Lesson Transcript

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 Nithia. Hi, Nithia. Nithia says, "The phrasal verb 'heat up.' You've said you mostly use this with microwave ovens. Can I use this phrase for gas? Like, 'Can you heat up this tea for me? We don't have a microwave oven. We have a gas induction stove.'" Oh, yes, of course. You can absolutely use the phrasal verb "heat up" in other situations. So, if I said that this is usually used in microwave ovens, yeah, that's maybe the most common appliance that we use this within the U.S. households. But, absolutely, you can use this phrasal verb in other situations, too. So, basically, to "heat something up" means to make something warm. So, you can definitely use it with a stove. You can use it with whatever kind of heating device you have. You can use it to talk about a room like, "Ugh, can you please heat up the room? It's so cold in here." Or, "Ah, I want to heat up my lunch on the stove." You can use this for any situation in which you want to make something warm. So, we use the phrasal verb "heat up" to do that.
You can also split this phrasal verb. Like, "I need to heat my lunch up." Or, "Ugh, let's heat the room up, it's so cold in here." So, this is an example of a phrasal verb that you can split. By "split," again, just to refresh your mind, I mean you can split the "heat" from the "up." The verb plus the preposition. You can move those two apart and put the object in the middle. Like, "heat my lunch up" and "heat up my lunch" are both totally fine to use. So, the short answer is yes, you can definitely use this for situations outside of your microwave oven. The key is that you are making something warm. So, thanks very much for this question. Okay. Let's move on to your next question.
Next question comes from Seryozha. Hi, Seryozha. I hope I said your name correctly. Seryozha says, "Hello, Alisha. My question: how do I learn new words? I'm confused. I've heard in other videos that to learn new words, I should study translations. But on the other hand, if I want to think in English, I shouldn't use a translation or I shouldn't use dictionaries. But, if I don't understand a word without translating it, what should I do? Thanks for your answer. I appreciate it." Yeah. Super, super great question. Of course, it makes sense completely. You want to think in English, right? So, you don't want to translate in your head and take all that time. But, in order to know the words, you have to learn them somehow, right? So, I would recommend that you don't put so much pressure on yourself to try to do everything perfectly in English right away. It's completely natural to study vocabulary words and use dictionaries to look up words that you don't know. I absolutely still do this in Japanese, the language that I've been studying for a very long time. It is 100% acceptable to look up new words that you don't know, and then you practice them, just as you would with any other vocabulary word or any other grammar point that you learn.
The key here though is just to remember that you don't want to rely on your dictionary every time you see that word in the future, right? So, that means that you need to start trying to create with those words that you're learning. So, maybe you find a new word in a book that you're reading, for example. And, you think, "I don't know this word and I can't guess the meaning of the word from the context." So, you could check the dictionary. Great1 That's fine. Maybe you make a note of the word in your notebook. And then, maybe you try to make a sentence or a question with that word. And then, maybe you speak something using that word. You say like a sentence with it, whatever.
So, the key is that you're not just using a dictionary to make your language happen, if that makes sense. You're not relying on the dictionary for your conversations. You're not relying on the dictionary to help you write a paragraph all the time. But rather, you check the dictionary when you need to, and then you apply it, right? So, to go back to one of your points in your question about wanting to think in English, I would suggest you don't try to put a lot of pressure on yourself, to force this on yourself. Because this is often something that happens without even thinking about it, which is kind of strange I know, right? Like you're thinking talking so hard about how to not think in your native language. It sounds really, really strange, right? But, oftentimes, when we're studying another language, we just kind of wake up one day and we say something in the language we're studying and we go, "Oh, wait. I didn't have to think about that. That was really cool." And then, you have those moments over and over the more you study.
So, it's not like one day you just wake up and everything comes out perfectly. That is maybe not going to happen for a long, long time and that's okay. There are still moments in our native languages where maybe we need to look up the meaning of a new word that we found, right? So, don't put so much pressure on yourself to think in only English right away. Take the time to study the vocabulary words and just start putting them into the information you already know. Start putting them into the grammar structures you know. Or, start looking at the books that you're reading and thinking about how you can use those words in those books in your everyday life. So, just start to think about different ways that you can use the new things that you're learning.
So, just don't put so much pressure on yourself to think only in English. That's something that will happen gradually and with time. I know that we're all very excited to get to a point where our language skills can be really, really smooth and everything can sound great and perfect. But, in reality, it does take work to get there. So, if you're having some trouble with this kind of desire to get to that point really, really quickly, maybe try setting yourself some really small goals that might help a little bit. So, maybe you decide, "Okay, this week I'm going to focus on how to order something on the phone, like a delivery food item maybe." And then, you practice that over and over and over, so that you're able to say that without thinking so much in your native language. Maybe if you really, really, really want to push for that kind of "No thinking in my native language" state, you can set yourself some small goals like that. So, that means like an everyday life moment that you just practice a lot in English until you can do it without thinking about it.
So, to recap very quickly, these would be my recommendations. One, it's completely okay to use a dictionary to look up new words that you don't know. It's totally natural. Two, try to use the new words that you're learning in different ways in your life. Make sentences. Make different questions with them, whatever it is. Make sure to use them. Third, don't put so much pressure on yourself to try to get to that point where you don't need to think in your native language ever again. It's not super realistic. Especially, if you're in the beginning stages. And, fourth, try to set some small goals for yourself so that you can work towards something specifically without thinking about it. So, I hope that these tips answer your question and help you with your motivation as you continue learning new vocabulary words. Thanks very much for sending it along. Okay. Let's move on to your next question.
Next question comes from Ana Maria. Hi, Ana Maria. Ana Maria says, "How do I pronounce words with TH?" Yes, a very, very, very, very common pronunciation question. So, how do we make the TH sound of English. There are two TH sounds to consider. They are the unvoiced and the voiced TH sounds. So, how do you know whether the TH sound is a voiced or an unvoiced TH sound? A quick way to do this is to touch your throat when you make the sound. So, a voiced TH sound will cause your throat to vibrate. Your vocal cords will vibrate. So, when you do this, it sounds like TH [ð], TH [ð]. So, your tongue is between your teeth, [ð] And, your vocal cords vibrate when you make this TH sound, this type of TH sound. On the other hand, when you make an unvoiced TH sound, your vocal cords will not vibrate. So, your tongue is still in the same position or a similar position, TH [θ], TH [θ], but there's no vibration happening here. You're just passing air through your mouth. This is what's called an unvoiced TH sound.
So, to compare the two quickly, we have TH [ð], TH [ð], which is the voiced sound. And, TH [θ], which is the unvoiced sound. So, we have these two types of TH sound to consider. That means that you need to make sure that you're not using a voiced TH sound in a situation where you should not and vice versa as well. So, for example, the word "this." "This." We use a voiced TH sound to produce that. "This." If I touch, my throat I hear not "this." It's not "this," but "this." I'm using that voiced TH sound to do that. On the other hand, if I say a word like "three." "Three." I'm not making any sound with my throat when I say the TH in this word, "three." "Three." So, yes, there is an E sound in that word which causes my vocal cords to move, but the TH sound does not make a "three" sound at the beginning.
So, keep this in mind when you're practicing those TH sounds. There are two types but as far as tongue and mouth position, I know it's going to feel really, really strange. And, oftentimes, in the past, my students would start to laugh in lessons where we practice this sound because it feels kind of uncomfortable, I know. But, put your tongue between your teeth like this -- may be hard to see, and make the TH [θ], as you release that sound. So, I sometimes see students maybe putting their tongue behind their teeth, or doing something else kind of strains, like making a D sound as well. Like, putting your tongue at the top of your mouth. But, to practice making this sound, you can go crazy and just try to put your tongue between your teeth, TH [θ], if it's really hard for you. So, practice doing that voiced, TH [ð], and unvoiced, TH [θ], as well, too. So, not using any vibration here. Those are the two types of TH sounds, and I hope this quick practice can help you to practice both of them. Okay. So, I hope this helps answer your question about how to pronounce TH in English. Okay. Thanks very much for sending it along.
All right, 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 next time. Bye!

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