Level Of Living Real English Conversation 2020

 Vanessa: Hi! I'm Vanessa from . Let's have a real English conversation. Today I have something super special to sharewith you. I'm going to share with you a real conversationthat I had with a local yoga instructor here in my city. She also teaches yoga on YouTube, so you cancheck out the link to her channel in the description. 

Here you're going to meet Gayle. Vanessa: Gayle teaches yoga, and she talksabout her journey, getting into yoga, and just what it means to her life. I'm sure you also have hobbies and passionsand interests, so it's a good way to hear how she talks about it, and to try to imitatethat style of speaking, because we all want to talk about our passions and share themwith other people. Vanessa: Throughout the conversation you'regoing to see little subtitles pop up. These are for vocabulary expressions, phrasalverbs, and also some special pronunciation. After the conversation with Gayle, you'regoing to also have a vocabulary lesson today. Wow! You're going to see my husband, Dan, and Iexplain these vocabulary expressions in detail.

This is a really great way to engrain themin your memory, and I know a lot of you have difficulties with remembering words afteryou've learned them. So, hearing them in the conversation withGayle is a good first step, but it's also great to hear us talk about it later, giveexamples, make it more vivid in your mind. Vanessa: So, you're going to watch that vocabularylesson, and then you're going to watch a phrasal verb lesson. This grammar lesson is super helpful for helpingyou sound like a native speaker, because we use phrasal verbs all the time. Vanessa: Finally, we're going to practicesome in-depth pronunciation so that you can speak exactly the way that Gayle and I didin our conversation.

Are you ready to hear a real English conversation? If you enjoy this lesson today I hope thatyou can join the Fearless Fluency Club, which is my monthly course. You'll get information and lessons like thisevery month. This is just a short clip from it. About half of the material, or actually lessthan half, maybe a third of the material, but you'll get an even longer lesson sentevery month when you join the course. Vanessa: Alright! Let's meet Gayle and learn real English. Vanessa: Hi, everyone! I'm here today with Gayle. Gayle: Hi. Vanessa: We're going to talk about yoga andall of your experience with that, and really anything that comes up along the way. Gayle: Sounds great. Vanessa: Yeah. So, can we start at the very beginning? When did you first start with yoga? Then we'll go on to what's happening now.

Gayle: Well, that's interesting. I was living in New York City at the time,pursuing a career as a professional freelance photographer. Vanessa: Oh! Quite different from yoga. Gayle: Yeah. Although, you know, everything kind of ... It'sa lot about your vision and being mindful and exploring. And so, they kind of weave together in someways. Vanessa: I could see that. Gayle: But anyway! I just dabbled in it. One thing that I always remember, and, I think,one of the funniest things, is my first class when the teacher said, "Pay attention to yourbreath. Like, focus on your breath." I thought, "That is the most ridiculous thingI've ever heard. Like, I'm here to move and do some cool poses. Like, why would I think about my breath? I'm breathing." Right! So, let's get to the good stuff. You know? Gayle: Then as I progressed in my yoga, Ijust realized like, breath is everything. Breath is so key. So, now I focus on that, or I try to focuson that, more than anything. It's really a powerful healing mechanism. Yeah. We do it all the time.

 It's part of our sympathetic nervous system,so we'll breathe. I mean, if we tried to stop breathing we'dpass out and then we'd breathe again. Vanessa: Your body wants to breathe. Gayle: Right. But still, there's ways of like, breathingmore fully, breathing more mindfully, that can, you know, help your overall health. Vanessa: That's funny that at the beginningyou thought, "What is she talking about?" Gayle: I thought it was ridiculous. Vanessa: Especially if you've never heardthat kind of phrasing before. Gayle: Yeah! Vanessa: Everyone breathes. I feel like, for me, whenever they talk aboutbreathing in yoga class, I realize, "Oh, I have been breathing all this time, all day,and haven't been thinking about it." Then when you start to think about it maybeit's just that physical element, but I kind of ... It clears my mind a little bit. Once you focus on breathing it's not hypnotic,but I almost feel like I'm in the zone or like, when you're thinking about your breathyou can focus more on what's going on, at least for me. Gayle: No. That's totally it. Here's the thing. Yoga is about union, and the union of oppositescomplementing each other. So, the breath is composed of two opposites,right? The exhale and the exhale, and it's kind ofgot an ebb and flow. 

So, like, if you sit by the ocean or by awaterfall when you have that kind of constant repeating noise, it really relaxes you. So, when you turn into your breath, it's kindof the same thing. Gayle: A lot of the times when you pay attentionto your breath, you might realize that your inhale is stronger than your exhale. What we're really trying to do is balancethe breath, because the inhale is more energetic and the exhale is more relaxing and soothing. So, if you're like, feeling stressed out oranything like that, if you just take moment, focus on the breath, and really letting thatexhale draw out, it's amazing how much it can calm you. Gayle: You're like, totally right on there. Vanessa: This seems like a simple thing, butit could do a lot. Gayle: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Vanessa: So, I'm curious what happened afterthat. First, you were at class, you thought, "Whatin the world is she talking about? Breath? Okay." Did you just go in full force after that,or was there just a slow progression? Because you've been doing yoga for ...Gayle: A long time. Vanessa: A long time. Gayle: It was like ... I dabbled.

You know, when I was in New York City I dabbled. Like, sometimes I would go to class, but Inever completely committed like I did later on. So, I dabbled in New York, and then I movedfrom New York to Bryson City, North Carolina and got into white water paddling. Gayle: So, occasionally ... I knew how todo sun salutations and occasionally I would do some yoga. I was teaching kayaking at that point, alsowhite water kayaking. So, occasionally I'd lead people through alittle bit of yoga but not that often. But then when I left Bryson City and movedto Asheville, that's when I really committed, and I found a class I liked. It was just like, Tuesday night, that's whatI was doing. Yoga. Gayle: I did that class religiously for twoyears. Vanessa: Oh! That's dedication. Gayle: Yeah. Then the yoga teacher started offering yogateacher trainings. So, I thought, "Oh, I'll do that. You know, I don't know if I want to teachbut, you know, I'll just ... Why not?" I wanted to learn more. Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Gayle: And so, that helped to grow it more. So, I got to the point where instead of like,waiting for what the teacher was going to say, I could do my own poses. Vanessa: You had that confidence to just branchout yourself. Gayle: And so, then after that I stopped goingto yoga classes because I'm like, "I want to breathe how I want to breathe. And I want to take as long in a pose as Iwant to take, and not just be dictated to all the time." I learned a lot of poses, I understood themmore. So, I started more of my own practice. Gayle: But then, unfortunately, I got thistech job where I was sitting at a desk, and I was sitting, and sitting, and sitting. I had never sat so much in my whole life.

Vanessa: It takes a toll on you. Gayle: Oh! I knew it was. But I just thought, "I've got to do this." Vanessa: Sure. Gayle: But it did take a toll on me, and actually,I had a habit, which I wasn't even aware of, but I would lean on my left elbow, put mychin, and stare at the screen, and then, you know, use the mouse here. I had meanwhile, had kind of lapsed in myyoga, hadn't really done yoga in a while. Like, a while. Gayle: Then I went to a yoga class, and Icouldn't reach my arms, lying down to the floor. I couldn't do dolphin pose, and I was like,"What's up with my shoulders?" My left shoulder had lost all this range ofmotion from doing this thing. Sitting like that for hours at a time. Vanessa: That can make a big difference. Gayle: Yeah. Vanessa: That's just an unconscious movementthat you're making. Gayle: Right. I thought, "What happened? I didn't fall on my shoulder. Like, why would it be like this?" As soon as I thought, "I'll observe myself,"which is one of the things that yoga teaches you, also, is to observe yourself and to getto know yourself better, even though you think, "Well, of course I know myself. I'm myself." Vanessa: I know I'm breathing all the time! Gayle: Yeah. So, as soon as I saw that, I knew that's whatit was because I was rounding forward, stretching this, weakening this. And so, it took me like, a year to rehab. But it was yoga that kind of showed me, andthat's what yoga will do. It'll show you your limitations. It can show you where you're injured.

 It can show you like, the good stuff and thebad stuff, essentially. Gayle: Then it's up to you to pay more attention,to deal with it, and to not be ... not like, get too wound up in self criticism. You know, because you realize like, "Well,I'm not very strong or I'm really limited." Yeah. Exactly. So, that was like, a whole journey. Then I decided to teach yoga. Vanessa: Oh! Gayle: Yeah. Then I really got into it, and I started offteaching in businesses around Asheville, did that for a while. Vanessa: So, the businesses would just hirea yoga teacher to come in and like, teach their employees? Gayle: Yeah. I mean ...Vanessa: That's amazing. Gayle: All businesses should do that. Bring yoga to your business. Vanessa: That's a great idea. Gayle: Yeah. So, I had a couple places like Volvo and LibertyBikes, and, you know, a couple other offices that would bring me in. A lot of times the company would pay. Sometimes the people would pay. So, that was good. But then that kind of dried up a little bit. And so, then I got into teaching more publicclasses, and teaching privates. Gayle: That's what I really like, is teachingprivates. Because it was one on one. I could focus on that person and what theyneed. It's interesting.

 In a class people are trying to cue to thecommon issue, but there's other people that are going to get ignored. If they don't understand like, how to payattention to their body, the cues might not even be the best cues for them. Vanessa: Like, what the teacher is suggesting. Gayle: Yes. And as I've gone through the years it's like,things that I thought or was taught years ago, I'm questioning now. I'm realizing that things are changing. 20 years ago people didn't think fascia wasimportant. Like, when they would cut up a cadaver it'sjust like, "Get this wrapping paper out of the way." You know? Now it's like, we realize the fascia is thisbig connected network that connects everything in our body. Gayle: So, even though our muscles have pointsof origin and insertion, really the whole muscle's connected via the fascia to all like,our whole body. 

So, if I like, pulled on my shirt, you know,this hole ... There's going to be a whole thread that's going to feel that tug. Vanessa: Yeah. It's all connected in some way. Gayle: Yeah. That brings us back to yoga is about connection. So, in a way, the last pose that you almostalways do in a yoga practice is called [shavasana 00:11:05]. It literally translates to corpse pose. So, in a way, it's like practicing our owndeath and letting go, because death is the ultimate letting go. Just can we let go, and can you relax in savasana? For some people it's the hardest pose. Gayle: They just want to jump up and run andstart doing things again. You know, their mind is so busy.

But can you relax your mind, relax your body,and the two are very connected, so that when your body's relaxed it is easier to relaxyour mind. If you've been focusing on your breath thewhole time doing your yoga practice, you will feel more centered, because you haven't beenthinking about all the other stuff that's driving you crazy. Right? Vanessa: Yeah. Gayle: So, you know, it's like, a whole reallyinteresting system. Then you can come into the whole thing ofwhat is yoga. Vanessa: Yeah. What is yoga? Gayle: You know, is it just mindfulness? Mindful action? Being aware of your thoughts? You know, they say your thoughts become words,and your words become actions, and your actions becomes your life. We oftentimes, you know, myself, very muchso.

 You think about all this negativity and don'trealize like, that has a lot of implications down the road. Vanessa: I think that's been pretty proventhat your thoughts have a physical effect on your life, whether it's just your mentalhealth or your body's physical health. Gayle: Right. Vanessa: Like, what you think is really important,and if yoga can help you to kind of calm down those anxious thoughts or whatever else isgoing on, that's great. It's also good exercise, but it works foryour mind. That's really awesome. Gayle: Right. We just, you know ... There's different typesof yoga, different styles, and some yoga can be more rigorous, vigorous. Some is more relaxing. But I think we need to balance it, becauseyoga's also about balance. How do we balance opposite actions, oppositeenergies? Like, the breath, the inhale, the exhale.

 There's a rising up, kind of an energizingon the inhale, then there's a relaxing, settling down, connecting to the earth on the exhale. Gayle: And so, in every yoga pose ... Like,the asanas, the poses, are really a way of bringing things up for you, and noticing like,are you impatient? Do you have a lot of negative self talk? Are you distracted? Are you just like, thinking, "I just wantto get this done," but meanwhile you're thinking about what you're going to eat after class. Vanessa: Yep! Gayle: But if you can be fully present inthe moment, in this moment, then that's when your mind starts to relax. You do have that sense of ... At the end ofyoga class, it's really interesting how people will feel very relaxed, but also have energy. But it's not that crazy kind of energy thatjust like, you know ... Vanessa: It's not chaotic. Gayle: Yeah. It's like, really getting your nervous systemall wound up. 

It's a more like, you know, I'm ready forwhatever life presents kind of energy, and I have energy to do things, and I feel inspired. Vanessa: That's the kind of energy you want. Gayle: Yeah. People think it's all about flexibility. Well, it's about balance. It's about building strength and flexibility,and trying to have the two be more or less equal, so one isn't overpowering the other. And also to have different muscle groups balanced,so, you know ... For example, oftentimes our quads are really strong, but the hamstringsare weak. That's like, really common. Gayle: So, you know, a good practice, whichtakes some thought and takes some like, kind of understanding what's going on, is to tryand balance those two energies. But the more ... That's why it's nice to havea home practice too, because you might discover something in a yoga class that was broughtup, and then you can practice on, you know, practice that at home. Vanessa: Yeah. Taking care of yourself in the way that youneed to do, not just what the teacher has prepared for the day, which is kind of like,learning English.

 You know, maybe go to a class and the teachersays, "Hey, we're going to talk about this today," but you want to learn that and otherthings. You know, taking charge of your own educationor exercise is always going to be a recipe for success. Vanessa: How did you enjoy that conversationwith Gayle? Was it a little fast? Was it a little tricky? Did you understand everything? What we're going to do now is we're goingto go on to the vocabulary lesson. You're going to see my husband, Dan, and I,going back and explaining some vocabulary expressions that we used in that conversation.

You're going to see a short clip from theconversation with Gayle, so that you can remember, "Oh, yeah. That's what she said." Vanessa: Alright. Let's go on to the vocabulary lesson. The first expression we're going to talk abouttoday is vision. Dan: Vision. Vanessa: What does this literally mean, andthen we're going to talk about it in the figurative sense. Dan: Well, it literally just means your sight. Vanessa: Yeah. To see. Dan: Yes. My vision is seeing the room. Vanessa: Yeah. So, do you have good vision? Poor vision? Dan: Oh. So, my real vision is very bad. I have to go to the eye doctor and get classesand contacts. Right now I'm wearing contacts. They kind of hurt my eyes. Vanessa: Yeah. Your prescription is pretty strong becauseyou have poor vision. Dan: Yes. I have poor vision. Vanessa: Yes. Dan: It's a general way to describe sight. Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative), but if we wantto talk about this in a figurative way, you can kind of imagine your mind or your heartseeing in the future. It's kind of your plan or goal for the future. Dan: Yes. Vanessa: What is your vision for the future? You might even use this for English. "I have a vision for my English studies. I'm going to become a fluent English speaker. I'm going to speak confidently and make alot of friends around the world." That's my vision. It's kind of your dream. Dan: I think it is more emotional than planor goal, because essentially it's a plan or a goal but when you say it's a vision you'repicturing yourself in that moment, how you're going to feel, what's your vision for yourEnglish lessons? Are you envisioning going to America and meetingall the new people, meeting Vanessa and speaking perfect English? Vanessa: Whoa! Dan: That's your vision. Vanessa: So, you can tell there's a lot ofemotion behind this, a lot of passion behind it. It's your vision, and that's pretty much howGayle used it in the conversation. Dan: Yes. Vanessa: When she talked about her vision.

I think that you'll see that in the clip injust a moment. Are you ready to watch it? Dan: I'm ready. Vanessa: Alright. Let's watch. Gayle: Yeah. Although, you know, everything kind of ... It'sa lot about your vision and being mindful and exploring. And so, they kind of weave together in someways. Gayle: It's a lot about your vision and beingmindful. Gayle: It's a lot about your vision and beingmindful. Dan: The next expression is a casual expression,and it is to dabble in something. And this basically just means to try something. But it means try something not seriously. So, "I dabbled in baking." Actually over this last holiday I baked somewaffles. It was Belgian waffles, really sweet dessertwaffles. I would say I just dabble in baking, becauseI only make that every now and then. Vanessa: Yeah. You don't bake every week or every day, justevery couple months you make these amazing Belgian waffles.

But it's just, you know, casually, not soseriously, every now and then. Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Vanessa: So, you can use this for really anyhobby that you do that's not so serious. So, that's how Gayle used it. She said that, "I dabbled in yoga." Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Vanessa: I did it occasionally, maybe oncea month, maybe once every couple months. It wasn't a big important part of her life. Dan: Yeah. When I've heard this used it's usually whensomebody asked you if you do something, and you just say, "Eh. I dabble." Vanessa: Oh. So, you don't want to show them, "I'm so seriousabout this." Dan: Yeah. Vanessa: You just want to say, "Oh, it's notso serious. Oh, yeah. I dabbled in art for a while. I dabbled in painting, but, you know, it wasn'tanything serious." Dan: Right. Vanessa: So, you're kind of being modest. You're not really saying, "I love this!" Dan: Yeah. "I do it all the time!" Vanessa: Oh, yeah! Instead it's a little more casual than that.

So, I hope that you'll be able to see thatfrom the conversation with Gayle. Let's watch it. Gayle: I just dabbled in it. One thing that I always remember ...Gayle: I just dabbled in it. Gayle: I just dabbled in it. Vanessa: The next expression is to be mindful. Dan: Mindful. Vanessa: Mindful. Your mind is your brain. So, you can kind of imagine here that youare aware. You are intentional. You're not doing something by accident. You are intentional. You're doing it consciously. You are aware. You are mindful. This is a word that's often linked with yoga,because you are not just doing say, boxing, where you're punching. No. Vanessa: Instead you're thinking about eachmuscle. It's kind of slow and careful. So, you're in your mind, you're thinking abouteach movement, you are mindful.

You're careful and intentional. Dan: Yes. Vanessa: With each movement. We can use that for other activities as well. So, what about for you? How would you use mindful? Dan: Well, I think this has become a prettypopular thing in modern society. Actually, we have a whole extra term, whichis mindfulness. Vanessa: Mmm. Dan: So, this is the art of being mindful. I assume that probably, you know, 100 yearsago, everybody was being mindful at some point, because they had more time. Vanessa: And they didn't have too many thingsto distract them, like screens. Dan: Yeah. Not as many distractions. But now you have to say, "I practice mindfulness." Vanessa: Mmm. Dan: So, that just means at some point inthe day I stop and I think about my body, my thoughts ...Vanessa: My life. Dan: What's just going on in my mind? I'm not looking at my phone. I'm not watching a TV show. I'm being mindful. Vanessa: Yeah. 

I think that that's actually a really goodNew Year's Resolution that a lot of people make, is, "I'm going to be mindful every day." It could just be, "Okay, I'm going to sitdown for 10 seconds, and just sit down and breathe, and think about nothing, or thinkabout, 'Oh, what was my posture like? How do I feel today?'" Dan: Let the emotions hit you right, left,anger, sorrow! Vanessa: And really just [crosstalk 00:20:49]conscious about that, being mindful about it. Or we can use this same idea and talk aboutmore of a concrete situation. So, for example, if you are a teacher andyou have a classroom, you have to be mindful of all of the students' behavior. This means aware of their behavior.

 Just like I'm mindful of myself, I'm awareof my own thoughts and feelings, you can be mindful of the students, and kind of awareof that situation? Vanessa: What about the verb to mind? Dan: Yeah. Just to mind something. Vanessa: How would you use that? Dan: I mean, it's basically the same thing,be aware, but it's almost like, be careful. Like, mind the puddle. Vanessa: It's usually used as some kind ofwarning. Like, "Mind the puddle!" That might be a little bit ...Dan: Don't step in the puddle. Vanessa: Old English, maybe? Dan: It's not super common. Vanessa: I feel like there's a phrase wherewe definitely use it. Dan: Yeah. What's that? Vanessa: Mind your manners. Dan: Oh, that's right. Of course. Vanessa: I know that parents say this allthe time. 

If you were a kid and you were at the dinnertable, you just had your hands everywhere, and you're eating, your parents would probablysay, "Mind your manners." Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Vanessa: This means be careful of your manners. Don't put your hands all over the table. Be kind of more responsible and mature. Mind your manners. Dan: Yeah. This is also definitely an old term, but it'scarried over into modern popular culture. Vanessa: Yes. Have you ever visited London and seen thisexpression? Do you remember where this is in London? Dan: Mind the gap? Vanessa: Mind the gap! Yes. If you go on the subway or the underground,or they call it the tube, everywhere there's signs that say, "Mind the gap." The gap is the space between the platformand the train. Don't fall there. It's dangerous. So, they're saying, "Watch out!" Dan: Remember. Vanessa: Be careful. Dan: Look. Vanessa: Of the gap. 

But it's a really polite way of saying, "Mindthe gap. Be careful." So, if you go to London you might see thatexpression everywhere. You might even hear the announcer say, "Mindthe gap as you get on the train." Dan: But would you say, "Be mindful of thegap?" Vanessa: You could. It makes sense. Dan: Technically, it's right. Vanessa: It's a little bit weird. Dan: It's strong. Vanessa: Yeah. It's like, a little bit too strong. Dan: Be mindful of is like, really watch. You can work with this thing. You can't really work with a hole in the ground. You're just trying to miss it. Vanessa: Yeah. Avoid the gap in the ground. Just step over it. Yeah. 

So, I feel like if you say, "Be mindful ofsomething," it's more, "Be thoughtful about it. Think about it." Kind of more than inner feeling like, withyoga. Vanessa: Alright. Let's watch the clip so that you can see howit was used. Gayle: But still, there's ways of like, breathingmore fully, breathing more mindfully, that can, you know, help your overall health. Gayle: There's ways of like, breathing morefully, breathing more mindfully. Gayle: There's ways of like, breathing morefully, breathing more mindfully. Dan: The next expression is to clear yourmind. This is a pretty self explanatory expression. It just means to forget, usually, your problems. Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yes. We can imagine you're erasing the problems,you're clearing the problems from your mind. Dan: Yeah. It might not even just be problems. Maybe you're just doing a lot of things. Maybe there's a lot of noise around you. So, you need to go outside. I would say usually it's going outside toclear your mind. Vanessa: Yes. I this was something that happened to us acouple months ago over Christmas break. 

We went to Dan's parents' house. There were a lot of people there. Every day there was so much going on, especiallywhen we were running after our toddler. It was just so busy. Every day it was like, "Okay, we need to getoutside, clear our minds." So, every day we went for a walk, we wentto the park, and it was kind of necessary, because in that busy environment we're notreally worried or, you know, stressed. It's just a lot going on. Vanessa: So, it's nice to step outside, andclear your mind. Dan: Yeah. I definitely would say though, it is mostlyassociated with stress. So, if you're ...Vanessa: It was a little bit stressful with lots of people and a toddler. 

Dan: It was. Yes. So, like, if you're in an argument with somebody,and you just need to walk away because you can't solve the problem now, you might needto say, "I just need to go and clear my mind. We'll come back to this problem." Vanessa: That's a very responsible thing tosay. "Go clear my mind, and then we'll get backto this." Vanessa: Just to let you know, a quick grammarabout this, make sure that our possessive pronoun, clear my mind, clear his mind ... Makesure that it matches with the subject. You can't say, "I need to clear his mind." Dan: No. Vanessa: I, his. It doesn't really work. You can only clear your mind. Dan: That sounds like a threat. Vanessa: I need to clear his mind! Kind of like you're going to erase his memory. 

So, instead, make sure that your subject matchesthat possessive pronoun. He needs to clear his mind. She needs to clear her mind. I need to clear my mind. Vanessa: Alright. Let's watch the clip. Vanessa: Then when you start to think aboutit maybe it's just that physical element, but I kind of ... It clears my mind a littlebit. Vanessa: It clears my mind a little bit. Vanessa: It clears my mind a little bit. Vanessa: The next expression is one that Ilove. It's to be in the zone. We can kind of imagine here, this thing thatDan's doing with his hands. In the zone. You're completely focused. You're not looking at other things. You're not distracted. You're so focused, you are in the zone. 

We can kind of imagine that mental thing that'shappening where your mind is blocking out other things. You are in the zone. Dan: Yeah. You're not thinking about anything else. Vanessa: Yes. I mentioned this in the conversation withGayle. This happens to me in yoga class sometimes,if I really concentrate on breathing, and then also my emotions, I am thinking aboutmy breathing, I am thinking about my emotions. There's not space in my brain to think aboutother things. So, I kind of forget what's for dinner. I forget what else I was doing. I can just focus. I can be in the zone. It's kind of a great place to be. Vanessa: You feel relaxed. You're blocking out other distractions, aslong as that's okay. So, what about for you? When have you been in the zone? Dan: Yeah. I definitely used this term for sports. So, when I play hockey I get in the zone. I'm not thinking about anything else. 

But I would also say for sports, when we say,"in the zone," that also means you're playing very well. Vanessa: Oh, right. Dan: Like, if you said, "he's in the zone,"that means that he is scoring goals. He's playing really well. He's not making many mistakes. Vanessa: He's not distracted by other things. He's doing well. You're in the zone. Vanessa: So, I want to know for you. You can even use this when you're studyingEnglish. When you're studying English, are you so focused,you're so into it, your brain is tuning out other things, your brain is ... You're clearingyour mind of other things, and you're in the zone, and studying English. Vanessa: I want to know if that has ever happenedto you? Maybe there's a lot going on in your house,where it's not so possible ... Dan: Yes. I think they call it a flow state, as well. Vanessa: Oh. Sure. 

Your brain is just flowing, and you're justgoing. Dan: In the flow. Vanessa: In the flow. That's another great way to say this. In the zone. In the flow. It means you're just going, and going, andgoing. You're really on the ball. Oh, so many good expressions. Dan: On the ball too! Vanessa: Yeah. You're on the ball, you're really just focused. So, I hope that all of these expressions,in the zone, on the ball ... Dan: In the flow. Vanessa: In the flow. I hope that all of those are useful to you. To me, the similar thing of focused. Vanessa: Alright. Let's watch the clip. Vanessa: I almost feel like I'm in the zoneor like, when you're thinking about your breath you can ...Vanessa: I almost feel like I'm in the zone or ...Vanessa: I almost feel like I'm in the zone or ...Dan: The next expressions is religiously. 

This just means to have full commitment tosomething. Vanessa: Yes. Dan: Almost in like, a spiritual way. I would say nine times out of 10, you're goingto use this as a joke or as hyperbole. Vanessa: Exaggeration. Dan: Yes. So, "I eat pizza religiously." Vanessa: It doesn't mean that three timesa day you eat pizza. That would be literally religiously. Dan: Well, it would also mean you go to thepizza and you worship the pizza. Vanessa: It's not that. Dan: No. You don't pray to pizza. You just love pizza so much, and you eat itvery often, and very regularly. Vanessa: Yeah. But it doesn't mean actually that you treatit like a religious. So, in this way it's a hyperbole, which isa great way of saying an exaggeration. Dan: Yeah, and I mean, technically, you coulduse this in a religious, a true religious sense. Like, "I go to church religiously." Vanessa: Oh. It actually is religion. Dan: Yeah. Vanessa: But you mean the same thing. You do it often. You're committed. You treat it seriously. Dan: Or if you say, "I prayed at church religiously,"that doesn't really make sense, because it's a given. You're at church. Vanessa: Of course, you're going to be doingit religiously. Dan: Of course, it's religion. Right. Vanessa: So, I want to know for you, is thereanything that you do religiously? I know I can think of one thing. Dan: Oh, no. You can? Vanessa: Yes. Drink coffee! Dan: Oh! That's true! I do drink coffee religiously. 

Vanessa: Yes. If Dan ...Dan: I maybe do pray to it too. Vanessa: Secretly. Dan: Thank you. Vanessa: If you don't have coffee in a day,I'm pretty surprised. Like, it happens every day religiously. You're committed to it. It happens every single day. You can kind of see it's a little bit of ajoke. Dan: It's funny. Vanessa: It's funny because ...Dan: I'm committed to coffee. Vanessa: You're committed to coffee. Dan: I'm following coffee. Vanessa: Yes. Dan: To my grave. Vanessa: Yes. So, I want to know, for you, what is somethingthat you do religiously? It can be a little bit of an exaggeration. That's fine. Or something silly like coffee. Do you drink coffee religiously? Vanessa: I would say I drink tea, but I don'tdrink tea religiously. I don't drink tea absolutely every singleday, and if I don't have it there's a problem. Dan: You don't do very many things religiously. Vanessa: Oh, yeah? Dan: Yeah. It's just chaos. Vanessa: Just chaos! Dan: Clearly. Vanessa: I, especially with teaching English,there's a lot of things that I do religiously. Dan: We hope you religiously watch Vanessa'svideos. Vanessa: Oh! That means that you are committed. Dan: Pray to Vanessa. Vanessa: It doesn't mean that. Dan: Worship Vanessa. Vanessa: It doesn't mean that. It means that you are doing it consistently. Dan: That's what I do. Vanessa: I hope that it's something that'sa part of your daily life, at least learning English is. Vanessa: Alright. 

Let's watch the clip, so that you can seehow it was used. Gayle: I did that class religiously for twoyears. Vanessa: Oh! That's dedication. Gayle: I did that class religiously for twoyears. Gayle: I did that class religiously for twoyears. Vanessa: The next expression is a great idiom,to take a toll or to take its toll. Dan: Take its toll. Vanessa: Both of these are the exact samething. We had a long discussion about what's thedifference between these two, and in the end we came to the conclusion that they're exactlythe same. So, good news! You get two for one. Dan: Yeah. Do you know where it came from? The term? Vanessa: A toll? Do you know what a toll is? It's like, when you're driving and you haveto pay ... Dan: Yes. Vanessa: To pass to another road. It's a toll. Dan: It's a road or a bridge that you haveto pay to cross. Vanessa: Oh. Dan: So, that's the original meaning. I was actually looking this up. In ancient times, sometimes the toll on theroad was a lot. Vanessa: Oh. Dan: It was a lot of money, or you had togive like, your cattle or something. Vanessa: Something really valuable. 

Dan: Yeah. People would really make the toll expensive,to go across a bridge. Vanessa: Oh. Dan: Maybe there's only one bridge and you'relike, "Hey, cross this bridge, but give me your cow." Vanessa: So, in this sense, back in the day,it was quite expensive to pay the toll. Nowadays it's like, a dollar. Dan: Yeah, there are roads and transport everywhere. Vanessa: Yeah. So, you don't really have to pay that muchnowadays, but this meaning, it kind of seems to go back to that original meaning of toll,to take a toll. It means that something has gradually, overtime, weakened something. Dan: Yes. Vanessa: So, let me give you a quick example. You might say that, "I drove my car 60 milesevery day, and it took a toll on my car." Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Vanessa: That means that driving my car 60miles every day, that's like, 60 kilometers, we could say. 60 kilometers every day took a toll on mycar. It's a lot of driving. So, my car gradually weakened because of that.

 It took a toll. Vanessa: What's another way that we couldsay take a toll or take its toll? Dan: Yeah You often use this with just yourbody. Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Dan: So, maybe your job has taken its tollon you? Or your job took a toll on your body? So, if you stand a lot or you sit a lot, ormaybe you're working with machinery, it can take a toll. Maybe you get injured, just over time, oryou're 40 years old and all of a sudden, "Oh! My arm. I can barely move this arm." Right? Vanessa: Sure. Dan: Or in the most general sense, you caneven just say, "Life takes its toll." Vanessa: That's quite dark. Dan: Yep. Vanessa: It's true! Over time ...Dan: As time goes on you just get older and weaker, and life is taking its toll. 

Vanessa: Yeah. That happens to everybody. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Vanessa: So, when you use this expressionit's implying that something is weakening over time. We could say my car is weakening over time. We have kind of a cause and effect. Driving my car 60 miles took its toll on mycar. The cause is driving 60 miles, and its effectingmy car, or maybe sitting down every day for eight hours at my office took its toll onmy body. We have this ...Dan: Parenthood ... Vanessa: Cause and effect. Oh! Dan: Is taking is toll on my mental well being. Vanessa: Maybe that's ...Dan: That's a little strong. Vanessa: Maybe that's just having a toddler. Vanessa: So, maybe there's something in yourlife that is, over time ... 

The first time it happens, maybe the second time or thirdtime, it doesn't really effect you, but gradually over time something has weakened you. Maybe that's you physically, or maybe that'smentally, or it could be something else in your life, like your car ... It's taking itstoll. So, I recommend checking out the lesson guideso that you can get a couple more sample sentences for this. This is an excellent idiom that we use indaily conversation. So, make sure that you're familiar with it. Vanessa: Alright. Let's watch the clip. Gayle: I had never sat so much in my wholelife. Vanessa: It takes a toll on you. Gayle: Oh! I knew it was. Vanessa: It takes a toll on you. Vanessa: It takes a toll on you. Dan: The next expression is an idiom, downthe road. This is not literally down a road. 

This just means down in the future ...Vanessa: Some time in the future. Dan: Or up in the future. Some time in the future. It doesn't mean tomorrow. It means in a later date, probably over ayear, I'd say. Vanessa: Yeah. It's kind of vague. If you don't want to say exactly when somethingwill happen, you might say, "Oh, I'd like to go to Japan down the road," or, "Some daydown the road I hope to be fluent in English." This just means in the future. We can kind of imagine the road of life, andsomewhere down the road of life you will go to Japan, or you will be fluent in English. Dan: It's obviously very non-specific andnon-committal. 

Maybe it will never happen. Vanessa: Yeah. So, you don't want to use this if someonesays, "Hey, can you help me to clean the floor?" "Oh, I'll do it down the road." That's not a good way to use this. Dan: Some day down the road I'll clean thefloor for you, honey. Vanessa: That means maybe next year. So, we want to use this in situations whereit's pretty far in the future, or just some unknown time in the future. Maybe some kind of goals you have for yourlife, or you have a vision for something that will happen in the future, and you say, "Oh,down the road I would like this to happen." Dan: Gayle actually used it in a negativeway. 

She was saying negative thoughts can haveimplications down the road, or bad implications, which means ... This is like, an unspokenthing that will happen. Vanessa: Yeah. So, something will happen down the road ifyou have bad posture, if you don't exercise, something negative will happen down the roadif you don't take care of yourself now. So, this might be motivation for you to startexercising or eating healthy, or making some kind of lifestyle change. Vanessa: Well, if I don't start eating morevegetables, I will be very unhealthy down the road. So, I need to change something now in my life. You're kind of looking towards that unspecifictime in the future. Down the road. This is another lovely expression. 

We've got a lot of lovely expressions in thislesson. So, I hope that you'll be able to use it yourself. Vanessa: Let's watch the clip so you can seehow it was originally used. Gayle: You think about all this negativityand don't realize like, that has a lot of implications down the road. Gayle: That has a lot of implications downthe road. Gayle: That has a lot of implications downthe road. Vanessa: How did you enjoy that vocabularylesson? I hope that you learned a lot, and you caninclude those into your daily vocabulary! Vanessa: Next, it's going to be time for thegrammar lesson. This is phrasal verbs. You're going to be learning some importantphrasal verbs, four to be exact, so that you can use these and integrate them into yourdaily conversation. 

Let's watch. Vanessa: The first phrasal verb that we'regoing to talk about is to tune in to something. In the conversation with Gayle, it kind ofsounded like she said turn in, but really the expression is to tune into something. This means to have an understanding of something,maybe a deeper understanding of something. So, you tune into your thoughts. It means you're thinking about your thoughts,tuning into your thoughts. Vanessa: How would you use this get phrasalverb, to tune in? Dan: Well, the first thing that comes to mymind is tuning into a radio station. Vanessa: This is a good physical, literalway to use that. Dan: This is a little more old school, butpeople still say this today. 

Tuning in for a TV show. Tune in on Friday to see the brand new episodeof ... Vanessa: Dan's TV show. Dan: Dan's TV show. Tune in Friday night. Vanessa: So, you can tune into the radio station,which means that you can try to hear it more clearly. You're changing the stations. You're hearing it more clearly. But this also works in a figurative way. Maybe you could tune into your body. This means that you're thinking about thedifferent muscles. How does my back feel right now? How do my feet feel? You're tuning into the specific understanding. Dan: Yes. I think, perhaps, the origin of this comesfrom tuning in music. Vanessa: Oh. Dan: So, if you're tuning in, everybody'strying to get on the same page, and sound the same. Vanessa: Yeah. So, you're tuning your instrument. You're making your instruments all sound similar. So, you could even say this as a teacher. I need to tune into the needs of my students. 

I need to tune into the needs of my students. Dan: There needs to be harmony. Everything needs to be together. Vanessa: I need to have a deeper understandingof the needs of my students. Vanessa: So, let's go ahead and watch theclip where you heard tune in. It kind of sounds like turn in, but try tohear tune in ... Dan: Tune in. Vanessa: Then we're going to talk about alittle bonus expression, which sounds like the opposite. Vanessa: Alright. Let's watch the clip. Gayle: ... it really relaxes you. So, when you turn into your breath, it's kindof the same thing. Gayle: ...it really relaxes you. So, when you turn into your breath, it's kindof the same thing. Vanessa: Now for the special extra materialsection! In this section, I'm going to be quickly explainingsome extra material that's not in the conversation with Gayle, but it relates to what we justtalked about. Vanessa: So, we just talked about the phrasalverb, to tune in.

So, what you're going to do is you're goingto be listening to a short clip from a song called Incense and Peppermints by the bandStrawberry Alarm Clock. In this song they say, "turn in, tune in,turn your eyes around." Vanessa: In this song ... Now, I'm just interpretingthis from my own opinion, but in this song they're talking about realizing the worldfor what it really is. Look past all of those false things, all ofthe things that everyone says you should pay attention to, and tune in, pay attention to,really understand what matters in life. Vanessa: So, you're going to listen to thisshort clip of the song, and I hope that you'll be able to gain a deeper understanding, you'llbe able to tune into the meaning of this song. Vanessa: Alright. Let's watch the clip. Singer: Incense and peppermints, meaninglessnouns. Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around. Look at yourself, look at yourself. Singer: Incense and peppermints, meaninglessnouns.

 Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around. Look at yourself, look at yourself. Vanessa: The next phrasal verb that we'retalking about is kind of a bonus one. It wasn't in the conversation with Gayle,but because we talked about to tune in, I thought we'd talk about ... What's the opposite? Dan: Tune out! Vanessa: To tune out. Dan: La, la, la, la, la. Vanessa: Yep. It means that you're ignoring something thatsomebody says. You are not gaining a deeper understanding. Dan: It's the opposite. Vanessa: It's the opposite. You are closing your ears, tuning out. So, if, maybe you know someone who talks alot, or maybe they talk about something that you just don't want to hear, you can tunethem out. Dan: Yeah. I tuned her out. Vanessa: Yes. When she was talking too much. Dan: Not her, somebody else. Vanessa: I just tuned her out. There's someone particular that I'm thinkingof.

 At Christmas this past year, Dan has a familymember who talks all the time. Dan: Quite a lot. Vanessa: 24, seven, about everything, everythingin the world, every pastry she's ever baked, every friend she's ever had who's broken ahip or an ankle. Oh, and it's just non-stop. So, after a little bit of time I just hadto tune her out. Dan: Yeah. Vanessa: I couldn't listen carefully to everysingle word. It's too much. Dan: Yes. Sometimes you have to do this to family members,certain family members. Vanessa: You have to tune them out. Dan: But this is definitely considered tobe rude. Vanessa: Yeah. You don't want to show that you're tuningthem out. 

Dan: You don't want to tell people, "I'm tuningyou out." If you say that to somebody, that means, "Iam ignoring you. I am not listening to you. I'm trying to pretend you're not even here." It's very strong, if you're tuning somebodyout. Vanessa: Yeah. Dan: Or, alternatively, you can tune somethingelse out. So, a lot of times in modern times we saythis for maybe the news? Or maybe Twitter. You've got to tune out Twitter. I don't even know why you'd be on Twitter. I don't have Twitter because it just annoysme. If you're tuning out the news you're just... Talking heads just talking about all the problems in the world, all the stuff. There's all these bad things going on, I can'ttake it. No. You just have to tune it out and focus onthe good things in life. Vanessa: Yes. You'll notice that oftentimes we split thisphrasal verb. In the lesson guide I specify, if you cansplit a phrasal verb and then how to do it, but I'll just mention this briefly here. We often split tune her out. Tune it out. If you're talking about the news, this isoften done. So, make sure you check out the lesson guidefor some more examples. Vanessa: The next expression and a great phrasalverb is to wind up. 

There are two different meanings for this. The first one ... Well, this is a literalsense, is to twist something. You are winding up the clock. Dan: You're making it tight. Vanessa: You're making it tight. So, this also links to the figurative sense. Vanessa: What is that figurative sense? If you say, "Oh, I was so wound up after work." Dan: Yeah. It means that you are stressed out. Usually we mean this in a stressed out way. Vanessa: Yeah. Dan: But it could also be excited. I'm all wound up for the concert. But, you know, I'd usually say it's probablyassociated with stress nowadays. Vanessa: Yes. And why are we using wound instead of windhere? We're using the past tense, because we onlyuse wound, "I am wound up," when we're talking about that figurative sense.

 I feel so wound up, like, a clock, like, arope. I'm so tight. Dan: Yeah. Vanessa: I feel uncomfortable. Dan: It's how you feel now and it's somethingthat happened in the past to make you feel this way. Vanessa: Yeah. So, I am wound up. But if you say the second meaning of thisphrasal verb, "I was driving down the road, and I was following my directions. I don't know how ... How did I wind up here?" Dan: Wow. Vanessa: What does this mean, the second meaning? Dan: This means you end or conclude somewhere. Vanessa: Surprising. Oh, I thought I was following my directions,but then I ended up here. That's another phrasal verb. Ended up means wind up. 

How did I wind up here? Dan: Yes. Vanessa: How did I end up here? I thought I was following my directions. Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Vanessa: So, it's kind of a surprising placethat you go. Dan: Yeah. You weren't planning on something happening. If you wind up somewhere ... For example,maybe you go to college and you are taking biology ...Vanessa: Like Dan! Dan: This happened to me. Well, I started out in biology but I woundup studying business. Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative). So, when you use it in the past tense, forthis meaning of surprisingly going somewhere. You can use it in the present. 

How did I wind up here? Or we could say it in the past, "I wound uphere." We need to use both of those when we're usingthis specific meaning. Vanessa: So, Dan wound up as a business major. How did it happen? How did I get here? Dan: Yeah. Vanessa: This is a little bit surprising. Dan: I went to college and I wound up withVanessa. Vanessa: Wow! How did that happen? So, it's some kind of surprising conclusion. Vanessa: So, make sure that you check outthe lesson guide so that you can get both of these meanings, and make sure that youget the grammar correct. Gayle: ...and to not be ... not like, gettoo wound up in self criticism. You know, because you realize like, "Well,I'm not very strong or ... Gayle: ...and to not be ... not like, gettoo wound up in self criticism. 

You know, because you realize like, "Well,I'm not very strong or ... Vanessa: The last phrasal verb that we'regoing to talk about today in detail in this grammar lesson is to bring up something. Dan: Yes. We want to bring up the term bring up. Vanessa: Yes. That is the first way that we are going tobring it up, and that is to just introduce something in conversation. For example, in the US we rarely bring upreligion in conversation. This means we rarely talk about the topicof religion spontaneously with, maybe people we don't know that well. Dan: It gets personal. Right. Yeah. So, bringing up is definitely the first introduction. Vanessa: Yes. Dan: Right? Sometimes if you say, "All of a sudden hebrought up politics ..." Vanessa: Oh! Dan: Or he brought up religion ...Vanessa: Oh! Dan: It's suddenly. Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Dan: So, it often means it's a sudden thing. Vanessa: Yes. It's entering into conversation. 

So, there are two main ways. They have the same meaning, but they're twomain things that are often brought up. One is topics. It is spontaneously entered into conversation. Or what if you look at a picture of your childhood,and you see your brothers there, you see your friends from across the street are there,and you're playing with your favorite soccer ball? It kind of brings up some warm feelings insideof you. Dan: Perhaps it brings up some nostalgia. Vanessa: Oh, nostalgia. Dan: Nostalgia. Vanessa: That warm feeling from your past. So, it's bringing up some feelings insideof you. It is rising. It's not coming up in conversation. But it's just coming up within you. Dan: Yeah. It could just be internal in the feelings,the emotions. Vanessa: Yeah. 

So, when you think back on our time, let'ssay our time when we first were married and we lived in Pennsylvania. What does that bring up within you? Dan: What feelings does it bring up? Vanessa: Yes. Dan: It brings up a sense of ... It's goodmemories, I'd say. But overall, I'm glad we're not there. Mostly because we lived in a very cold house. Vanessa: There are no heat in Pennsylvania. Dan: We were very, very poor. Vanessa: And very busy all the time. Dan: Living off of a Starbucks salary. Vanessa: We were really busy. I think we had four jobs, and no heat in ourhouse. So, when I think about our first year married,it brings up a lot of mixed feelings. Dan: Mixed emotions. Vanessa: It was a special time because wewere first married, but also we were really busy. 

So, it was quite difficult. It brought up some mixed feelings inside ofme. Or maybe when you're thinking back on a difficulttime. "Oh, it brought up some sad feelings." Or it brought up some excitement from my past. It brought up some warm memories. Dan: Yes. Going back to the first meaning, you can alsosplit the phrasal verb up. So, you could say, "bring it up." Or bring ...Vanessa: Bringing a topic up. Dan: Bring blank up. Right. So, a lot of times as people are having anargument, they might say, "Why did you bring it up," or, "Why did you bring that up?" Vanessa: Something from the past. Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Vanessa: It's not a good idea to bring upstuff from the past. Don't bring it up. Don't bring it up now. Someone might say that in an argument. "Don't bring it up now." Dan: Right. Vanessa: Don't talk about that now. Dan: That would mean don't talk about it. Don't speak of it. Vanessa: Yes, yes. So, there is one main meaning to arise withbring up, but it could be topics in conversation, or it could be feelings within yourself. 

Vanessa: So, let's watch the clip so you cansee how it was used. Gayle: ... you might discover something ina yoga class that was brought up, and then you can ...Gayle: ... you might discover something in a yoga class that was brought up, and thenyou can ... Vanessa: Were those phrasal verbs new to you? I hope that you learned something new aboutusing them in your life. Vanessa: Alright. Now we're going to go on to the pronunciationlesson. This is where we take an in-depth look atsome of the vocabulary expression sentences, and try to say them as naturally as possible. I want you to try to repeat after me. Speak out loud. Try to really follow my prompts, so that youcan speak naturally. Vanessa: Let's go. Vanessa: What we're going to be doing is breakingdown each sentence. I'll show you the clip from the conversation,we'll break it down in detail, you'll have a chance to repeat with me. Please be active during this lesson. Please repeat with me. 

Try to speak out loud as much as you can. When I pause, make sure that you fill in theblanks. I'll be giving you some instruction so thatyou can follow along. Then we'll watch the clip again, so that youcan hear every little thing that we talked about. Vanessa: I'm sure that this will be usefulto you now as you improve, and also as you go into the real world and have real conversations. Vanessa: Alright. Let's get started with the first clip. We're going to listen to the first sentencefrom the conversation with Gayle. Gayle: Yeah. Although, you know, everything kind of ... It'sa lot about your vision and being mindful and exploring. And so, they kind of weave together in someways. Gayle: It's a lot about your vision and beingmindful ... Gayle: It's a lot about your vision and beingmindful ... Vanessa: Did you hear the vocabulary word,vision? Vision? We're going to be talking about this word,and also the rest of this short sentence. It's a lot about your vision. It's a lot about your vision. 

It's a lot about your vision. Vanessa: Let's start at the beginning. Can you say with me, "It's." It's. Then we're going onto this next word, butit's actually two words together, a lot. A lot. Vanessa: Do you hear a lot? Really, this is something that's reoccurringin American English, that that final T is stopped. Your tongue is at the top of your mouth. You're going to make that T sound but youdon't. Instead it just gets cut short. Your tongue stops at the top of your mouth. Vanessa: So, can you say that with me? A lot. Is your tongue on the top of your mouth? I hope so. A lot. A lot. Don't let air pass through. Don't say a lot. Instead just let it stop there. A lot. Vanessa: Let's put those two words together. It's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. Okay. Let's go onto the next word. Vanessa: The next word is about. About. Do you hear something similar happening here? That final T gets cut short. 

Your tongue is at the top of your mouth, butthere's no air going through. Say it with me. About. About. Let's say the full sentence up to this point. Vanessa: It's a lot about. It's a lot about. Vanessa: The next word is your, but thosetwo vowels in the middle, O, U, instead they change and become E. Your. Your. This happens when native speakers are talkingquickly. So, I want you to be able to imitate thisand use it yourself. Vanessa: Your. Your. Your. Can you say that with me? Your. Let's go and say the full sentence to thispoint. Vanessa: It's a lot about your. It's a lot about your. It's a lot about your. Vanessa: The final word is our key word here. Vision. Vision. There's a lot of vibrations that are happeningin this word. First with the letter V. 

There should be some vibrations here, happeningwith your lips. That final sound is in. In. Just like I'm in my house, in. Vision. Vision. Vision. Those vowels are the same. They're both short Is. Vision. Vision. Vision. Vision. Can you say that with me? Vision. What's your vision? Vision. Vanessa: Let's go back and try to say thisfull sentence all together, and then I'm going to pause so that you can say it by yourself? Ready? Vanessa: It's a lot about your vision. It's a lot about your vision. It's a lot about your vision. It's a lot about your vision. It's a lot about your vision. It's a lot about your vision. Vanessa: Alright. I'm going to pause. I want you to say it by yourself. Go ahead. Vanessa: Great work! Alright. Let's listen to the clip so that you can hearGayle say the sentence. Gayle: It's a lot about your vision and beingmindful ... Gayle: It's a lot about your vision and ...Gayle: It's a lot about your vision and ... Vanessa: The second sentence that we're goingto practice shadowing features the expression it takes a toll. It takes a toll. If you've already studied the vocabulary expressionyou understand what this means. Let's watch the clip where I said this, andthen we're going to repeat it together. Gayle: I had never sat so much in my wholelife. Vanessa: It takes a toll on you. Gayle: Oh! I knew it was. Vanessa: It takes a toll on you. Vanessa: It takes a toll on you. Vanessa: I said, "It takes a toll on you." I said this quite quickly in the conversation. It takes a toll on you. It takes a toll on you. 

So, let's practice this together. Vanessa: The first two words together havesomething unique happening, but we've already talked about this. So, I hope that it will just refresh yourmemory. Vanessa: It takes. The word, it. That final T. The same thing is going to happen,what we talked about the T stopping short on the top of your mouth. It. It. We didn't say it. But the tricky thing here is the next wordstarts with a T. So, it kind of sounds like one word. It takes. It takes. Just imagine putting a short I before theword takes. It takes. It takes. You don't need to say it takes. We don't need to two Ts. Instead there's just one T and these wordsare linked together. Vanessa: This is going to help you speak quickerand link those naturally. It takes. It takes. Can you say that with me? It takes. It takes. It takes. Vanessa: In the final part of this sentencewe have three different O sounds. So, we're going to practice that together. 

Get your lips ready. We're going to practice these three differentOs. They are it takes a toll on you. Let's start with that first word. Vanessa: Toll. Toll. Toll. Can you make your lips look mine? If you have a little mirror try to look atyour lips in that mirror so that you can see if they're imitating me. Toll. Toll. Vanessa: Then the next one is a little bitlonger. On. Toll on. Toll on. Vanessa: The final one, we're going to kindof pucker our lips a little bit like a kiss. You. You. Toll on you. Toll on you. So, it's starting small then tall, and thenpuckered together. Toll on you. Vanessa: Can you say that with me? Toll on you. Make sure that you kind of exaggerate yourmouth like I'm doing. Then we're going to say it faster, and it'sgoing to be a little bit less exaggerated. 

You're not going to see in the conversationmy lips saying toll on you. It's not going to be quite so clear. But when we say it we're going to be usingthat same pronunciation, just a little bit subtler. Vanessa: So, let's go ahead and say it together. Toll on you. Toll on you. Toll on you. Can you say that with me? Toll on you. Toll on you. Let's say it faster. Toll on you. Toll on you. Toll on you. Vanessa: Alright. Let's piece the sentence all together. It takes a toll on you. It takes a toll on you. It takes a toll on you. It takes a toll on you. It takes a toll on you. It takes a toll on you. Vanessa: Are you saying that with me? Say it with me. It takes a toll on you. It takes a toll on you. Alright. 

Then a pause, and it's your tune. Go ahead. Vanessa: Excellent. I hope that this practice doesn't take a tollon you. I hope that it's helpful to you instead. Let's watch the clip. Vanessa: It takes a toll on you. Vanessa: It takes a toll on you. Vanessa: It takes a toll on you. Vanessa: The next sentence that we're goingto practice includes the vocabulary expression, down the road. Down the road. Let's listen to that clip. Gayle: You think about all this negativityand don't realize like, that has a lot of implications down the road. Gayle: That has a lot of implications downthe road. Gayle: That has a lot of implications downthe road. Vanessa: Gayle says, "That has a lot of implicationsdown the road." That has a lot of implications down the road. Let's break down the sentence starting withthe beginning. Vanessa: The first word is that. Do you notice that final T here? I hope that you do. I hope that you can say this now naturallywith me, your tongue at the top of your mouth, stopping. That. That. That. Are you saying it with me? That. Vanessa: Has a lot. Has a lot. Has. Here we have a Z sound. Has a lot. Ooh, we have another T that's cut out. Same word as before. Has a lot. That has a lot. That has a lot. That has a lot. Can you say that with me quickly? That has a lot. That has a lot. That has a lot. Vanessa: Next let's try to tackle this beautifulword, implications. Let's break it down. Try to say it with me as I say it. Implications. Implications. 

There needs to be a short I in the middle. Impli ... That's the short I. Implications. Implications. Implications. Implications. Vanessa: Let's say the full sentence up tothis point. That has a lot of implications. That has a lot of implications. Say it with me. That has a lot of implications. That has a lot of implications. Are your mouth muscles warmed up? I hope so. Vanessa: Let's go to the final part. Our key expression, down the road, has onespecial element we're going to focus on. It's the final letter. Road. Something happens with that D sound that we'vealready talked about with the T. It isn't really pronounced. Your mouth is in the position to say it, butthere's really no air that comes out. Vanessa: So, let's practice saying road. Not road, but road. Your tongue is there in place, about to makethe D sound, but there's no vibration and air that comes out. Let's say that expression. 

Down the road. Down the road. Down the road. Down the road. Vanessa: Of course, you can say down the road. It's fine to add the D. But here in the conversationwe didn't add it, so I want to make sure that you can really imitate exactly the way thatwe're pronouncing, because once you learn to break down sentences like this, you canalso do it on your own. You can listen carefully to a short clip,like, one sentence, like we're doing now, and practice this yourself. Vanessa: If you hear something in the conversationand you wonder, "Why could I not understand that," you can break it down piece by piecelike this. I hope I'm giving you some general tools tohelp practice your pronunciation yourself. Vanessa: So, let's say this full sentencetogether. Don't forget the word implications. Don't forget cutting off Ts, and then thatfinal word, road. Vanessa: That has a lot of implications downthe road. Make sure that your flow is natural. Follow my hands. That has a lot of implications down the road. Like a wave. That has a lot of implications down the road. 

That has a lot of implications down the road. Can you say that with me? That has a lot of implications down the road. That has a lot of implications down the road. Vanessa: Alright. I'm going to pause, and I want you to saythis wonderful sentence yourself. Go ahead. Vanessa: Great work. Alright. Let's watch the clip again. Gayle: That has a lot of implications downthe road. Gayle: That has a lot of implications downthe road. Gayle: That has a lot of implications downthe road. Vanessa: Are your pronunciation muscles warmedup? Along with the conversation, vocabulary, grammar,and pronunciation lessons in the Fearless Fluency Club, you'll also get access to theMP3 versions of all of these lessons, and full PDF transcripts so that you can followalong with each word, because I know there are a lot of new things that you can learnwith really every sentence. Vanessa: You'll also be able to study withthe story. Let's take a look at that really quick. 

Vanessa: The story is a fun, one page combinationof all of the things that you learned this month. You'll see the vocabulary expressions, thephrasal verbs, the idioms, everything that you have learned is combined into this shortstory that you can repeat and listen to, and say out loud, and even memorize if you want. Vanessa: I also host live lessons in our privateFacebook group so that we can interact with this material every week, and also so thatyou can meet each other. A lot of members like to talk together, andI think it's a good way to increase and improve your vocabulary, and just improve your speakingskills. Vanessa: So, now I have a question for you.

 Have you ever done yoga before? If you join the Fearless Fluency Club in themonth of April, which is this month, April 2019, you'll also see a short clip of Gayleteaching me some yoga poses. It's kind of embarrassing because I usuallydon't do this for my English lessons. But it was fun, and it was a good chance foryou to be able to see Gayle's teaching style. But I want to know, have you ever done yoga? Let me know in the comments. I'll see you again next Friday, here on myYouTube channel, for another video. Vanessa: Thanks so much for learning Englishwith me. Bye! Vanessa: The next step is to download my freeE-book, Five Steps To Becoming A Confident English Speaker. You'll learn what you need to do to speakconfidently and fluently. Don't forget to subscribe to me YouTube channelfor more free lessons. Vanessa: Thanks so much. Bye!