| Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them, maybe. |
| Let's get to your first question this week. First question this week comes from Aldonse from the Central African Republic. Hi, Aldonse. Aldonse says, "Hi, Alisha. I'd like to know the difference between 'online' and 'live.' Could you please explain this?" Okay. So, "online" versus "live." Let's start by talking about the word "live." When we say that a piece of media, like video or audio, is live, that means it's being broadcast right now. There are no edits. The person is speaking in that moment. The person is acting in that moment. So you are seeing everything happening in real-time. So, we sometimes see this in the news. Like we see a live news report, where the reporter stands in front of a scene and explains what's happening at that moment. We would describe that as a "live report," or as a "live broadcast." On this YouTube channel, for example, we have regular live broadcast, live lessons. So, that means the broadcast is unedited. You're watching it happen in the moment. So, we can say that that is a "live" lesson. Of course, our live lessons are recorded. So after the lesson, it's no longer live, but it was a live lesson. It was recorded without any kinds of edits or anything like that, and it was shared. |
| So, after a live broadcast, yes, we can still watch it of course. But, it is no longer live. So, "live" refers to something being done in the moment, real-time. So, it doesn't mean that something is unplanned. It just means that it's being done without any kinds of edits or there's no changes being applied in the moment. So, this is what "live" refers to. |
| "Online," on the other hand, has quite a few different uses. We can use "online" to refer to our status. For example, when we are on the phone -- using our phone, I mean. Not actually calling someone. But, when we're on our phone, using social media, for example, other applications using the internet, we are in the state of being "online." So, for example, if I'm using Google to search for something, or if I'm on Facebook or Instagram or something, I am "online." We use "online" to mean using the internet. I am "online." So, you can kind of think of this as imagining the internet as a bunch of lines that we cannot see, that connect us to the rest of the world, and we are using that in the moment. So, we are "on line." So, "online" refers to being on the internet. |
| We can also use "online" to talk about something that is available on the internet. For example, when someone makes a new video, or they create a new product and they release it and they share it to other people, they might say, "My new video is now online. It's now available for you on the internet." Or, "My new product is now online." Or, "Our new app is now online," which means it's ready for you to use. It's available. It's online. |
| So, "online" refers to this connectivity to the internet. "Live" refers to something that's being broadcast without edits or any changes. It's in the moment. So, we can use these in kind of similar ways. For example, when we talk about our "live" broadcast, we might say "Our live broadcasts go online once a week," which means our live unedited broadcasts become available to people once a week. So, we can kind of use them in similar situations, but they do refer to separate things. So, I hope that this helps you understand the differences between "online" and "live." Thanks very much for an interesting question. Okay. Let's move on to your next question. |
| Next question comes from Mohd Shahid. Hi, Mohd. Mohd says, "How do I use 'once' for future actions?" Nice question. Okay. So, "once" for future actions. That means we want to talk about something that has some kind of condition attached to it, right? For example, "Once I finish my homework, I'll watch some TV," "Once you finish that report, can you come help me in the conference room?" So, "once" is used to introduce this kind of condition. It means, after you have completed this thing or after this thing becomes true, this thing will happen, this other thing will happen. So, after A, B. So, in the first example sentence, I said, "Once I finish my homework, I'll watch TV." Another way to say that sentence is, "After I finish my homework, I'll watch TV." You might think, "Whoa! Why should I use 'once,' why should I use 'after' if they mean the same thing?" It's up to you, really. In my opinion, "once" sounds a little bit more formal than "after." If I were thinking to myself, or if I were talking to a friend or maybe a family member; in most cases, I feel like I would say "after." Like, "After I finish my homework, I'll watch some TV with you," for example. You could say "once" though as well. "Once I finish my homework, I'll watch TV." |
| The same thing applies in work situations, as in my second example sentence. So, "Once you finish that report, can you come help me in the conference room?" We could also say this as, "After you finish that report, can you come help me in the conference room?" Both of these are completely correct. It's up to you to decide which one you'd want to choose. Again, in my opinion, one sounds a little bit more formal, a little bit more polite to me. But, that's up to you. So, I hope that this answers your question. We used this "once" to refer to a condition being true, and then some other action taking place. So, I hope this answers your question. Thanks very much for sending it along. Okay. Let's move on to our next question. |
| Next question comes from Alaamri. Hi, Alaamri. Alaamri says, "Does 'like' have more than one meaning?" Yes, "like." The word "like" has lots and lots of different meanings, different uses. So let's quickly go through a few of the most common. So, we can use "like" as a verb, of course. Like, "I like this," or "I like him," "I like her," and so on. It means we feel good about that thing. We enjoy that thing. That thing makes us feel happy. "I like this type of music." "I like that food." So, we use this "like" as a verb to express things that we enjoy things, that make us happy. |
| We have other uses of "like" outside of this verb use though. I know that I'm very guilty of using "like" as what's called a filler word. So, when we're thinking about some other topic, and we need another word to kind of fill the silence, we tend to use words like "um," "ah," "hmm," and so on. And lots of people use "like." I'm one of those people. Some people think it's a bad habit. It's just kind of a style of speech. So, "like" is also one of these filler words that people use. This use of "like" doesn't mean that it has a meaning. When we use "like" as a filler word, it's just kind of a word that we're using to say something to show that we're thinking in that moment. So, if you pay attention, I'm sure you will find me using "like" in this way throughout many videos on this channel. So, "like" is also used as a filler word. |
| We use "like" in another way to express comparisons, to talk about two things that are similar in some way. For example, "He eats like a pig." This shows that someone eats in a manner similar to a pig. So, you use this to compare two different things. And, we want to kind of show some sort of similarities between those things. We can use "like" to do that. So, "like" has this meaning as well. |
| Finally, you will also see "like" used a lot on social media. So, we use "like" as a verb in social media. Much like we use the verb in speech to mean that we appreciate something, or we're excited about something. It's usually a button, or maybe it's a star or a heart, whatever. We can use it on social media as a verb. Meaning "to like something," meaning to double-click on something on Instagram or to push a button showing that we enjoyed that thing. We can also use it as a noun in this way, too. For example, "My Instagram post got a lot of likes. I'm super excited." Or, "My Instagram post didn't get very many likes. I'm sad." So, we can use "like" as a noun in this way to refer to social media use. So, I hope that this helps answer your question about the various uses of the word "like." There are quite a few. Thanks very much for sending this question along. |
| Alright. That is everything that I have for this week. Thank you as always for sending your great questions. Thanks very much for watching this week's episode of "Ask Alisha," and I will see you again soon. Bye. |
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