Shadowing Practice: 19 Phrases Native English Speakers Use Every Day - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Are you ready to take it up a notch?

Let's go down the rabbit hole.

It's not the end of the world.

These phrases are the natural ones that English speakers like myself use in their everyday English conversations.

If you want to be an advanced speaker,

you need to widen your vocabulary.

And today's lesson is perfect because I'll teach you the phrases that English speakers use every day in their advanced conversations.

Let's get started with this lesson.

Make sure to check out the link below at englishwithkayla.com.

If you join my membership,

become one of my students,

you'll learn more about these phrases and many more,

and you'll be able to join the community there as well.

Let's get started.

Some phrases that will come up in your everyday life are ways to agree or show that you understand.

And of course, you can always just say,

I agree or I understand,

but let's widen your vocabulary so that you can sound more advanced

when you're speaking and feel like you can truly express yourself.

Let's see if you're already using this first phrase.

The first phrase is, that's a good point.

That's a good point.

Oh, that's a good point.

That's a good point.

So you're complimenting someone and you're agreeing with the idea that they just said.

So native speakers use this phrase without even thinking about it.

Let me give you an example.

Maybe your friend says, we should leave a little early because of traffic.

And you say, that's a good point.

You're complimenting their thinking and they're planning ahead here.

and you're agreeing with the point that they brought up, that there's traffic.

A lot of times native speakers will just throw on the word actually to this phrase as well.

I'll say, that's a good point actually.

Meaning like, I really didn't think of this.

I'm surprised, you know, to hear this good point.

And it's not supposed to be insulting.

Like, I'm surprised you came up with a good point.

It's just, I'm surprised I didn't think of this idea.

Like, actually, we should be thinking about this.

Maybe you guys are talking about buying a new appliance for your house.

It gets kind of expensive.

You're buying either a washer or a dryer or a refrigerator or a new stove.

And you want to buy the cheaper one,

but maybe your husband or your roommate or whoever says,

we should probably spend a little bit more money so it doesn't break right away.

And you'll say, that's a good point.

This next phrase, it can be used when you totally agree with something or if you kind of disagree,

but you don't want to argue the phrase is fair enough.

Maybe your friend says, you know,

I'm really tired and I want to stay in tonight.

I don't want to go out.

You'll say, yeah, fair enough.

Meaning you're not going to argue with what they're saying,

but your tone here is like,

oh, I wish you wanted to go out with me because I was wanting to have some fun outside the house.

But you're like, fair enough.

I'm not going to argue with you because you're saying you're tired.

Or you might say, oh, fair enough.

Yeah, I'm so tired as well.

So it could be like,

you're kind of disagreeing, but you're like,

that's fine or you're like oh yes fair enough it's fair

because i'm tired too

so it can mean you're totally agreeing as well an interesting

phrase in english is someone says that's not a bad idea

not a bad idea now you think of this phrase bad idea as being negative

but it's actually positive it's saying like that's good thinking and a lot of times it means that's good planning

maybe someone says i'm actually going to bring an extra jacket

because it's really cold out and it it seems to be getting colder.

You might say, that's not a bad idea.

Meaning I should probably think of that too because it is getting colder.

You're saying it's a good idea by saying it's not a bad idea.

So it's kind of a funny way to say something is good.

Maybe you and your spouse,

your husband or wife say,

we should order out pizza tonight.

It sounds delicious.

And you might say, that's not a bad idea.

It's like a positive expression here.

You're saying, yeah, that sounds really good i agree

so not a bad idea it means i agree that's a good thought

or a good idea now

that we've talked about some agreeing phrases let's talk about some ways to softly disagree in english very polite

so you might say i'm not so sure about that i'm not

so sure about that i'm not so sure about

that this is a soft disagreement so you might be expressing your doubt about a plan or someone's idea or opinion.

And you might have something to say,

you know, in contrast to what they're saying.

Someone might say that restaurant is the best in town.

You might say, I'm not so sure about that.

I really like this place.

So you're not being super confrontational.

You're saying, you know, that's your opinion,

but I'm not so sure about that.

I have a different opinion.

Or maybe your friend says,

it's definitely going to rain today.

You might say, I'm not so sure about that.

I just checked the weather.

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So you're kind of disagreeing with them without being like, you're wrong.

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It's a soft, polite disagreement.

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I'm not so sure about that.

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Another phrase that's pretty similar to this one,

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but you're saying that someone is exaggerating

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or you know embellishing whatever they're saying is you say i wouldn't go

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that far i wouldn't go that far i wouldn't go

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that far so it's kind of pushing back on someone's point

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or idea but not arguing directly again you're not saying like oh you're totally wrong

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or you're being dramatic you're saying oh i wouldn't go

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that far maybe you see a movie with your friend

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and they say that was the greatest movie i've ever seen you might say well i wouldn't go

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that far but it was pretty good

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meaning like that's kind of dramatic it's definitely not the greatest movie

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but it's it's you know pretty good maybe your friend says

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i have the worst boss in the world you might say well i wouldn't go

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that far it doesn't sound like they're too bad

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so it's kind of you know responding to someone's criticism

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or something

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that they say that's kind of extreme by saying you know

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i disagree you need to kind of check reality here

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when you want to kind of disagree with someone because you're kind of thinking about both sides of the argument or both,

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you know, perspectives.

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You can say to be fair,

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to be fair, to be fair.

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It's showing that you're kind of balanced and you're not being too harsh.

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Maybe someone says, oh, they're always late.

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They're even late today.

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You might say, well, to be fair,

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traffic is really bad today.

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Meaning, you know, I'm not blaming them just as a person.

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Like there are other factors as to why they could be late, especially today.

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To be fair.

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As someone who used to work as a waitress,

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you know, if someone's criticizing the service at a restaurant,

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I'm always like, to be fair,

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it's a really hard job.

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So I'm kind of weighing out the other perspective.

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I'm saying, you know, don't be so harsh.

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We're going to talk about making decisions now.

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One of the most common phrases that I use when I'm trying to be agreeable and let the other person decide is,

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it's up to you.

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It's up to you.

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It's up to you.

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Someone might say, do you want Chinese food

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or do you want to get pizza? you might say it's up to you

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that means you decide it's your decision you might be explaining a process to someone

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and during that process you might say and then it's up to you

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which one you want so you'll you're saying this to mean

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that it's their decision

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and it's the most natural way to say this a really natural way to say

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that you agree with someone's plan is to say

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that works for me that works for me or

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if they make a suggestion you might say

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that works for me instead of saying yes or saying i agree

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that works that works for me this is a really friendly way to confirm plans

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and just to be agreeable

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and to go along with what they want to do someone might say let's meet at 6 p.m you'll say

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that works for me sometimes if someone asks us a question

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that doesn't have a really clear answer the answer kind of

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changes depending on the situation you might say it depends

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that depends it depends someone says do you like working from home you might say it depends

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and it means it depends on you know what you're doing what the day's like whatever

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or someone might say should we drive

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or should we fly you might say it depends on the

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cost of the ticket you know you're kind of saying it

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depends there's no clear answer i don't have a desire here

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and a lot of times instead of just saying it depends

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we might say it depends on it depends on the cost

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if you want to reassure someone

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or just kind of reduce their stress make them feel better

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in English these next phrases will help the first one is

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no rush no rush no rush at all whenever I'm in a situation where I'm at a store

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or you know I'm at a restaurant and I ask for something

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that you know it's kind of a burden for the person and I'm just trying to be friendly I might say,

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oh, there's no rush, no rush.

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That means I'm not in a hurry.

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Like I'm not going to be mad if you take extra time.

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And sometimes I'm saying this because I want the person to do a good job and not feel stressed out,

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not feel like I'm going to be angry.

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Oh, no rush.

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Someone at work might say,

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I'll send you the report right away.

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And you might say, no rush, take your time.

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So this is a really friendly phrase.

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It just shows that you have patience.

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Another phrase like this to show,

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you a problem or mistake doesn't stress you out and it's not super serious,

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is to say, oh,

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it's not the end of the world it's not the end

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of the world it's not the end of the world again

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if i'm at a restaurant

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and their service says i apologize we ran out of this food

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that you asked for i'll say oh it's not the end

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of the world i'll just get this instead this just means like no problem

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or you might be at work in the same situation someone

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says i'll try to get you this report by the end

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of the day you'll say well it's not at the end of the world

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if you don't get it today just try to get it

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tomorrow meaning it's not a big problem it's not super serious

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like don't stress over it it's not like a huge problem like the end of the world

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and of course is a really dramatic phrase talking about the end of the world

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but it's really really commonly used in english i find myself

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saying this phrase to my kids all of the time

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when they're worried about things

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when they're thinking about small problems i say don't worry it's

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not the end of the world we can figure it out

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if this doesn't work and it's reassuring to them

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when we want to comfort someone about a problem maybe they're

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saying you know they have to do a lot of work

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or something's going to cost a lot of money

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and we want to say you know even though it costs a lot of money or costs a lot of effort

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it's going to be good in the end we say it's

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worth it it's worth it it's worth it a lot of times me

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and my husband we will spend money on our kids doing like certain activities

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and they cost a lot lot of money or they cost more money than we wish that they cost,

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we'll say, ah, it's worth it.

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It's worth it to see them happy.

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So, you know, there's a lot of situations in life like this,

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or just when something is taking a lot of time and a lot of work,

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like finishing your degree from university,

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you might say, it's going to be worth it.

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It's worth it.

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Sometimes we use this phrase by saying it's worth it in the end,

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meaning the result is worth the cost or effort.

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Let's talk about some more phrases that are going to help you think about different things.

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You know, think about things that make sense.

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Logic.

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The first phrase is, it just makes sense.

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It just makes sense.

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Okay, why do English speakers say,

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just makes sense, instead of just saying, it makes sense?

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Sometimes we do say it makes sense,

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but when we're saying, it just makes sense,

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we're kind of emphasizing, it's very logical, it's a good decision.

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So someone might say, I invested my money really early in life,

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you know, I made a lot of sacrifices.

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You might say, it just makes sense to do that,

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meaning it's a really good decision.

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Or you might say, it just makes sense to leave early because traffic's going to be bad.

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You're saying like, it makes a lot of logical sense.

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It's a really good idea.

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So you're emphasizing with this phrase that comes really natural to English speakers,

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but you can try out this phrase as well.

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If you want to compliment someone's thinking

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or just say it's really logical it's a great idea

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when you want to tell someone that a certain idea

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that they have or something that they want to do could be good

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and it really has no negative effects or downside as we say in English we say it couldn't hurt

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couldn't hurt so someone says I like my job

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but I'm thinking about applying to other jobs

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so maybe I can get paid more you could say well

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it couldn't hurt meaning there's no downside to applying for more jobs

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because you know it can't really hurt you in the long

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run something my mom says is it can't hurt to ask for a discount

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so if you're at a store

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and you're buying a product you might say oh is there any discounts available

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or are there any coupons it can't hurt to just ask like they're not going to penalize you

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or make you pay more just because you ask

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and a lot of times people will give you a discount just

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because you asked for one

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so there's no downside to asking for a discount it couldn't hurt a lot of times

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if you're giving advice if someone asks you know should i do this

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and you think that there's no downside to doing it

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and you're just kind of positively saying yeah you can do

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that like it's encouraging you say yeah couldn't hurt the next phrases

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that i'm going to go over are really good for giving advice

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so the first one is cut someone some slack

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or to cut someone slack cut her some slack okay so the phrase means you need to be more

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forgiving to someone or less critical because of the circumstances of the situation.

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For instance, if someone makes a mistake and,

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you know, they just started the job or,

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you know, they have a really difficult job,

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there's a lot of things going on.

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Instead of, you know, criticizing them,

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you say, I'm just going to cut you some slack.

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This means I'm going to be forgiving.

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Or if someone's being harsh on the person that made the mistake,

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you might say, just cut them some slack.

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This means be forgiving, you know,

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try to understand the situation.

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You might say hey cut me some slack today i'm having a really hard day

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and i'm really tired this just means be forgiving

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because i'm probably going to make mistakes

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or not do as well as i normally do a great phrase

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that has been on my list to teach for a long

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time is read the room read the room this is

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so commonly said in english it just means pay attention to how people are feeling in a situation

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or understand the vibe or the feelings

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that are going on you know commonly now english speakers will say like what's the vibe

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but we also say like we need to read the room meaning

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if everybody you know in the room is really sad

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because they just lost a family member

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or something you don't want to go into that room or

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that social situation all happy and jolly

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and saying like oh we should go out for drinks

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or whatever it might be

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because you need to read the room you know everyone's kind of grieving

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or having sadness same situation like if everyone's very serious hard at work

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and you come in

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and you're saying oh let's take a break let's go out

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for lunch it's like read the room we're all working really hard right now

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so it's like understand the social situation

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and this is kind of harsh to say to someone

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so just be careful with it

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if you say hey can you read the room right now

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it doesn't mean the literal room it just means the social context in the situation another phrase

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that i've been really wanting to teach for a while is to go down the rabbit hole.

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You can't go down that rabbit hole again.

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Do you know what this means?

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It comes from, I believe,

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the story of Alice in Wonderland when she follows the Mad Hatter rabbit down the hole and everything gets really crazy.

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When we talk about spending time researching or thinking about something a lot and you're getting really deep into it,

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we say, oh, I went down the rabbit hole.

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So maybe you're on TikTok or on social media,

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Instagram, And you start watching a lot of videos about a certain topic.

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Maybe it's a topic about politics.

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Maybe it's conspiratorial.

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Maybe it's something just so random.

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Maybe you're looking at people who enjoy carving things into soap.

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And you watch videos about it for a long time.

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And you start reading about it.

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You can say, I really went down the rabbit hole.

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It just means you got really deep into researching or thinking about it.

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It's really common to use this phrase on the internet especially just because there's so many videos,

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short form videos that we can watch and we tend to get really absorbed in a certain topic.

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Let's talk about some phrases that are motivational.

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Take it up a notch.

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I'm going to take it up a notch.

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I really like this phrase when we're talking about increasing the difficulty or the intensity of something.

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So maybe I'm running and I'm trying to,

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you know, improve my time.

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I might say I'm going to take it up a notch and I'm going to start running faster.

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So you're just increasing the intensity or increasing the effort.

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A lot of times in sports,

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coaches will use this phrase to encourage their players to try harder,

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to play harder, or you can just even use this in professional context.

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Like we did a great job,

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but let's try to take it up a notch.

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You're trying to motivate people and say like work harder or perform better with this phrase.

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And finally, the last phrase of today's lesson is to get your act together.

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You got to get your act together.

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You might have never heard an English speaker say this,

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so pay attention really closely.

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It means you're telling someone that they need to start behaving responsibly.

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I really need to get my act together.

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This just means I need to stop making so many mistakes and start being more prepared.

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A lot of times we tell young adults,

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you know, after college, you know,

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you can't keep partying and going out.

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You really need to get your act together.

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This just means they need to start acting more responsible and start thinking about their long-term goals.

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So be careful with this phrase.

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It's slightly critical of someone's actions,

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but sometimes we say it about ourselves.

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I say it about myself all the time,

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especially if I'm not prepared.

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I say, oh, I just need to get my act together today.

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This just means like I need to prepare.

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I need to sit down and kind of like plan out what's going on

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because I'm either missing things or like just not getting much done.

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If you're ready to get your act together and learn more English with me,

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make sure to look at the links below this lesson and visit englishwithkayla.com to join my English membership.

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We'll take it up a notch.

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We'll increase your vocabulary.

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We'll go deeper into these lessons.

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We'll go down the rabbit hole of English,

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and I think that you'll enjoy being a part of the membership in the community there.

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I'll see you guys in the next lesson.

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Make sure you subscribe for more weekly English lessons,

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and thanks again for watching.

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Goodbye!

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What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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Shadowing Practice: 19 Phrases Native English Speakers Use Every Day - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Shadowing Practice: 19 Phrases Native English Speakers Use Every Day - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Context & Background

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

What is the Shadowing Technique?