hi i'm lisa in this video we will
continue the series of listening to
native speakers
in los angeles talking about their jobs
and their lives i believe it's one of
the best ways
for you to reach that final level of
fluency
learning the advanced vocabulary that
native speakers use
and of course learning the common
everyday expressions
that native speakers use all the time
but you don't necessarily learn these
expressions
in your english classes
[Music]
you will listen to my conversation with
a young woman named kendra
kendra works in a fine dining
establishment
do you know what fine dining means
instead of saying
i like going to nice restaurants or
expensive restaurants
you can say i like fine dining these
types of restaurants are also called
high-end restaurants or fancy
restaurants
kendra came to los angeles to pursue a
singing career
she's a very good singer she sings r b
and jazz and she sings in three
different languages
in portuguese in spanish and english but
she was born in the united states
she's from new jersey she also studied
science at rutgers university
she's a really interesting and
intelligent person and make sure you
watch this video until the end
you will hear kendra singing a song that
she recently recorded
and now let's listen to the first part
of my conversation with kendra
and then i will come back and i will
teach you some expressions that she used
you are a server in a restaurant yes i
am a server
in the fine dining establishment in
topanga canyon
what does fine dining mean to you fine
dining to me
means quality and effort put forth
towards your dishes
knowledge about pairings wine
and caring about the people coming in to
experience something unique
how is fine dining different in new york
versus los angeles
very interesting question the fine
dining establishments i experienced in
new york uh
they were a lot older like the the
establishments
had existed a lot longer than the ones
that i've run into here some of the
french restaurants in
tribeca that i've worked at um had
like 90 plus years history they're a lot
more flashy here
um new york people don't want their
money as much uh if you see
if you see like a a really old fine
dining establishment it'll be concealed
in a very unassuming building
but here you'll see nobu malibu like
presented on the side of pch
so you think the people are more flashy
in la also in general
absolutely um i mean it definitely comes
with having
you know this fame topic on everyone's
mind
if you're dining in new york it could be
winter it could be cold you could be
trying to hide yourself or like not
wanting to see too many people because
there are more people out on the streets
but in la you have to drive to your
location when you get there
you want everyone to know that you've
arrived kendra used the word pairings
let's listen to how she used it fine
dining to me means
quality and effort put forth towards
your dishes
knowledge about pairings wine
knowing about wine pairings means
matching
a wine to the kind of meal that you're
having knowing the appropriate wine to
serve with a particular dish
you can say they pair well together
or you can say i don't like how this
dish
paired with my wine the combination of
flavors
isn't right let's listen to how kendra
used
90 plus years some of the french
restaurants in tribeca that i've worked
at
um had like 90 plus years history
she said that some restaurants in
tribeca which is a neighborhood in new
york
have a 90 plus years history
and when you say a number and you add
the word plus
it means more than that number you can
say
how long have you worked there 10 plus
years
more than 10 years let's listen to the
way kendra used the word flashy
they're a lot more flashy here she said
they're a lot more flashy here
she said people in los angeles are a lot
more flashy
and you know the meaning of flash right
it's a bright light so something that's
flashy
is very bright it's very noticeable and
it's designed to be impressive
you can say he bought a flashy new
sports car
she likes to wear flashy jewelry do you
know the meaning of the word flaunt
let's listen to how kendra used it oh
new york people don't want their money
as much
new york people don't want their money
as much she said in new york
people don't flaunt their money as much
to flaunt something
is to show it for example to show your
money
or to show your success or your beauty
so that other people notice it
you can say nobody knows that he's rich
because he doesn't like to flaunt his
wealth
he doesn't need to impress people let's
listen to the way kendra used the next
two adjectives
concealed and unassuming do you know
what they mean
let's listen to her if you see like a a
really old fine dining establishment
it'll be concealed in a very
unassuming building in new york if you
see a really old
fine dining establishment very often
it will be concealed in an unassuming
building
to conceal something is to not show it
to hide something carefully
so if something is concealed it's hidden
from view
let's use it as a verb he concealed his
gun
inside his jacket it was impossible for
me to conceal
my excitement kendra said that in new
york sometimes very nice restaurants
are concealed in an unassuming building
and unassuming is the opposite of flashy
it's modest or a person who is
unassuming
doesn't try to appear important they're
humble
they're quiet or polite they're not
arrogant
you can say she's such a polite and
unassuming
person despite his great power and
wealth
he had a very unassuming personality
let's listen to the way kendra used the
word fame it definitely comes with
having
you know this same topic on everyone's
mind
she said in los angeles the fame topic
is on everybody's mind and you know the
word famous
right that's an adjective and the noun
form of famous is
fame so you can say the talented
musician
is not really interested in fame or you
can say
the actor achieved worldwide fame after
that film was released
kendra works as a server in a fine
dining restaurant
in the next clip i asked kendra what is
the difference between the words
waiter and waitress versus the word
server
let's listen to her answer the word
server to me is kind of a newer word
tell me
how you feel about the word server as
opposed to i'm a waitress which i don't
think you would call yourself that
of course that's a good question and one
i thought about a lot
i mean dining establishments exist all
over the united states all over the
world
and i think it's just professionals
within those communities trying to
separate themselves based on the kind of
work that they're doing so a fine dining
server
who is putting a lot of study time or
effort into learning their dishes
learning a changing menu or learning
drinks
wouldn't want to be compared to a waiter
or waitress which might work in a diner
and for people who don't know what dinah
is what would you describe diner
a diner actually we're famous for that
from my hometown in new jersey oh yeah
yeah
but a diner is a 24-hour establishment
that um serves food all night
you can go after a night out with your
friends or in the morning with your
family
and um they're very popular in like uh
the
50s or 60s i think i'd like to read to
you some online comments that i read
about this topic
the difference between waiter and
waitress and server
one person said server is gender neutral
and sounds a little more professional in
my opinion
another person said i typically think of
myself as a server
but if someone asks me what i do i
usually say
waitress to avoid confusion the word
diner has two different meanings
let's listen to the way kendra used it
but a diner is a 24-hour establishment
that serves food all night one meaning
of diner
is a casual restaurant particularly
popular in the 1950s
but we still have a lot of diners all
over the united states
but a diner is also a person who dines
and what does it mean to dine it means
to eat dinner
so a person eating dinner especially in
a restaurant
is called a diner and you can also use
it like this
i like to dine out and that means i like
to eat dinner
in restaurants and be careful about the
words
diner and dinner dinner has a double end
it's pronounced differently dinner is
the meal that you eat
the diner liked his dinner have you
heard of this idea
the customer is always right that's a
saying or a slogan
that means the customer needs to be
happy the customer needs
to feel special even if the customer is
not right
a business will try to keep a customer
happy
i asked kendra about this concept as it
relates to restaurants
let's listen to her answer in the united
states we have this saying the customer
is always right and that's especially
true i think in restaurants yes
but but how do you deal with that if i
were a diner in your restaurant
and i wasn't happy with the food i
wasn't happy with the dish what would
you do how do you handle that
it's an unspoken rule that all servers
and
uh waiters and staff they hope that our
guests
understand a lot of things are out of
our control and you know
it really is disheartening when you get
someone who doesn't understand that at
all
but we do abide by the the customer is
always right when it's appropriate
um if it's outlandish and you know if
there's some kind of
inappropriate or outlandish behavior
then that's obvious and can be reasoned
with but if it's simply
i didn't like the food that i picked
that's no problem and there's always a
way to make sure that the
the guest enjoys what they're eating
let's listen to the way kendra used the
word
disheartening it really is disheartening
when you get someone who doesn't
understand that at all
but we do abide by the the customer is
always right
let's make sure we can pronounce it
correctly first disheartening
disheartening she said it's really
disheartening
when you get someone that doesn't
understand that if something is
disheartening
it makes you lose hope it makes you lose
courage
it makes you disappointed and less
hopeful and if you're talking about a
person you can say
disheartened when i failed the test for
the third time
i was disheartened it was so
disheartening
let's listen to the way kendra used to
abide by
but we do abide by the the customer is
always right
she said we do abide by the customer is
always right
and to abide by means to obey a rule
to accept a rule or a decision even if
you're not
happy with it even if you don't agree
with it you need to still abide by it
the boy promised that he would abide by
the school rules
my lawyer warned me that i needed to
abide by the terms of the contract
the next word is outlandish do you know
what that means
let's listen to the way kendra used it
if it's outlandish and
you know if there's some kind of
inappropriate or outlandish behavior
the word outlandish is word number 72
in my course 400 advanced english words
you must know for fluent english let's
listen to the video from my course
where i'm teaching the meaning of the
word outlandish the next word is
outlandish outlandish and if something
is
outlandish it looks or it sounds strange
it's unusual her outlandish appearance
did not fit into the professional
environment of the law office
let's pronounce law office correctly
both of those
vowel sounds are big law office open
your mouth
law office
her outlandish appearance did not fit
into the professional environment of the
law office
you will notice that i pause to give you
a chance to repeat the sentence after me
so that you can practice your
pronunciation at the same time
i teach a lot of pronunciation rules in
that course
the course consists of seven hours of
video
in addition there are audio files that
you can download
so you can listen to the seven hours
just in audio format
you can practice while you're doing
something else you don't only have to
watch the videos
and there are quizzes to test your
knowledge and to test your progress
to get the course go to my website
accurateenglish.com
okay let's go to the next expression
that kendra used
let's listen to how she used to reason
with then
that's obvious and can be reasoned with
she said it can be reasoned with
and that means it can be discussed we
can discuss it
to reach an agreement we can reason with
each other
it can be reasoned with you can also use
it this way
let's try to reason together or
when he gets angry he's very difficult
to reason with
it's very difficult to talk to him he
doesn't want to discuss the problem
he's very difficult to reason with the
word dish has two different meanings
let's listen to the way kendra and i
used it so do you ask them if they'd
like a different dish or
yes well we'll discuss what's wrong with
their dish
what they didn't find appetizing about
it a dish is food prepared in a
particular way
and served as a part of a meal so you
can say
this restaurant has a lot of delicious
seafood dishes
when i visit my grandmother she always
cooks my favorite dish
and i think you know the other meaning
of the word dish it's a plate
it's a container where you put your food
in the next clip that you will watch
kendra talks about the custom of tipping
in an american restaurant
usually it's 20 percent but a lot of
tourists don't know that
so when they visit the restaurant
sometimes she doesn't get a tip
let's listen to her talk about it and
then i'll come back and i'll teach you a
few more expressions
tell me about the tipping process in the
united states tipping in the united
states um
we expect about 20 for an appropriate
tip
but it's very common not to get that um
especially from foreigners but not
just from foreigners so it's something
that we run into often but we don't
normally say anything to guests if they
tip below
and so it's usually just us walking home
with less money
so tipping is a very important part of
the server salary absolutely
there was a big difference in new york
versus los angeles that i was not
made aware of before coming here in new
york you get paid two dollars and 14
cents an hour as a server
no matter where you work and then your
tip you know uh
supplements that income but in
california you get 15
an hour plus that income that same
income so it was a remarkable difference
moving here to do
like and finding the same position that
is really interesting i did not know
that yes
i i don't know if a lot of people back
home know it either because
wow it's a crazy secret that's the
minimum wage
right yes um uh here but in new york
it's like a lower wage considering their
tip
right but in new york they also get a
lot more like a lot of tourism so
they're you know getting paid less but
then also getting tipped less
by these tourists coming in kendra
said remarkable difference so it was a
remarkable difference moving here to do
like and finding the same position
instead of saying
big or noticeable you can say remarkable
there was a remarkable difference
instead of saying
you've made a lot of progress in your
english you can say
you've made remarkable progress in your
english it's remarkable
let's learn the difference between home
and back home
kendra used the expression back home i
don't know if a lot of people
back home know it either she said i
don't know if a lot of people back home
know it either what does back home mean
it means
the place where i am from where i was
born or
where i grew up and she comes from new
jersey
so for her back home is new jersey
so if we say i'm going home that means
i'm going
to my house but if you say i'm going
back home
it means i'm going to my original home
the place
where maybe my grandparents still live
the place where i was born
the place where i grew up i'm going back
home for christmas
and let's listen to the final clip
kendra talks about the challenging parts
of her job
and she also talks about her personal
goals and why she came to los
angeles what's the most challenging part
about your job the most
challenging part about my job would have
to be having to
um maintain all the personal goals and
projects i have
while making sure that i'm giving my a
game at the restaurant
it's a constant push and pull between
your own perseverance
and and how much you want to do what
you're doing
right you've been in la for how many
months uh for a year for 12 months i got
here last december
and what brought you here um i came here
for uh music for
creative competition i'm a jazz and r b
singer
when i was in new york performing and
competing i found that the
competition was sub-par for me there
were a lot of people trying to explain
or tell people that they were different
and special
without showing it and i feel like in
los angeles a lot of people show it more
so everyone here is offering so much
they make you wonder
what do i offer and that's what i came
here to figure out how do people get in
touch with you
oh well you can find me on instagram as
dare to destroy
uh the number two and um my name is rena
it's short for a renaissance woman
renaissance woman i think you are a true
renaissance woman thank you so much for
your time
thank you such a pleasure let's listen
to how she used the expression
a game while making sure that i'm
giving my a game at the restaurant she
said making sure i'm giving my
a game at the restaurant and you can say
to give your a game
or to bring your a game and that means
to give your best effort to perform at
the highest level
your best ability to give your a game
you can say there's so much competition
here
i'd better bring my a game let's listen
to how she used push and pull
the constant push and pull between your
own perseverance and
and how much you want to do what you're
doing
she said it's a constant push and pull
it's a constant struggle to find the
right balance
it's push and pull i asked kendra
what brought you here and that means why
did you come here
why did you move to this place what
brought you to los angeles
my job brought me here candra sings jazz
and r b do you know what r b means
rhythm and blues we don't pronounce the
and
we just say um rhythm and blues
r b let's listen to how kendra used the
word
subpar when i was in new york performing
and competing
i found that the competition was sub-par
for me
if something is subpar it's not high
quality
it's below average it's not as good as
expected
you can say this restaurant looks
elegant
but the food is sub-par or that
team had a subpar performance this
season
and now let's listen to a short sample
of a song
that kendra is singing she also wrote
the song
oh just leave me alone
i don't wanna grow
anything but my
[Music]
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thanks for watching and keep practicing
your english
[Music]
to get the two courses the american
accent course
and the 400 advanced words you must know
for fluent english
go to accurateenglish.com