Shadowing Practice: How to Introduce Yourself in English - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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In today's lesson, I'm going to teach you everything you need to know to start conversations with strangers,
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to meet new friends, And to introduce yourself to new people in English.
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It doesn't matter if you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced student, There will be something for you in this lesson So make sure to watch until the end.
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Now, first of all, The first words you probably learned at school or "Hi" or "Hello".
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And I'm not going to talk about those words today.
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Instead, I want to give you some very common alternatives that native speakers use in everyday conversation.
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Firstly, instead of saying hi, You could say: Hey!
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Okay, what's up?
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"How are you doing?" How's it going?
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And if you want to be even more informal, you could say Yo, that's common amongst Americans.
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Or you could say...
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Sup.
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which is obviously short for What's up?
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Again, those are very, very informal, so I wouldn't recommend using them at work or with a professor.
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On the more formal side of things, we have phrases like Good morning.
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Good afternoon.
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or "Good evening." Okay, those are standard phrases.
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Native speakers don't Always use them in everyday casual conversation.
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especially good evening, good afternoon, those are a bit more formal but we're totally fine to use in any situation.
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So those are the basic greetings.
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We have an English.
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Now obviously if you meet somebody, you want to ask them what their name is.
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and be very careful.
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In English, we don't say How are you called?
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How are you called?
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That's completely...
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Wrong.
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I know in a lot of languages that's how you would create this Sentence is how you would structure it.
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But in English we say "What is your name?" What is your name?
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or if we're putting it together when we speak quickly we would say What's your name?
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"What's your name?" The only correct response would be: My name is.
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Or again, if we shorten it, my names.
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For example, my name's Michael.
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What's your name?
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Now, if you have a nickname, A nickname is another name that is not your official name, But...
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it's what you like to be called You can say: My name's Michael.
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but I go by Mike For example, I go by Mike.
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Or you could say, my name is Michael.
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But I prefer to be called Mike.
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I prefer to be called Mike. So, You've introduced yourself.
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you've asked the other person what their name is, You can also say: "Pleasure to meet you !" Pleasure to meet you.
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Nice to meet you.
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Great to meet you.
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And if you want to be really formal, you could say, "It's an honor." to meet you.
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I can't really think of too many situations when you would use this Maybe if you met the president or somebody influential,
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you could say it's an honor or a privilege.
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to meet you.
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Thank you.
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And if you want to be really, really polite, If somebody says this to you, They say, It's a pleasure to meet you.
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You could say, The pleasure is mine.
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Again, that's really formal.
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It's not super common, but it's Very diplomatic.
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as we would say.
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Of course, you can ask the question, where are you from?
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Or where are you originally? from.
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to which the answer is obviously I'm from this city or this country, I'm originally from this city, or this country.
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but you could also answer in a bit more detail you could say: I was born in or I'm from,
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I'm originally from, such and such city, But I grew up in...
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a different place.
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or I lived for several years in Another place.
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And I have been living here four three months, six months, one year, whatever.
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Now, I have been living here is the present Perfect.
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Continuous.
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Okay.
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I have been living here.
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It means you moved in the past.
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but you are still living here.
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Now.
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I have been living here for three years or since 2021.
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We use "for" for duration.
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and sense for the starting point.
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2021. Of course, if you want to ask somebody, why they're here in this specific place.
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Maybe that's a city, a country, or Just...
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the meeting, the event, or the party, you could say: "What brings you here?" What brings you here?
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And to answer that question, you could say: "I'm here because..." I know...
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the host, because I'm studying because I'm working,
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etc, etc, etc. we have this phenomenon in English.
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I'm sure it exists in other languages too.
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It's called Smalltalk.
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small Talk.
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Now a lot of native speakers hate Smalltalk I don't like it too much either.
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but we just accept it because it's so important to to meet new people.
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You have to be good at small talk.
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Small talk is just casual conversation, It's not too deep.
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It's not too heavy.
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It's quite basic.
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That's...
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maybe talking about the weather, talking about...
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what's happening around you in the situation.
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We use Smalltalk to Break the ice.
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to break the ice.
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That means to get into a deeper conversation or to get to know somebody a bit better.
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Now, a classic Small talk.
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Example would be talking about the weather.
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For example, you could comment on what's happening outside.
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You could say: It's a lovely day today.
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Isn't it?
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or it's a miserable day to day.
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isn't it?
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That's a very...
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natural way of talking about the weather.
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You could say, We've had great weather lately.
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or we've not had great weather lately.
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Now you can talk about the weather if you want, but as I said, Maybe you want to be a bit more personal.
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So you can ask some questions about the other person's life.
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Now, one common question that a lot of people like to ask is,
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"What do you do for work?" Or what do you do for a living.
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Be careful, we don't say what's your job.
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Doesn't sound natural.
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We say, "What do you do for work?" Or what do you do for a living.
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So, I say you have to be careful with this question because in some places and in some communities it's considered rude.
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It's considered a bit too invasive Personally, I don't see any problem with it.
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But just so you know, you might want to be a bit cautious with this question.
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And definitely do not ask anybody how much money they make.
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That's a big no -no. You can ask somebody what they do for Work.
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But if they ask you, what you do for work,
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You could say: I work as a... and then your occupation.
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I have been working as a Blank.
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four x amount of years or x amount of months Or you could say, currently, I'm...
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Looking for a job.
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Currently I'm studying.
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Currently, I am retired.
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Okay, there are lots of different things.
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You could say Apart from work, you can also talk about somebody's interests.
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Maybe you're at a party, maybe you're at a social event.
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you might want to connect with somebody on a bit of a deeper level.
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Now obviously you can say what do you do in your free time, or what are your hobbies, That's totally okay.
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But, You can also say What are you passionate about?
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What are you interested in? at the moment.
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Or how do you like to spend your free time.
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So these are all alternatives that sound a bit more...
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complex, they sound a bit more elegant perhaps.
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But of course there's nothing wrong with
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what do you do in your free time or what do you like to do as a hobby.
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Thank you.
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Now, If somebody asks you,
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this question: You could say: I'm passionate about x, y, z.
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I like to surf, I like to ski.
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I like to read books.
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Okay?
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I'm interested in something I'm interested in something.
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Careful.
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It's always in.
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It's never on or at or into.
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It's always interested in something.
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For example, I'm interested in...
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I'm interested in playing, Piano?
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Thank you.
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Those are also...
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great alternatives.
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And lastly, if you are a guest, at somebody's house.
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or you're a guest, you've been invited to a meeting to a conference,
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and you're talking to somebody who invited you or who is hosting you, then you should say thank you so much.
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for having me.
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Thank you so much.
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for having me.
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Of course, you could also say "thank you for the invitation" Thank you four inviting me,
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But it sounds very natural to say thank you for having me.
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We've learned some phrases you can use to introduce yourself, to ask a few basic questions about other people.
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and of course to share a bit more about yourself.
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But, At the end of the day, Probably the most important thing is confidence.
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When you're meeting somebody new, especially in American culture, in British culture too as well.
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But I'm sure you're aware that confidence is a big thing in the United States.
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It's important to smile, it's important to be open, it's important to have Open body language.
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So don't cross your arms.
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Keep them open like this.
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Even if you don't feel confident inside, even if you feel shy, even if you feel anxious socially,
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it's really, really important to at least try to fake it,
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to try to make an effort to be sociable even if you don't feel fully confident with your English.
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Now I want you to memorize the phrases we learned today There are other things you can say, If you have any ideas or you have any things you would like to add,
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then feel free to leave them in the comments below.
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I'm looking forward to reading them.
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If you want to improve your English with me this year, then make sure to subscribe to English at the Ready here on YouTube, and click the link down in the description below.
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to learn more about how I can help you improve your English.
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If you liked the lesson, if you found it useful, make sure to leave a like.
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and I'll see you in the next video.
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Bye for now.
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Mastering Self-Introductions: A Real-Life English Scenario
Imagine walking into a café, a work conference, or a friend’s party and meeting someone new. The ability to introduce yourself confidently in English can turn strangers into friends or colleagues. The video breaks down this common scenario, teaching you natural phrases that go beyond basic "hi" and "hello" to help you sound like a fluent speaker. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refine your skills, these tips will make your introductions feel authentic and memorable.
Essential Chunks & Collocations to Memorize
- Casual greetings: "Hey!", "What's up?", "How's it going?" (Avoid "Yo" or "Sup" in formal settings like work or with professors.)
- Asking names correctly: "What's your name?" (Never "How are you called?") and responses like "My name's [Name], but I go by [Nickname]" or "I prefer to be called [Nickname]".
- Polite follow-ups: "Pleasure to meet you", "Nice to meet you", or the formal "It's an honor to meet you" (use with influential people).
- Responding to politeness: "The pleasure is mine" (a sophisticated reply when someone says "Pleasure to meet you").
Your Shadowing Challenge: Practice Like a Pro
To master these phrases, try the shadowing technique—a proven method to improve English pronunciation and fluency. Here’s how: Watch the video segment where the speaker demonstrates the greetings and introductions. Pause the video, then repeat the phrases immediately after, mimicking the tone, speed, and intonation. Do this 5-10 times for each chunk. Focus on "shadowspeaks"—matching the speaker’s rhythm to make your speech sound natural. This exercise trains your mouth and brain to produce English sounds correctly, turning memorized phrases into automatic responses. For extra practice, record yourself and compare it to the video—you’ll notice a difference in just a few days! Learning English with YouTube has never been more effective when you pair it with active shadowing.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | have been living · have been working |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be called · was born · you've been invited |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | You've introduced · you've asked · you've been invited |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might want |
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.