Shadowing Practice: Introduce Yourself in English in 30 Minutes - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Hi everybody, my name is Alicia and welcome back to Top Words.

Today's topic is 10 lines you need for introducing yourself.

So let's go!

Hello, it's nice to meet you.

You can only use this the first time that you meet someone.

If you say this to somebody after you have met them already, you're going to seem either A, like you've completely forgotten meeting them,

or be like you are a very strange person for saying it's nice to meet you again.

So when you use this the first time you can shake hands with someone and say, Hello, it's nice to meet you.

My name is...

The next phrase is, my name is blah blah blah.

In my case, my name is Alicia.

You can use this again when you're introducing yourself or if you need to reintroduce yourself you can use this pattern.

When you meet somebody at a party for example, you can say, my name is blah blah blah.

My name is Barbara.

My name is...

Stevens.

You can shorten this.

You can say my names.

My names blah blah blah.

I'm from...

After you've said your name, after you've shaken hands, you can say I'm from the US.

I'm from Japan.

I'm from Turkey.

I'm from your mom's house.

I'm from...

I'm from a cave in Southern Europe.

I'm from your country or I'm from your city.

I'm from the future!

Wow, wow.

I have to go!

I live in, I live in blah blah blah.

You can use your city, you can use your country, you can use even maybe if you live near a certain station, you can use the name of the station where you live.

So for example, I live in America is fine, I live in Los Angeles is fine, I live in New York is fine.

So your neighborhood is fine is fine.

If someone says, where do you live?

And you say, I live in an apartment.

It's like, what?

So please use your, the region or the location where you live, not the type of place where you live.

I'm a.

If you hear the question, what do you do?

It's asking about your job.

In English, people don't say, what is your job?

That's not the question that we ask.

Instead, the question is, what do you do?

And the correct response to that is, I'm a or I'm an, blah, blah blah followed by your job title.

So if someone says, what do you do?

You can say, I'm a teacher.

What do you do?

I'm an engineer.

What do you do?

I'm a donut shop tester.

I'm years old.

When someone asks, how old are you?

You can say, I'm blah blah blah years old.

Don't forget the S at the end of this.

If you like, you can shorten this phrase to just I'm plus your age.

So I'm I'm 65.

I'm 13.

Whatever.

I'm this many.

Sometimes children will say that.

How old are you?

They'll say I'm this many.

It's kind of cute.

First time you meet someone you might not ask how old are you.

If it's in a friendly case like a party after you've spoken to the person a little bit, it's okay.

But just try to be sensitive to the context.

Try to be sensitive to the people around you.

And if you sense that maybe there's a very large age gap between you, it might be better just not to ask the question at all.

I enjoy.

Many of my students say, what is your hobby?

But that's not something that native speakers will say.

No native speakers say, what is your hobby?

Instead we ask, what do you like to do?

Or what do you do in your free time?

This is a much more natural question than what's your hobby?

The answer to this then is I enjoy or I like plus a noun phrase.

So for example, what do you like to do?

I like listening to music or I enjoy listening to music.

What do you do in your free time?

I like watching movies.

What do you do in your free time?

I like baking cakes.

What do you do in your free time?

I enjoy tap dancing.

What do you do in your free time?

I enjoy making new friends.

Aww.

One of my hobbies is...

One of my hobbies is.. blah blah blah.

With this one it's probably better to use a short, easily, or easy to understand hobby.

If you're explaining a hobby, people are going to expect that it's going to be something that they know about.

Like photography, or cooking, or dancing, or swimming, or whatever.

So try to pick something that will allow you to continue the conversation.

That's why movies, or cooking, or books, or you know, sports are a good thing to share.

One of my hobbies is snowboarding.

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I've been learning English for...

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If you are learning English, if you're studying English, you can use this expression.

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If someone asks you, how long have you been studying English, you can say, I've been studying English for...

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amount of time.

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Or, I've been learning English, or I've been practicing English, or I've been speaking English for.. a certain amount of time.

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I've been studying English since elementary school is also okay to use.

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I've been studying English since I was in college.

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Just be careful, for is used for a length of time

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and since is used for a specific point in time at which you started something.

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So you can try and mix it up and use a few different expressions there.

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So I've been learning English for a long time.

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I'm still learning English.

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You should do that too.

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Okay, I'm learning English at EnglishClass101.com.

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This probably could be used in response to where did you learn English

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or where are you studying English or how are you studying English can respond with,

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I'm learning English at EnglishClass101.com or I'm learning English at my school,

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I'm learning English at my private teacher's house, for example.

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So a little bit of grammar in this sentence.

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Why do we use the progressive tense, I'm learning English?

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If you say I'm learning, it sounds like you're still continuing your studies.

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If you say I learned English at EnglishClass101.com, it sounds like you're finished.

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Like you're finished studying, there's nothing else for you to study, so you're done.

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So it's much, much more natural to actually use the progressive, I'm learning or I'm studying when you're talking about your studies, when you're talking about your hobbies,

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than it is to say, I learned or I studied.

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End, end, end, end.

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So those were 10 lines that you need to introduce yourself

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and to help give the other person a little bit of information and carry the conversation forward.

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So please try them, please go crazy with them, make them your own.

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Thanks very much for joining us for this episode of Top Words and we'll see you again soon.

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Bye!

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I'm from your neighbor's doghouse.

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Fish?

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Glub, glub!

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Oh yes, I like to go spelunking in North Africa every summer.

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Welcome to EnglishClass101.com's English in 3 Minutes, the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn English.

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Hey everyone, I'm Alisha.

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In this series, we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English.

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It's really useful and it only takes three minutes.

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In this lesson, you're going to learn how to ask a really basic question in a polite but natural way.

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How old are you?

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In your English textbook, one of the first lessons may have been how to ask someone's age by saying just, How old are you?

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However, in many English language cultures, asking an adult's age directly, particularly a woman's age, is not polite.

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If you suddenly ask, how old are you, to someone you've just met,

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they'll understand you, but they might not be too happy about answering such a blunt and direct question.

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So, how do you find out someone's age without offending them?

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You just add a magic phrase to the beginning of the question.

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This phrase is, Do you mind me asking?

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This is an incredibly useful phrase that you should definitely memorize.

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It comes in handy whenever you want to ask a question

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that may be a little personal or come across as a little too direct.

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Native speakers of English use it all the time.

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So the full question would be, Do you mind me asking how old you are?

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Be sure to pay attention to the word order of this sentence.

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Rather than, Do you mind me asking how old are you?

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It's, Do you mind me asking how old you are?

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The answer to this can be simple.

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I'm 25 years old.

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Or just, I'm 25.

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Or, it can be a little more detailed.

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If you've just had a birthday, you can say, I've just turned 25.

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Or, if you're about to have a birthday, you can say, I'll turn 25 this month.

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Or, I'll turn 25 in July.

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It's more natural here not to give your exact birthday, like July the 9th, but just the month.

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So again, to turn this question back on the asker and find out his or her age, All you have to do is use that other magic phrase we introduced in previous lessons,

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how about you?

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Here it's okay not to worry about being polite since the other person asked you the question first.

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Now it's time for Alicia's advice.

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We mentioned that asking someone's age might not be polite, but if you do decide to ask this question, here's another tip.

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Some people like to reply with another question.

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How old do you think I am? Be careful.

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If you say an age that's older than the person's true age, they might be very offended.

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So it's always safer to say a number lower than what you actually think.

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So if you think the person looks 40, say 35 and see how happy they look.

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See you next time!

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Want to speak real English from your first lesson?

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Welcome back to English Topics.

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My name is Alicia and I'm joined by… Davey.

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Hi Davey.

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So today our topic is going to be how to start a conversation in English.

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So both of us have tried to prepare a few tips

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that might help you as you try to start conversations in your English language studies.

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So let's begin.

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Do you want to start first again?

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I'll start.

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I'll start.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Go first.

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We're giving tips on how to start a conversation.

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I will start today.

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My first tip, very important, I'm trying to follow myself right now, don't be shy.

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Very important tip.

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This isn't really so much a language learning tip.

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Well, it doesn't seem like a language learning tip, but I think it really is because whenever you communicate in a second language or a foreign language,

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it can be really nerve-wracking.

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It can make you very nervous and very anxious to try and do that, especially if you're talking to someone for the first time.

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And so the first thing is just to remind yourself

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that it's not a big deal and to not be shy and be confident.

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And if you can maintain that attitude as you begin to talk to someone, it will be much easier, I think.

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I agree.

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I agree.

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Or even like you say, even if you are shy, just pretend that you're not shy.

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That's a good tip.

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You know, like even if you

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If you can just pretend just for a few minutes just to start the conversation

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or to continue a conversation a little bit, it can be good, even if you feel shy.

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I agree.

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And you might find too, oftentimes people who would say that they are shy, when they talk to someone in another language, they can have a different personality.

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It's a chance to have a different personality in a different language.

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So if you tell yourself that too, when you speak English, when you speak another language, more confident than you are when you speak your own language.

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Yeah, that's true.

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I've heard that before actually, people who say that they feel like they're more outgoing when they speak English.

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If that's the case, maybe that's good for you.

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Also just in general, another point about maybe not only starting conversations but continuing them,

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we're comfortable English language speakers are with interruptions to some point, like you shouldn't always interrupt the other speaker.

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But they are pretty comfortable with it.

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See, he just did it.

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So we're kind of, we're very comfortable with it, so you don't need to wait for an invitation to speak in a conversation.

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You can just join in or maybe agree with the person who's speaking

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or disagree with the person who's speaking as a way to join a conversation that's already in progress.

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Yeah, nice one.

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That's a good one.

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Okay, I will share a tip.

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Mine are a little bit, I don't know, they're very dependent on maybe who you're talking to, maybe what your relationship is.

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So let's say for this one you are in a place where like a, I don't know, a restaurant or a bar or something

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and you don't know the person you'd like to speak to but maybe, I don't know, there's someone attractive you'd like to speak to or maybe you want to speak with the bartender or something.

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So maybe, okay, maybe this is better if you're trying to speak to a fellow customer.

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So I have, it's sort of small, make a simple comment about something happening in the surroundings.

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So this should be, one, a simple comment, two, something that the other person can clearly see,

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and three, something that you can agree on easily.

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So for example, if somebody has just walked by the restaurant wearing like a crazy hat, I don't know, you could say like, oh, did you see that guy?

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Something like that.

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Something that is easy to agree on to initiate the conversation.

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Or maybe, I don't know, there's a TV in the bar, like, whoa, did you see that play? or something

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that maybe you can identify that you maybe shared with the other person during the time you've been in that space together.

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So this should be a very simple comment.

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Don't make a weird comment here.

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Make it very, very relaxed.

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Create a relaxed environment that the other person feels they can join in easily.

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That's a very good tip.

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I don't know.

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I'm trying to think of maybe a time that I used this.

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Or maybe I wanted to make a comment and there was another person

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that happened to be there and we had a moment where we agreed on something, but then the conversation didn't really continue.

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So it's kind of a good way to test and see if that other person wants to speak to you, too.

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Yes, yeah.

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That's a good point.

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And it makes me think, this isn't one of my tips, this is a free tip.

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You're getting a freebie tip now.

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Tips everywhere.

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They're flying around.

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So many tips.

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to be patient, wait for your opening too, because you might want to talk to this person next to you, but if you just butt in with a question out of nowhere, it might seem very strange,

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but if you wait and have a moment, wait for that guy with the funny hat to walk by, and then you have your opening,

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then you have a natural point that you can enter a conversation with someone.

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Yeah, and I think...

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So be patient.

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Totally, and going back to your point about not being shy, like, don't be so focused on waiting for that moment that you just pick something really strange.

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Like if I walked up to you, I don't know you in a bar, and I was like, did you hear that noise?

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It's like, that's a really strange question.

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Maybe he did hear that noise, but that's a really strange question to introduce yourself.

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Yeah, it's true.

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This kind of relates to my second tip, which is very similar to your tip about making a kind of comment, was ask an indirect question.

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I noticed a lot of the comments, your tip was to make a comment, but a lot of your comments, the examples you gave are questions.

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And importantly, I think that those questions should be kind of indirect questions.

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For example, if I'm standing at the bus stop

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and I want to start a conversation with someone else standing at the bus stop, let's say it's very, very hot.

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But if I turn to that person and say, do you think it's hot?

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That's very strange.

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But if I say something like, oh, it's pretty hot today, right?

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That's a little bit more casual, a little bit more informal.

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Yeah.

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You don't want to scare people with these very direct questions.

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That's true, that's true.

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And even a question, that's a great example.

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Do you think it's hot is a really weird question.

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Very strange question.

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But again, keeping or giving people that opportunity to agree with you.

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Yes.

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You're throwing a little opinion out there.

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It's hot, right?

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Oh yeah, it's hot.

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That's true.

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That's a really, really good one.

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I totally agree.

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But I think for that exact same reason, I've had some people come up to me and they try to begin a conversation with, how are you?

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And I'm like, that's an introduction that you use for people that you already know.

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So don't try to start a conversation with, how are you?

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It sounds too familiar and it's a little confusing to the person.

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Strangers don't always want to tell you how they are.

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That's true.

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What if I'm bad?

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I don't want to tell you.

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What if I feel bad that day?

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Yeah, so don't use how are you to introduce yourself.

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Nice one.

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Okay.

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What do you have next?

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Actually, okay, maybe this is somewhat related to the one you just mentioned.

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I've got, okay, this is maybe in a, like a party or a social event situation.

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I have energetically introduce yourself and ask a question about where you are.

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So this might be a little specific, but if you go to a social event where you're there to meet people and to speak to people,

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if you go up to someone and you just introduce yourself with a big smile and say, Hi, my name is Alicia.

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Have you ever been to one of these events before?

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Something like that can get the conversation started.

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But again, this is, I feel like it's a tip that's good in a place where maybe everyone is there for a similar purpose.

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If you do that, like to use your example at the bus station, it's a little bit weird, or if you're just in public, you pass someone on the street,

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it's a little strange to just walk up and introduce someone energetically.

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But if you're in a location where you have this chance, there are a couple of nice little introductory questions you could use for events.

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That's one that I've used, like, hi, is this your first time here?

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Or who do you know at this party?

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Yes, something like that.

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How did you find out about this event?

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That sort of thing.

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Also, similar kind of question in those situations is asking someone for help

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or for information because it lets that other person know that you're not a scary or threatening person in that situation either.

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If you're asking for help, you know, oh, can you tell me where the kitchen is?

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I need to put this in the refrigerator, something like that.

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And then that shows the other person that you're not an expert on this, you're asking for their help.

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And that kind of gives people an easy thing to engage you on, an easy thing to talk about.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Asking for help can be a nice way too.

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Yeah, that's a good point, I think, asking for help.

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It also kind of puts you in a slightly vulnerable position.

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It makes you seem a little bit like, oh, I need help, so, you know, please take care of me.

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It's a little bit interesting.

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So that's a good tip too, I think.

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Okay.

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I think we're on to number three for you.

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We are.

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My last one is a very important one.

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This comes at the end though, is don't take it personally if the person doesn't want to talk.

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A lot of times if you try and start a conversation with a stranger, they don't always want to talk to you.

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People try and talk, a stranger tries to talk to me, I might be very busy, I might have had a bad day, I may not want to talk to them doesn't mean

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that they're a bad person or they can't speak English or anything like that.

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So if you have that experience, you know, my first tip was don't be shy.

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You might be very nervous about starting a conversation with someone and then you work up the courage, you go and you ask them a question and they don't want to talk to you.

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That's okay.

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Don't take it personally.

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It has nothing to do with you.

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You know, you can find someone else to talk to.

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That's true.

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I think that's especially important because especially depending on the culture that you're from, you might have heard like, oh, English speakers, particularly Americans,

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they're so friendly or so outgoing.

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But if a stranger tries to speak to me or to you, maybe we're going to ignore you on the street because we don't know who that person is.

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Or maybe like you said, we've had a bad day or whatever it is.

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There are so many reasons not to want to talk to a person that you don't know.

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So don't be offended.

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Don't be sad.

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Don't be discouraged.

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Don't think that, oh, my English is so bad, this person didn't want to talk to me.

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Don't think that.

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That it could be any other reason why someone doesn't want to talk to you.

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That's true, that's true.

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Nice tip.

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That's really important.

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Okay, then we'll move on maybe to my last one.

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Okay, so for my last one, this is maybe among people that you have some acquaintance with.

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So maybe you're not super close to them, but you've seen them before or maybe it's co-workers you're not super close to

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but anyway you'd like to make your relationship with those people deeper.

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You can share a story about something you did recently, something interesting, a small short story.

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Don't tell a long 10 minute story about, I don't know, going shopping for milk on the weekend.

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That's boring but something interesting that you did relatively recently

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that maybe they can find something of interest or something of value in.

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So maybe you found a new restaurant that was good.

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Maybe you went to a concert and that was exciting.

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Maybe you met someone interesting.

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So if there's something that you can share about yourself that the other person might find valuable, that's a good way to initiate conversation.

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Yeah.

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On that point, if I can add another free tip.

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Oh my gosh.

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On that note, it made me think, you spoke earlier about being vulnerable, asking for help can show that you're vulnerable.

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Tell an embarrassing story.

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That's good too.

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Don't brag.

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Don't talk about this great new car that you bought.

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No one wants to hear that.

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Talk about how you lost your car keys immediately after you bought your new car.

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Tell an embarrassing story.

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Tell something that will make the person laugh and will make you be vulnerable and look like a normal person.

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That's true.

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That's true.

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Like telling, actually that's a good strategy.

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It's It's called self-deprecation.

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So it means to make yourself look bad or to put yourself in a lower status, a lower position.

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And it can be very effective for making friends and making people laugh.

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I totally do this.

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It's actually a lot of fun.

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When you think about it, a story about something bad happening is oftentimes more interesting than a story about something good happening.

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That's true.

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All the best comedies are about terrible things happening.

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Yeah, so if you have something like a little yeah, like you lost your car keys or you had some kind of funny episode

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Where maybe you don't look like the hero of the story.

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That's a really good one to share Have you had anything happen to you recently?

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Oh my gosh, I Probably have I lost my bag.

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I just came back from Traveling in Europe and my bag got lost between Dubai Airport and Tokyo Airport,

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and so my bag didn't arrived, so I had to go two days without any of my clothes or anything.

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And then when I finally got my bag, I was like, yay!

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I got it from the delivery guy.

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I was so happy.

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I opened it up, and then my sunscreen had exploded inside my bag.

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I was like, at least I have my objects.

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I have my clothes and things.

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And they won't get sunburned.

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Exactly.

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Now I won't sunburn any of my clothes.

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So, yeah, so I mean it's like a small relatable, oh, that moped.

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A small relatable story that maybe someone else can identify like, oh, that happened to me one time and then the conversation rolls from there.

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So, nice tip, nice tip.

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Okay, are you out of free tips?

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Are those all your free tips?

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That's all for today.

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For conversation starters?

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That's all I get today.

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We can't continue this conversation.

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That's a different subject.

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All right, well, we'll finish there for today.

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Thanks very much for joining us for this episode of English Topics.

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Davy, thanks very much for joining us.

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Thank you for having me.

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If you liked this video, please make sure to hit the like button and subscribe to our channel as well.

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Also, if you want to find more content like this, please make sure to check us out at EnglishClass101.com.

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If you have any ideas for how to start a conversation that you use, please make sure to leave it in a comment too so we can check it out.

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Thanks very much for watching this episode and we'll see you again soon.

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Bye!

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Hi everybody, my name is Alisha and today we're going to be talking about the top 25 English phrases.

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So let's get started.

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The first phrase is hello.

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Hello of course is used as a greeting.

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You can greet your friends, you can greet your co-workers, your family with this phrase just by saying hello.

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Hey, hi, what's up?

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Hello, sup, yo.

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Pretty much any time of day you can use hello.

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Hello?

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The next phrase is good morning.

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Good morning is used as a greeting in the morning.

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You You can kind of feel when morning ends for you.

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Good morning is nice and polite.

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Or even just morning with your close friends or close co-workers.

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The next phrase is goodnight.

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Goodnight is fine.

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We don't use this to greet other people.

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We use it when we're saying goodbye to other people at night.

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Family members, particularly mothers and fathers, to say goodnight to their children before they put them to bed.

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You can say it to your friend in a text message or in an email if you've been talking for a while.

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Goodnight.

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So the next word to talk about is goodbye.

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Use it when you say goodbye to your friends, when you leave your friends.

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Goodbye.

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Bye, of course.

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Take care.

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Have a nice day.

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Peace out.

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That's another way to say goodbye.

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Okay, the next phrase is I'm plus your name.

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Of course, this is a way to introduce yourself.

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You can use I'm, in my case, Alicia.

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I'm Alicia to introduce yourself in any situation.

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New friend, I'm Alicia.

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Okay, the next phrase is what's your name?

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What's your name is used to ask someone else what their name is.

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So, what is your name?

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Sounds a bit...

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Try to use what's your name.

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If you forget someone's name, you can say, sorry, what's your name?

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Or sorry, what's your name again?

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Next phrase is nice to meet you.

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Nice to meet you.

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Anytime you meet someone new.

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Nice to meet you is fine.

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Good to meet you is a little more casual.

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Great to meet you sounds very excited.

474

Pleasure to meet you sounds like maybe a formal situation or a business context.

475

Okay, the next phrase is how are you? how are you

476

is just a friendly way to check in with the other person.

477

You can use it with friends, your family, your co-workers, maybe even your boss to a certain degree.

478

How are you?

479

How you doing?

480

The next phrase is I'm fine, thanks, and you?

481

If you saw English in three minutes, we talked a lot about this phrase.

482

Instead of I'm fine, thank you, and you say I'm good, thanks.

483

How are you?

484

Just shorten it and make it a little bit more natural.

485

How are you?

486

Good.

487

How are you?

488

Great.

489

How are you? not so good how are you okay and

490

so on so

491

when someone says how are you offer i usually say i'm

492

good this week i blah blah blah give some information about what you've been up to maybe a hobby something

493

that you did recently an event something interesting you saw whatever people want to make

494

that connection with you

495

and it's a good chance for you to continue speaking the

496

next word is please please is a polite phrase used

497

when you want something from someone else you can use this as a response

498

when someone offers you something like in a restaurant for example

499

would you like more water would you like something to drink

500

oh please the next phrase is thank you thank you is

501

used to express your appreciation you can use thank you with everybody the next phrase is you're welcome you're welcome

502

when someone says thank you you can say you're welcome no

503

biggie i use no biggie as in no biggie is short

504

for no big problem the next word is yes yes of course yes means is any positive expression.

505

Someone asks you a question and the answer is a positive answer.

506

You say yes, yep, uh-huh, yeah, oui, no. Next, I'm guessing I know it, yep.

507

The next word is no. No is a negative response to something when you have to give a negative answer.

508

So as you can probably guess, the long form of no is negative.

509

I like to use nope, it's very, very casual.

510

Not gonna happen.

511

My parents would use that with me.

512

To soften that a little bit, if you want to show a negative response to something like, let's go out for dinner tonight.

513

What do you want to do?

514

Like, do you want to go out?

515

Not really.

516

No, I don't think so.

517

To soften it.

518

The next word is okay.

519

Okay.

520

This word comes from copy editors.

521

Okay.

522

When they had to check a manuscript, they had to label the manuscript all clear a c but

523

because they were copy editors

524

and they have a very very sick sense of humor they

525

thought they would mark it okay for all clear to make a joke

526

because o and k do not start all and clear

527

but it caught on among everybody in the world anyway okay

528

uh is used to agree with somebody else well it can be used actually to express a positive

529

or kind of a slight negative I feel.

530

Transitioning in your conversation you can say, okay now we're going to talk about blah blah blah.

531

Okay the next phrase is excuse me.

532

Excuse me, it's used to get someone's attention in English when you don't know the other person.

533

For example in a store, a supermarket, maybe a stranger on the street you need to ask directions you can use excuse me.

534

You can use excuse me in the supermarket.

535

Excuse me, can you tell me where the hot sauce is?

536

If you've done something rude in in public, you can use excuse me.

537

I personally do not do rude things in public ever.

538

I'm sorry is the next word we're going to talk about.

539

I'm sorry is used to apologize.

540

When you have made a mistake or someone you know has made a mistake

541

and you're connected to it or you just feel bad, you can use I'm sorry.

542

You made a mistake at work.

543

I'm sorry.

544

You forgot to feed your cat.

545

I'm sorry.

546

Sorry about that.

547

You bump someone next to you.

548

Oh, sorry.

549

What time is it is the next phrase when you need to check what time it is.

550

What time is it?

551

When you ask someone else what time it is, maybe you say this to yourself too.

552

Check your watch, check your phone, check a clock.

553

Pretty straightforward phrase.

554

There aren't really any short versions, so that's an easy one.

555

Where is the plus a location?

556

So you can use this for a building or a store.

557

We don't, we're not going to use this where is the for a place, a city name or a state name or a country name.

558

To do that, you would need to remove the.

559

But where is the bank?

560

Where is the post office?

561

You can use this to ask directions, to ask for help in your house or at work.

562

Where is the copy machine?

563

Where is the file I need?

564

Where is the blah blah blah?

565

Where is the bathroom?

566

Is perhaps a very important question to know.

567

The next one is may I use the restroom?

568

May I use the restroom is a polite and soft expression that you can use if you need to use the toilet, you need to use the washroom.

569

When you're at someone's house for the very first time.

570

When you're in a place that is new to you, you can ask, may I use the restroom?

571

More casually, can I go to the bathroom?

572

To be very polite, you can say, may I go to the bathroom?

573

The next phrase is, I would like to order something.

574

You can use this at a restaurant probably or in any situation where you need to place an order.

575

I'd like a pizza.

576

I'd like a beer.

577

Can I get the check, please?

578

This will be used at a restaurant.

579

When you've You finished your meal and it's time to go.

580

Can I get the check please?

581

In a very, very casual situation, you can just say, check please, that's fine.

582

The next phrase is see you soon.

583

See you soon is used with friends and family members perhaps.

584

When you expect to see them again soon after saying goodbye to them.

585

This is used at the end of the conversation.

586

You're going separate directions.

587

You say see you soon.

588

See ya is also good or just see you.

589

To make it a little more formal, you can say I'll see you again soon.

590

Make a full sentence out of it that way.

591

The next phrase is see you later.

592

See you later is very similar to see you soon, but the point is with see you later is

593

that you're probably going to meet that person again later on in the same day.

594

The last phrase is really.

595

Really is a very useful word because you can use it to show you're interested in a conversation with upward intonation.

596

Really?

597

Really?

598

Tell me more.

599

Or to show that you're not so interested in the conversation with downward intonation.

600

Really?

601

So there are many other words that you can use similar to really in this way.

602

Like seriously or oh, oh, and so on.

603

So it's a really good practice for your intonation.

604

So those are 25 very common words and phrases in English.

605

If you liked this video, if you like this topic, please subscribe.

606

I'm sure there'll be a button here somewhere, a button here, wherever.

607

But please be sure to subscribe to our channel

608

because we're going to be doing more videos like this and we already have more videos like this, so please be sure to check them out.

609

Thanks very much for watching and we'll see you again soon.

610

Bye!

611

Really?

612

Oh, interesting.

613

Uh-huh.

614

Okay, I see.

615

Great, fantastic, unbelievable.

616

Mmm, gratitude subjects.

617

What are we having for dinner tonight?

618

Pizza?

619

Affirmative.

620

I'll riff on that.

621

I am Chris Hardwick.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 621 sentences and 6251 words to shadow. The speech runs for 33:01. The speaker talks fast, about 189 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

phrase /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ (noun) — A short written or spoken expression.
introduce /ˌɪntɹəˈdus/ (verb) — To cause (someone) to be acquainted (with someone else).
hobby /ˈhɑ.bi/ (noun) — An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.
polite /pəˈlaɪt/ (adjective) — Well-mannered, civilized.
goodbye /ɡʊdˈbaɪ/ — Farewell; a formula used to another person or persons when the speaker, writer, or person addressed is departing.
lesson /ˈlɛs.ən/ (noun) — A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
greet /ɡɹiːt/ (verb) — To welcome in a friendly manner, either in person or through another means such as writing.
casual /ˈkæʒ(u)əl/ (adjective) — Happening by chance.
vulnerable /ˈvʌln(ə)ɹəbl̩/ (adjective) — More or most likely to be exposed to the chance of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.
topic /ˈtɑpɪk/ (noun) — A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest.
subscribe /səbˈskɹaɪb/ (verb) — To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
offend /əˈfɛnd/ (verb) — To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make angry; to insult.
sensitive /ˈsɛn.sɪt.ɪv/ (adjective) — Having the faculty of sensation; pertaining to the senses.
formal /ˈfɔɹməl/ (adjective) — In accordance with established forms.
pizza /ˈpi.tsə/ (noun) — A baked Italian dish of a thinly rolled bread crust typically topped before baking with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients such as meat or vegetables.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

talk about (verb) — Used to draw attention to the speaker's characterization of someone or something.
ask for (verb) — To request; to order.
live in (verb) — To reside on the premises of one's employer (used especially of domestic staff such as nannies, cooks, maids, etc.)
do in (verb) — To kill or end; to defeat.
wait for (verb) — To wait until the specified event occurs.
find out (verb) — To discover, as by asking or investigating.
catch on /kɛt͡ʃ ˈɑn/ (verb) — Chiefly in the form catch oneself on: to cause (oneself) to get or regain a proper appreciation of a situation; to behave in the expected, sensible way; to…
come across (verb) — To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 216 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: casual /ˈkæʒ(u)əl/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, initiate /ɪˈnɪʃ.i.eɪt/, transition /tɹænˈzɪʃ.ən/
Long words — get the stress right: supermarket /ˌsupɚˈmɑɹkət/, initiate /ɪˈnɪʃ.i.eɪt/, photography /fəˈtɑ.ɡɹə.fi/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, elementary /ˌɛləˈmɛntəɹi/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like phrase, introduce, hobby.

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	I've been learning · have you been studying · I've been studying
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have met · you've said · you've spoken
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	people who would · people who say · tip, which is
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	be offended · be discouraged

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Introduce Yourself in English in 30 Minutes - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?