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this video I'm going to let you in on some secrets that separate those who are Advanced or even
fluent in English from the beginners and no it's not just about grammar or having a huge vocabulary
it's about these seven key differences that are often overlooked because these are not typically
the things you learn from a textbook and at the end of the video I will reveal the number one
area you should be focusing on to sound even more fluent than some intermediate English Learners
the first key difference is that advanced English speakers sprinkle in slang when they talk it's not
just about your pronunciation or your wide range of vocabulary if you can casually throw in some
slang or jokes when you're speaking English that probably means your English is pretty Advanced
it's about all the stuff that you want find in your typical textbook and it shows that you have
gone beyond just memorizing all of those typical phrases in English you have actually immersed
yourself in the English or American culture you understand cultural references and drop slang
naturally just like a native speaker would slaying also helps make your speech more relaxed and not
so formal and this is actually how people talk in English in their everyday lives it doesn't mean
that now you have to start dropping those gen Z phrases like it's giving slay or No Cap no you
don't have to do that if you don't want to you can just use those informal everyday expressions like
same here my bad or to have a blast these are all informal English phrases that native speakers use
very very often I want to show you this Tik Tok where you can see that a lot of native speakers
are actually tired of using or hearing the expression it's giving it's giving someone's been
hitting the gym it's giving protein shakes it's giving Health as well oh thanks okay it's giving
humble it's giving kind of means that from talking to you the energy or the vibe I'm getting is that
you are humble you've been hitting the gym health is wealth in the second video the sling they're
actually using is very very useful so I highly recommend watching the full video so let's see the
first expression is I understand instead of saying I understand you can say I get it I agree me too
same here I like chocolate same here my mistake my bad I'm sorry my bad kiss make out okay here to
kiss and to make out I would say these two words are a little bit different like the intensity of
the words is a little bit different because to make out is to actually kiss very p passionately
and to kiss is Just to kiss muscular jacked jacked this guy is jacked disappointment bummer have
fun have a blast too expensive a ripoff I would say a lot of slay Expressions their intensity
is a little bit higher because a ripoff means that somebody was literally asking for so much
money they were trying to be dishonest with you like it's literally a ripoff make a mistake screw
up I would also add that with the expression to scre screw up it's really important where you put
the emphasis on because I feel like the girl said something like a screw up because if you're using
this expression as a noun and you can you can say I'm a screw up but if you want to use it as a verb
you have to say I screwed up the stress is going to be more on the preposition up in this situation
okay so what actionable tip can I give you how can you pick up slang in English if you don't live
in an English-speaking country first of all what I would not recommend is trying to learn slang
or very conversational English from textbooks or blogs or English teaching websites just because
the slang of yesterday is not the slang of today and slang changes so rapidly that is why the best
place to learn slang whether you're a native or a non-native English speaker is going to be
social media it is the best way to pick up a more casual way of speaking and guys even native
speakers pick up Sling from the internet all the time especially Tik Tok or Instagram because these
two apps are extremely fastpaced they have content that is trending right now so probably people
there are using modern-day slang honestly all you need to do is stay on your forou page and
consume content that native speakers make for other native speakers that's it it's super easy
you can obviously write down all the vocabulary you're learning from those videos videos like set
aside 15 minutes to go over all of these words and think if you would use them in your conversations
like I know the word to screw up doesn't mean that I'm going to use it sometimes I prefer to use the
Expression to make a mistake I made a mistake I'm sorry instead of saying I screwed up because using
slang is also like a personality thing if you think slang fits into your personality then please
use it but obviously as an English learner under standing sling is always a bonus as you grow
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to Showcase your skills and launch your dream project now let's get into the second difference
that separates beginners in English from Advanced Learners and it is just as important as slang and
that is Advanced English speakers understand humor because humor is a huge part of the culture so
if you understand that aspect of language not just all the words grammar pronunciation rules but
also humor it means that you already know a lot of things about the culture of this country Advanced
English speakers can catch double meanings sarcasm and subtle humor in conversations we have all been
there as language Learners you're in a group and then someone says something funny everyone laughs
and you have no idea why that was funny you feel embarrassed awkward you're the only one sitting
with a blank face and so that is exactly why humor has so many great advantages it can approve your
your conversations make you seem more approachable and help you Bond and form relationships humor
comes in all shapes and sizes in English so what does it mean to have an understanding of humor
it means understanding things like idioms like I just said humor comes in all shapes and sizes
see what I did here or puns like I'm reading a book about anti-gravity it's impossible to put
down awkward silence I know or sarcasm like yay I have to go back to work tomorrow now if
you don't understand any of these references don't worry because understanding them requires
some knowledge of the cultural background and obviously as a non-native English speaker no one
expects you to know everything about a foreign culture immediately so the actionable tip I can
give you here is a part of your 15 minutes a day intentionally scrawling on Tik Tok trying to pick
up slang follow and watch more entertainment style content creators there's one Creator on Tik Tok
that I really like it's Tilly take this into your brother he's on his Xbox having some damn time
you need to stop cooking for him he's 30 he's exhausted he's been babysitting all weekend it's
not babysitting they're his kids if you like a specific phrase or maybe a skit you can keep track
of everything on notion in your notebook and then if you feel like it you can build a collection of
your own jokes in English and then use them if you want to make people laugh I want to remind
you guys that I have my own language learning template for notion you can learn one language or
multiple languages there you can keep track of all of your words your grammar rules you're trying
to learn so the link to check out the notion template will be down in the description okay the
next difference is that advanced English speakers can talk about a wide range of topics because
let's think about it in your native language you switch between topics very fast you don't even
think about it you can talk about your favorite TV show the weather or your career plans all of
these are pretty distinct topics but obviously in your native language you don't even think about
it it comes super naturally to you and the same goes for advanced English speakers they can just
easily jump from one topic to another without even thinking about it even if the subjects are
completely unrelated one actionable tip I can give you gu here is one of the easiest ways to start
broadening your knowledge in a bunch of different areas is to interact with different communities
on Reddit there are so many different communities or subreddits dedicated to pretty much any topic
you can think of one separ that I have been liking a lot lately is called am I overreacting we can
see one post here that already has over 9,000 up votes so it's a story obviously you actually have
to read it understand everything but because it's real people sharing their real stories you know
being frustrated looking for advice the language they're using is very modern and very
conversational so obviously the person is explaining the story they even attach some
screenshots from their conversation very useful because you can see how native speakers text in
English and then you can also read all of the responses like what other people think about the
situation other subredits that I really like that you can join include explain like I'm five if you
want simple explanations for complex topics ask science if you want to learn about cool science
stuff or the separated relationships if you like drama and we all do and that really helps you
improve your English the next difference is that advanced English speakers can think in English
you guys know that right now I'm actively learning Spanish and to be honest I'm not at this stage yet
where I am always thinking in Spanish when I want to speak Spanish but with English I am at this
stage like right now I'm communicating my thoughts to you guys and I don't need to pause to think how
this word is translate to English from my native language no that is not what I'm doing right
now I'm just speaking to you in English and this honestly happens naturally when you become super
comfortable with the language when your brain can process all of your thoughts all of your ideas
in English and this doesn't require additional cognitive load you're not making yourself too
tired by constantly thinking in English and so this is by no means a skill that is easy to master
so even if you can think in English with a few phrases or a few simple sentences that's already
progress so the actionable tip I can give you here is something that helped me a lot when I
was actively learning English I was basically trying to think in simple words and then from that
I was building simple sentences like I woke up now I'm making tea then I'm going to clean my room
difference number five is that advanced English speakers can speak without thinking of grammar
imagine you're having a conversation with a native English speaker and this say I've lived in
New York City for 5 years and you might ask them why are you using have lived here instead of just
saying I live in New York City and they might look at you and say h i don't know I guess it just
sounds right this is super common with native speakers they don't consciously think of grammar
when they speak in English it just sounds right and that's why they say it and when you reach
this point when you're using grammar naturally without overthinking it it's a sign that you
have internalized the rules you're no longer relying on everything you have learned in class
you are speaking based on what feels right and it doesn't just feel right it sounds right so the
actionable tip from me here is the following a lot of our ability to write and speak in English
comes from thinking in English so if you can improve your ability to think in English you will
naturally improve your ability to write and speak so after reflecting on your day did dedicate some
time at the end of your day to journal just write whatever comes to mind whether it's about your day
the stuff you thought about in your head or even a fictional story the key is to let your thoughts
flow freely without pausing to correct yourself the idea of this exercise is to help your brain to
start thinking in English to practice expressing your ideas naturally which a lot of Learners
really struggle with difference number six is that advanced English speakers can understand different
accents in including nonnative accents it's not a secret that English is spoken all around the world
so you will come across not just native accents like American or British English but also a lot
of different non-native accents from places like India or Singapore and being able to understand
all of these different accents is super important because in real life as an English learner you
will interact with a lot of different people from all over the world whether it's at work or while
you're traveling or watching a video on YouTube so to improve your understanding of different
accents the actionable tip I want to give you is to follow different creators not just Americans
or not just people who live in the UK follow of people who live in Australia people who are not
native English speakers but who still make content in English like me for example one YouTuber that
I absolutely love who lives in Australia is Sarah from the channel Sarah's day her videos
are a lot of fun you're listening to this Australian accent and improving your comprehension
to be able to understand people who live in Australia and finally difference number seven
is that advanced English speakers have native like pronunciation because speaking English is
not just about how many words you know it's also about how you say them according to research
by UCLA Professor Albert Moravian I hope I'm pronouncing his name correctly 7% of the meaning
of communication is the words we use 30 38 is how we speak and 55 is our body language facial
expressions and everything else so what I want to focus on is that 38% so how you're speaking the
words because depending on your intonation for example sometimes one sentence can have a million
different meanings let's look at this example she only gave him some money depending on where you
place the emphasis the meaning will change you can say she only gave him some money emphasizing only
will mean that she didn't give him a lot of money just a small amount if you say she only gave him
some money emphasizing the word him it will mean that she gave money to him specifically not to
others kind of rude and if you say she only give him some money emphasizing the word some it will
mean that she didn't give him all the money just part of it so the actionable tip I can give you
here is when you're learning pronunciation try to be very intentional actually pay attention to how
people say words what words they're stressing and what words they are kind of combining together and
what helped me improve my pronunciation in English and become more intentional is mimicking the
pronunciation of native speakers basically using the technique shadowing I've talked about this
technique so much on this YouTube channel because this is something that helped me I'm going to
give you guys an example of how I Shadow by using a video I have right here so let's check it out
hey Vogue it's Haley Bieber and I am back hey Vogue it's Haley Bieber back again doing beauty
secrets and I'm back again doing beauty secrets secrets I'm going to walk you guys through my
everyday I'm going to walk you guys through my everyday makeup routine makeup routine and makeup
routine routine and I'm going to also do my date night glow and I'm also going to do my date
night glowy going out makeup look glowy going out makeup look as you can see I'm literally
mimicking everything and after watching the video what you can do is mute the sound of the
video completely and then record yourself reading the captions or if you have the script printed
out reading the script and then comparing your pronunciation the way you pronounce sounds the
way you sound if there are still some things you want to work on obviously I understand that I'm
not Haley Bieber that I will never sound like her because we are two different people but what
I'm trying to do here is work on my pronunciation maybe there are certain sounds that are still
really tricky really challenging for me to say and so the point of this practice is not to
compare yourself to much with native speakers because they are native speakers you have your own
path and you are moving towards your own goals the point is to be intentional about your English
pronunciation so guys I think it's going to be it for this video if you liked it please don't
forget to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to build your own
website you can do so on Squarespace just use my link in the description squarespace.com Veronica
to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain for those of you who are curious what
the most important skill for learning English is I have a video about it right here so you
can just click right here and keep on watching
