| Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them, maybe. |
| First question this week comes from Sergej. Hi, Sergej. Sergej says, "What methods would you recommend to remember English words as fast as possible and for a long time? Thanks." Aha, common question. I would suggest that you begin using the words right away. So, I imagine many learners have a vocabulary list maybe it's a digital list or a list you write by hand, whatever. When you learn a new word begin using the word right away. So, I don't mean like reading the word or learning the spelling of the word, that's great, but start making sentences with the words. So, write a sentence and then say the sentence out loud, so use the word right away. And then maybe at the end of the same day read the sentence again, write the sentence again, say the sentence again. So, use the word again, the next day do it again maybe make a new sentence using the same word. So, try to say that sentence again, try to say the previous day sentence again. So, use the word, don't just put the word into your head. Actually, create something with the word. This is huge. Very important is to actually like to create something with the new words that you're learning. So, you do this, you know, every day and then a few days later you refresh the word, a week later you refresh the word. So, in the beginning it takes time, you maybe need to refresh your mind, refresh your memory a lot as you learn new vocabulary words. But then you also need to get used to using those words in your everyday life. So, try to maybe make a list or like a group of words you want to focus on for like one week or two weeks at a time. And so, you practice that group of words like every day or you make a study plan to focus on this group of words for this month or something like that. So, do that with those words that you really, really want to use. Maybe there are words that are extremely important to your everyday life like your studies or your work or maybe a hobby for example. So, I would suggest doing that and spacing out your repetition to do that. So, if you want a tool that can help you to do this kind of thing, there are spaced repetition systems like spaced repetition flashcard tools. A very popular one is a tool called Anki, so you can download like vocabulary word decks, groups of vocabulary words and study those. And the software or the system will automatically tell you when is the next time to study. So, you finish your study session. And then, later a few hours later, or a day later, or something you can study the same words again and it will remember how well you did the previous time. So, it spaces out how often you see your vocabulary words and helps you refresh things and a good pace for your studies and for your like, your memory. So, that might be a good tool to use, but as I said, don't just read don't just see the words on a screen, make sure you use the words as well. So, I hope that this helps you to understand new vocabulary words and to be able to remember them for a long time. Good luck with your studies. Okay. Let's move on to your next question. |
| Next question this week comes from Melih. Hello, Melih. Melih says, "You say, 'and I answer them, maybe' at the opening of the video this 'maybe' means if I can or you ask plenty of questions and I pick randomly so maybe I can or I can't pick yours. Thanks." Yeah actually, both, both are true, the reason that I chose that beginning, the "you ask questions and I answer them, maybe." I chose that introduction for both of those reasons. So, one is actually I don't know for sure if I answered your question. So, sometimes viewers send a question and maybe I don't completely understand what they want to know, or maybe my answer doesn't give them 100% of the information. So, I hope, I try my best to answer the questions completely, but I don't know for sure that I've answered the viewers' question. I don't know for sure that I've answered your question. So, that's one, that's one reason why I say, "maybe" at the beginning of the video. The second reason as you said is because there are lots of questions that get sent to us for this series. So, sometimes the questions are like very common questions so we get for example lots of questions about how to use present, perfect tense. Or we get lots of questions about how to use "have," and "had," or "would," "could," and "should," those words. So, because there are so many questions like that, I might not choose your question about that topic. I try to choose questions that I hope can be like new and interesting and helpful for lots of people who are watching the channel, not just for that one person, so that's one reason. Also there are some questions that are very, very specific. Some people send questions that are maybe about one specific sentence. And so, for other people maybe it's not so helpful, so I'm trying to choose questions that are good for everybody, so that's the second reason why I say "maybe." I might not choose the question that you send even if you do send it. Thank you so much for sending. But yes, there are those two reasons why I say "maybe" at the beginning to every video in this series. So, I hope that that helps you. Thanks for this question. Okay. Let's move on to your next question this week. |
| Next question for this week comes from comay. Hello, comay. comay says, "What is the difference between 'ongoing' and 'in progress?'" Great question. "Ongoing" is an adjective. We can place "ongoing" before the noun that it modifies. We can also place "ongoing" after the noun that it modifies, but we connect the two with is. Some examples, "This is an ongoing project." "This project is ongoing." |
| "In progress" on the other hand is not an adjective, it's "in" a preposition and "progress" a noun. So, progress means like movement forward or some kind of improvement, that's what progress means. So, we can imagine "in progress" to mean like in the condition of making progress. So, that's kind of like a long way to say the small phrase "in progress," in the condition, or in the state of making forward progress. So, we tend to use this after the noun that it modifies. So, some examples of this, "Construction is in progress on our office building." "This project is a work in progress." So, I hope that helps you understand the differences between ongoing and in progress. Thanks very much for this question. Okay. Let's move on to your next question. |
| Next question comes from Marcelo Veloso. Hello, Marcelo. Marcelo says, "Hi, Alisha. How's it going? Here in Brazil when actors and actresses play roles in soap operas, movies, and TV shows, they don't talk like ordinary people. They talk a little formally. I would like to know if the same thing happens in the USA?" Nice question. But generally no actors and actresses don't speak more formally. They do, however, change their speaking for the setting in which they are acting. So, for example, if you've seen a movie where the story features royalty so like kings and queens, you might hear the actors using very formal language because that's the language that's appropriate for a very formal setting. So, they use that language not because it's like a movie but because it's like a king or a queen they're speaking to so they should speak formally. On the other hand, if you've seen the movie like a cowboy movie, like an old western movie, you'll hear the characters speaking in a very rough manner. So, they choose the way that they speak or the way that they speak is kind of determined by the setting of the media. So, it's not that the media itself causes actors and actresses to speak a certain way, it's like the story itself. They speak to match the story. |
| I will say that probably in most cases actors and actresses tend to speak a little bit more clearly. Yes, they speak very quickly but they tend to speak a little more clearly in media because it's important for the audience to be able to catch all the words that are being said. So, you might hear them speaking a little bit more clearly, but not necessarily more formally. So, level of formality is determined by the story, the characters in the story, and the relationships in the story. So, I hope that that helps you. Thanks very much for the question. Okay. Let's move on to your next question. |
| Next question this week comes from Michael. Hello, Michael. Michael says, "Hi, Alisha. The verbs 'would' and 'had' have the same form of contraction apostrophe D ('d). How do I know what verb this form of the contraction means?" Great question. Okay. To know which form, look at the word that comes after the apostrophe D, ('d). For example, "I'd like a glass of water." "I'd eaten by the time my roommate got home." Okay. So, in the first example sentence, "I'd like a glass of water," the word that comes after "I'd" is "like." "Like" is a simple present tense verb. In the second example sentence, "I'd eaten by the time my roommate got home," we see "eaten" which is the verb, "eat" in the past participle form. So, we break these down and we see "I'd like" becomes "I would like" or "I had like." So, we know "I had like" is incorrect, that's not proper grammar. We know, therefore, it should be "I would like." We can do the same thing with the second example sentence, "I'd eaten" could be either "I would eaten" or "I had eaten." We know that "I would eaten" is grammatically incorrect so, we can understand therefore it that when we see that apostrophe D, ('d) followed by a simple present tense verb, we can understand that that's actually an "I would" construction. Apostrophe D, ('d) followed by a verb in the past participle form, however, indicates the past perfect tense, "I had eaten," "I'd eaten." So, you don't actually need to focus on that apostrophe D, ('d), focus on the grammar of the sentence as a whole. So, we're looking at the verb that comes after this, not to the apostrophe D, ('d) itself. The clue is actually in the next word. So, I hope that this helps you identify the differences in the future. Thanks very much for this question. |
| Great. So, that is everything that I have for you for this week. Thank you as always for sending your questions. Remember, you can send them to me at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha. Thanks very much for watching this week's episode of Ask Alisha and I will see you again next week. Bye-bye! |
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