Lesson Transcript

Hi everybody, welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them. Maybe.
First question comes from Carlos. Hi, Carlos.
Carlos says: When should we use "hear" or "listen"?
Okay. Hear is used to mean just that sound can reach our ears.
Some sound comes from outside to our ears.
So, some example sentences:
I can't hear you. Can you hear me now? What can you hear?
I can hear you from across the house!
Can you hear screaming?
So then, "listen" is used to mean focusing your attention on a sound.
Like, you're really, really trying to focus on something.
I like listening to music.
Or, you should listen to your teacher.
Or, are you listening to me?
Why don't you listen to something peaceful instead of your hard rock music?
That's what my parents used to say to me.
That is a true story.
So, we use "listen" to mean "focusing our attention on a sound."
Hear just means something can reach our ears.
I hope that that helps you. Thanks for the question.
All right, let's move to your next question.
Next question comes from Geliano Sales. Hi, Geliano.
Geliano says, Hi Alisha. How do I get confidence to speak English with someone?
Um, well, practice, really.
So, you have to practice, and that means you have to start slowly, of course.
So that means you can find a language partner to practice with.
Maybe in your class or in your town, or maybe online.
If you can't find someone to practice with, you can try using media to practice your speaking.
If you need to practice speaking with someone and you can't find anyone in your community, I would recommend looking for someone online that you can practice with.
And then slowly, keep leveling up your practice partner.
And by that I mean: Try to always work to the next stage of someone who can understand you.
So, people who are studying other languages (or who have studied other languages) maybe understand that you don't speak perfectly, the way that they don't speak perfectly.
And so they're gonna be more understanding.
If you're trying to speak with someone who is not used to speaking to people who are studying, it's going to be more difficult for you, and it's going to be more difficult for them. They're not going to be as patient because they don't understand what it's like to try to learn a new language.
So very slowly, you need to kind of find the right people to try to practice with.
And also, don't consider everyone just there to practice with, too.
Like, just try to make friends.
When you're able to have a bit of a conversation, just work on making friends with people and then you can naturally have conversations and you can pick up new words, and when you don't know something, you just ask your friend: oh, how do I say this in [this] language?
So, I would say: Start slowly, language partner online or in person, and then very slowly just keep leveling up the kind of people that you talk to. That's what I do, actually. That's really what I do and what I did.
So, I hope that that helps you.
Thanks very much for the question.
Okay. Let's move on to your next question.
Okay, uh, next question comes from Sofy. Hi, Sofy.
Sofy says: Hi, what are the best books for English learning?
The best books for English learning are the books that interest you and that are at your level.
There's no one "best book" for studying English.
So, if you can find a book about something that you're interested in and it's not too difficult for you, you can use that for your studies.
So, the rule that I follow (I don't know if this is a perfect rule)...but the rule that I follow when I'm choosing a book is that I feel I should be able to understand about 70% to maybe 80% of the book without using a dictionary.
So, I should be able to look at it and see: Ah, I don't know this word, or maybe I don't know this grammar point. Here and there on the pages.
If it's too difficult to read -- if I can understand, like, 5% or 20%, I don't choose that book because it's going to be too difficult, and it will demotivate me.
So I don't choose that.
I also choose books that are related to a topic I want to learn more about.
So, I don't choose books that are only about language study.
I choose a book in my target language (this is true)...I choose a book about, like, design, for example, that's in Japanese. I want to know about that topic, and I want to practice studying Japanese, so I find the right book for my level, and I study, like, two topics at the same time in that way.
So that's my favorite strategy to use.
I think it's really important for you to find something that you're interested in and that's at the best level for you. So, try to find something that matches your level.
So, if you're a beginner, that's okay too, You can start with childrens' books, actually.
And then when you become comfortable with childrens' books, you can move up to young adults' books. And from there, finding other things.
Also, don't limit yourself to just books. Maybe you find a blog or a website, a magazine that's perfect for you.
Just as long as you're interested in that topic and you're reading it regularly. That's, I think, the most important part of choosing a book or something else reading-related to help you with your studies.
So, I hope that that helps you. Thanks for the question.
Let's move on to your next question!
Next question comes from Zahoor Ahmad. Hi, Zahoor.
Zahoor says: Hi Alisha. At times, I fail to understand the English spoken in movies. How do I fix this issue?
Well, if you really want to understand a specific movie, and there's something you missed in the movie, try looking for the script online.
If you really enjoy, like, The Matrix, for example, and you didn't understand parts of The Matrix, just do a Google search for the script, and you can find the script, check what they said, and practice reading that, or look up the words that you didn't understand.
So, I think a key here is just: If you want to understand something, you should look for the resources you need to understand that.
So, for a movie, that means a script. Or maybe there are subtitles on the movie you can check as well.
So, if there's a movie you want to understand and you can't understand it, try looking at the script, and see if it helps you.
That's what I would do. So maybe you can try that too.
I hope that helps you. Thanks for the question.
Let's move on to your next question.
Next question comes from Shamim Ahsan. Hi, Shamim.
Shamim says: Hi Alisha. I have a question. What's the difference between "do you know where she is?" and "Do you know where is she?"
Yeah, the first sentence is correct. The second sentence is incorrect.
So, when you're making these "Do you know"-type patterns, and you're using the verb "be," you need to kind of like reverse the question.
So, "Do you know where she is." That "be" verb comes at the end of the sentence.
Do you know where my keys are?
Do you know what my password is?
Do you know who the new guys is?
So, these are examples of that "do you know" that use a "be" verb in there.
If you're not using a "be" verb, then you don't have to worry about this.
Like...Do you know...who stole my lunch?
Oh, that's a good one!
Do you know who stole my lunch?!
In that one, you don't have to change the question. There's no "be" verb there.
Who stole my lunch? Is a question on its own.
Like, "do you know what time it is?" is a "be" verb question, so we have that "is" at the end of the sentence.
So, think about that when you're making those sorts of questions.
Hope that that helps you.
All right, let's move on to your next question.
Next question comes from Usama Rajjpoot. Hi, Usama.
Usama says: Hi Alisha, why do we use apostrophe at the end of some sentences, like in thankin', lovin', thinkin', etc.
Yeah! This is just kind of a casual, light, rough spelling of a word that ends in "g," "-ing."
So, like, thinking, or thanking, or loving, or liking, or whatever.
Something that ends in that "ing" form.
When we want to express it casually, in speech, we often don't say the g sound clearly.
Like, thinkin' instead of thinking.
So, when we're talking quickly, especially, we might not say that "g" sound clearly.
Like, thinkin' of you!
So it's kind of like an "n" sound.
So, in spelling, in like texts, for example, or in stories, we might just use the apostrophe to show that sort of friendly, light, rough way of speaking.
So, it's not used in formal letters, and it's not used in like, polite writing.
It's not used in proper writing. But if you want to have kind of that light, casual feel to your writing, you can use the apostrophe at the end of an "ing" verb.
But just keep in mind if you use it too much it sounds really unnatural.
You might see it used if someone is joking, and they say like, "ah, just playin'." For example.
So it might be in like, one set phrase.
So we don't use it at the end of everything. It sounds a little weird, and it looks weird.
But that's what it's there for.
Hope that that helps answer your question. Thanks very much for sending this.
All right, so that's everything that I have for this week.
Thank you as always for sending your questions. Remember to send them to me at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha.
Also, if you liked the video, don't forget to give it a thumbs up, subscribe to us if you haven't already, and find us at EnglishClass101.com for other things to help you with your English studies.
Thanks for watching this week's episode of Ask Alisha, and I will see you again next week. Bye bye!

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