Daily Life Vocabulary You NEED to Know

0:00 I have a little English test for you.

0:02 If I asked you, "You don't have any plans,

0:07 what are you going to do?" Which one of these words

0:10 would you be most likely to use in your reply?

0:13 And I'm going to tell you the answer in the next 2 minutes.

0:17 Are you ready?

0:17 The first word is to go through.

0:20 The next one is harder than it looks.

0:23 And the final one is to go with the flow.

0:25 So, hang on tight.

0:26 You're going to find out the answer within the next 2 minutes.

0:29 In today's lesson, you are going to learn 10 plus one bonus daily

0:35 life English expressions that you can use in your conversations wherever you go.

0:41 I used all of these real-life expressions in my most recent video where

0:46 I showed you all of the food that I bought at the grocery store.

0:48 It was a lot of food.

0:50 I used a lot of phrases,

0:52 and all of these were naturally used in that conversation.

0:55 I want you to be able to use

0:57 real-life English phrases like this, not textbook phrases,

1:01 real-life phrases in your daily life.

1:03 And if you're new here, hi, I'm Vanessa from speakenglishwithvanessa.com,

1:08 and I teach you real-life English here on my YouTube channel

1:13 for over the past 10 years to over 7 million of you now.

1:17 I can't believe it.

1:18 Thank you so much for learning English with me.

1:20 And I want to let you know that every

1:23 single week I prepare something special for you.

1:26 Every Friday for a new YouTube lesson here, I make a free PDF worksheet.

1:33 This includes all of the vocabulary, all of the definitions,

1:37 all of the sample sentences that you are about to learn.

1:40 Plus, on the last page,

1:43 there is a challenge question where you can use all of these phrases yourself.

1:49 Plus, I have included a bonus speaking practice.

1:52 This is a chance for you to speak out loud, practice your speaking,

1:59 pronunciation, vocabulary, sentence structure skills,

2:03 and repeat after my voice everything on this worksheet.

2:06 Let's take a little sneak peek and hear what this is.

2:09 Hello, hello.

2:12 Welcome to this bonus speaking practice about

2:15 the vocabulary that you just learned on YouTube.

2:18 I am going to go through the free PDF worksheet, so let's get started.

2:23 So, how can you download this free

2:26 PDF worksheet plus the bonus speaking practice?

2:28 All you have to do is click the link in the description,

2:32 enter your name and email address, and voila, just like that, the free PDF

2:38 and speaking practice will land in your email inbox.

2:40 And do you want to know something cool?

2:43 You never have to sign up for my free worksheets ever again.

2:46 I will automatically send them to you every single Friday to your email inbox.

2:51 Sign up once and you are signed up forever.

2:53 It is my gift to you.

2:54 So, click on the link in the description

2:56 to get today's free worksheet plus bonus speaking practice.

3:00 All right, let's go to our first daily life English expression

3:05 and the answer to the quiz at the beginning of this lesson.

3:08 Our first expression is to go with the flow.

3:12 At the beginning of this lesson, I said, "You don't have any plans?

3:16 What are you going to do?" You can use this phrase.

3:21 I'm just going to go with the flow.

3:22 And you can guess that this means you are going to not have any plans,

3:27 you are going to be spontaneous.

3:29 See what happens along the way.

3:31 I don't know.

3:33 It's like you're on a river, floating down.

3:35 I'm just going to go with the flow.

3:38 In the original video where I was talking

3:40 about the food I bought at the grocery store, I did not plan that lesson.

3:45 Every single phrase I was going to say, I just talked as I went.

3:49 So, I said, "Let's just go with the flow and see what happens." This kind

3:54 of real-life English conversation is excellent for really

3:59 immersing yourself in conversation instead of a structured,

4:04 planned-out type of conversation.

4:06 Instead, it's real life.

4:07 So, what we're going to do now is we're going

4:09 to take a look at the original clip from that conversation,

4:13 and I want you to listen for the phrase to go with the flow.

4:17 Let's watch.

4:18 Some of them are not all packaged together, so this is not all the fruit.

4:23 This is not all the pantry supplies,

4:25 but we'll just go with the flow and see what we got here.

4:29 Some of them are not all packaged together, so this is not all the fruit.

4:34 This is not all the pantry supplies,

4:36 but we'll just go with the flow and see what we got here.

4:39 The second real-life expression is a fun one.

4:43 It is a big thing of.

4:44 In English, we often use the word thing when we are

4:49 just speaking quickly and casually and don't say the specific word.

4:52 Maybe I don't want to say a bag or a container or a pile.

4:58 I could say a big thing of.

5:01 And you can see how I used it in the original conversation about food.

5:04 I said, "I got us a big thing of mandarin

5:09 oranges." I could have said a big bag of mandarin oranges,

5:12 but instead I used the word thing, and I think these are fun expressions

5:16 to learn because this is how real people speak.

5:19 You can say, "I bought a big bag of mandarin

5:21 oranges," but you're also going to hear this colorful expression used,

5:25 and the next one as well, which also uses the word thing.

5:29 But let me give you a quick other example.

5:31 So, you could also say,

5:31 "I bought a big thing of coffee because we're going to have

5:35 guests this week." I could have said a big bag of coffee,

5:39 a big container of coffee, but I just said a big thing of coffee.

5:44 It's a way to casually speak.

5:47 Okay, let's see how this was originally used in the conversation

5:50 and then we'll see the next phrase that also uses the word thing.

5:54 Let's watch.

5:55 I got us a big thing of mandarin oranges.

5:57 You can also call these tangerines.

5:59 I know they're slightly different, but usually we use the same word.

6:03 I got us a big thing of mandarin oranges.

6:06 You can also call these tangerines.

6:08 I know they're slightly different, but usually we use the same word.

6:12 The third real-life expression is another thing of [laughter] [laughter]

6:17 [laughter] So, in the conversation I said I got

6:19 So, in the conversation I said I got

6:20 So, in the conversation I said I got another thing of olive oil.

6:22 I could have said another jar of olive oil or another container of olive oil,

6:28 but I just said thing instead.

6:30 Do you see how this word covers a multitude of other words?

6:34 [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] I think this is really useful,

6:35 I think this is really useful, I think this is really useful,

6:36 especially while you're still building your English vocabulary.

6:39 If you don't know a word, try the word thing.

6:42 See if it works.

6:44 Another thing of olive oil.

6:46 Let me give you another example.

6:46 I often say this, can you grab another thing of paper towels from the store?

6:51 Another thing of paper towels.

6:53 I could say, can you buy some more paper towels from the store?

6:57 But here I'm using this phrase, another thing of paper towels,

7:00 to talk about the group of paper towels.

7:04 I could say another bag of paper towels, but they don't really come in a bag.

7:09 So, here I'm using thing to talk about that group in a general sense.

7:13 Another thing of paper towels.

7:15 Perfect.

7:15 Okay, let's watch how this was originally used and I'm

7:17 going to challenge you to be able to use it yourself.

7:21 You can also download that PDF and just say it and repeat out loud after me,

7:25 so that as you're repeating and saying these phrases out loud,

7:29 you'll be more likely to use it in your real conversations because

7:31 you've already practiced it out loud with me in the speaking practice.

7:34 All right, let's go ahead and watch the original clip.

7:39 Oh, another thing of pasta.

7:40 This is dried pasta.

7:43 This is not fresh.

7:45 Another thing of pasta.

7:46 This is dried pasta.

7:48 This is not fresh.

7:50 The fourth daily life phrase that I used is to go through.

7:54 Now, this phrasal verb has many meanings, but we're going to focus in on the one

7:59 that was used in the conversation about food.

8:02 I said this sentence,

8:04 "We go through a lot of nuts

8:08 and dried fruit." This simply means that we consume,

8:11 we use a lot of nuts and dried fruits in my house.

8:15 That's something that we often eat as a common snack.

8:19 Another way that I often use this phrase is when I'm talking about technology.

8:25 Making these lessons for you means that I need to use the computer,

8:28 I need to use my camera,

8:30 I need to use a lot of memory and memory disks and external hard drives,

8:36 these types of things.

8:38 So, I could say, "I go through a lot of memory." This is not this memory,

8:44 it's technological memory.

8:45 "I go through a lot of memory in my business.

8:48 I have a lot of external hard drives where I can back up

8:53 my lessons and my videos just in case something happens to them." So,

8:56 I use a lot of memory in my job.

8:59 I go through a lot of memory or like my kids, they go through a lot of food.

9:06 Okay, let's watch the original clip so that you can use

9:09 the way this way to use the phrasal verb to go through.

9:11 Let's watch.

9:13 We like to buy lots of nuts and dried fruit because we

9:16 eat that as a snack instead of potato chips or something unhealthy.

9:20 So, we go through a lot of nuts.

9:21 You will see that in the next bag.

9:24 We like to buy lots of nuts and dried fruit because we

9:27 eat that as a snack instead of potato chips or something unhealthy.

9:31 So, we go through a lot of nuts.

9:32 You will see that in the next bag.

9:36 The fifth daily life expression is treat.

9:39 Treat.

9:40 In the conversation, you saw me buying lots of food for my family,

9:45 but I could not stop myself from buying myself a little treat.

9:50 What's a treat?

9:50 It's something unnecessary, but special that I wanted just for me.

9:56 This was my treat.

9:59 In this sentence, treat is a noun.

10:00 This was my treat.

10:03 I bought it for myself, but we can also use this as a verb.

10:06 Take a look at how I can rewrite this sentence.

10:10 I like to treat myself and buy myself a little something at the grocery store.

10:16 I like to treat myself.

10:18 It still means the exact same thing.

10:21 It's not important.

10:23 It's not absolutely necessary, but it's special.

10:26 So, I could say, "This is my treat." Or, "I like to treat myself." So,

10:30 I want to know for you.

10:31 Let me know in the comments.

10:33 When you go to the store, particularly the grocery store,

10:36 do you ever buy yourself a treat?

10:38 What is it?

10:40 Is it a little bar of chocolate?

10:41 Is it a special good smelling soap?

10:44 Tell me, what is something that you like to do to treat yourself?

10:47 I can't wait to see what you have to say.

10:50 Okay, let's take a look at the original

10:52 sentence and how I use this in the conversation.

10:55 This is my little treat.

10:58 This is Jeju matcha latte packets.

11:00 It's so silly.

11:02 It's tea.

11:02 This is my little treat.

11:05 This is Jeju matcha latte packets.

11:08 It's so silly.

11:10 It's tea.

11:12 The sixth important daily life expression is harder than it looks.

11:17 We could also say harder than it seems.

11:20 So, here, maybe if you are watching

11:22 a professional ice skating competition, well, those people [laughter] [laughter]

11:28 [laughter] make ice skating seem so easy.

11:30 Their make ice skating seem so easy.

11:30 Their make ice skating seem so easy.

11:32 Their movements are so fluid, so seamless.

11:35 But, when you try to get on some ice skates and go out there on the ice,

11:39 [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] you're going to use this phrase.

11:41 Oh,

11:41 you're going to use this phrase.

11:41 Oh,

11:41 you're going to use this phrase.

11:42 Oh, wow, ice skating is harder than it looks.

11:45 Or, ice skating is harder than it seems.

11:48 I thought this would be so easy,

11:50 but instead you're wobbling around, maybe falling.

11:52 [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] It's quite hard, right?

11:54 So, this is a It's quite hard, right?

11:55 So, this is a It's quite hard, right?

11:56 So, this is a great way to talk about your perception compared to the reality.

11:59 Let's see how I use this in the conversation.

12:01 I was talking about Brazil nuts.

12:03 This is a specific type of nut, and I said Brazil nuts are really hard to open.

12:08 It's harder than it looks.

12:10 Some nuts, like walnuts, are pretty easy to crack,

12:13 especially if you have a little nutcracker device,

12:16 but Brazil nuts are very hard to crack.

12:19 Just by looking at them,

12:20 you might not think that these are harder than all the others, but they are.

12:25 It's harder than it looks to crack a Brazil nut.

12:28 [laughter] You might even use this for English as well.

12:31 You could say, learning to speak better English is harder than it seems.

12:36 I thought that I would just practice more and it would be fine.

12:39 But, how do I practice?

12:40 What do I do?

12:42 I want to improve my speaking.

12:44 So, that's why you're here, right?

12:45 If you practice with the speaking practice from today's lesson,

12:49 you will absolutely improve your speaking skills.

12:51 This is something that I want to give you the tools to have,

12:56 not just vocabulary, like today's lesson,

12:58 but also be able to use that in your speaking.

13:00 So, make sure you download it.

13:02 All right.

13:03 Let's take a look at the original clip where

13:06 you saw harder than it looks in the conversation.

13:08 Let's see.

13:10 Brazil nuts are really hard [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] to open.

13:13 It's very labor-intensive.

13:14 to open.

13:14 It's very labor-intensive.

13:14 to open.

13:15 It's very labor-intensive.

13:15 Um, so this small bag is very expensive.

13:19 Brazil nuts are really hard to open.

13:22 It's very labor-intensive.

13:23 Um, so this small bag is very expensive.

13:26 The seventh daily life phrase an interesting one.

13:30 It is immune-boosting,

13:32 or we can flip this around and say to boost your immune system.

13:37 Here we're talking about your body's ability to fight a sickness.

13:42 For example, when I was pregnant, I had a lower immune system.

13:47 This is common for everyone who is pregnant.

13:50 Your body is creating a baby, so your ability to fight illness is lower.

13:56 You are more likely to get sick while you're

13:59 pregnant because your immune system is not as strong.

14:02 So, usually you need to boost your immune system by taking extra vitamins,

14:07 making sure that you're staying healthy, all of those things.

14:11 Let's see how I use this in the conversation.

14:14 I was talking about Brazil nuts and how they're really healthy for you,

14:18 and I said selenium is one of the best immune-boosting minerals.

14:23 If you look up some natural minerals that you can add

14:26 to your diet to help your ability to fight illness increase,

14:31 well, selenium is one of them.

14:34 So, I said Brazil nuts include this immune-boosting mineral.

14:38 It's really important to include something like that in your diet.

14:42 So, I want to know for you, do you do anything to boost your immune system?

14:47 Let me know in the comments.

14:47 Do you go for a run?

14:49 Do you exercise?

14:50 Do you drink lemon water?

14:52 Do [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] you eat Brazil nuts?

14:54 What is one of your you eat Brazil nuts?

14:55 What is one of your you eat Brazil nuts?

14:56 What is one of your tricks to help your body fight illness?

14:59 Oftentimes we think about this during the winter

15:01 when we're more likely to get sick.

15:03 So, share your tips and tricks.

15:05 Let us know in the comments.

15:06 Even if you're not sure if they are scientifically verified,

15:09 it's always interesting to see what other people do, right?

15:13 All right, let's watch that original clip and listen for immune-boosting.

15:17 Let's watch.

15:19 Selenium is one of the most important immune-boosting minerals,

15:23 and Brazil nuts have it a lot.

15:25 Selenium is one of the most important immune

15:29 boosting minerals and Brazil nuts have it a lot.

15:33 The eighth daily life expression is to be picky about something.

15:38 Usually being picky is not a good thing, but in some situations it is.

15:44 In the conversation I said this, "I'm really picky about tomato sauce."

15:49 [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [gasps]

15:50 This means that most tomato sauces I say

15:53 This means that most tomato sauces I say

15:53 This means that most tomato sauces I say no, I do not want to buy that.

15:55 So, I only purchase very particular brands of tomato sauce.

16:00 Usually I'm not picky about most things in my life,

16:03 but tomato sauce I want to get the one that is the best,

16:09 that is the most authentic,

16:09 has the best tomato content in it, less other things in it.

16:14 I want to get the best tomato sauce.

16:17 So, I am picky about tomato sauce.

16:19 We often use this word to talk

16:22 about children because stereotypically children are picky eaters.

16:26 They only want to eat things without much flavor.

16:30 I feel very grateful my kids are generally not picky eaters.

16:34 They love many things, but this is kind of the stereotype, right?

16:38 So, let's see what situations is being picky a good thing.

16:43 It's not necessarily bad to be picky about tomato sauce.

16:45 If I went to your house and you offered me

16:48 some pasta with tomato sauce on it that I don't purchase,

16:52 that is a brand I don't necessarily love, I don't care.

16:56 I'm so happy to be eating food you made.

16:58 I'm not going to be rude about it.

17:01 So, this is just kind of a neutral picky, right?

17:03 But, if I said to you,

17:06 "I am picky about who I hire to work for Speak English with Vanessa." Ooh,

17:11 this is a good thing, right?

17:12 I don't just hire everybody who asks to work for Speak English with Vanessa,

17:18 we have a long interview process.

17:20 They have to do several trial tasks.

17:23 We have to make sure that we're a good fit.

17:26 I am picky about who I hire to be helping with this business,

17:32 teaching you English.

17:32 That is a good thing.

17:34 So, let's take a look at the original clip

17:36 to talk about one situation where I am picky.

17:40 Let's watch.

17:42 whole peeled tomatoes.

17:42 I'm kind of picky about tomato sauce.

17:45 I think because in the US there's a lot of very low-quality,

17:49 sugary tomato sauces.

17:51 whole peeled tomatoes.

17:52 I'm kind of picky about tomato sauce.

17:55 I think because in the US there's a lot of very low-quality,

17:59 sugary tomato sauces.

18:02 The ninth daily life phrase is when possible.

18:06 I like this one because it gives us some advanced nuance to the sentence.

18:10 Take a look at this and then let's talk about what it means.

18:13 When possible, I try to avoid food dye.

18:19 Well, if it's Halloween and my kids are eating Halloween candy,

18:22 there's so many different dyes and additives, I don't really care.

18:27 Whatever, they can eat it.

18:29 I'm not going to be picky about it.

18:30 But, if I'm buying, for example, some kind of uh chips,

18:37 I want to make sure that there's no dye in those chips.

18:40 It's possible that you can just buy potato chips, potatoes and oil.

18:45 Those are the only ingredients, potato, oil, and salt.

18:47 But, a lot of potato chips actually have food dyes in them.

18:52 So, if I'm buying potato chips, I will check the ingredients and I

18:55 will purchase those that don't have food dyes.

19:00 When possible, I purchase some things that don't have food dyes.

19:05 That's something that I look at, but I'm not super strict about.

19:07 You might also use this about your work life.

19:10 You could say, "When possible,

19:11 I work from home." Maybe there's some things you need to do where you

19:14 have to go into the office or you have to go out into the field,

19:18 you have to go to see a client.

19:20 You can't work from home in those situations,

19:22 but for your other work tasks, maybe you can work from home.

19:26 So, you say, "Well, when possible." You could add when it's possible.

19:30 "When it's possible, I work from home." That's fine, too.

19:32 But, we often shorten this phrase and just say,

19:36 "When possible, I work from home." Beautiful phrase.

19:38 Okay, let's take a look at how I originally used

19:40 this and I want you to try to add this to your vocabulary.

19:44 It's a great advanced way to add some nuance to your conversation

19:47 and to the meaning of what you're trying to say.

19:50 All right, let's watch.

19:52 When possible, I try to avoid food dye.

19:54 Not all the time, but usually.

19:57 When possible, I try to avoid food dye.

19:59 Not all the time, but usually.

20:01 The 10th, but not final, don't forget our bonus phrase,

20:05 that we're going to talk about today is to run out of space.

20:09 Are we talking about running Nope.

20:12 Instead, we're talking about not having enough space.

20:17 We can talk about this figuratively or literally.

20:20 First, let's talk about literally.

20:22 In the conversation,

20:24 I was taking food out of bags and putting it on my kitchen table.

20:29 Well, after a while, there was hardly any space left.

20:31 So, I said, "We're running out of space, but that's okay.

20:36 Let's keep going." I was just piling food on top of other food.

20:39 We were starting to get not enough space on the table.

20:45 We're running out of space.

20:46 But, we can also use this a little bit more figuratively,

20:52 at least less tangibly.

20:54 You might talk about space in a digital sense.

20:57 So, when I make these videos for you, as you can imagine,

21:01 this video takes up a lot of digital space.

21:06 I use a lot of memory creating videos.

21:09 So, actually, [laughter] [laughter] [laughter]

21:11 about 10 minutes ago, my camera turned about 10 minutes ago, my camera turned

21:13 about 10 minutes ago, my camera turned off and it said,

21:16 "This card is full." What happened?

21:18 I ran out of space.

21:19 So, I had to go back and delete some

21:21 videos that I accidentally still had on the camera.

21:24 So, this happened to me.

21:25 I ran out of space.

21:27 Here we're talking about digital space.

21:29 I ran out of space, but it worked after I deleted some videos.

21:33 Great.

21:34 All right, let's watch how this was used

21:36 in the original conversation to talk about that physical space,

21:38 to run out of space.

21:41 Let's watch.

21:42 All right, we're running out of space, but we're still going.

21:44 All right, we have All right, we're running out of space, but we're still going.

21:51 All right, we have Are you ready for our bonus phrase today?

21:57 It is a wonderful phrasal verb.

22:01 It is to give in.

22:02 [gasps] [gasps] [gasps] I have to admit this happens to me quite

22:04 I have to admit this happens to me quite

22:05 I have to admit this happens to me quite a lot at the grocery store.

22:07 I just love food and trying different types of food and experimenting with food.

22:12 So, in the conversation I said, "I don't usually buy noqui,

22:16 but Theo wanted to buy this, so I gave in." Theo's my oldest son,

22:21 and I also wanted to try that noqui.

22:26 So, when he asked for it, I said, "Okay,

22:29 sure, let's get it." Here, I am allowing something.

22:32 I am giving in.

22:33 Okay, fine, sure, let's get it.

22:35 Maybe this could happen to you in the workplace.

22:37 This happens in American workplaces a lot

22:41 where co-workers will go out to lunch together.

22:43 Now, if you do this every day, you'll have no money left,

22:46 but every now and then it's a good idea

22:48 to have this type of connection with your co-workers,

22:51 and maybe it'll be fun, too.

22:52 If they are English-speaking co-workers, challenge yourself and do it.

22:56 But, let's imagine they have been asking you again and again,

22:59 "Hey, you want to come to lunch with us today?" No.

23:01 "You want to come to lunch with us today?

23:04 No.

23:04 And then they try again and again and then finally on Friday they ask you,

23:08 do you want to go to lunch with us?

23:11 And you give in and you say, yes.

23:14 They might say, yes, he finally gave in.

23:18 Let's go.

23:19 So here you are allowing something.

23:21 You are lowering [sighs] [sighs] [sighs] your barrier and you are accepting.

23:26 Yes, your barrier and you are accepting.

23:27 Yes, your barrier and you are accepting.

23:27 Yes, I will go to lunch with you.

23:28 Maybe you'll even use English together.

23:30 That would be great.

23:32 Okay, let's see how this phrasal verb was

23:34 used in the original conversation, this bonus phrase.

23:37 Let's watch.

23:38 Usually I don't buy no key, but Theo wanted to buy this and I gave in.

23:46 Usually I don't buy no key, but Theo wanted to buy this and I gave in.

23:52 Well, thank you so much for learning these 10

23:54 plus one bonus daily life phrases with me.

23:57 Don't forget to download that free PDF worksheet.

23:59 It includes all of the phrases you learned today, definitions, sample sentences.

24:05 There is the bonus challenge question at the very

24:09 end and there is the bonus speaking practice.

24:12 When you listen to the speaking practice,

24:14 I will encourage you to speak out loud with me,

24:17 use the phrases that you've learned today

24:19 and challenge yourself to actually use this immediately.

24:24 Speak with me, repeat with my voice.

24:26 This is the number one way, this shadowing or repeating method is the number one

24:31 way to increase your pronunciation and your sentence structure skills.

24:35 So what are you waiting for?

24:37 All you have to do is enter your name

24:40 and email address in the link in the description and voila,

24:43 just like that this PDF worksheet and bonus

24:46 speaking practice will land in your email inbox.

24:49 It is my gift to you.

24:50 So thank you so much for learning English with me and I'll see

24:53 you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel.

24:57 Bye.

24:58 But wait, do you want more?

24:59 I recommend watching this video next where you will be able to see that original

25:05 food conversation where I show you all $350 worth of groceries that I purchased.

25:13 So much food, you're going to learn a ton of vocabulary for daily life.

25:18 I can't wait and I'll see you there.