we should be
in awe of every day and and kind of practice this is the everyday people that save lives
you know and they really have right Michelle I mean what inspired you to think of that
um well I guess you know you know with everything we've gone through in the past couple of years
um you know seeing everything that these people in these industries do
um and are totally selfless and save saving lives and you know a lot of people you know we like
have careers where they don't don't have to put ourselves and all those kinds of things and so
I'm just in awe of the people who who decide to go into those things and then you know really really
push it and in this hard time it's amazing it's amazing imagine if we didn't have these people
right the people I think it's a special kind of person and I have you know my sister-in-law
is involved with medicine she's a PA and her sister is a PA too and it just it's a special
way of thinking it's like a calling for people I think uh that they decide they want to save lives
and go into medicine because I don't think it's an average person that just wants to go in there and
be around blood and germs and things you know it's a special kind of person yeah and also like the
schedule that goes along with it you know people are 12-hour shifts in there you know they're on
call and it's just like you know something that I don't think I could be up to and I know I'm in
awe of people who are yeah totally and I love that example and in all of your sound learning um and
so it comes back to this word awesome and I never I learned so much from you on this show Michelle
I never drew the connection between awe and awesome but that that is where it comes from right
um I mean I would assume I I haven't uh confirmed that but it seems it seems uh pretty obvious to
me so if guys if you find out that I'm wrong on that you can let me know but it seems like that
um I mean it's just about this feeling of like being thankful being appreciative towards someone
or something like I mean you can also be in awe of a place Lindsay like well it I mean you can say
oh I was in awe of Japan when I visited in 2016 which I was oh my gosh so I think yeah go ahead
Michelle no I was gonna say it makes me think of that scene in Lost in Translation Bill Murray yeah
when he gets driven through Shibuya in Tokyo and he's in the taxi and he wakes up and there's this
really cool music playing I don't know why but I like the music that's playing he's looking up at
these huge buildings and he's just in total awe he's like where am I this is another planet even
compared to Times Square or anything in the U.S it's completely different right he's in in awe
yes I was in awe when I was walking around Japan I as I mean literally like jaw dropped I remember
with you know Dan we would just be like oh I just constantly I loved it so you can use this to talk
about your travels about a place um so I mean but Lindsay is it formal or informal what do you think
um I think it's neither I think it's both I think it's both I think it could be used in
a very formal you know Backyard Barbecue with native speaking friends you could use it I'm
in awe of your cooking it's just amazing right or it could be in a more formal situation with
your colleagues oh I was in awe of your style of presentation there you did a great job it's just
that you're really emphasizing something you're really elevating that thing so you're not gonna
say it casually in in the sense of just throwing it around six times in a conversation otherwise
it will lose its meaning right Michelle right right right you can't say it for everything I
mean did you ever hear it like almost in a negative way like like for example I just
wanna I wrote a little role play I want to hear your thoughts so okay like if you're
being if you're shocked about something so here we go uh she still didn't show up no she didn't
I'm in awe what do you think yeah you know yeah you can use that for sure because again it's not
just that something is good right this awe to be an awe it does it usually it's good because
it's magical to you but it could also mean that it's unbelievable and that's what you're saying
there it's unbelievable that she didn't show up right so yeah I do think that works and I think
that's a very native way to use it right right so not always for good things let's do just a couple
other a couple other role plays so uh here's the next one Lindsay you want to start it off
oh my goodness do you hear this singer yeah she's amazing I am in awe of her Talent all
right that's kind of how I feel about like um well Whitney Houston you know she had a voice that made
you feel in awe and maybe Adele I feel like Adele brings that up for me a little bit Yeah incredible
it's great yeah absolutely absolutely or here is another thing that could be maybe for the business
world so thank you so much for everything you've done to help the team oh it's nothing no really
I'm in awe of your commitment yeah so when someone else is downplaying what they've done this would
be a way to give them an extra special thank you maybe it's your last day at the office and
you want to let them know how how great they are right I mean awe of everything that we've done
together or how you've helped me okay so that's a good way to elevate what you're trying to say
right right right exactly exactly so Lindsay what are some other ways that you can express this same
feeling well the word amazed and so saying something like I'm amazed and again guys be
careful not amazing all right this is where we get into the Ing and the Ed and we've done this right
we've done this in other episodes but I'm Amazed by something bye this is tricky because we have a
key preposition I'm Amazed by this I'm Amazed by her hard work right right right right or another
one is to be humbled right so to be humbled by it also like it gives you this feeling of like
I'm I don't know what how would you put it like I yeah like I'm humbled by the healthcare workers
right like I realize that they are doing something that is beyond something that I
would be able to do you know exactly I think we should do another episode if we haven't done it
before Michelle on humbled versus humbling right it's humbling I'm humbled by yeah this idea of
humbled guys wait you know hit follow to make sure you don't miss that episode coming up in
the future at some point but I think it's like you feel small but not in a bad way you just
feel small because you know this other person has is just so amazing right right right right right
like I'm humbled by everything you do for your students yeah exactly I love that and then the
next one I love it too this is great I'm awestruck and this is almost even bigger than I'm in awe of
all right I'm awestruck by the band and the preposition guys is bi again too right so
that's the key I'm awestruck by the band's new album do you use this one Michelle yourself
uh good question I guess I don't use it very often I would though um for something really
extreme what about you yeah for sure I mean if I needed that word if I needed to go even more
extreme than in awe of um I would use it yes yeah and so why do you think some things Michelle make
us feel that feeling of awe why I think that you know it depends I think different people feel
like they are in awe of different things right it depends what you find impressive you know
um and that's different for everybody um and there are certain things that are kind
of a little bit more Universal but then you know like I may not be in awe of like
um someone it's like I don't know something with sports right like maybe I don't understand it or
I don't know you know if it's not like that familiar to me but if it's like uh someone's
singing or you know something that I um and more like in tune uh like attuned to maybe
um then maybe that would be something different I'm in awe definitely of different places of foods
so yeah that kind of a thing yeah I mean I think this is such a key connection episode because guys
we know that you want to be yourself in another in English and we all have those moments it's almost
like a moment of Enlightenment right where you see a mountain like this weekend I was down in
Southern Colorado and I saw you know the mountains with the sunset and the snow on them and I was
just in awe and if I can come back to you Michelle on a Tuesday morning and explain that to you we
can connect on another level so our connection can go beyond just intellectual right we can connect
as people and that's what we want you guys to do so use these Expressions right absolutely and guys
you know what I can be in awe of sports sports stars too I just may not like know the technology
the technicalities and things like that but I can I am you know what in some ways now that I
think about it maybe I am more in awe of like you know things like I wonder if you're more in awe of
things that you consider yourself to have some expertise in or if you're more in awe of things
that you don't know as much about because that's interesting yeah so I guess I guess it's kind of
a little bit of both well it's kind of interesting because I feel like it's like it's a way in a way
it's almost like you need to know a little bit about the sport so that you understand how hard
that thing was right like a 150 mile an hour serve I actually don't know if anyone's ever surfed that
hard the hardest I've ever seen is like 134 or 135 but if I know what an average person serves
I can understand how how crazy 150 mile an hour serve is right right um right or I was actually I
just watched I think I told you about Jonathan Van Ness has a new show yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
and last night I watched he did one about figure skating and I'm always on all figure skating but
he like kind of like went into how it scored and some of the moves and like really went more in
depth and so like I had a new appreciation for it because I'm always watching and I'm always on
awe of it but now I'm even more like wow yeah we know we we learn a little bit and then we start
to understand how hard the these Sports actually are and what an amazing feat it is to like you
know win the gold medal or just win something or serve at 150 miles an hour or something like that
yeah it's true so the more we know the more in all we are and I think it's a really as a human
being it's a really cool place to be just in awe of different things in the world right it's kind
of a very peaceful place to be in our hearts so right and it's this feeling of not being
like jaded you know not just being like yeah oh yeah everything yeah that's cool that's cool like
whatever yeah yeah yeah yeah that's a good point there's a certain childlike innocence to it yeah
because kids are kind of in awe of everything like oh my gosh how did you do that how did you
know so it's kind of cool so we'll just stop there but we'll leave it on that note this is kind of a
deep episode and it's a connection episode for you guys good absolutely well this was fun thanks to
our listener for that question and we will talk to you soon okay Michelle talk soon bye all right bye
thanks for listening to all ears English would you like to know your English level take our two
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