Vanessa: Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Let's have a real English conversation, let's go.
Today I have something super special to share with you.
I'm going to share a real English conversation.
A little over two years ago my husband, Dan, and I bought our first house.
And today you are going to meet our realtor, Brandi.
A realtor, or sometimes we call them a real estate agent, is a professional who helps
you to find and buy a house.
In the US if you want to buy a house, you need to hire a realtor.
If this job isn't common in your country, don't worry, you'll learn a lot about it today.
Brandi is really passionate about her job and how her job has completely changed her
family's life.
I'm sure that you also have things that you're passionate about, so it's a good experience
to listen carefully and imitate the way that we speak.
During our conversation you will see some subtitles down here for some important vocabulary,
phrasal verbs, and pronunciation.
After you watch the conversation, there will be a vocabulary lesson where my husband, Dan,
and I explain in detail some of the important phrases so that you don't waste your time
studying unimportant words.
Ingrain these in your memory.
It's great to hear them in the conversation, but when you also hear us explaining them
in the vocabulary lesson, it will be even easier to remember them and use them yourself.
After the vocabulary lesson, you will have a phrasal verb lesson where you will learn
some of the most important phrasal verbs from the conversation with Brandi, so that you
can use them in your daily conversation.
And finally, after the phrasal verb lesson, you will have a pronunciation lesson so that
you can speak more like an American and speak clearly and understandably.
You can always click CC on this lesson to view the full subtitle so that you don't miss
any words.
And of course, to help you remember everything from today's long lesson, I have created a
free PDF worksheet where you will remember all of the vocabulary, phrasal verbs, pronunciation,
sample sentences, and you'll be able to answer Vanessa's challenge question at the bottom
of the free PDF worksheet.
You can click on the link in the description to download that free worksheet today.
And if you enjoy this lesson, I invite you to join me in the Fearless Fluency Club where
you can finally learn real American English and speak confidently.
Our course member Ildikó said, "This course is fantastic.
I like the most that you teach us real English."
Thank you Ildikó.
surprised her.
She said, "What surprised me even more was the wonderful community and the opportunity
to meet and interact with so many friends from around the world.
and to speak confident English.
My course uses the Conversation Breakdown Method.
This method helps you to catch the real meaning of conversations and be able to express yourself
with the same type of expressions and terms and pronunciation so that you can be understandable.
Today's YouTube video is just a short sample of the course.
There are five modules in the full course, and today you're only seeing half of one of
the modules.
So let's test the Conversation Breakdown Method in the Fearless Fluency Club and let's meet
Brandi.
Hi everyone.
Brandi: Hello.
Vanessa: I'm here with Brandi.
Brandi is a real estate agent, realtor, but also a friend now.
So let's start by talking about the definition.
What is a real estate agent or a realtor?
Brandi: Okay.
So a realtor and real estate agent are almost interchangeable.
Vanessa: Okay.
Brandi: So all real estate agents in order to get
on our listing service, which means the access to properties, we have to be a realtor, which
is this organization that has a set of ethics.
Vanessa: Oh.
Brandi: And so we have to follow certain ethical guidelines
to make sure that we don't mislead clients and we share all the important facts about
a house.
And when it comes to our activities we essentially are the ... I like to think of myself as a
consult.
So I help consult people in buying and selling their home.
Vanessa: Okay.
So it is essential if someone wants to buy or sell a house that they contact a consult
or a real estate agent, a realtor, to help them in that process?
Brandi: So technically people can buy and sell on
their own.
Vanessa: Oh?
Brandi: If they want to.
Though I do think that working with a realtor, you have somebody who does it as a job and
somebody who has seen hundreds of experiences of buying and selling and really understand
how the market works.
What a good deal is, what isn't a good deal, what important repairs are, what non-important
repairs are.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Brandi: So some people try and sell on their own and
sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and then they connect with a realtor to engage
their expertise.
And then for buyers, at least in our state, it's pretty common that the seller pays the
realtor commission for the buyers.
So for buyers, the buyers don't actually have to pay anything out of pocket.
The seller pays the commission so it's beneficial for buyers especially.
Vanessa: Yeah.
I remember when we bought this house, it didn't feel like we were paying you anything.
It was so weird.
You were helping us so much and then there was no exchange of money.
So if we had decided, "Hey, we're not going to buy a house at all," would you just be
out then?
You would've helped us all that time for nothing?
Brandi: Yes, and it happens a lot.
Vanessa: Oh no.
Okay.
But in the end, the expectation is that that person will buy and then you'll make a cut
of whatever the price of the house is- Brandi:
Yes.
Vanessa: -that they got.
Okay.
Because it seems like every country has a different way of dealing with buying property,
but in the US it's pretty common to use a realtor who knows what they're doing.
That's your job, to know all those ins and outs.
Especially for us as a first time buyer having no idea of the process, it was so helpful
to have someone who was just guiding you.
Especially when we've got other stuff going on in our life.
You don't have time to know every detail about who is the best person to sign these papers
or what's the next step?
It was really nice to have help.
So thank you.
Brandi: Yeah, you're welcome.
And I feel like my role too is also to help make it as stress free as possible for all
parties.
So as much as possible if a repair is needed and a seller doesn't have time to be there,
I'll meet the repair person at the house because buyers and sellers, they have jobs, they have
things they have to do.
And so if a buyer can't make an inspection because their schedule is really busy, I go
to the inspection for them.
Of course there's a report, though I want to be there to be able to help explain to
them what's important, what's not important, those kind of things.
So I feel like another job for a realtor is really just to make it as easy and as smooth
as possible.
Vanessa: Yeah, and that's what a good realtor should
do.
Brandi: Yes.
Not all do that.
Vanessa: That's the ideal.
Brandi: Yes.
Vanessa: So now that we kind of have a general overview,
I'm curious about you personally.
How did you get into this?
Or why did you get into being a real estate agent?
Brandi: Yeah.
So I was bartending, so I was serving drinks at the Grove Park Inn which is this beautiful
resort in our area.
And I met this woman named Samantha and she was there with her team and we just started
talking and they were ordering a lot of drinks.
Vanessa: So they were talking a lot.
Brandi: They were having a really good time and we
ended up talking a little bit and getting to know each other.
And I asked, "Well, why are you here?"
It's normally a question that I ask just to kind of engage customers.
And she said, "Oh, we're celebrating a huge business success."
And I was like, "Oh, what was that business success?
I want to know."
And she's like, "Oh.
Well, I was the top agent in all of Western North Carolina."
And I was like, "Like top real estate agent?"
And she's like, "Yeah, yeah."
And I was like, "How many houses did you sell last year?"
And she's like, "54."
And I was like- Vanessa:
That's a house a week almost.
Brandi: That's more than a house a week technically.
So I was like, "Wow."
And then I was like, "I think people make 3% and then house prices are like this.
That's a lot of money."
Vanessa: It's a pretty lucrative business, especially
if you do it well.
Brandi: Yeah.
I was like, "Wow, that's amazing."
And then I just tapped back in to my past, and I always helped my dad and my mom find
their houses.
Vanessa: Oh.
Brandi: Back in the day before the internet was as
huge as it was, I would look through ... there was these flyers.
And I would look through the flyers and highlight all the different properties for sale or rent
and help my parents find them.
I found my parents almost every house.
Vanessa: Really?
Brandi: Yeah, as a 12 year old.
Vanessa: Wow.
So it is inside of you.
Destiny.
Brandi: I was like "I loved this growing up."
And then I was like, "If she can do it, she's nice and all, but I don't see that she has
something that I don't have."
So I guess it was just an opportunity for me to be like, "I can do it too."
Vanessa: Yeah.
Brandi: And so long story short, I was actually seven
months pregnant when I decided I wanted to do that.
Vanessa: Great time to make a big life change.
Brandi: Yeah, and I already had one baby.
So I was like, "It's now or never."
While he's inside of me, it's going to be easier than when he's not.
So I signed up immediately for a real estate course.
So I worked full time five days a week, Monday through Friday, and then I would drive two
hours away to go to real estate school Saturday and Sunday.
And so I did that for eight weeks and then I graduated and I got my license eight days
before I gave birth.
Vanessa: Oh my goodness.
That just makes me a little stressed thinking about it.
Brandi: So most people don't pass that exam on their
first try.
Vanessa: But you were like, "This is it.
I got to do it now."
Brandi: I was like, "I literally don't have an option.
I can't do this with a one week old baby."
Vanessa: Yeah.
Brandi: And so I'm like, "I'm just going to study
super hard and try not to panic in the test room."
Vanessa: But you did it.
Brandi: I did it.
Vanessa: Wow.
Wow.
So at that time, I guess talking with Samantha must have been just a page turning that this
is a new career.
This is a new option for me that I didn't know existed before, or didn't think about
as a path.
Brandi: Yeah, I never really thought about it because
I owned my own business for a while.
I was a yoga studio owner and I loved that.
And so I kind of just like, "Well, I'm just going to do that again eventually."
And bartending was just my in between because since we had just moved from a different state.
And then when I met her, I was like, "That sounds like a great thing to be able to support
my family really abundantly."
And yeah, I ended up joining her team because she-
Vanessa: Cool.
Brandi: -got me information as a good realtor does,
and followed up as a good realtor does.
Vanessa: Yep.
Brandi: And she was like, "Oh, so are you thinking
about buying a house?"
And I was like, "Actually, I'm in real estate school."
She's like, "Oh."
Vanessa: You inspired me.
I am here now.
Brandi: She literally followed up while I was at school.
I was on lunch break when she happened to call and I was like, "Oh, the universe."
Vanessa: It is crazy how if you have one real estate
agent, they will follow you throughout your life.
My parents used to live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the house that they bought there when
I was two years old, when we moved to South Carolina, even 20 years later, they still
would get Christmas cards from him.
And it's like, "We don't even live in the same state."
This kind of networking connection to those people is insane, especially if you're like
Samantha, good at networking and keeping up with potential customers, but also in a friendly
way.
Brandi: Yeah.
Vanessa: Not just like, "Are you going to buy something?"
But really just connecting.
Brandi: And that's important.
Vanessa: Yes, not being too pushy.
Brandi: To not be pushy, because I think a lot of
people that goes over their head.
They're like, "So who do you know looking to buy, sell, or invest in real estate?"
That's a script.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Well, I feel like something I really appreciated the first time we talked to you is we had
also contacted Samantha when we were looking for a house.
We stumbled upon her contact information and had talked with her and we'd kind of been
looking for a place on and off for a year, just looking at listings.
And I think we'd driven by maybe two places, maybe looked at a place or two.
But then when we talked to you, you were like, "Okay, this seems like something you really
want.
How about next week you try to find three places that you like and we can walk in them
and just get a real grasp for what you want after looking at concrete places?"
And just that wording to me felt like, "Oh, I'm kind of excited to actually see places."
Even though I know, not with a thought like, "These are my three dream houses," but just
like, "We're going to analyze these places and see how you really feel about them."
And that felt to me less definite like, "I have to find the perfect place and that's
the only place I can look in."
It's like, "Oh, let's look at these places and get a real feeling for how you feel about
them."
Instead of just, I felt really serious.
"I need to find the perfect place before I go in it."
So I appreciated that not pushy, but let's just get a feeling for what you really want.
And I think that helped us to get the ball rolling in a real way.
Brandi: Yeah.
Vanessa: So that was a really comforting kind of conversation.
Brandi: I mean not that House Hunters on HGTV, our
network here, should be how we look at houses.
But I think House Hunters ... I loved that growing up by the way.
Vanessa: Yeah?
Brandi: I was obsessed with HGTV.
I would watch all these weird home things.
So I guess it was in my blood.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Brandi: As a teenager, who does that?
Anyways.
I'd stay up until midnight watching Curb Appeal.
But anyways.
So yeah, but on there what I learned too is that people start ... when you look at different
houses, you're like, "Oh.
Well I like this and I don't like this and I like this about out this house, but not
this house."
And eventually after you see enough, you really start getting a feel.
I mean, you can also get to the point where you've seen too many and then it gets a little-
Vanessa: Overwhelming.
Brandi: Yeah.
But if you just see a few, it starts to give you an idea.
Like you said, a concrete feeling of, "Yes.
This is what I like.
This is what I don't like."
I think we saw one house that was gorgeous.
It was a little bit higher price point but you were just like, "There's just something
about the feeling of it."
Vanessa: Too overwhelmingly big or that sense that
you get.
Brandi: It's a lot to take care of for you guys.
And so when you found this one, you were like, "Oh, this is perfect.
It's nice.
Though it's also concise."
Vanessa: Yeah.
Brandi: Is maybe a good word for it.
Vanessa: It's not big, especially for an American house.
But it was a good step up from where we were before.
Brandi: You were at a tiny apartment.
Vanessa: Yeah, I mean.
Brandi: So this is a lot more space.
Vanessa: This is double or more than double the space,
which to us felt huge.
Brandi: The other one would've been quadruple.
Vanessa: Yeah, and I think that is something to think
about.
Where are you now?
What kind of lifestyle change will your new house give you?
And do you want that?
Brandi: Yes.
Vanessa: So yeah.
So I'm curious, I have already been through this because we were your clients.
But for students too, a lot of people live in the US and maybe would be in this process
or don't live in the US and have bought houses in their own home country, just to kind of
compare from how the US does it.
If I wanted to buy a house and I called you and said, "Hey, Brandi.
You were recommended to me.
I'm looking to buy a house."
What happens at that point?
What's the process that you would go through with someone?
Brandi: Gotcha.
Well first I like to listen a lot in the very beginning because it's not about me.
Right?
It's about them and what they want.
So the first thing that I do is ask them a bunch of things.
So kind of just be ready to share with the realtor, "Okay, this is what I'm looking for."
So have a list of your needs and your wants and that kind of thing and be ready to go
there.
So that's the first thing that I do, is a thorough needs analysis.
And then the next step, and I honestly think that connecting with a mortgage lender after
you talk to a realtor is a good idea because the realtor will be able to recommend a mortgage
lender.
Because often big banks and people that you bank with can be a little bit slower.
They work on salary, not commission.
So local lenders are typically more motivated to actually help you and get you to closing.
Whereas big banks, they just work on a salary.
They're not as motivated.
Vanessa: Oh.
Brandi: And then so a realtor can sometimes recommend
somebody that they were work with a lot.
They work really well together.
They know that they're going to hit the deadlines appropriately and not be late.
And then so getting that mortgage loan would be the next step.
And then once you're approved, because especially in our market, I think it's like this globally
right now.
It's just a really strong housing market in general.
I don't know about globally, but definitely within the continental US.
Right?
Though I guess US and Hawaii and Alaska are doing good too.
I have some friends there.
But anyways so basically once you have that approval and you're ready to go, like literally
could make an offer, that's when you start touring properties.
Drive bys are great.
Though honestly in today's market, it really just depends.
Vanessa: Like it might already be sold?
Brandi: Yeah.
Vanessa: Don't have the time to-
Brandi: I'll drive by today and we'll make an offer
tomorrow.
No, let's just go today and offer today.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Brandi: Because sometimes right now we're talking
... like in California, people post in real estate groups that I'm in on Facebook and
people are receiving 50+ offers sometimes.
Vanessa: That's crazy.
Brandi: I mean just an insane amount.
So you really want to get in there as soon as possible obviously.
And then even here, we're not that hot.
But recently I've been involved in 11 offers.
There's five offers.
So it's still, it's a lot.
It's a lot of competition so it's good, at least right now in today's market, to move
quickly.
Vanessa: Do you think today's market means post-COVID,
that kind of has changed to make the market different?
Is that what you mean by the changing market?
People leaving cities, and that's kind of what I imagine is people want to leave New
York City and move to the mountains to Asheville or something like that.
Or is it just in general the way the world is this current moment?
Brandi: Yeah.
So when I say today, I literally mean today because tomorrow there could be a political
announcement that changes the market forever.
Vanessa: Ah.
Brandi: We don't know what tomorrow's market will
look like quite literally.
We don't know if the mortgage rates are going to go up, because right now they're still
at a historic low and it happened for a little while now though.
So with rates being so low, it's a great time to get a mortgage.
That's why so many people are buying.
Vanessa: Like the interest rate?
Brandi: Interest rate.
Yeah.
So the interest rate, basically the amount that you pay now for a $300,000 house is significantly
less than what you would've paid five years ago for a $300,000 house.
So for the same amount of money, you're paying less per month.
Vanessa: Because that percentage of interest is just
so low over the 15 or 30 years.
Brandi: And so the monthly payments are a lot lower.
I mean, you're talking sometimes really significant differences.
If you're talking 5% versus 3% over a 30 year time, it makes a really, really big difference.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Brandi: Especially with those big numbers.
So yeah, so the market could shift.
There's some whispers of inventory rising because of the economy in the next few months.
But people are also seeing the economy will stay strong because the stock market's been
doing well so the wealthy have enough to purchase.
Vanessa: It seems so complex.
Brandi: It's super complex.
That's why literally the market of today is the market of today.
Of course it's probably tomorrow's market.
Is it next week's market?
I don't really know.
So it can change at any point.
But as of right now, yes, post-COVID, a lot of people are moving from places that they
disagree with their policies to places where they agree with policies, both directions.
Vanessa: Oh.
Brandi: If that makes sense.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Brandi: And not to get too political about it, but
when people want or like a certain policy in a certain region, they want to live there.
Vanessa: Yeah, that makes sense.
You want to live near people who get you and you understand.
Brandi: And large acreage is also going really quickly
now.
Vanessa: Oh.
Brandi: Because people are now seeing the value in
having a bunch of space after maybe they've lived in an apartment for the last year and
been stuck in their apartment with whatever neighbors they have.
I'm really glad I don't.
Vanessa: That would be so tough.
Brandi: Yeah.
With all the lockdowns and stuff, I think it's really brought awareness to people's
living situations and people have realized they either love it or they don't.
And I think most people, after a year being stuck in one place, are kind of like, "You
know?"
Vanessa: "I kind of want more space."
And we live in the mountains where- Brandi:
It wouldn't be terrible.
Vanessa: -people are selling acreage.
They're selling big plots of land.
Brandi: The property I was talking to her earlier
today about was, it's 150 acres.
And so again, there's a lot of people wanting different chunks and different splits of this.
Vanessa: Oh.
Brandi: And it's expensive, though also a lot of people
want it because it's such a large tract of land.
Vanessa: Yeah, that's like a whole mountain side.
Brandi: It's literally a whole mountain with a creek
and up, and then the views.
It's all cleared and it's gorgeous.
Vanessa: That sounds amazing.
Brandi: Yeah, it's really cool.
Vanessa: Yeah.
I mean those kinds of things two years ago might have been less sought after.
I mean that sounds like a pretty unique situation, but in general.
Brandi: No, it would've been.
Because there's another property, it was 100 acres.
It was listed for $750, actually less than this one was listed for, and the views were
incredible and the house was 10 times better.
It was this beautiful old Victorian house and it was super magical, and it sat on the
market for years.
Vanessa: What?
Brandi: And it just sold because the market's crazy
now.
But people didn't- Vanessa:
It's like that's what people want now.
Brandi: Yeah.
But a few years ago people are like, "Why do I want to live in the middle of nowhere
with 100 acres?"
Vanessa: Wow.
Brandi: Now people are like, "Please.
Yes."
Vanessa: That's so interesting.
So yeah, it can just change.
Brandi: Yeah.
Vanessa: Very quickly.
Brandi: In a few months.
Again, years for that to sell.
And then all of a sudden they were getting so much interest, they ended up getting a
really good price in it.
So yeah.
Vanessa: Wow.
That's so strange because I feel like if that is how people are feeling who are buying now,
I remember we felt like that even a year and a half ago.
Is it just a bubble right now?
Is it really high price for the past or historically or whatever and are we just spending too much
money?
And then you never know what the future holds.
Brandi: And you just found out you have 20% equity
essentially.
Vanessa: Crazy.
But those things can always ... you never know what's going to happen.
Brandi: Yeah.
I mean, it's amazing.
You don't, right?
Because at that time ... there was this meme that basically it was a skeleton on a chair
and it said, "Buyers waiting for the market to crash."
Vanessa: Oh my goodness.
Brandi: Because people keep saying that like, "Oh,
it's a bubble.
It's a bubble."
It just keeps going to stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger.
And we're like, "We don't know, that's why it's today's market."
Vanessa: Wow.
So if you want it and you find the best thing for you, just do it.
Brandi: Yeah, especially with mortgage interest rates
so low.
And even if it does pop if you're planning on staying there a few years, it's going to
go back up.
It's just how inflation works essentially.
Vanessa: Yeah.
The market is always going to be changing and shifting.
Brandi: Yep.
Vanessa: So let's say that the bank has said, I don't
know the exact terminology, but the bank has said you are approved to buy a house for $300,000.
You find a house that's that much.
Great, you want to buy it.
But there's three other people who also want to buy it.
Like our situation, five other people, whatever it was.
What happens at that point?
Because it seems like right now that's really common, that you're going to have other people
putting offers on the same house that you want.
Do you fight it, duke it out?
What happens?
Brandi: So what is stressful about those situations
is that all the offers are blind.
And so we had this conversation, right?
Vanessa: "What are other people going to offer?
I don't know.
How much do we want to offer?"
Brandi: Yeah.
And there are terms other than cash that can be incentives, but sometimes you don't want
to waive those terms.
And so an example would be an inspection period.
You found some things in the inspection that you wanted addressed and they addressed them.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Brandi: And that happens a lot.
Even if it's a great condition house, as this one was, there's still going to be some items
that you want fixed or repaired or might help you renegotiate from the price.
So some people ... in different states it's different by the way, so very different.
So we have an inspection period where you can choose three weeks, 30 days, whatever
it is, and you can get as many inspections as you want.
In other states, their rules are you have to choose what inspections you want up front.
Vanessa: Oh.
Before you find out the results of the inspections.
Brandi: Yeah.
So in other states, people are like, "I'll waive all of the inspections," because that's
a part of their offer and their contract.
Ours, luckily, is very different.
I would be more stressed if it was that because- Vanessa:
Yeah.
Brandi: -telling people to waive their inspection
is risky on my end too.
Because I can be held liable if I encourage something and they find out something later.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Brandi: But anyway, so if it's multiple offers, obviously
price is going to be the biggest factor that's going to motivate somebody.
Emotion is another thing.
So the letter you wrote definitely helped, and the pictures and stuff.
There's some legal iffiness about that because technically there's fair housing stuff that
people could get in trouble for.
Vanessa: Like, "You didn't like-"
Brandi: ...fair housing stuff that people could get
in trouble for.
Vanessa: Oh, yeah.
Like, you didn't like us because I have brown hair and-
Brandi: Or skin color, whatever people want to say
about why they didn't choose them.
So, there's a little bit of stuff with that, but I leave it up to the buyer to decide if
they want to write a letter or not, with keeping those things in mind.
Vanessa: So, how did you enjoy that with Brandi?
Was it a little fast, a little tricky?
Did you understand everything?
Well, now you are going to get a vocabulary lesson where my husband Dan and I explain
in detail some of the most important phrases from the conversation, so that you can also
use them in your daily life.
You're also going to be able to see a short clip from the original conversation with Brandi,
so that you can see it in its original context.
Let's get started with the vocabulary lesson.
Welcome to the Fearless Fluency Club, Vocabulary Lesson.
Today, I'm here with my husband, Dan.
Dan: Hello.
Vanessa: We're going to be explaining 17 useful daily
English expressions that you heard in the conversation with Brandi.
We're going to be going over these in detail, and then you're going to see a clip from the
original conversation, so that you can see the context and also get a better idea about
how to use this yourself.
Are you ready to get started?
Dan: I'm ready.
Vanessa: Let's do it.
The first expression that we're going to talk about is to be on one's own, or to be on your
own.
This means that you're doing something independently, without help, you're doing it by yourself.
So, for example, in the conversation with Brandi, most people use a realtor or a real
estate agent to sell their house.
But she said that some people try to sell their house on their own.
That means they do the marketing, they schedule all of the visits, it's just by themselves.
They do it on their own.
Before we talk about any other examples for this expression, I want you to notice the
grammar in the middle of this phrase.
We can change one word.
They did it on their own.
I did it on my own.
He did it on his own.
Notice how the subject, I, matches the word in the middle, that's going to be our possessive
pronoun.
I did it on my own.
He did it on his own.
That always needs to match, when you use this expression.
Let's talk about some other examples for this phrase.
How would you use this?
Dan: Sometimes we say, on your own, or you are
on your own.
So, if you say this to somebody else, likely you are maybe somebody's teacher.
So, if you're teaching somebody how to do something, and then you say, you're on your
own, that means now it's time for you to do it by yourself independently.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Dan: I would say, on your own, or on my own, often
is a good thing.
So, for example, sometimes we say, I'm on my own now, once you leave your parents' house.
So, if you live with your parents and they took care of all sorts of things, and then
you move out and you have your own place and you do whatever you want, you could say, I'm
on my own now.
I'm responsible.
I think sometimes though too, it could just mean alone.
I was on my own on the way to the park, walking through the woods.
But I would say maybe this is a little less common.
Vanessa: Yeah.
I think it does have this sense of independence, maybe some freedom.
As we said, for a teacher, a teacher could say this or someone who maybe is a boss telling
the employees, okay.
I have given you these skills, now you're on your own.
So, I can say this to you after you watch this English lesson, you are on your own.
That means, I have given you the tools that you need to use these expressions, but now
it's your choice.
You need to decide what to do with these expressions.
Are you going to just forget about it, or are you going to write them down, write some
sentences?
Use them with someone else in the course, this course, the Fearless Fluency Club?
A lot of people speak together.
They choose to find a Skype speaking partner or speak in a group on Zoom.
This is a great way to use these expressions.
So, after this lesson, you are on your own.
You need to be able to use this material yourself.
We've given you the tools.
All right, let's go to the original clip from the conversation with Brandi, so that you
can see how it was originally used.
Let's watch.
Brandi: So, some people try and sell on their own,
and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and then they connect with a realtor.
Some people try and sell on their own.
Dan: The next expression is, to pay out of pocket,
or out of pocket expenses.
This means that you pay for something from your personal funds, and this is almost always
in a setting like in an organization, or in a business, or insurance.
So, what comes to my mind is if you work in a company and you go on a business trip.
A lot of times the company will pay for certain things.
Maybe they'll pay for your travel, maybe they'll pay for your food.
But if you have to pay for it yourself in these situations, then you say, I had to pay
for it out of pocket.
Or maybe if you're on a business trip and you're with your clients and you buy them
drinks, but the company doesn't pay for that.
You could say, yeah.
I paid for those drinks out of pocket.
It was from my own money.
Vanessa: Yes.
Or those were an out of pocket expense.
You can imagine your own pocket or your own wallet, and that's what you're paying from.
You're not paying from the business' pocket, you're paying from your own pocket, it's out
of pocket.
And like Dan said, we often use this in a business situation.
This is really common in the US to use in an insurance situation.
So, your insurance will cover or will pay for certain things, but it might not pay for
other things.
So, for example, maybe your insurance doesn't cover birth control.
You might say, we need to pay for birth control out of pocket.
This is a very common situation, and you're talking about an organization, the insurance,
you think they should cover this but they don't.
So, you need to pay for it from your own personal money.
Dan: Yeah.
Or they may even list some things as out of pocket expenses.
So, stuff you just have to pay for yourself.
You're on your own, buddy.
Vanessa: Yep.
You're on your own.
So, I want to let you know that if you go to a bar with some friends, whenever we can
do that again, and each of you pays for your own drink, you wouldn't say I paid for my
drink out of pocket.
Dan: This is just with your friends casually.
Vanessa: Yeah.
There's not a business that's paying for most of the expenses, and then a little bit of
it you are paying for it.
We usually use this in a business situation or insurance.
There might be some other situations where there is an organization paying for most of
it, but a small percentage you need to pay out of pocket.
You don't say out of my pocket, just out of pocket.
All right.
Let's watch the original clips that you can see how it was used in the conversation with
Brandi.
Let's watch.
Brandi: So, for buyers, the buyers don't actually
have to pay anything out of pocket.
The seller pays the commission.
So, the buyers don't actually have to pay anything out pocket.
The buyers don't actually have to pay anything out of pocket.
Vanessa: The third expression that we're going to talk
about is to make a cut.
Is this talking about scissors or cutting something?
Not really.
This is a little more figurative.
Usually this means that you're receiving part of the profits, or the money from something.
So, for example, in the conversation with Brandi, when you hire a real estate agent,
you don't need to give them money immediately.
When you hire them, instead when you buy a house, they will receive a portion or part
of the total amount of the house.
So, they'll get a bigger cut if you purchase an expensive house.
They'll get more money.
If you purchase an inexpensive house, they'll get less money.
So, they receive a cut of the total price.
So, this is a part of the amount, and this is pretty typical in sales situations.
Maybe your business is like this.
If you sell a lot of products, maybe you will receive a cut.
You'll get some extra money because you sold more of those products.
Dan: Yeah.
I think this is a pretty casual expression.
It sounds casual, but we do use it in certain professional circumstances.
For example, if you sell a product online and you get a portion of the proceeds if you
sell something, then you get a cut.
We do say that.
But other times I associate this with maybe drug deals.
Vanessa: Oh.
Dan: So, if you help somebody do something shady,
like a drug deal, you get a cut of the profits or you get a cut of the drugs, something like
that.
Maybe I've watched too many TV shows, but I associate it with that as well.
But this bleeds into all society as well.
So, it's very common.
Vanessa: Yeah.
And you notice that we use, to get a cut.
You can also say, to make a cut.
Both of those verbs are perfectly fine with this expression.
Usually get in English is a little more informal, and we use this in a lot of different situations,
but you can also say, I made a cut on the sale of this expensive house, because my clients
bought an expensive house.
One situation that I want to mention that is pretty common, and because a lot of you
watch YouTube videos.
You often see people on YouTube saying, this is my favorite...
Dan: Makeup.
Vanessa: Makeup.
You should buy this makeup.
Well, this is an advertisement, and they are receiving, or they are making, or they're
getting, a cut of the profit.
So, if you purchase that makeup, they will get a percentage.
10%, 20%, 50%.
I don't know.
So, you have to, of course, trust the person.
If that person is trustworthy and you think that they really love that product, they're
not just doing it to get a cut, then it's worth buying.
You can get it, but you need to make sure that they are trustworthy, because they are
making a cut.
There is money here that's being exchanged when you per just the product from their recommendation.
They're making a cut.
All right.
Let's watch the original clip from the conversation so that you can see how to use this fun expression,
a cut.
Okay.
But in the end expectation is that that person will buy and then you'll make a cut of whatever
the price of the house is.
Expectation is that that person will buy, and then you'll make a cut of whatever the
price of the house is.
Expectation is that that person will buy, and then you'll make a cut of whatever the
price of the house is.
Dan: The next expression is lucrative, and this
means that something, or some activity, produces wealth or money.
Usually we think of this as a lot of money, so it's a polite way to say something can
make you rich.
For example, real estate.
Now, a lot of people try to do real estate and it's a lot more difficult than they expect,
and they don't make a lot of money, so it's not lucrative for them.
But if you're really good at real estate, you're really good at selling houses and you
get a large cut from these million dollar houses that you're selling, well real estate
could be very lucrative.
Or there's people who buy houses and then they fix them up, and then...
It's called flipping houses.
So, they fix it and make it better, and then sell it at a profit.
So, that can also be very lucrative, but these are tricky things in the real estate business.
Vanessa: Yeah.
It might not always be lucrative if you're not good at that business.
So, the word lucrative, like Dan mentioned, is a polite way to talk about lots of money,
because in English, at least in the US, it's not very polite to say, I can make a lot of
money with my business, I am rich.
This is very proud or uncomfortable in conversation to say that.
So, when you say lucrative, it's a much more soft way, more indirect way to say, it's possible
to make a lot of money with my job.
So, you can see, when Brandi says this word, she's a little bit uncomfortable, but she
uses that word lucrative, instead of saying, I wanted to become a real estate agent because
I wanted a lot of money.
Dan: Yeah.
Vanessa: It's more polite to say, wow.
I realized that real estate could be really lucrative if I did it really well.
So, it's a more polite way to talk about money.
I think it's understandable.
We don't want to work a job where we don't make any money.
We would like to get a job where we make more money, or what's at least required for life.
So, I think that's a good word to be able to add to your vocabulary.
All right.
Let's watch the original clip.
You can see how the word lucrative was used.
Let's watch.
Brandi: That's a lot of money.
Vanessa: It's a pretty lucrative business, especially
if you do it well.
Brandi: Yeah, I was-
Vanessa: It's a pretty lucrative business, especially
if you do it well.
It's a pretty lucrative business, especially if you do it well.
The next expression is to not have an option, or to be out of options.
This is a little bit self explanatory, and it means that you don't have a choice.
Usually it's desperate.
You've tried everything, and this is all that you have left.
So, for example, in the conversation with Brandi, she was talking about how she needed
to finish real estate school before she had her baby, because when you have a one week
old baby, you can't go to real estate school.
So, she didn't have an option.
She had to finish real estate school before she gave birth.
She didn't have an option.
Or we could say she was out of options.
She was out of options, this was the only thing that she could do.
Finish real estate school now.
Dan: Yeah.
Vanessa: It's a desperate thing that she was doing.
Dan: Yeah.
This is a figurative expression usually.
Like, sometimes you literally don't have any options at all.
But a lot of times, say if you need a new job, you might have a selection of jobs but
you really want money right now.
Or you just don't know what the future holds, so maybe there's a job you don't really want
to do, let's just say working at McDonald's, not to rip on McDonald's employees, but it's
probably not on the top of people's lists.
So, you would say, I was out of options, I had to take the job at McDonald's.
Well, maybe you did have a little bit of savings, but if you actually said that, you probably
really don't have very much money.
If you say I'm out of options, I have to do X, Y, or Z.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Dan: That means that you're pretty desperate, and
you need to get a job now.
Vanessa: Yep.
You're out of options.
Or I don't have an option, I have to do this.
It's a good way to explain yourself if someone says, why did you take that job at McDonald's?
You were working at Google last month.
That was a great job.
It was a lucrative job.
Why are you working at McDonald's now?
You might say, well, I got fired or I lost my job because I-
Dan: I blew all my money at the casino.
Vanessa: Because of the pandemic, now I'm out of options.
I have to get a job at McDonald's for the next couple months until I find something
else.
So, this kind of desperate plea.
All right.
Let's watch the original conversation so that you can see how, I don't have an option or
I'm out of options was used with Brandi.
Let's watch.
You're like, this is it.
I've got to do it now.
Brandi: I literally don't have an option.
I can't do this with a one week old baby.
I literally don't have an option.
Dan: The next expression is, a page turning, or
to turn the page.
Turning pages, anything with pages in a book, these kinds of expressions, if we're using
it in the figurative way and depending on the context, you'll understand that this means
that there was a big change in your life, or that it was very sudden.
So, for example, Brandi was talking about when she decided to become a real estate agent,
she had talked to another real estate agent, and Vanessa said that moment was a page turning.
So, that means that, oh, I'm doing this one thing, and now I'm going to change my life
completely and do something else.
It was a page turning.
But she could have also said, Brandi turned the page on that chapter in her life being
a bartender.
Now, she's a real estate agent.
Vanessa: Yeah.
We can use this in a very poetic, beautiful, figurative way, but it's a great thing to
talk about, to use when you're talking about a big event that changes your life.
Maybe getting married, having a baby, moving to a new city, changing your job or deciding
to learn English.
Maybe you could say, when I found Vanessa's lessons, it was like a page turning in my
life.
I decided that I was excited about English.
I hope that's true for you.
Or you might say, I decided to turn a page in my life and start to learn English and
enjoy it.
Instead of feeling that stress and anxiety about studying grammar, I decided to turn
a page in my life.
There is one little bonus expression I would like to add, and sometimes in these situations
we say, to turn a new leaf.
You can imagine a leaf on a tree.
We don't exactly turn a leaf over, but sometimes we use the word leaf to talk about a page.
This is an old fashioned word to talk about pages, like the leaves of the book.
We don't really use that in daily conversation anymore, but that is an old fashioned way
to talk about a page.
So, you will hear people say, I'm ready to turn a new leaf.
I'm going to leave my job and find a new career.
This is a total change.
Dan: Yes.
I was going to add that that's another way we use this.
If you say, I'm ready to turn the page, or ready to turn the leaf, this means that you
want to make the change.
So, it hasn't already happened yet.
So, maybe you just had a breakup with your boyfriend or girlfriend, and you say, I'm
just ready to turn the page on this feeling or relationship.
I'm over it.
I'm ready to move on.
Vanessa: Yes.
You can turn a new leaf and begin a new life.
Well, I hope that your journey with English is like that, that you are ready to turn a
new leaf, to turn the page on your English journey and really take a hold of your learning.
You can do it.
All right.
Let's watch the original clip from the conversation with Brandi, so that you can see how this
was used in our conversation.
Let's watch.
Wow.
So, at that time, I guess talking with Samantha must have been just like a page turning, that
this is a new career- Talking with Samantha must have been just like a page turning.
Talking with Samantha must have been just like a page turning.
The next expression is to go over one's head, or to go over my head.
We often use this expression with our hand.
It went over my head.
This means- Dan:
And you make a whooshing sound.
Vanessa: Really fast.
Whoosh.
This means that you didn't understand something, maybe it was too complicated, maybe there
was some kind of joke.
This is often used with a joke that you don't understand.
Maybe someone's speaking English and it's too fast.
If someone is speaking really fast and you just don't understand what they're talking
about, because they're just going on so quickly, and they're talking about stuff that you don't
know- Dan:
Maybe this is Vanessa.
Vanessa: Well, you might say, I didn't understand anything
Vanessa said.
It just went over my head.
We can imagine the words flying over your head.
This is a really common expression to talk about, I just didn't understand it.
Dan: Yeah.
Vanessa: It went over my head.
Dan: I usually think of this expression being used
with a joke.
So, when you're in school, people use this all the time.
So, sometimes they literally just say the joke, whoosh.
They don't even finish the expression.
So, if somebody doesn't understand, you say the joke or sometimes it's mean, if you're
making fun of somebody and they're like, what are you talking about?
You could say the joke just went right over their head, or the joke went over your head.
I guess you usually say that to other people, not that person, but anyways.
So, it's often used for a joke, other times it could be used for maybe a complex science
or math problem.
So, for me, big math problems that I did in high school, my dad would be trying to help
me with these math problems.
I could just say, yeah.
This is over my head.
These math problems are over my head, I don't understand it, it's beyond where I can reach.
Beyond my understanding.
Vanessa: That happened to me a lot too.
Both of our dads are engineers and they understand complex math problems that normal people like
us don't understand.
Dan: For some reason I was taking calculus.
I don't know why.
Vanessa: That sounds very complicated.
But even for more simple math classes, my dad would try to explain things to me too,
and so many times it just went over my head.
He tried so hard to explain it, and I'm sure he was doing a great job of explaining it,
my brain just wasn't ready to accept that information yet.
It went over my head.
So, if you're in this kind of situation where you're speaking in English with someone else,
or you're having a dinner and everyone's speaking in English, and someone says a joke and you
don't get it.
Well, if you have a friend in that group, you could say, hey.
That joke went over my head.
Can you explain it?
Or I didn't understand that joke.
It just went over my head.
You can use this expression to say, I didn't understand, I didn't get it, could you help
me?
And if you would like to understand some jokes in English, I have a couple of videos on YouTube
where I talk about some popular jokes in English, and I will try to link those for you so that
you can immerse yourself in some English humor.
All right.
Let's watch the original clip from the conversation with Brandi.
I hope that her expression will not go over your head.
I hope you'll be able to understand it.
Let's watch.
Dan: Whoosh.
Vanessa: Yes.
Not be too pushy.
Brandi: Because I think a lot of people, that goes
over their head.
They're like, so who do you know looking to buy, sell or invest in real estate?
Because I think a lot of people, that goes over their head.
Dan: The next expression is to get a feeling for
something, which we often shorten to, get a feel for something.
This means to get a sense of something, get some experience.
For example, I used to work in a coffee shop, and when you first look at an espresso machine
you just feel really confused.
You're like, how does this thing work?
You have to get a feel for it.
You have to practice on it, or explore it, look at the different buttons, watch somebody
do it.
Getting these kinds of experiences with something helps you get a feel for that thing.
In my example, the espresso machine at the coffee shop.
Vanessa: Yeah.
So, in this situation, Dan is getting a feel for a physical item.
Dan: Yeah.
Sometimes literally.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Getting a feel for the espresso machine.
But in the conversation with Brandi, I used it in a more emotional way.
So, when Dan and I were looking for a house that we wanted to buy, it felt really overwhelming.
There was just a lot of options, we felt really picky about what we wanted, and when we first
talked to Brandi, she said, all right.
Let's just check out a few houses that you think are okay.
They don't need to be perfect.
Let's get a feeling for what you like, and what you don't like, and then we can go from
there.
So, it wasn't so definite, you have to find the perfect house.
No, let's just get a feeling for what you like.
In this way, we're actually talking about our emotions, a feeling.
Let's try to see, do I like this house, do I not like this house?
What do I not like about it?
So, we're talking about our feelings.
So, in this more emotional sense, you can use, I got a feeling about the house, or I
got a feel, you can use both in this emotional sense.
But in the physical sense that Dan talked about, get a feel for the espresso machine,
we would really only use, feel.
Not a feeling.
Get a feeling for the espresso machine, that sounds like you're thinking, should I fall
in love with the espresso machine?
Do I have a feeling, an emotion?
We're not talking about emotions.
We're just talking about your experience.
Dan: Yeah.
Vanessa: And trying to learn how to use it.
Dan: Perhaps a single word that can explain this
is, test.
It's like a small test.
You're testing how you feel when you see these houses.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Dan: You're testing out the espresso machine and
feeling how it works.
Vanessa: Yeah.
So, we would say, to get a feel, or to get a feeling.
All right.
Let's watch the original clip from the conversation with Brandi, and you can see how I used it
in this positive way, talking about our first experience when we first met Brandi a long
time ago.
All right.
Let's watch the clip.
I appreciated that.
Not pushy, but let's just get a feeling for what you really want, and I think that helped
us to get the ball rolling.
Let's just get a feeling for what you really want.
The next expression is, a bunch of something.
We often pronounce this, a bunch of, a bunch of something.
It's a casual way to say a lot.
Maybe it's a little bit less than a lot.
So, in the conversation with Brandi, she says, when I get to know someone, when I first meet
a client, I ask them a bunch of questions.
Maybe there's 30 questions, maybe there's 10 questions, but she asks them a lot of questions.
Dan: I'm going to say more than three-
Vanessa: All right.
Dan's official answer is- Dan:
...a bunch.
Vanessa: ...is more than three.
Dan: Maybe four.
Vanessa: This is not a strict number.
Dan: Yes.
Vanessa: But it's the general sense that it's not a
little bit, it's not a lot, but it's just a casual way to say kind of a lot.
Dan: Yes.
That's the casual way.
I believe technically a bunch means a group of similar things.
For example, a bunch of bananas.
So, literally the bunch of bananas that you buy in the store, that's what it's called.
It's a bunch.
Vanessa: A bunch of bananas.
Dan: The group of bananas, they're all the same
thing, it's a bunch of bananas.
But again, we use this much more casually, just to mean a lot-
Dan: But again, we use this much more casually
just to mean a lot more than four.
Vanessa: Okay, more than four.
If you're going to plant a garden, like what we're doing, you might go to the plant nursery.
The plant nursery is a store that sells little tiny plants or seeds or something.
You could go to the plant nursery and say, "Whoa, there are a bunch of options.
There are a bunch of plants here.
I don't know which vegetable I should buy.
There's so many tomatoes.
There are a bunch of different tomatoes that I could buy."
We're talking about just a large quantity, usually of something in the same group, like
a bunch of plants, like Dan said, a bunch of bananas, a bunch of options.
This can be used in a lot of different ways, but it's a great word to add to your vocabulary
because we use it in conversational English all the time.
Dan: Oh, and I just remembered, sometimes we just
say bunches.
Vanessa: Oh, okay.
Can you explain that?
When would you say that?
Dan: Well, is it improper English, technically?
Vanessa: No.
Dan: It seems like the wrong way to say it, but
if you have a lot of something you can just say, "I have bunches."
Vanessa: Yeah, maybe this isn't the most proper thing
to say, but- Dan:
Yeah, it's like what kids say a lot of times.
"I have bunches of toy cars."
Vanessa: Oh, okay.
Dan: "I've got bunches."
Vanessa: Yeah, maybe if Dan asked, "How many plants
did you buy the nursery?" and I say, "Bunches," it's kind of a silly way.
Maybe that's just if you're going to use it as an adult, you use it in a joking way because
it's not perfect grammar, but you are going to use it in kind of a silly way, "Oh, I bought
bunches.
You won't believe, it's just piles of plants.
I got so many, bunches."
It could be in a joking way too.
Yeah, well, that's a fun way to add it.
All right, let's watch the original conversation so that you can see how the word a bunch of
was used.
Let's watch.
Brandi: The first thing that I do is ask them a bunch
of things, so just be ready to share with the realtor, like, "Okay, this is what I'm
looking for."
The first thing that I do is ask them a bunch of things.
Dan: The next expression is post, and we mean post
as in the prefix to some word or expression.
This means after something, usually some kind of event.
A very common way to say this is post-war.
This means after the war, so post-World War II America.
This is usually the time after the war, not when the war's going on.
Post-World War II America saw a baby boom, lots of babies were born when the soldiers
came home.
I wonder why?
But sometimes it also means this thing is still going.
For example, sometimes casually you might say, "My life post-kids has been crazy."
This means that once you had children, after that time, life got really crazy for you.
Vanessa: Yeah, you still have kids.
Dan: But it doesn't mean the kids went away, even
though you said post-kids, it just means after they were born.
Vanessa: Yeah, so this expression is a little bit vague
about whether the event is still continuing or not, because when we use this with war,
like Dan said, post-World War II, post-World War II, there was a baby boom in America,
that means definitely World War II is over.
Everyone will understand that this means World War II is finished when the baby boom happened.
But when you say, "Post-kids, my life has changed a lot," that doesn't mean my kids
are gone, my kids are finished.
It just means my kids were born and now my life is different.
A page turned when my kids were born and our life is a lot different.
We just could say in that situation, post-kids.
Now, the opposite of this is pre, "Pre-kids, we had a lot more free time."
What did I even do in my free time?
I don't even know.
Pre-kids or pre-World War II, pre some event, and that means definitely before the event.
But in the conversation we used post, we talked about post-COVID and-
Dan: This one's a little unclear, I think.
Vanessa: Yeah, because COVID is not finished, at least
when we had this conversation, COVID is not over.
Dan: Hopefully it's finished now.
Vanessa: I don't know, you're going to see this in
just a couple weeks so I'm not sure about that.
But we're talking about an event, COVID, the pandemic, that's still continuing and we are
in the middle of it.
Post-COVID the world has changed a lot, post-COVID people have moved into different areas of
the US, this is during the period of COVID, not when COVID is finished.
It's a little bit unclear, but I think that you can get a general sense that it's after
an event or after an event has started.
All right.
Let's watch the original clip from the conversation so that you can see how we used this to say
post-COVID.
Let's watch.
Brandi: But as of right now, yes, post-COVID, a lot
of people are moving from places that they disagree with their policies to places where
they agree with policies.
Post-COVID, a lot of people are moving.
Vanessa: The next expression is to duke it out.
Like you can see from Dan's example here, it means to fight.
This could be a physical fight or it could be a verbal fight where you're just arguing
about something, you're duking it out, so you're fighting with someone.
This expression has a very strange and complex origin because the phrase, to duke it out,
is very American.
It's pretty much exclusively used in the US, but the origin came from London in the UK.
As far as I remember- Dan:
I did the research.
Vanessa: ... duke is a slang word for-
Dan: Your hands.
Vanessa: ... your hands, and then it turned into to
fight, to duke it out with your hands.
It seemed a little bit complicated.
Dan: Right.
Well, it originally came from Cockney slang.
Is that what it's called?
Cockney?
Vanessa: Cockney rhyming slang.
Dan: Cockney rhyming slang.
Vanessa: Cockney is like an accent, an accent in the
UK. Dan:
They would say dukes of York for forks, but then somehow forks became your fingers, and
then somehow your duke and forks or dukes and Yorks or something became-
Vanessa: Just dukes.
Dan: ... hands and fingers.
Anyways, somehow in the end dukes became your fists, your hands.
Vanessa: It's a long historical story.
Dan: It's a strange tale.
Vanessa: Yeah, but it's quite interesting if you want
to do any research about Cockney rhyming slang.
This is a historical way of speaking in a certain area in London.
They had a certain type of slang or rhymes that they would use.
Some interesting expressions came from that type of slang, even American expressions like
this.
Dan: Yes, and I think the original thing they would
say is, "Put up your dukes."
Vanessa: Oh, okay, to fight.
Dan: Put up your dukes.
Vanessa: Put up your dukes and fight me.
Dan: But in America, somehow we turned it into
duke it out.
Vanessa: Yeah, so let's talk about some physical ways
we can use this and more figurative, verbal ways we can use this.
How- Dan:
Yeah, the most literal way is a fist fight, literally just fighting, punching each other.
That's literally duking it out.
But we often use this for verbal debate, especially one-on-one.
If you're arguing with just one person and you're yelling at them, or even in America,
we have presidential debates, you could even say that they're duking it out.
They are duking it out on TV, they're having a debate and everybody's watching.
They're adversaries, they're not friends.
Vanessa: Yeah.
They're not maybe yelling, but they are arguing, they're having this fight, so to speak, but
we can also just say, "Yeah, those two guys at the bar, they got drunk and they just duked
it out.
They just fought."
This is a very violent, physical thing.
All right, let's watch the original clip from the conversation so that you can see how duke
it out was used.
That you're going to have other people putting offers on the same house that you want, like
you fight it, duke it out.
... that you want, like you fight it, duke it out.
Dan: The next expression is an idiom and it is
upfront.
This means at the beginning, or usually telling somebody something at the beginning before
a process happens, or it means direct and honest.
They're actually similar.
I'll start with the first one.
Brandi was talking about during a real estate agreement with the owners of a house, in some
places you have to get the inspection chosen upfront.
That means, at the very beginning, you need to choose the inspector and then tell the
owners who that inspector is.
Other places, you don't have to do that, you don't have to tell them upfront who you're
going to get to inspect the house.
This is kind of a technical way she used it, but you get the idea that at the beginning,
upfront, you need to choose the inspector.
But even that one kind of has the same meaning as being upfront as in director or honest,
kind of has to do with honesty, both parties know what's going on upfront.
Vanessa: Yeah, in the very beginning you know what's
going to happen.
Actually, in the conversation with Brandi, I think it was even more specific than knowing
who's going to do the inspection, it was which inspections are you going to do.
Dan: Oh, okay.
Vanessa: You've never seen the house, you haven't looked
at it, you don't know about the problems, but you have to choose, I want the basement
inspected, I want a termite inspection, I want the roof inspected, but maybe you don't
know that there's an electrical problem and you didn't choose the electrical inspection
upfront.
Well, that's a problem because when you buy the house, if you buy the house, and there's
an electrical problem, well, that's your fault because you didn't choose the right inspections
upfront.
This means at the very beginning, but like Dan said, we often use this to mean direct
or honest communication.
For example, when you purchased this course, I hope that I was upfront with you.
I hope that it was very clear and I was direct and honest with you that this is not one-on-one
speaking lessons, you will not be booking lessons with me on Skype.
I tried to be very clear about this, that you will receive a lesson set material, these
lessons, and you'll have the chance to speak together with other members, once a month
you have a chance to speak with me, but it's kind of a different situation, this is not
one-on-one lessons.
For your sake, and for mine, I need to be up front with you.
If you are working at a business, you might say this too, it's important to be upfront
with your clients.
You need to tell them exactly what they can expect, exactly what your product is.
You need to be direct and honest.
It's that idea, at the beginning, you need to present the information, not after a while,
but you need to be upfront.
That's kind of the sentence construction here.
Dan: Right, and on the flip side, if you say somebody's
not being upfront, that means that they're hiding something, that they're not being honest.
"He's not being upfront with me.
I think he has some dirty secret."
Maybe let's say you're in a relationship with a girl or a boy, you could say, "They're not
being upfront to me.
I think they're chatting with somebody else on their phone.
Who is that?"
Vanessa: Mm, yeah.
Or maybe if you have been on a couple dates with someone and then after the first couple
dates, they pull out a cigarette and start smoking.
Dan: He was hiding that.
Vanessa: You might think, "Oh, he wasn't upfront with
me that about his smoking habit.
That would've changed how I thought about him.
He wasn't upfront with me."
Or if you want to be upfront with someone, you could say, "All right, I want to be upfront
with you and let you know that occasionally I do smoke."
Dan: "I smoke a pack a day, I drink a six-pack
of beer."
Vanessa: "Here's all of my problems."
Or you can just tell someone something that you think might be useful information to them,
"I want to be upfront with you that occasionally I do smoke.
I have some anxiety and this helps me to relieve it, but I'm working on it."
Okay, you're just telling them directly and honesty something that they might find useful
or informative.
Dan: Yeah, usually it's kind of challenging information.
Vanessa: Yeah, yeah, but it's important to be upfront
in a relationship.
I think that helps solid, healthy relationships.
All right, let's watch the original conversation so that you can see how upfront was used.
Brandi: In other states, their rules are you have
to choose what inspections you want upfront.
Vanessa: Oh, before you find out the results of the
inspections.
Brandi: Their rules are you have to choose what inspections
you want upfront.
Their rules are you have to choose what inspections you want upfront.
Vanessa: How did you enjoy that vocabulary lesson?
Now it's time for grammar, phrasal verbs.
You are going to be learning some of the most important phrasal verbs from the conversation
with Brandi so that you can use them yourself.
In the full Fearless Fluency Club phrasal verb lesson, there is an extra material section
for each phrasal verb, where I explain some movie clips, TV show clips, and song clips
that use the phrasal verbs.
This is a great way to see the phrasal verbs in real life context, but unfortunately, here
on YouTube, I can't add those clips because of copyright problems.
I'm sorry if the editing seems a little bit choppy, I had to cut off that section, but
if you join the full course, you will be able to see that part.
All right, let's get started with the phrasal verb lesson.
Dan: Welcome to the Fearless Fluency Club grammar
lesson.
Vanessa: Today, I'm here with my husband, Dan.
Dan: Hello.
Vanessa: And we're going to be talking about some phrasal
verbs that you heard in the conversation with Brandi.
These phrasal verbs are commonly used in daily conversation, so I hope that it will help
you to understand daily conversation, but also be able to integrate them into your own
speaking and daily life.
First, Dan and I are going to be explaining the phrasal verb meaning, and then we're going
to go to an extra material section.
During that extra material section, I'm going to be explaining some movie clips, TV show
clips, song clips, and also the clip from the original conversation so that you can
get a broader context for the phrasal verbs, because we often use them with a different
intonation or just a slight different look in our eyes that makes it mean something different.
You'll be able to see that in those TV and movie clips.
Let's get started with the definitions and some general ideas, and then we'll move on
to that extra material section.
Are you ready?
Dan: I'm ready.
Vanessa: Let's do it.
The first phrasal verb that we're going to talk about is, to think about.
You might think that this phrasal verb is pretty straightforward, that maybe you're
just using your head, you're thinking, but there are some nuances in this expression
that I want you to understand.
Sometimes when we use phrasal verbs in conversation, they replace textbook words.
You might have learned the word, reflect.
"Hmm, sometimes I reflect on my childhood," or, "Hmm, I need to consider all of the options,"
consider, reflect.
These are great words, but they're often a little too formal for daily conversations
so instead we often exchange words like this for a phrasal verb.
We can do that with the word, think about.
We could say, "Yesterday, I was thinking about my first experience going to the movie theater
and I can't believe my parents let me watch The Matrix when I was six years old."
Here, we can exchange reflect, "I was reflecting on my first experience at the movie theater."
This isn't true, I did not see The Matrix when I was six years old, but it's the idea
of exchanging a phrasal verb, to think about, to sound more natural and more comfortable
instead of reflect, this high level, maybe more formal type of word.
Dan: Right, or you could use it in the past tense,
I thought about it.
"I went to the movies and I was going to watch this movie with my friends, but then I thought
about all the other scary movies I watched and I thought about how scared I was."
You're kind of thinking back, reflecting on the past.
Vanessa: Yes.
We can start by thinking about this, thinking about this phrasal verb.
We use it so much.
Dan: That's the second way.
Vanessa: Yes.
In the past, I was the thinking about something, you're reflecting on something, but let's
take it to the present.
If we give a statement, a fact, like when you are in a relationship, you should think
about your partner.
Dan: Oh, what?
Vanessa: Okay.
You should consider your partner.
This is exchanging think about with a different word, consider.
I should think about Dan's perspective.
What is his experience in our relationship like?
What is his experience like?
I should think about Dan.
It doesn't mean I need to sit on the couch and think, "Oh, Dan, Dan.
I'm thinking, Dan is in my head, Dan."
No, this means I'm considering, I'm being thoughtful about his experience.
You should think about your partner.
Dan: Yeah, sometimes this is like a command or
a suggestion.
If you want somebody to think more, you could say, "Think about what you're doing."
This really makes people stop and think, "What am I doing?"
Think about what you're doing, or think about how I feel when you don't wash the dishes
at night.
We always use dishes as an example.
Vanessa: It's a very classic couple situation, right?
Dan: Right.
You're asking somebody to consider this problem or issue or anything really.
Vanessa: Yeah.
I think that this is a common type of command in close relationships, so maybe in your marriage
or with your kids, sometimes authorities will say this to someone under them.
Parents could say this to children, teachers could say this to their students, "Think about
your actions, think about what you did wrong."
Dan: Yes, and it could also be hypothetical, like,
"Think about the children."
Vanessa: Oh.
Wait, can you explain this, because this is kind of digging a little deeper.
Dan: This is almost a meme to the point of being
a joke if you say, "Think about the children."
That's like saying this thing that's happening in society, let's say you really hate a certain
kind of music and the girls are dancing like crazy and showing their stuff, well, you might
say, "Think about the children, there's children watching this."
It's kind of this whole big picture, stop and think about what you're doing.
Vanessa: Mm, sure.
Dan: But in a more hypothetical, maybe large scale
sense.
Vanessa: Yeah, yeah.
We could say, "Think about the environment.
Think about the future," these type of big ideas.
We talked about the past and the present, what about the future?
If I said to you, "I'll think about it.
I'll think about it.
I will think about it."
This is the future.
I will think about it, not now, but later.
I'll think about it.
Dan: Yeah, that expression has a lot of meaning
baked in.
If you say, "I'll think about it," sometimes this means that you're very serious, like
you actually will, but a lot of times when we say, "I'll think about it," that means
that you are just telling them yes now, but you're probably going to say no later.
This is very common to say if somebody asks you, "Oh, Sarah's having a party on Friday,
do you want to come?"
If you probably don't want to go, or yeah, you really don't want to go, it's polite to
say, "I'll think about it," but that person knows that if you don't show up, they're not
surprised.
Vanessa: Yeah, because you already didn't show strong
interest.
Dan: You're not like, "Yeah, I'll clear my schedule."
No, it's not like that.
I'll think about it.
Vanessa: Yeah.
There is an underlying tone of I don't want to be negative right now.
I don't want to say no, so instead I'll be indirect and just say, "I'll think about it."
You could be serious and say, "Okay, I'll think about it," but sometimes this also means,
"No, I've already decided no, but I don't want to tell you that directly right now."
Dan: Yeah.
I think if you want to be more serious, a lot of times if there's a problem, you might
say something like, "I'll have to think about that," or, "I'll have to think about it."
Vanessa: That's a good one.
Dan: That makes it sound a little bit stronger,
when you say, "I'll have to," just kind of a different emphasis.
Vanessa: Yeah, yeah.
Dan: A lot of it depends on your tone.
Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative), yeah.
I think that if you said, "Oh yeah, I'm having a birthday party this weekend and you're invited,
do you think you can come?"
I might say, "I'll think about it," and that means probably not, but if I said, "Oh, I'll
have to think about it," that kind of means I'm a little more serious.
Dan: You'll want to qualify it though, like, "Oh,
I'm really busy, but I'll have to think about it.
I would like to."
You'd add a lot more if you were serious.
Vanessa: Yeah.
You notice that a lot of times here, we said it, "I'll think about it."
We sometimes just leave it as that.
Instead of saying, "I'll think about if I can go to your party.
I'll think about whatever that situation might be."
Instead of repeating it and saying it, we just stick with the phrase, "I'll think about
it."
It's very clear and simple to say this.
What we are going to do next is you're going to go to an extra material section where you're
going to see a bunch of different situations that use this phrase from movies, TV shows,
songs, also the conversation with Brandi.
I hope that it will help you to dive deeper and understand the different situations so
that you can use this yourself.
Also, if someone says it to you, you invite them somewhere and they say, "I'll think about
it," you really know what they're saying.
I hope this will help you gain a deeper understanding.
All right, let's go to the extra material section.
In this extra material section about the phrasal verb, to think about, we're going to take
a look at six different clips.
Actually, it's eight clips, but three of them were going to put together.
The first one is from the conversation with Brandi, the next few are from movies or TV
shows, and the final one is from a famous song.
Let's start with the conversation with Brandi.
We were talking about how Brandi had never thought about real estate as a future career
for her.
In the conversation we said, "This is a new option for me that I didn't know existed before
or didn't think about as a path."
This is something that she didn't consider as an option for her future, because she's
talking about the present, this is just a statement, "I didn't think about that."
This is something that she didn't consider.
This is a new option for me that I didn't know existed before or didn't think about
as a path.
Brandi: Yeah, I never really thought about it.
Vanessa: Or didn't think about as a path.
Brandi: Yeah, I never really thought about it.
Vanessa: Or didn't think about as a path.
Brandi: Yeah, I never really thought about it.
Vanessa: The next phrasal verb is, to follow up.
This can also be used as an adjective or a noun, but we'll talk about that at the end
of this section.
First, we're going to talk about the more literal meaning, which isn't used as often.
We're going to be focusing on the more figurative meaning, which is more common in daily conversation.
But if I said that a famous singer, who's a famous singer, Taylor Swift, had a really
popular album, this means a bunch of songs, she had a really popular album and then she
followed that up with a less popular album.
What would that mean to you?
Dan: This sounds like it just literally means the
next thing, but usually if we say followed up with, that means it's something extra or
surprising, or maybe it's an event.
"We followed up the big party with another party at my house," so you were just having
a partying night.
This is kind of extra, if you're saying the next thing we did was something a little more
than usual, then we could use follow up.
Vanessa: Yeah, if you're just giving someone a list
of things to do, like, "To make bread, you need to put the flour in the bowl.
Then you need pour in the water," you can't say-
Dan: Then you need to follow up with sugar.
Vanessa: Yeah, you wouldn't-
Dan: No.
Vanessa: You wouldn't say it in this way because it's
not something surprising or more, it doesn't really have that sense.
When we use it in the more literal sense, to follow one event with another event, to
follow up an event, it has to be surprising or a little bit more.
That's what we mean about the literal meaning, but I want to focus more on the figurative
sense because this is the one that's used more commonly in daily conversation.
What if I said to you, "Hey, can you give Sam a call?
He never finishes his projects on time.
Can you follow up with him?"
Dan: Or you need to follow up on him even.
You might say on him in that situation, like if you're somebody's boss.
Vanessa: What does this mean in general?
Dan: It means that you need to check in on somebody.
You need to make sure that they're doing the right thing, or maybe you had told them that
you are going to talk to them later.
A lot of times, if you say, "Oh yeah, I'll get back to you on this problem or this project,"
well, then if you follow up on that, you're going to either call somebody back, a lot
of times this is used with the phone.
"I need to follow up on John and see how the project going.
Beep.
I'm following up right now."
You wouldn't say that, but that is an act of following up.
I can only think of phrasal verbs really, checking in on somebody, making sure they're
okay.
Vanessa: Yeah.
I would say that this is contacting someone to get additional or more information, at
the base that's kind of what you're doing.
You're seeing are they finished with the project, how is it going, you realize that something
should be happening or is happening and you want to contact them to get more information
about it.
What if I said, "Can you follow up with him?
Can you follow up on him?
Can you follow up on the project," or, "Let's follow up about the project?"
There are a lot of prepositions that can be used after this phrasal verb, and there's
a couple different rules- Vanessa:
... single verb.
And there's a couple different rules; they're maybe not strict rules, but conversational
rules for which preposition we use at which time.
And I know that prepositions can be really tricky for English learners.
For me, as I've been learning French, my second language, prepositions are also tricky in
French.
So maybe they are for people learning your language too.
So let's try to specify; when can you say follow up with...
Is it someone or something?
What do you think?
Dan: It could be either one.
Vanessa: Yes.
So, I'm going to follow up with the project or follow up with him.
Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
It's a little more, I'd say gentle than follow up on.
So, if you're following up on somebody, you're kind of in charge or if I'm following up on
a project, it means it's important and you need to get it done.
But if you're following up with, I think that sounds a little more gentle, like maybe you're
in a team project, or you maybe have an appointment or something.
It's just a little bit different.
Vanessa: Yeah.
And what about following up about a project?
Dan: I'd say that's used the least.
Vanessa: I think-
Dan: Like maybe if you're talking to somebody about
something at that moment, like if you're introducing something to somebody on the phone, like,
"Hey John, I just wanted to follow up about the project."
That's kind of the situation you would say about.
Vanessa: Yeah.
When you're introducing why are you calling?
Well, I'm following up about something.
And I was trying to think about why, think about, use our other phrase over, why we don't
use to follow up about in a question, because it sounds okay to say I'm following up on
the project.
It sounds okay to say I'm following up about or on the project.
But if you say, can you follow up on the project?
Great.
Can you follow up about the project feels a little bit weird.
So, the conclusion that we came to is that you can't really use follow up about something
in a question.
It's more of a statement about why you're contacting someone.
So, if I called Dan and said, "Hey, Dan, I just wanted to follow up about the project."
I just wanted to follow up about the project.
It's a statement.
It's not a question.
But if I was asking Dan to do that, I could say, "Hey, can you follow up on the project?"
"Hey, can you follow up with Sam about the project?"
So it's not really used in a question form, which is something that is maybe a little
bit tricky if you haven't thought through all of those things, that's why we're here.
I also want to talk about how we can use follow up as an adjective and as a noun.
So if I said to you, I have a followup appointment next week.
What would that mean to you?
Dan: That means that you've already had one appointment
and that you already scheduled another one.
So that means you have a followup appointment.
One that's already scheduled that's after the first one.
Vanessa: Yes.
This kind of goes back to that literal meaning of one event before another event or after
another event.
So, we can use it as an adjective, a followup appointment or you could just say, I have
a followup next week.
This is as a noun.
I have a followup.
And what we understand or what is implied in this is that there's an appointment or
a meeting, something you've already talked about that topic.
You're already talking about going to the doctor and how did your last doctor's visit
go?
And you say, oh, well, I have a followup next week.
So, I'll get more information about it.
And we know it's the doctor's appointments.
Dan: Yeah.
I would say maybe a little bit more rarely, you can even say he has a lot of follow up
or he doesn't have a lot of follow up.
People also use the expression, follow through, which kind of means the same thing.
But if you say, oh yeah, he doesn't like follow up or he doesn't have a lot of follow up-
Vanessa: As a noun.
Dan: That means that he doesn't call people back.
He doesn't finish things.
It's kind of negative things if you say he doesn't have follow up.
Vanessa: Yeah.
So, we could use it in that literal sense to say, I have a followup, I have another
appointment.
But if you're talking about someone's character and say he doesn't have a lot of follow up,
usually we use it in a negative way.
He doesn't have a lot of follow up.
It has that same sense that nothing happens afterwards.
Something should happen.
There should be some kind of conclusion to the task that he's working on, but that doesn't
happen, instead it's kind of cut short.
So, he doesn't have a lot of follow up could be a way that you could use it to describe
someone's character or personality.
And like Dan said we use this a little less frequently, but you might hear this.
So, I hope it will add to your toolbox of knowledge.
All right, let's go on to our extra material section where you'll be able to dive a little
deeper and see some other situations where to follow up is used.
Let's watch.
In this extra material section for the phrasal verb to follow up, we're going to take a look
at five different clips.
Ones from the conversation with Brandi, three are from movies and TV shows.
And the final ones from a song.
Let's start with Brandi.
Brandi was explaining that she met a real estate agent named Samantha or Sam.
And Sam told her about their job with real estate and Brandi said, all right, I'm changing
my life.
I'm going to go to real estate school, but she didn't tell Samantha about that.
And then Samantha called her and said, "Hey, how you doing?
You expressed an interest in real estate.
I wanted to follow up with you."
And Brandi explained to me that she, Sam, literally followed up while I was at real
estate school.
So, Brandi had already taken action and Sam was following up on their previous conversation.
So in our clip, we used the phrase just follow up.
She followed up while I was at real estate school.
We could have said she followed up with me while I was at real estate school or she followed
up on our previous conversation while I was at school.
She could have used something else, but she just cut that short and said she followed
up and she called her and wanted to get some more information, see how things were going.
You inspired me.
I am here now.
Brandi: She literally followed up while I was at school.
Like I was on lunch break when she happened to call.
And I was like, oh, the universe.
She literally followed up while I was at school.
Like she literally followed up while I was at school.
Vanessa: So were those phrasal verbs new for you?
Let's go on to the pronunciation lesson.
We're going to be taking an in depth look at a couple sentences that use the vocabulary
and phrasal verbs and break down the pronunciation so that you can sound more like an American
speaker and speak clearly and understandably.
During this pronunciation lesson, try to repeat out loud with me, speak out loud because it's
great to listen, but it's even more important when you shadow and imitate my voice.
So, try to do that during this pronunciation lesson, let's go.
Hi, welcome to the pronunciation lesson in the Fearless Fluency Club.
Today, we're going to be focusing on five sentences that you heard in the conversation
with Brandi.
Each of those sentences includes a vocabulary expression or a phrasal verb that we talked
about in the vocabulary or grammar lesson.
So, I hope that this will help you to remember that phrase because we'll be talking about
it a lot, but more importantly, I hope that today you will be active and imitating what
I'm saying, speaking with me, speaking out loud during this lesson, so that you can feel
more comfortable pronouncing the sounds of English.
When you hear your own voice speaking in English, it really helps you to become comfortable
with the sounds that you're making, to improve those sounds to be more clear and understandable.
So, I challenge you to take action today instead of just listening to me, speaking out loud.
I'll be asking you, please repeat with me, say this with me or say it after I have a
little pause, take some courage to do that, but you can do it.
So, let's go on to our first sentence.
You're going to be listening to a sentence from the conversation a few times and then,
we will break it down in detail so that you can really understand every sound that we're
saying and also you can say it yourself.
All right, let's listen to our first sentence.
Brandi: So, some people try and sell on their own.
And sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
And then they connect with a realtor.
Some people try and sell on their own.
Vanessa: And the phrase you heard was to be on your
own or to be on one's own, to do something by yourself.
And the original phrase that you heard was some people try and sell on their own.
Some people try and sell on their own.
Before we talk about this, I want to explain a little grammatical point that is happening
here.
She says some people try and sell on their own.
Now, we could also say some people try to sell on their own, but sometimes we add and
here after try, I'm going to try and call my friend.
I'm going to try and pass the test instead of try to pass the test, try to call my friend.
And this is in spoken English, a very common type of phrase.
We don't really write like this, try and instead of try to, but this is very common in spoken
English and it's not wrong.
So, if you want to include this as part of your conversation, that's perfectly fine,
but I don't recommend writing in a formal way, like a formal business email or in an
exam.
I don't recommend writing, try and plus a verb instead try to plus a verb, but you will
absolutely hear this in conversation just like in this clip.
And you can use it yourself in conversation.
So, let's break this down pronunciation wise, starting at the beginning.
She said some people, people.
Let's talk about this word people, what's happening to the O in this word, P-E-O, it's
just gone.
We don't say people, we need to say P, say it with me, people.
So, the final sound is P-U-L, pul, pul, people, people.
Can you say those two words with me?
Some people, some people, some people.
Let's go to the next part.
Here, we have our two verbs, try and sell, try and sell.
What's happening to the word and?
It's just getting reduced to, nn, try and try and sell, try and.
This happens all the time with the word and especially when we're listing things, for
example, zebras are black and white, black and white.
I didn't say black and white very clearly instead I reduced and to just, nn, this is
quite common.
So, do you think you can say it with me?
Yes.
Let's say it together.
Try and sell, try and sell.
It kind of sounds like the word in, in, I'm going in the store, try and sell.
So, if you need that kind of a image in your head or those words in your head that could
help as well, try and sell, try and sell, try and sell on their own, on their own.
This is the final part of our phrase.
And let's focus on the final word own, own.
What's happening to the W, own?
It's not very clear.
This word is not on, O-N, so we're not forgetting the W but we're not saying own, own with a
woo, a very clear W sound.
Instead, it needs to be own, own.
Can you say that with me?
Let's put it together in that phrase, on their own, on their own, on their own.
All right.
Do you think we can put this whole sentence together?
Let's try to emphasize the right words too.
Some people try and sell on their own, we're emphasizing, try, sell, own.
Say it with me, some people try and sell on their own.
Some people try and sell on their own.
Can you think you can say this a little bit quicker and then, I'll pause and you can say
it all by yourself.
Ready?
Some people try and sell on their own.
Okay, I'm going to pause.
And I want you to say this sentence out loud, no matter where you are in the world, my ears
will listen to you.
I will be able to hear you wherever you are.
This is teacher magic.
So, I want you to say the sentence out loud.
Some people try and sell on their own.
Go ahead.
It's your turn.
Great work.
All right.
Let's listen to the original sentence one more time or actually a couple more times,
so that you can really pick out all of the things we talked about.
Listen for the pronunciation of people, listen for try and sell, try and sell.
And then our emphasized words, try, sell, own.
Listen for that carefully when you watch this clip, let's watch.
Brandi: So, some people try and sell on their own.
And sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
And then they connect with a realtor.
Some people try and sell on their own.
Some people try and sell on their own and.
Vanessa: Did you hear people try and sell?
I hope so.
All right, let's go to our second clip where you're going to hear the phrase out of pocket.
I want you to listen for this, this expression, but I also want you to listen for the full
phrase and try to understand what's happening because we're going to break it down.
Let's watch.
Brandi: So for buyers, the buyers don't actually have
to pay anything out of pocket.
The seller pays the commission.
The buyers don't actually have to pay anything out pocket.
The buyers don't actually have to pay anything out of pocket.
The buyers don't actually have to pay anything out pocket.
Vanessa: In this clip, she said, the buyers don't actually
have to pay anything out of pocket.
There are so much pronunciation we can talk about in this short, quick sentence.
So, let's start at the beginning.
The buyers don't, listen to that negative contraction, the buyers don't, don't.
Do you hear don't that T is just gone.
This happens a lot with negative contractions that we end the word with a stopped T. This
means that your tongue is in the position of making a T, so it's flat at the top of
your mouth.
Don't, don't, but you don't let the air pass through to make the T, don't, that air is
stopped.
So instead you need to say don't, don't.
Do you think you can say that with me?
Let's say those first couple words together, the buyers don't, the buyers don't, it helps
if we link it with the next word, but the next word has a lot going on.
So, let's talk about that before we link it.
The next word is actually, actually.
Let's break this down.
There are a couple different ways that we can say, actually.
We could say it a little bit clearly like I just did, actual, with an oo, vowel, actually
or we can reduce it further, which is what's happening in the conversation, actually, actually,
actually, actually.
So, the first part is act, can you say that with me, act, act, the next is just S-H-L-Y,
shly, shly, actually, actually, actually.
Actually, I'm pretty tired today, so I'm not going to go.
Actually, it's a beautiful day.
I thought it was going to rain, but actually it's amazing.
Actually.
You think you can link this together with the first part?
Let's do it.
The buyers don't actually, the buyers don't actually, the buyers don't actually, the buyers
don't actually, the buyers don't actually, the buyers don't actually what?
Let's go to the next part.
Have to pay, have to pay.
This is an extremely common reduction have and to become havta, havta.
Can you say that with me?
Havta, havta.
I have to study English today.
I have to go outside, it's a beautiful day, havta, havta.
So, let's put that together, have to pay.
Can you say it with me?
Have to pay, have to pay.
Let's put all of it together so far, the buyers don't actually have to pay.
It's a lot to remember.
You got it.
The buyers don't actually have to pay, have to pay what?
Let's see, pay anything, pay anything.
Something a little funny is going on at the beginning of the word anything, the a, anything
is not so strong.
It's not that we cut it out completely, but that it's really linked together in such a
fast way that it almost sounds like nything, nything, pay nything, pay.
You can almost think about it like in, pay in, in like I-N, pay anything, pay anything,
pay instead of pay a, a, anything like a clear A sound.
Instead, we're going to say pay anything, pay, pay anything, pay anything.
And then we have our key phrase out of pocket, out of pocket.
I want you to listen to what is happening at end of the word out.
Listen to this, out of pocket, out of pocket.
Is it out of pocket?
No, instead this is another extremely common American pronunciation technique where a T
between two vowels is going to change to a D sound.
This is called a flap T usually because the T is changing to a D. So, we're going to link
these two words together and say out, out of pocket, out of pocket.
Can you say it with me?
Out of pocket, out of pocket, out, out of pocket.
All right, let's take a deep breath.
I'm going to try to put it all together in this whole sentence.
I want you to say it out loud with me.
Repeat with my voice.
This is called shadowing.
I'm speaking.
And you're speaking exactly with me trying to keep up.
Let's do it.
The buyers don't actually have to pay anything out of pocket.
One more time.
The buyers don't actually have to pay anything out of pocket.
You think we can speed this up a bit?
Yes.
You got it.
Let's try to speed it up and try to say it exactly with my voice.
Let's do it.
The buyers don't actually have to pay anything out of pocket.
This is also going to help us emphasize the right words.
The buyers don't actually have to pay anything out of pocket.
Can you say that with me?
The buyers don't actually have to pay anything out of pocket.
So, we're going to emphasize buyers, pay anything, and pocket.
It's a lot to remember.
You got it.
Let's say it all together.
The buyers don't actually have to pay anything out of pocket.
I want to pause.
And I want you to try to say all of this together.
Are you ready?
Go ahead.
It's your turn.
You did it.
Great work.
All right.
Let's listen to this in the original conversation.
And I want you to listen for all of the things we talked about to pay anything, or actually
or out of pocket.
Listen for those linkings and reductions in the original clip.
Let's watch.
Brandi: So for buyers, the buyers don't actually have
to pay anything out of pocket.
The seller pays the commission.
The buyers don't actually have to pay anything out pocket.
The buyers don't actually have to pay anything out of pocket.
Vanessa: Great work.
Are your pronunciation muscles warmed up?
I hope so.
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