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Listening is the best way to improve your English fluency. When you listen, you'll improve your vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar at the same time. But you need to listen to real English, the English that natives use. And you need to listen to many different natives so you understand different accents and different styles of speech. That's what you'll do today in this one hour English listening master class. Welcome back to JForrest English of Course, I'm Jennifer. Now let's get started. First, we'll listen to Taylor Swift's commencement speech at NYU. Here's the first listening exercise.
You'll hear it three times. No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively. No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively. No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively. How do you do She said no matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively. Let's talk about the grammar because notice avoid. Then you have a gerund verb. Avoid being cringe and of course
to avoid is to stay away from someone or because it makes you uncomfortable. Perhaps you could say I've been avoiding notice that present perfect continuous is started in the past and continues until now. I've been avoiding speaking English in public because I'm worried about being cringe. Also notice here you worry about something, a noun or doing something, speaking in public, the gerund verb because about is a preposition. You could say I'm worried about the exam or a gerund verb. I'm worried about failing the exam. Now let's talk about that word we've used a lot. Cringe.
This is colloquial but very commonly used, and it means to behave in a way that causes embarrassment, awkwardness, or discomfort, either to yourself or others. Oh my God, it was so cringe, wasn't it? OK, that is so cringe. That is so, so cringe. You just don't do that. So it makes sense you would want to avoid being cringe. Let's look at to look back on your life. If you look back on something, it means you reflect on it and in this case, your life. Now let's talk about this and cringe.
Do you notice something different? Perhaps it's the same word, but in this case it's a verb. So the verb is too cringe. And this is to feel a strong emotional reaction of embarrassment or awkwardness. And we generally show this physically or visibly. What I just did that is cringe. I just cringed. Here is a real example for you. I cringe. I cringe when I look back on when I reflect on my very first YouTube video, which as you can see, is maybe a little cringe. So she uses colloquial language and advanced vocabulary retrospectively in the same sentence.
So if you do something retrospectively, it means you think about past events. You could say retrospectively thinking about past events. I wish I had started speaking English much sooner. Another way to say this is in hindsight or looking back, you can also say looking back on it, it being this situation in the past. So now you have click wheel and advanced vocabulary. Now let's move on and listen to Donald Trump respond to a very interesting audience question during the previous presidential debate. And that audience question was, what's one thing you admire about Hillary Clinton? Here are the sentences you need to
complete the missing words. You'll hear it three times. I will say this about Hillary. She doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I respect that. I tell it like it is. I will say this about Hillary. She doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I respect that. I tell it like it is. I will say this about Hillary. She doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I respect that. I tell it like it is. How did you do? He said.
I will say this about Hillary. She doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I respect that. I tell it like it is. Notice he said I will. Native speakers will commonly form a contraction and say all, all. Notice how unstressed that is all. I'll say this about Hillary. I'll say this. I'll do this, I'll do that. I'll help you. Now this expression, I'll say this about Hillary. This is used to introduce a statement or opinion. Another way of saying this is here's what I have to say about Hillary. You could say, I'll say this about learning English with native speakers, and then you introduce your opinion. It's a very effective method.
Do you think so? If you do, put that's right, put that's right in the comments. Are you enjoying this lesson? If you are, then I want to tell you about the Finally Fluent Academy. This is my premium training program where we study native English speakers from TV, movies, YouTube, and the news. So you can improve your listening skills of fast English, expand your vocabulary with natural expressions and learn advanced easily. Plus, you'll have me as your personal coach. You can look in the description for the link to learn more or you can go to my website and click on Finally Fluent Academy.
Now let's continue with our lesson. Now let's talk about she doesn't quit. She doesn't give up. So notice here he used the contracted form does not, doesn't repeat after me, doesn't, doesn't. Now let's talk about quit and give up because they can be interchangeable, but they can also have different meanings. It depends on context. Quit means to leave a position such as your job, or to stop something permanently, such as learning English. So in terms of a position, you may know that Joe Biden quit the presidential race. He left it permanently.
Now if you've had enough of your boss and working overtime without pay, you can say I quit. You're permanently leaving that position now. Give up means that you surrender. You lose hope, so you stop doing something. You quit because you surrender or lose hope. So you could say I've been trying to improve my listening skills for years. I give up. So in this case, it means you're no longer going to try, You've just lost all hope that is possible for you. You could also say I've been trying to improve my listening skills for years.
Maybe I should just quit? You could continue on and specify the something. I should just quit learning English. But if it's implied and obvious, you don't need to say it. Your friend could respond back, or I would respond back and say don't quit, don't give up. So here, although different vocabulary, it means the same thing. Keep going, don't quit, don't give up. You just need to subscribe to J4's English. So make sure you subscribe. Now let's talk about I respect that. What does that represent here?
I respect Hillary's determination, her persistence. Those are the adjectives we can use to describe someone who doesn't quit, who doesn't give up. Those are the nouns we can use to describe the fact that she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. Hillary's determination, she is determined. Hillary's persistence, she is persistent. You could say she keeps going despite setbacks, or you could say she keeps going despite facing challenges because you can use despite with a noun or a gerund. And setbacks and challenges, they represent the same thing.
Now let's talk about I tell it like it is. This is a colloquial way of saying I'm being straightforward. I'm being honest, I'm being direct. This is often used before offering an area of improvement in a direct, perhaps harsh way. So I could say to you, your accent needs improving. I'm sorry, but I tell it like it is. I'm being 100% honest, direct, even if it might hurt your feelings. There's another word to describe this, which is to be blunt. So when you're blunt,
it means you're very honest, even if it might offend someone or hurt someone's feelings. To be blunt, your accent needs improving. So you can use to be blunt at the very beginning, and then you offer critical feedback. So let's summarize Chum's advice. Don't quit, don't give up. What do you think about that? If you agree, if you're not going to quit or give up, then put, let's go. Put, let's go. Let's go in the comments. Amazing job. Now let's listen to a new native speaker, former President Barack Obama. And in this clip, he's giving a speech on a serious topic, but then he makes a joke at the end. This is a longer section and there
are two parts to complete. You'll hear it three times. We got rid of one rule from 40 years ago that could have forced some dairy farmers to spend $10,000 a year proving that they could contain a spill. We got rid of one rule from 40 years ago that could have forced some dairy farmers to spend $10,000 a year proving that they could contain a spill. Did you hear all the missing words He said We got rid of? Remember I told you to remember that we got rid of one rule from 40 years ago that could have forced some dairy farmers to spend 10, $10,000 a year proving that they could contain a spill.
Got rid of. Let's talk about the pronunciation here. We're going to use connected speech where we take individual words and it sounds like one word. So I'm going to say got rid. So notice at the end you can take the word of and you can make it an unstressed sound and say duh. So, uh, instead of, uh, but we're taking that D sound from rid got rid, uh, or got rid of dove. Dove is the full sound and duh is the unstressed. And remember that to get rid of means eliminate. We already talked about that. Now let's take a look at could have because we have the auxiliary verb have. But you can also turn this into an
unstressed of and the same rule applies. You can use duh and say coulda, or you can use dove and say could've, could've because you're taking that D from could coulda could've. What about this sentence? We could of eliminated the rule. This sentence is grammatically incorrect because the correct sentence is. We could have eliminated the rule. Remember that these pronunciation changes changing have to of only applies to spoken English, it doesn't apply to written English. So you can verbally say coulda, but in writing it's considered grammatically incorrect.
Let's keep going. Here's the next sentence to complete. You'll hear it three times. Because milk was somehow classified as an oil. Did you get this one? He said. Because milk was somehow classified as an oil, I found his pronunciation was quite clear. Do you agree with me here? So let's just look at some vocabulary. Let's look at classified AS2. To be classified as is the full structure you need. And classified means categorized or designated as something. So you could say phrasal
verbs are classified as advanced. You need that word as something as advanced. Now let's review. Somehow in this context, it means that the reasoning or the method. It isn't obvious or it's difficult to understand. So how could milk be classified as oil? That's difficult to understand. So that's why they used somehow. You can use this in your daily speech. You can say she's somehow got the promotion. So just by adding that word somehow you're questioning, you're questioning why or how she got the promotion. So it takes a statement that sounds positive she got the promotion, and it actually turns
it into more of a negative statement by saying she's somehow got the promotion. Now it's the fun part. You're going to hear President Barack Obama make a joke. So you need to complete the missing words and you need to understand why this is funny. Let's see if you can do that. You'll hear it three times. With a rule like that, I guess it was worth crying over spilled milk. With a rule like that, I guess it was worth crying over spilled milk. And with a rule like that, I guess it was worth crying over spilled milk with a. Rule like that, I guess it was worth crying over spilled milk. So did you complete the missing words? Did you hear the joke?
Did you understand the joke? If you did, your English is excellent, he said. With a rule like that, I guess it was worth crying over spilled milk. Before we talk about why this is funny, let's review some pronunciation points. So first, let's take a look at rule. Notice here there are two sounds we have rue O, so that dark L rule. So if I pronounce this fully, you hear those two sounds rule in a more unstressed pronunciation. It won't be as obvious rule fool, it's there, but it's very quick rule. But it is best to make sure you have those two sounds.
Now let's take a look at spilled, because there's a difference between British and American English. In American English, we only use the word spilled the spilled. In British English, there's an alternative word that's spelled differently because it's spelled with AT and it's pronounced that way. So it's just the end. In American English, it's always spilled the a soft D, but in British English it's spilt. So you might hear spilt, you might hear spilt, but those final sounds aren't pronounced fully in spoken English. In both British and American English, just like in here, you didn't hear the north sound for the word that, it was more of a that. So you just don't press out that final T. That and milk sounded like milk.
So did you hear that the final K sound, that K was not pronounced, it was just a mil. So you put your tongue in the position of AK mil, but you just don't push out that sound mil milk. All right, now let's talk about the joke. The style of this joke is called a pun or a play on words. So it's a humorous use of one word or one phrase that has several meanings or that sounds like another word. In this case, you need to know that there's a proverb in English, and perhaps in your culture as well. The proverb is don't cry over spilled milk. If you don't know what this proverb is, the joke probably wouldn't make sense to you. So this proverb don't cry over spilled milk
means don't get upset over minor issues or minor mistakes like spilling a glass of milk. It's not worth getting upset over. So you might say I made a grammar mistake when I was presenting the report, but you're very upset over this and your friend, your colleague could say don't. Cry over spilled milk. It's a grammar mistake, but notice here Obama said it was worth crying over spilled milk. So Obama is saying that the farmers should be upset over paying $10,000 a year on something silly like proving they can contain a milk spill. Because remember, milk was somehow classified as an oil. So now you understand the joke.
Now let's look at was worth crying because grammatically you need to be worse. Plus gerund, your verb and ING. You could say it was worth watching this class, and hopefully you agree with that. Now grammatically, you could also say something to be worth something. For example, this class was worth it that it represents something. What is the something? Well, this class was worth watching, so the watching is the IT. Now let's move on to a new native speaker who's also a politician, the Prime Minister of Canada. And in this clip, he's giving a formal speech at the World Economic Forum.
You'll hear it three times. And our new approach rests on what Alexander Stubb, the President of Finland, has termed Value Based realism. And our new approach rests on what Alexander Stubb, the President of Finland, has termed Value Based realism. And our new approach rests on what Alexander Stubb, the President of Finland, has termed Value Based Realism. How'd you do? He said. And our new approach rests on what Alexander Stubb, the president of Finland, has termed value based realism. Notice how and our new and our was quite unstressed. It can sound very quick, like inner, inner,
inner new, inner new, and our new and rests on. So rests. That's difficult to say. If you have a period or a natural pause, you can pronounce it fully. But here we have on. So you're going to connect them together and you're going to drop that T entirely. This is what natives do, including what Mark Carney did in this very formal speech. Rests on, rests on, rests on context makes it obvious native speakers understand meaning based on context. Rests on and notice that Ed for termed here is just a soft D termed and here when he's talking about our new approach, our belonging to Canadians, he means our new posture, our new position, our new stance, our new presentation, our new approach is the more everyday work posture is reserved for
government or very formal business. Let's review rests on. So here we have something X rests on Y something else, and it simply means depends on or is based on. And all of these mean without YX wouldn't exist or wouldn't be possible. So you can say the success of the party rests on careful planning. So X is the success of the party, Y is careful planning. If you don't have Y, well then X doesn't exist. You may say my promotion rests on my IL score or good relationships rest on trust and communication. So remember, rest is your verb, so you need to conjugate it based on the subject and time reference.
Because the subject was plural, it was rest. And just know that depends on is based on those are more commonly used than rest on. So you will more commonly hear the success of the party depends on careful planning or my promotion is based on my IELTS score. Now let's review has turned. So here the base verb is term to term something. This is the formal version of call, but not in the sense of I'm calling my mom in the sense of to name, to identify, to call. You can say she has termed her style eco chic so she's choosing this label, the label being eco chic or she's assigning this label to her style. You can equally say she has called her style eco chic and this is more common in everyday English.
Notice that sentence structure. You do not need the preposition as I did not say she has turned. She has called her style as eco chic. Do not add the preposition as now you may be wondering what value based realism is. This is not a term you will use in your daily speech or in a business context. Most native speakers would not know what this is as well, but let's just look at it together since it is in the clip and you're probably curious. So for your own curiosity, value based realism.
You can think of this as a foreign policy approach that combines commitment to core values. Value based, So commitment to core values with a pragmatic understanding of global realities and power dynamics. So pragmatic means it's realistic. Now that definition was an official definition. If I said that to a native speaker, they would probably say, Jennifer, what is value based realism? I do not know what you just said. So a simple way of understanding it is you stay true to your values, but you deal realistically, pragmatically, realistically with how the world actually works. That is value based realism.
And our new approach rests on what Alexander Stubb, the President of Finland, has termed value based realism. Here's the next listening exercise. You'll hear it three times. Or, to put another way, we aim to be both principled and pragmatic. Or, to put another way, we aim to be both principled and pragmatic. Did you hear what he said? Or to put another way, we aim to be both principled and pragmatic. Let's review to put another. Now 2 is a preposition, so it will be unstressed to put. Now he put a pause between
put and another to put another. Because he put a pause, you can use a flap T so you just don't pronounce the T put. So you put your tongue in the position, but you just don't push out the air to put. But when you don't add a pause between the words, which is more common, you would transfer that T to the next sound, but it would sound like a soft D. Put another, done another, put another, put another. Because AT between two vowels in American English sounds like a soft D Put another to put another. Now principal. Also notice the Ed is pronounced as a soft D and the vowel in the last sound is the same as you're saying pulled, pulled in the past, simple, pulled, principled, principled. Let's review.
Put another way, this means to rephrase, to express in a different way. And you do this so it's easier to understand. He's explaining in easier terms, in easier words, what value based realism means. Now just know that two including two is not standard in this phrase even though he did. For example, you could say our sales figures fell short of board expectations in Q1. Put another way, we'd better sell more in Q2. This second clause is more direct and easier to understand. Now there is a common alternative that perhaps you know, to put it another way, and in this example to is included with the phrase. For example, we onboarded 3 major
clients this month. To put it another way, to put it another way, we're going to be busy. Again, easier to understand and it represents the idea or the sentence to put my idea. To put my sentence another way, we're going to be busy. Now let's review AIM to be. So here we have AIM infinitive and this means to have a goal. The company aims to reduce carbon emissions by 20-30. Now aim is a verb, so you have to conjugate it. Here is conjugated with the subject, the company it aims. You can also use this as a noun and say our aim is infinitive is to reduce carbon emissions by 20-30. Or, to put another way, we aim to be both principled and pragmatic. Wow.
Think of everything you've learned. Let's move on to another speaker. This time it's Leonard talking to his girlfriend Penny in the TV show The Big Bang Theory. Whatever she dishes out, you can give it right back. Double Whatever she dishes out, you can give it right back. Double Whatever she dishes out, you can give. It right back double. How'd you do it? This one? Whatever she dishes out, our phrasal verb is to dish out. Now let's review how to use this phrasal verb to dish out.
This simply means to criticize. So when you criticize someone or something, you say something negative about it. For example, she really dished it out to Tom at the meeting. She really criticized Tom at the meeting. Now notice I said dished it out. What's the IT represents the criticism. She dished out the criticism she dished it out to Tom. And we always use this expression with criticism. So you don't need to specify that it. I'm sharing this phrasal verb with you because we have a very common in expression in English. You can dish it out, but you can't take it. You can dish it out, which means you freely
give criticism to others, but you can't take it, which means if somebody tries to criticize you, you do not accept that. You become very upset or very angry. So if someone is being very critical, you might say, well, you can dish it out, but can you take it? Can you receive the criticism that you're giving? It's a way to remind someone that maybe you shouldn't criticize others. You can dish it out, but you can't take it. Let's do this listening exercise again. Here's your sentence and you need to complete the sentence.
I'll play it three times. We're all just muddling through art way. How'd you do it? This one? We're all just muddling through. Let's learn how to use to muddle through. This is when you do or achieve something accidentally without a specific plan. For example, I muddled through making the cake, so maybe I had no idea how to make this cake. I didn't know the procedure, I didn't feel prepared. I muddled through making the cake, but it was actually quite delicious. So sometimes when you muddle through
something, the result isn't very positive because you don't actually have a plan. Other times it can be positive in the end. Amazing job number 3. Here's your sentence. You need to complete the sentence. I'll play it three times. I'm excited to nerd out on it. He's excited to nerd out on This is a fun phrasal verb. Let's learn how to use it to nerd out. Oh, I love this one. When you nerd out on something, it means you discuss it in great detail.
Greater detail than the average person would normally do. For example, I can nerd out on sentence structure all day. I can discuss sentence structure, English sentence structure all day. But my friends who are native English speakers have no interest in discussing English sentence structure. To them that is boring. But to me as an English teacher, and most likely to you as an English learner, we can nerd out on the English language all day. I can also nerd out on plants, talking about plants, different types of plants, looking at plants.
I really love plants as well, but the average person probably doesn't want to discuss it in as much detail as I do. What about you? What's something that you could nerd out on? Nerd out on this specific topic all day. Share that in the comments. Number four, complete the sentence. I'll play it three times. Of course he'll stick around. Of course, I'll stick around. Let's learn how to use this to stick around.
This is a very common phrasal verb, and it simply means to remain in a place for a period of time. Let's say you just finished dinner with a friend at a restaurant and you drove, but your friend took the bus. So you can just get in your car and leave. But your friend has to wait until the bus comes. So you could say, oh, don't worry, I'll stick around until the bus comes. I'll stay with you at this specific location, the restaurant or the bus stop, until the bus comes. Or let's say you're in the mall and it's raining outside. You might say, well, let's just stick around until it stops raining. So let's stay at this specific location until it stops raining. You'll absolutely use this in
your daily speech and hear native speakers using this one all the time #5 I'll play it three times. Wash up for dinner, guys. Wash up for dinner guys, did you get this one wash up for dinner? Let's review this phrasal verb to wash up. This simply means to clean your hands, to wash your hands and or to wash your face. So before dinner you could say, oh, I just need to wash up and most likely you're going to wash your hands. And I commonly say this in the evening before I watch a movie.
I could say to my husband, oh, just give me 5 minutes to wash up before we start the movie. And for me, it's to wash my face because I love taking off my makeup before I watch a movie. It's a lot more comfortable. So women might use the wash up for our face more frequently. So it can be for both hands and face. Number six, here's your sentence. Let's see if you can complete it. I'll play it three times and make sure if you leave you lock up the house and make sure if you leave you lock up the house. And make sure if you leave, you lock up the house.
How'd you do with this one? Now make sure if you leave, you lock up the house. Very good advice. Let's review this one. To lock up. This is when you securely close your windows and doors or entrances to your house or building. So it's another way of simply saying lock. For example, make sure you lock up before bed, and in that case it's in your home. And that's of course good advice. But if you work in a building, someone is likely responsible for locking up at the end of the work day. So one person might be responsible for making sure that all the entrances to that building are securely closed or locked. So, for example, Sally is responsible for
locking up #7 We're going to review one of my favorite TV shows, Parks and Rec. Let's see if you can complete the sentence. And while he was yammered on about whatever. And while he was yammering on about whatever, how'd you do it this one? And while he was yammering on, Let's review this to Yammer on. This is when you talk continuously in an annoying way. For example, I ran into Kate at the mall and she yammered on for hours and I missed my bus so I ran into. Kate. I saw Kate but I wasn't expecting to see her. I saw her accidentally. I ran into Kate at the mall and she yammered on oh hi Jennifer, I'd love to tell you about my vacation.
And then 10 minutes later, she's still talking about her vacation and she doesn't realize that I'm not that interested in her vacation or I'm just busy and need to leave to Yammer #8. They've been, let's listen. Three times. They've been mouthing off to me. Did you get this one? They've been mouthing off to me. Oh no. Let's review this one. To mouth off. When you mouth off to someone, you speak to that person in a disrespectful way or in an angry way. So this is something that kids, especially teenagers, do to their parents.
And when I was a teenager, if I moused off to my parents, I would be grounded. When you're grounded, this means that certain privileges are taken away from you. So if you're grounded, maybe you can't go to the movies with your friends, you can't use the car, you can't use the computer privileges you would normally have in the house. You're grounded. And as adults, we also don't want to mouth off to certain people, like our boss or an authority figure, like a police officer. Is definitely not a good idea to mouth off #9 Yeah, but I let's listen. Three times.
Yeah, but I maxed out my credit card. Did you get this one? Yeah, but I maxed out my credit card. Uh oh. Let's review this to Max out. When you Max something out, it means you take that something to a limit. For example, I maxed out my credit cards on vacation. So your credit card has a limit, maybe $10,000. If you maxed out that credit card, it means that you spent $10,000, the maximum amount the limit of that credit card. Likely not the best idea. And finally #10 this is a fun one. I'm let's listen three times. I'm loading up on cards. I'm loading up on carbs. How'd you do?
I'm loading up on carbs. Let's learn how to use this to load up on. When you load up on something, it means you consume a lot of that something, or you purchase a lot of that something for a specific purpose. So let's say you're an athlete. Right before a raise or a competition, you might load up on carbs. Carbs are carbohydrates, energy for your body, so you want to consume a lot of carbs. Jim loaded up on carbs before the race. Or you could say we loaded up on toilet paper because it was on sale. So we purchased a large amount of toilet paper because it was on sale. Now, I'll be your native speaker,
but I'll speak to you like I would my friends using fast speech and natural expressions. I'll say it three times. She's starting to rub off on you. Did you get this one? I said she's starting to rub off on you. She's is our contraction. She is she's she's starting TA. So instead of to, you can use an unstressed TA. She's starting to rub off because rub off is a phrasal verb. They go together. I can take that B sound and connect it to the next word, but I have to combine them together. I have to see them as one word. Rub off boff, rub off, rub off.
I can also take that on and add it together. So I'm saying those 3 words as one rub off fawn. So here I'm taking the F from off and I'm adding it to on Fawn rub off. Fawn rub off on you. What does this mean? To rub off on someone is when someone's behavior or personality effects someone else. Let's take Janice and let's say Janice loves helping other people. Now let's say Fernando spends a week working with Janice and now Fernando starts helping other people. You could say Janice rubbed off on Fernando.
Here we have it. In the past, simple rubbed, rubbed, rubbed off on Janice, rubbed off on Fernando. Now you could also take the specific personality trait or characteristic, in this case, Janice's helpfulness, which is a noun, Janice's helpfulness, because the helpfulness belongs to Janice, so it's possessive. Janice's helpfulness rubbed off on Fernando, so that specific character trait of Janice transferred to Fernando because they spent time together. Marcus is really rubbing off on you. Finally, I'm rubbing off on you. My deviousness has finally rubbed off on you. Another listening exercise.
I'll say it three times. You ought to call her. Did you get this one? You ought to call her. So here ought to a very common reduction oughta ought to is a modal verb used to express necessity. More commonly you should call her, but you can also use ought to you oughta call her. In spoken English, native speakers will say oughta the majority of the time. Now, did you hear call her?
Maybe to you it sounded like one word collar, like a dog collar. That's because we drop the H sound on her and it sounds like, uh, uh, but we also combine it with the previous word call, uh, and then we combine them. Collar, collar. Again, based on context, you'll understand that I'm not saying collar like a dog collar. And I'm in fact saying call her. You ought to call her. How about one more listening exercise? I'll say it three times. I had an inkling she'd bail.
Oh, did you get this one? I had an inkling, she'd bail. She would as a contraction. This is a grammatically correct contraction. She'd bail. I had can also be in a contraction with a subject pronoun when it's the auxiliary verb. So if I turn this into the past, perfect, I had gone. I can say I'd gone because then had is the auxiliary verb. I'd gone. But here, because it's the main verb, we don't turn it into a contraction.
I had an inkling she'd bail. What does it mean she'd bail? Bail well when someone bails. This is an expression that's used when someone doesn't do what they said they were going to do. And we specifically use this with plans and arrangements. So let's say I made a plan with my friend to watch a movie on Saturday at 7:00, then Saturday 7:00. No, friend. She bailed. She bailed on me. I can't believe she bailed on me. Again, she didn't do what she said she was going to do. And again, we use this frequently with plans and arrangements.
Now, what's an inkling? I had an inkling. Bail. An inkling is a slight indication, a slight hint, a slight suggestion. So something my friend said made me think she was going to bail. Maybe she didn't sound that excited about seeing the movie. Maybe she's been talking about how tired she is. So that's an inkling. An inkling that's fun to say. An inkling. I had an inkling. She'd bail. You're doing an amazing job. Let's keep going with the next listening exercise.
I'll say it three times. Cut her some slack, she's a newbie. Cut her some slack. She's a newbie. Cut her some slack, she's a newbie. I said cut her some slack. She's a newbie. Did you get that? Do you know what this means? First, let's talk about the pronunciation changes. Her, him and them. We often shorten these. So her I got rid of the H sound and it sounds like uh, uh, but then I combine it to the word before Cutter, cutter, cutter, cutter some slack. She's this is a contraction. Native speakers use contractions all the time in spoken English.
She's represents she is, she is a newbie. She's she's a newbie. Now. Do you know what this means? To cut someone some slack? This is an expression, and it's when you punish someone less severely than you normally would and a newbie. This is a new employee, a new employee, or even a new member to a group. You can refer to that person as a newbie, A newbie. So it makes sense that you might cut a newbie some slack. You might be less severe with that person because they're new, they're still learning, they're still training. Cutter some slack.
She's a newbie. Our second listening exercise, I'll say it three times. Give me 20 to whip up some appies for the party. I said give me 20 to whip up some appies for the party. Give me. We reduce these to sound like Gimme. 2020 here means 20 minutes. Commonly we drop the minutes when it's obvious. Call me in 5 instead of call me in 5 minutes, Gimme 20, give me 20 minutes, Gimme 20 to whip up. Whip up is a phrasal verb for the pronunciation.
Notice is whip up, whip up, whip up because of linking whip up. Whip up means to prepare something quickly. We specifically use this in a cooking context. Whip up some appies. What are appies? Well, I just said that we use the phrasal verb whip up in a cooking culinary context. What does appies sound like? Anything you can think of, Appetizers, appetizers, native speakers. We love shortening words, so we take the word appetizer and we shorten it to appy, appy because it's plural.
In my example, appies, appies. Another common shortened word is simply ABS. So you could say Gimme 20 to whip up some apps or whip up some appies. Both are commonly used. Are you ready for your next listening exercise? She's got some nerve sauntering in 30 minutes late. I said she's got some nerve. Sauntering in 30 minutes late for pronunciation. Notice she's got here. The contraction is she has.
She has got. I know this because grammatically it isn't correct to say she is got is she has got she's got some nerve. What does that mean? To have some nerve is an expression to say how dare she? She has some audacity. So you're criticizing her behavior to say that she has no right to do something. She's got some nerve. Now what does she have no right to do? Well, is sauntering in 30 minutes late? To understand this, you need to know what saunter in means. When you saunter, it means you walk in a very relaxed, casual, unhurried way. To saunter in here means into the office,
into the room, into the meeting. She sauntered in 30 minutes late. So basically she came to the meeting 30 minutes late, and when she came, she was so relaxed and she didn't show any sense of urgency, even though she was 30 minutes late. She's got some nerve doing that. Our next listening exercise. I gotta hand it to you. I didn't think you'd pull it off. I said I got to hand it to you. I didn't think you'd pull it off. Did you get this one? Got to is pronounced Gotta I gotta hand it.
Notice the linking here hand did I gotta hand it now I said to you. But native speakers will frequently reduce both of these and say to yeah or yeah to ya, to ya gotta hand it to ya. But I believe I said to you, I gotta hand it to you. I gotta hand it to ya, You'd is a contraction the D stands for Would you, would, you'd, you'd. It's difficult to hear that D because it's very soft, but grammatically it's important that it's there. You'd pull it off. Notice the linking. Pull it lit, pull it, pull it off. When you hand it to someone, it means that you recognize that someone deserves praise or respect. So by saying I gotta hand it to you means
I have to acknowledge that your actions deserve praise or respect. And why am I in doing this? Because the person pulled something off. When you pull something off, it means you achieve something difficult. You succeed on doing something difficult. So that's why this person deserves praise. I gotta hand it to you, I didn't think you'd pull it off, but you did our last listening exercise. I've gotta have a little me time. I said. I've got to have a little me time here. Notice we have the same gotta reduction.
Got to gotta this time. I said I've I have as a contraction. I've I've gotta, I've gotta, I've gotta, I've gotta have a little will sound like little, a little, little, a little me time. Now what is me time? Me time is simply personal time. It's time when you can do whatever you want to do. It's your personal time. So of course I've gotta have a little me time. I must have some time for me to do whatever I want to do. Personal time, me time now. We'll move on to level Super Advanced.
You'll listen to different native speakers telling each other jokes. First you'll watch the clip of the joke without subtitles. Then you'll watch the clip with subtitles. And finally, we'll review the joke together. Here's the first joke. What did the fried rice say to the shrimp? Fry your rice. Don't walk away from me. What did the fried rice say to the shrimp? Fry your rice. Don't walk away from me. So did you laugh? Make sure you keep track of your laugh score as we go through the jokes. Now, what did the fried rice say to the shrimp? Don't walk away from me. So you cook fried rice with a walk? A walk right?
Now the pronunciation of walk and walk are the same. So when I said them it was the exact same word, different spelling, same pronunciation, different meaning. So you could say after we bought the walk, we went for a walk in the park. So this is only funny because those two words share the same pronunciation but different meanings. And that's why you have a high level of fluency if you understand these nuances. Joke #2 Here we go. Did you hear Steve Harvey and his wife got into a fight? That's not real, is it? It was a family feud. Did you hear?
Steve Harvey and his wife got into a fight? That's not real, is it? Yeah, it was a family feud. So did you laugh? I like this joke because I grew up watching the show Family Feud. So to understand this joke, you need to understand the cultural reference. Did you hear that? Steve Harvey who is the host of a very popular TV show called Family Feud. So did you hear that Steve Harvey and his wife got into a fight? Now you also have to know that a feud is a prolonged fight or conflict and it can be within a family like in this case, but it doesn't have to be. It can be within a business or within a neighborhood. So in this case, a family feud is used in two different ways. Is the name of the TV show.
But the word feud also means a prolonged conflict or fight. So a classic example of a feud is Romeo and Jr. and Juliet's tragic ending was the result of the feud between their families. So you could say because of their family feud. Now let's practice that pronunciation. Feud ewed feud joke #3 Why couldn't the computer dance? He had no algorithm. Why couldn't the computer dance? He had no algorithm. Did you get this one? Maybe this was a little easier to understand because the concept of algorithm is very well known. But did you notice the spelling was of the word rhythm? Rhythm.
Now this is funny because having rhythm is key is extremely important to dancing well. You can't dance well without rhythm. Now Rhythm. It's the ability to move your body In Sync with the music so your body movements match the music. Now algorithm spelled differently again, but same pronunciation. And of course, an algorithm represents computer instructions. Now let's just practice that pronunciation as well. Rhythm, rhythm. Our next joke. How does a pilot take his sandwich plane? So did you laugh? Did you notice that spelling of the word plane?
They spelled it as what a pilot flies, which is a plane. So of course a pilot flies a plane, and the word plane and plain again have the same pronunciation. Now in this case, a plain sandwich would mean a sandwich without any additional toppings or sauce. It isn't very common to ask for a plain sandwich, to be honest. But it is very common to ask for a plain hamburger, which we mean just the bun and meat. So no ketchup, no cheese, no tomatoes, just the bun and meat. That would be a plain hamburger or a plain pizza, which kids normally order.
Crust, sauce and cheese. The core ingredients nothing else and noticed in the joke they used the verb take because that's how we ask someone how do you take your coffee or how do you take your tea to ask how do you want it prepared? So to answer, you would say I take it my coffee or tea with milk and sugar, or you can say I take it black, which means plain. In this case, just coffee. I take it black. Joke #5I love this one. Let's watch it. Hey son, did you hear the rumor about butter? Well, I'm not going to spread it. Hey son, did you hear the rumor about butter?
Well, I'm not going to spread it. So did you laugh? I hope you laughed. This is very funny because you spread butter on your toast. And that means to apply or distribute evenly. So that's the verb you use. But you also spread a rumor, which means to share or circulate that rumor. And a rumor is information or a story that may not be true or verified. For example, I heard they're getting divorced. But it could just be a rumor. So someone told you that but you are not 100% sure if it's true, it's a rumor. And you shouldn't spread rumors around the office. Maybe that's what your Co worker tells you. Do you want me to make another lesson like this? If you do put a laugh emoji, Put a laugh emoji in the comments.
And of course, make sure you like this lesson. Share it with your friends and subscribe so you're notified every time I post a new lesson. And you can get this free speaking guide where I share 6 tips on how to speak English fluently and confidently. You can click here to download it or look for the link in the description. And here's another lesson I know you'll love. Watch it now.
