AEP 1 – English Fluency Bits

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Well, hello and welcome to a brand new Phrase Builder and pronunciation practice lesson.

I’m so excited this month, really!

I’m really so excited.

I, I, I know I say I’m excited every month, but this month, in particular, I am

incredibly excited because I’m getting to show you something really important about learning English

which I’ll explain in just a moment.

This month in the Master Class video lesson, I have a special treat for you

where we have not two, not three, but four native English speakers.

Canadians, Americans, Australians all sitting around talking,

and you’ll get to hear lots of different phrases and the pronunciation, you’ll also get to practice that as well.

But the most important thing about that lesson is that the grammar is simple, but there are some, kind of,

phrases that come out which I’ll explain right now.

These special phrases that come out,

and it really shows you how you can sound like a native speaker

as long as you understand pretty simple grammar but use more, kind of, complicated phrases.

So, I’ll get into those right now.

These are called English Fluency Bits.

There are many different pieces of a language, and it could be for English or any other language.

But, basically, you’ve got things like grammar, which is the rules of the language,

and then you’ve got pronunciation, or you’ve got specific phrases like proverbs or expressions.

But then there’s a different group that I like to call English Fluency Bits

and if you can use them, you will sound much more native because it’s a whole phrase

and you’re blending it together, and you can use simple grammar, but put the

English Fluency Bit phrase in the sentence and you’ll really sound like a,

a very confident, educated and intelligent native speaker.

One example of an English Fluency Bit is “be that as it may.”

Be that as it may.

Be that as it may.

It just means even if that’s how something is, then we still have to do something else.

So, as an example:

“Ahhh. The weather is kind of, kind of, uh, crappy today,” a friend of yours might say.

And you can say, “Well, be that as it may, we’re still going running today.

Be that as it may, we’re still going running today.”

So, I can say, “Even though it’s raining, or even though the weather is crappy, we can still go running today.”

This is a, a basic way of using just the grammar,

but if you use the English Fluency Bit “be that as it may,” you sound much more intelligent.

Ahhh! Be that as it may!

Be that as it may!

If you’re a Total Fluency Program member for Master English Conversation, you can go into your account and you can look at the bonus videos that you have,

and you will see uh, a collection of bonus videos that’ll, that’ll kind of, go over lots of different English Fluency Bits that you can practice.

Anyway, this idea of simple grammar with English Fluency Bits is very powerful, and it’s a very quick way of getting fluent.

So, in today’s lesson, I want to go over a whole bunch of English Fluency Bits and then you will prepare yourself

for when you get to see them and hear them in the Master Class video lesson.

Let’s get started!

Many English Fluency Bits can be used in regular, everyday conversations.

But a lot of the ones that you’re learning in this video that you’ll see in the Master Class video lesson

can be used at the office and any other professional capacity.

So, if you’re a lawyer or a doctor, or anything else where you want to sound more intelligent, these are phrases, again, we’ll, we’ll go over lots of them today, but these are phrases that you can use that will really help you sound more native.

This next one, listen carefully.

This is something that I love to use, and I used a lot in college.

I think you can make the case that.

Listen carefully.

You can make the case that.

You can make the argument that.

You can make the case that.

You can say that I am happy.

You can make the case that I am happy.

You can make the argument that I am happy.

Remember that English Fluency Bits, they’re really just taking simple ideas

and, kind of, making them into bigger, more complicated sounding things so that you sound more intelligent.

You can usually express the same idea:

He looks happy,

where here looks happy.

Or, I can make the case that he looks happy,

where I can give a reason, or an argument.

make the case that

make the argument that

In the Grammar Focus lesson, you practiced turning words like “when,” “why” and “where”

into slightly more complicated academic phrases like “for which” and “at which.”

So, we use the same thing for “how.”

You can take a short word like “how” and change it to “in what way.”

So, if I am talking with my son or my daughter, or some young child, again you remember that the,

the way that you use the language depends on the people you are speaking with.

So, if I am speaking with my, my son and I have a, uh, a small child,

and I can just ask “How?” because the child understands that.

But if I’m at an office,

someone is asking me and instead of using “How?” I can say, “In what way?

In what way?

In what way?”

In what way should I make this report?

In what way should I make this report?

The next English Fluency Bit is one of my favorites: “as opposed to.”

as opposed to

As opposed to running, I prefer swimming.

A regular, basic English sentence might be, “I like running more than swimming.”

Or, “I prefer running to swimming.”

Again, there are lots of different ways to say things.

If you only understand basic grammar, that’s just fine.

And you don’t know long, complex phrases that you can add, that’s also fine.

But, if you can understand basic to intermediate grammar, and you can use these longer phrases, you will sound much more native.

So, as opposed to becomes a really great way of saying, “not this but that.”

But it’s a little bit more polite.

As opposed to having the meeting today, why don’t we have it next week?

Now, listen carefully to the way the sounds blend together:

aza pose to

The “D” sound gets dropped:

Aza pose to this week, how about next week?

Aza pose to this week, how about next week?

The next phrase, and this brings back so many memories from college because I studied philosophy,

and we get to talk amongst ourselves, all of the students, and we all want to sound more intelligent.

So, everyone uses these really big phrases and long expressions.

And this one is: make a distinction between.

make a distinction between

I don’t really make a distinction between Chihuahuas and other small dogs.

I don’t really see a difference.

Or, I don’t make a difference.

It doesn’t matter to me.

I don’t make a distinction.

To make a distinction means you take something and you cut it into two different parts.

So, you make a distinction.

Ahhh. This is one thing and this is another.

So, I’m not making a distinction between good and bad.

I’m saying both of them are OK.

Or, there’s a gray area.

You’re next English Fluency Bit is “in terms of.”

in terms of

“In terms of” is just a fancier, longer way of saying “about” or “concerning.”

In terms of the company, I think it could be doing better.

About the company, I think it could be better.

About the company, or about my relationship with that manager,

I think it could be better.

So, we just say, “in terms of.”

So, it makes you sound much more intelligent, and it’s a lot more fun to say.

in terms of

Listen carefully to how the sounds blend together:

in term zuv

in term zuv

zuv

The last “S” becomes more of a “Z” sound and it blends together.

The next English Fluency Bit is “when it comes to things like this.”

Awww! I love this one!

Be sure to remember this one.

This is one of my favorites!

I know there are so many of my favorites in one video.

It’s amazing!

“When it comes to things like this,”

or, “when it comes to stuff like this.”

And you can use whatever the thing is in the sentence.

When it comes to soccer, I’m not very good.

All this means is “about” or “concerning.”

It’s the same thing as “in terms of.”

It’s really just the same idea.

So, when you’re thinking about building your writing, especially, because you can take more time to think…

About soccer, I’m not very good.

“In terms of soccer, I’m not very good.”

Oooh! Even better!

Or, longer still, “When it comes to soccer, I’m not very good.”

The next English Fluency Bit is “then again.”

then again

I was thinking about going to the park today, but it’s kind of looking cloudy.

Then again,

I’m getting, kind of, big, so maybe I should go out and run.

Then again just means thinking about something again, or you’re changing,

uh, your opinion about something.

The next English Fluency Bit is “be synonymous with.”

I really love this expression. Synonymous!

It’s got such a, such a cool sound to it.

Synonym, or same, it just means the same thing.

So, if something is synonymous with something else,

uh, it means, like, it holds that idea,

uh, like, “Minivans are synonymous with, with family life and putting kids and taking kids to a soccer game.”

So, it’s synonymous.

The last English Fluency Bit that you’ll see in the conversation is “What happened to?”

Or, Whatever happened to?”

If you’re thinking about an old friend or an old TV show, or maybe a co-worker that used to work at your company

uh, or somebody else you know, you can ask people,

“Hey! What happened to such and such, or so and so?”

Or, even a TV show.

Maybe I will be talking with my friends about some TV show we used to watch when we were kids.

And I can say, “Hey, whatever happened to that actor from that TV show?

Whatever happened to the guy who played,

uh, so and so in that movie?

What happened to him?” Or, “Whatever happened to him?”

Practice all of these phrases when you’re at work and

just, every day, try to pick one.

And you can listen for the particular phrases that other people use.

Uh for an example, maybe you can, if you go back I won’t tell you them, but if you go back and watch

previous Master English Conversation lessons,

or you watch movies or you watch any TV show, you’ll notice that I have,

kind of, the same speaking pattern, and I’ll use a lot of the same kinds of phrases when I’m explaining things.

These are called my “signature phrases.”

Lots of people have them, like uh, Arnold Schwarzenegger when he said, “I’ll be back.”

That’s his signature phrase,

a phrase that he uses very frequently.

So, I want you to create some signature phrases from these,

uh, from these English Fluency Bits that you’re practicing today,

and then every day try to use just one or two, or three, however many is comfortable for you.

But, just try to use them in your conversations.

“Whatever happened to such and such?”

You can begin a conversation like that.

You can say, “In terms of this, what do you think about that?

In terms of running the company, what do you think about remote workers?”

There are lots of different ways you can begin a conversation with these English Fluency Bits,

or you can in, uh, kind of introduce them in the middle of a sentence or in a conversation,

and you can continue having more intelligent conversations at work.

So, think about all these things.

Go out and practice these, especially if you’re working,

uh, or if you’re in an academic environment like a school or another professional

capacity like, uh, you’re a doctor or a lawyer.

So, get out, practice all these, and if you have any questions at all,

feel free to mail me at English, uh, at [email protected].

I’m thinking about all these complicated words and phrases now, so I forget my own email address.

Anyway, have a fantastic day.

I look forward to hearing from you, and I will see you very soon, next time.

Bye bye!