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Have you ever thought I wish I could
express myself better in English?
Whenever I have an English conversation,
I feel like I'm just using the same
words again and again and again. I want
to be able to explain what I'm talking
about in a more convincing way, a more
descriptive way, a more realistic way,
and I just don't have the right words.
Well, never fear. In today's English
lesson, I am going to help you learn 10
commonly used daily life English phrases
that I really used. You will see some
examples in daily life. I want you to be
able to use them yourself when you
speak. If you are new here, hi. I'm
Vanessa from
speakenglishwithvanessa.com.
Every Friday, I make a new free English
lesson for you right here on my channel.
Plus, I create a free PDF worksheet with
every lesson, including today's
vocabulary lesson. So, in this free PDF
worksheet, you will get all of the
information you are about to learn
today, all of the daily life phrases,
definitions, sample sentences. Plus,
when you download the PDF worksheet, you
will get access to a quiz. This quiz
will test to see if you really
understand these phrases, if you can
really use them in sentences yourself.
So, how can you download this PDF
worksheet plus bonus quiz? All you need
to do is click on the link in the
description, enter your name and email
address, and voila, just like that, the
PDF worksheet will land in your email
inbox. And do you want to know something
cool? You never need to sign up for my
weekly free worksheets again. I will
automatically send them to you every
single week. You sign up once and you
continue to receive them. This is my
gift to you. So, make sure you click on
the link in the description to get this
free PDF worksheet plus bonus quiz
today. All of the 10 real life daily
English expressions that you're going to
learn today were used in my most recent
English lesson where I made bread and I
talked to you while I was baking bread,
while I was mixing the ingredients and
making a little bonus drink as well. So,
these are real life words that I just
used while I was chitchatting while
making bread. So, the first phrase that
we're going to look at today is
lukewarm.
Lukewarm. This phrase is actually a two
for one. It can mean two different
things. So, let's watch the original
clip while I was making bread and I used
the phrase lukewarm. Then I'll explain
it to you and then we'll take a look at
that clip again. And I want you to see
how your listening skills improve, how
you can understand more of the context
based on the explanations that I've
shared with you. So, let's watch the
clip and then we'll walk through it
together. All right. I'm going to add a
tablespoon of salt as well. And next,
we're going to add water. So, you want
water that's kind of lukewarm.
In this clip, you heard me say you want
to add water that's lukewarm. This is
the first most basic meaning for
lukewarm when talking about water. It's
not too hot, not too cold. It is
lukewarm. You can touch it and feel
like, okay, it's not going to burn me.
It's not freezing. It's just lukewarm.
Well, what about the second meaning for
this phrase? What if I said, "He's so
lukewarm."
Does that mean his skin is not too hot
and not too cold? Nope. This is a
negative thing to say about someone. If
you're talking about a person and you
call them lukewarm, it means that they
don't have values or standards or
passion. So, for example, one of the
causes in the world that I care about is
caring about the North Korean people. I
used to live in South Korea for a few
years and I did a lot of research and I
met a lot of North Korean people. It was
something that touched me really deeply.
So, it's a part of my life now that I
donate and I participate in some
organizations that help to care for
North Korean people. This is something
that is a passion of me of mine
personally.
But what if I meet someone and I start
talking about uh North Korean people and
things that can help them and problems
that they face and that person just
says, "Yeah, well, you know, their
leader's crazy." And well, yesterday I
had a sandwich for lunch.
Is that going to kill my passion? Yes.
In that moment, I would probably
feel disappointed. I might say, "Man,
when I was talking about my passion for
helping North Korean people, he was just
so lukewarm. He didn't care at all. He
wasn't curious. He didn't even have a
heart for them. He wasn't even
empathetic towards them. He was just
lukewarm." Not a good thing, right? It
doesn't mean you need to have passion
about everything, but when someone is
sharing their passion with you, you can
at least say, "Oh, that's really
interesting. Tell me more about it."
Okay, you're connecting with them. All
right, let's watch that clip one more
time, and you're going to see how
lukewarm was used in that original sense
to talk about the temperature of water.
Make sure that you don't say this about
someone to their face. You are lukewarm.
a little bit negative, right? All right,
let's watch. All right, I'm gonna add a
tablespoon of salt as well. And next,
we're gonna add water. So, you want
water that's kind of lukewarm.
The second phrase is we'll see what
happens. Let's watch the clip and then
we'll talk about it. I have done that
before. Tried to bake bread with cold
water. Doesn't work. All right, so we're
going to put in three of these. I'm
going to put in a little bit less than
three.
and we'll see what happens. In this
clip, you heard me say, "I'll put in a
little less than three cups of water and
we'll see what happens." I want you to
notice first the pronunciation of this
phrase, it is we will see what happens.
But when we make the contraction, we
will. It could be we, this is the clear
pronunciation, we
wheel. But when we're speaking
relatively fast in American English, we
often reduce this and it just sounds
like wool. Wool. You're almost
swallowing that final sound. Wool. We'll
see what happens. We'll see what
happens. It's these types of
pronunciation tricks that often make
English sound so fast when you're
watching movies and TV shows. So, good
news. is you just learned one
pronunciation trick and that will
hopefully help you to understand a
little bit better. So, when would we use
this? We'll see what happens. This is
when you're not exactly sure what the
results going to be, but you're open to
figuring it out. So, for example, today,
right now, my 2-year-old daughter is
taking a nap, but sometimes she decides
not to sleep.
And today, I was planning on making this
lesson for you. So, I need her to take a
nap so that I can record this. Well, in
the beginning of the day, I saw my
neighbor and they asked, "Well, what are
you going to do today?" I said, "Well,
when Matilda takes a nap, I'm going to
try to record some English lessons, but
we'll see what happens." I don't know
exactly if she's going to fall asleep. I
don't know exactly if I'll be able to
record this lesson for you, but guess
what? She is napping. So, hooray. I can
film this lesson for you. So, at the
beginning of the day, I didn't know what
was going to happen, but right now, I do
know there was success. Okay, let's
watch this original clip again, and you
can hear this phrase. We'll see what
happens. Listen for that pronunciation
as well. Let's watch. I have done that
before. Tried to bake bread with cold
water. Doesn't work. All right, so we're
going to put in three of these. I'm
going to put in a little bit less than
three, and we'll see what happens. The
next phrase is a fun one, but you know
what? Who cares?
Let's listen to the original clip from
the conversation and then I'll help you
use it yourself. Let's watch. Sorry. I
am very unofficial when it comes to
this. But you know what? This recipe is
so forgiving, who cares? In this clip,
you heard me say, I'm very unofficial
when it comes to this. But you know
what? This recipe is forgiving, so who
cares?
This phrase is used when you're not
really worried about something. Maybe
it's something that's small, like adding
the wrong amount of ingredients to a
forgiving recipe. Or maybe it's
something else. You're not worried about
it. So, you might say, "Well, you know
what? Who cares? I don't care. So, I'm
not going to worry about it." We could
use this in the same example where I'm
thinking about, "I hope my daughter
sleeps so that I can record some
lessons." And as I'm thinking about it,
well, let's say she does not nap. She
just stays awake. She is laughing and
talking, maybe crying, and I can't
record the lessons that I want to. Well,
I might say, "Well, you know what? Who
cares? I'll just record them tomorrow or
the next day whenever she takes a nap
next." This is an important mindset. In
the past, I have gotten frustrated and
angry because I thought I would be able
to do the plans that I wanted. I'd be
able to record a lesson. I'd be able to
work. I'd be able to see friends.
Whatever it was that I wanted to do, and
when the circumstances didn't work out,
maybe my kids didn't nap, maybe it was
raining outside, whatever it was, and my
plans got cancelled,
instead of getting frustrated or angry,
you can use this phrase. Well, you know
what? Who cares? I'll do it another
time. Okay, let's see how this was used
in the original conversation where I was
baking bread. And I hope you'll be able
to use this too to just shrug off things
that you might be worried about. Let's
watch. Sorry, I am very unofficial when
it comes to this. But you know what?
This recipe is so forgiving, who cares?
The next daily life English phrase is a
fun one. It is blood, sweat, and tears.
This is a fixed phrase that always
sticks together. So, let's watch the
original clip and then I'll break it
down with you so that you can use it
yourself. Let's watch. You got to put
some muscle behind it.
You gotta put some not blood, sweat, and
tears. It's not that hard, but you got
to mix it up a little bit. In this clip,
I used this phrase in a negative way. I
said you don't have to put blood, sweat,
and tears into it. It's not that hard. I
was trying to explain that that bread
recipe is so easy. And when you're
kneading it, when you're mixing it,
yeah, mix it for a few minutes, but you
don't have to put blood, sweat, and
tears into it. This trifold threepart
phrase, blood, sweat, tears.
It evokes a sense of working hard. You
have put everything into it. And I said,
for that bread recipe, you don't need to
put everything into it. Just do a little
bit. You can do the minimal work and it
will still turn out to be a good loaf of
bread. That's my kind of baking. But
when can you use this phrase in a more
positive sense? I want to give you an
example about this work that I do,
teaching you English. I have been
working with my business, Speak English
with Vanessa, teaching you English here
on YouTube, and I also make courses that
can help to guide you through your
English journey. For the last almost 12
years, I can't believe it. And you
guessed it, I have put blood, sweat, and
tears into this business. I don't know
if I have actually bled. I have sweat. I
have probably cried. I have shed tears.
So, here it doesn't need to be literal.
I've literally bled. I've literally
sweat. I've literally had tears. I'm
talking about this hard effort. All of
the effort that it takes to build a
business over 12 years. If you have ever
done this, then you know it takes blood,
sweat, and tears to accomplish
successfully. It's a lot of work, but
you guys are worth it. I love you. Each
and every one of you. All right, let's
watch the original clip so that you can
see how I used blood, sweat, and tears.
Let's watch. You got to put some muscle
behind it.
You got to put some not blood, sweat,
and tears. It's not that hard, but you
got to mix it up a little bit. The next
daily life English phrase is actually a
suffix, which means it goes at the end
of many different words, and it is ish.
We're gonna take a look at how it was
used in the original conversation and
then I'm going to read you part of this
classic children's book that uses this
phrase a lot. Let's watch the clip and
then I'll talk to you about it. Let's
go. All right. I'm going to start mixing
it 30 times. I'm just going to count to
myself. Is 30ish. I'm trying to They
call it develop the gluten.
In this clip, you heard me say, "I'm
going to mix this 30 times." And then I
paused and said, "30ish."
You might even use this gesture where
you kind of wiggle your hand back and
forth while it's open. 30ish.
You might not even need to sayish.
If you do this motion, you could say,
"I'm going to bake this 30 times." Okay,
I didn't say 30ish, but it implied the
same meaning. What does that mean? It
means about, not exactly. So, if you mix
it 30 times exactly or 34 times, it
doesn't matter for this recipe. It's not
exact. It's just 30ish.
This is a really fun suffix to add. It
can add some color or flare to your
language. You can use this with so many
words. That pillow is blueish.
It was rainingish
outside.
I'm feeling kind of tireish today.
I did some workish today.
It means not exactly work. You see how
so flexible. Well, I want to read you an
excerpt from a book that I was reading
my daughter this morning. It is called
The Lorax. It's one of my favorite
children's books of all time. It is very
deep about caring for the environment.
It is very silly. It uses so many madeup
words, words that are not actually
English.
So, if you read this as an English
learner, just know there's a lot of
madeup words. But here is a section
where he is the author is describing
this little character. He's called the
Lorax.
and he's trying to describe his
appearance. Well, this is a an imaginary
madeup creature. So, how do you describe
how he looks? It's kind of hard. But
when you have the power of the suffix
ish, all of a sudden, you can describe
him. So, listen to how this creature,
the Lorax, is described. He was shortish
and oldish and brownish and mossy. And
he spoke with a voice that was sharpish
and bossy. So here ish is used at the
end of so many words. And how fun is
that? It's poetry. It's descriptive.
It's a great expression that you can add
to your vocabulary as well. Okay, so
let's see how this was used again in the
real conversation. And I challenge you
to use ish
in your conversations when you're
describing something that's about
something. Let's watch. All right. I'm
going to start mixing it 30 times. I'm
just going to count to myself. Is 30ish.
I'm trying to They call it develop the
gluten.
The next daily life phrase is hands on.
Hands on. Let's see how it was used and
then we'll talk about it together. They
call it five minute arteasonal bread
because it's about five minutes of hands
on work. In this clip, you heard me say
how there's only about five minutes of
handson time. There's a lot of waiting.
You have to wait for two hours. You have
to wait for 35 minutes. But the amount
of hands on time is only about five
minutes. What does this mean? Well, in
the case of baking bread, it is actually
using my hands for five minutes. It is
hands-on for 5 minutes. But the general
sense of this expression is that it is
only five minutes when you're actively
doing something. So, let me give you
another example of how you can use
hands-on to talk about actively doing
something. If you are a parent, if
you're a mom or a dad, or if you're a
grandparent, a grandma or a grandpa,
well, when you are with the children, do
you just sit on the couch and watch them
play? Or do you read them books? Do you
play with them? Do you chase them? What
kind of parent are you? What kind of
grandparent are you? Are you a handson
parent? Or maybe you are a handsoff
parent.
I think as kids we always want a handson
parent. Someone who will read with us
when we want them to. Someone who will
play with us, who will chase us. This is
a handson parent. As a parent, I cannot
always be hands-on.
Sometimes I need to let them play by
themselves so that I can get other
things done or just take a little break.
But it is important to be hands-on
sometimes with your kids or grandkids,
right? So that's the time when you are
active. You are a handson parent. All
right, let's watch and see how hands-on
was originally used so that you can use
it yourself. Let's watch. They call it
five minute arteasonal bread because
it's about 5 minutes of hands-on work.
The next daily life English expression
is to embrace something. Well, how can
we use this? Does it talk about a hug?
Embracing something or someone? Not
exactly. Let's take a look at how I used
it in the baking video and then we'll
break it down together. Let's watch. I
put a spoonful of that in tea. And I
drink tea all the time. Every night I
drink herbal tea like an old lady. It's
okay. I'll embrace it. In this clip, I
said, "I drink tea every night like an
old lady." It's okay. I just embrace it.
Here, I am accepting that I drink herbal
tea every night. Maybe it's not
something that most 30 something young
people drink, but who cares? Maybe it's
a little weird, but I will accept it or
I will embrace it. When you hug someone,
you can say, "I'm embracing someone."
And maybe it's kind of that idea, but in
a figurative sense. I am embracing the
idea that maybe it's not normal to drink
herbal tea every night.
Uh, unless you're an old lady, but I'm
going to accept it because it's just
something that I enjoy doing. And I
challenge you to use this phrase as well
when it comes to English. Maybe for you,
you wish that your English speakaking
accent was not so strong that you were
able to speak more clearly so that other
people can understand you better. People
often have to say, "Sorry, what' you
say?" when you speak. and you often feel
frustrated at yourself because the way
that you pronounce things isn't easily
understandable. That is extremely common
and very normal when you're learning
another language. But what can you do
about it? Well, of course, you can
practice your pronunciation. I have
plenty of pronunciation lessons that you
can study here on my YouTube channel.
But while you are improving your
pronunciation, what should you do? You
need to embrace it or we could say
embrace the way that you speak. Accept
it. You speak the way that you speak
because you speak another language. You
have a native language and that is why
you have an accent when you speak in
English. So accepting that you come from
a different culture, a different
country, a different background, a
different language. And why do you have
an accent when you speak in English?
Well, it's because you have this whole
beautiful existence, something that I
don't have. I only have English as my
native language. So, embracing the
accent that you have when you speak in
English, that is an important thing,
especially as you're on your English
learning journey. Okay, let's take a
look at how embrace was used to talk
about drinking tea in that conversation.
Let's watch. I put a spoonful of that in
tea. And I drink tea all the time. Every
night I drink herbal tea like an old
lady. It's okay. I'll embrace it. The
next daily life phrase is just to be
safe. Just in case. Both of these have a
very similar meaning, and I used them
together for extra emphasis. So, let's
see that original clip, and then we'll
talk about it together. Maybe you can,
if you make this, let me know. Do you
leave yours on the counter or do you put
it in the fridge? I like to put mine in
the fridge just to be safe. Just in
case. I said I like to put my fermented
drink in the fridge just to be safe.
Just in case. So, what am I worried
about? What is the danger here? Well,
something could be rotten. Something
could get moldy. I would be drinking
that, eating that, and getting sick. Not
very fun. So, to be safe or just to be
safe, just in case it gets moldy, I will
put it in the fridge and it will delay
that process and help it to stay fresher
for longer. I'm not quite sure about
that with the honey process. If you know
more about fermenting with honey, let me
know in the comments. But for me, just
to be safe, just in case, I put it in
the fridge and it helps me to feel more
confident when I'm drinking that drink
and I know that I'm not going to get
sick. Now, you can use these phrases
separately and it's no problem. I just
use them together as extra emphasis. Let
me give you a quick example and I want
you to be able to use this yourself as
well. So, it's pretty common. This
happened a few days ago. My son's
teacher sent a message to all of the
parents in the class saying, "We played
in the rain all afternoon. Please put a
dry set of clothes in your child's
backpack for tomorrow." Okay, I did
that. No problem. But I know that my son
often gets his feet wet even though he's
wearing rain boots. So, what did I do? I
put two pairs of socks in his backpack
just to be safe. Or we could say, I put
two pairs of socks in his backpack just
in case. Well, if he splashes in a
puddle, rain gets in his boots, and his
socks get wet, he's going to need
another pair. What if he does it again?
I know as a mother, as his mother, that
that is very likely. So, I put an extra
pair of socks in his backpack just to be
safe, just in case. There's not real
danger here. If his feet get wet, okay,
it's probably fine. But we use this
phrase when we're trying to avoid
something. Avoid the discomfort of wet
feet. So, you can use it, no problem.
All right, let's watch how this was used
in the conversation. So, you can use it,
too. Maybe you can. If you make this,
let me know. Do you leave yours on the
counter or do you put it in the fridge?
I like to put mine in the fridge just to
be safe, just in case. The next daily
life phrase is a fun one. It is don't
mind me. Don't mind me. You might know
the phrase I don't mind and it means I
don't have an opinion or I don't care.
We're going to use that word mind, but
in a slightly different phrase, don't
mind me. What does this mean? Well,
let's take a look at how I used it in
the conversation and then I'll explain
it to you so that you can use it as
well. Let's watch. And I'm going to kind
of gonna kind of use it as like a glue
first. All right. Sorry, I'm just using
my fingers. Don't mind me. Ah,
in this clip, I was a little bit
embarrassed
because at home, the way that you bake
or the way that you cook is maybe a
little more informal than a way that
someone might do it for an official
cooking video. So, I said, I'm just
using my finger to catch this honey.
Don't mind me. I felt embarrassed that I
was using my hands, which is, you know,
kind of frowned upon, I guess, but it's
totally normal. I bet you do it as well
in the kitchen, in your own home. My
hands were clean. It's fine. But I used
this phrase, don't mind me, to mean,
don't be bothered by this. Don't pay
attention to this. Continue walking
along. Don't look over here. It's not a
big deal. So, this is kind of an
expression that has a little bit of
nuance to it. So, I want to give you a
couple other examples. Let's say that
it's your husband's birthday and you
have a present in your car that you want
to bring inside to some hiding place so
that he doesn't see it. But there he is
in your living room. So, you walk in
with it behind your back and you have a
very suspicious look on your face and he
says, "Hey, what are you doing?" Say,
"Oh, don't mind me. Don't mind me.
Okay. Well, you were obviously doing
something secretive, but you want to
convey to him, look away, continue doing
what you were doing. Don't pay attention
to me. And probably if it's around his
birthday, he'll know, okay, it's
probably something to do with my
birthday. I shouldn't keep asking. No,
what are you doing? What are you really
doing? No, just let it go because you're
trying to hide something for his
birthday. I would say that we most often
use don't mind me when we're doing
something that's kind of silly and kind
of embarrassing. So, a couple weeks ago,
maybe a month or so ago at this point, I
made a video with my neighbor Michelle,
the best neighbor in the world, and we
were talking about our plants, the
things that we grow, the things that we
don't grow, the things that we wish we
grew, and some of the processes that we
use. and she said, "Well, Vanessa, did I
see you in the garden with a needle
injecting your plants?"
We were talking about an organic garden
and not using pesticides. And I said,
"Yes, I had a syringe, a needle. Inside
of that, there was a bacteria that is a
naturally occurring substance. It is
technically organic. It is not a
man-made chemical. And if you put it in
the bottom of your pumpkin plants at the
base of the stem, it can help prevent a
certain type of beetle from destroying
your plants,
but it's kind of embarrassing to be in
your garden with a syringe.
So, in that instance, I could have said,
if I was walking around the garden with
a syringe looking for my pumpkin plants
and Michelle saw me and said, "Vanessa,
what are you doing?" I might use this
phrase, "H, don't mind me. Don't mind
me." Because it's something that's
slightly weird or embarrassing and I'm
just trying to hint, hey, look away. Not
a big deal. Don't pay me any attention.
Kind of fun, right? All right. I want
you to see how this was used in the
original conversation to show some
embarrassment. Don't watch this part.
Don't mind me. Let's watch. And I'm
going to kind of going to kind of use it
as like a glue first. All right. Sorry.
I'm just using my fingers. Don't mind
me. Ah.
Well, our final real daily life phrase
is I have found that. Or we could simply
say, I found that. I want you to take a
look at how I used this in the original
conversation and then we'll talk about
it together. Let's watch. Uh I'm not
quite sure exactly what this does.
Maybe makes the gluten better or
something. I don't know. But I have
found that it works much better and the
bread is a better texture if I mix it
just a bit.
In this clip, I said, "I have found that
the bread has a better texture when I
mix it after it has risen." This is
something that I have discovered from my
own personal experience. Maybe there's a
scientific explanation for it. I don't
know it, but it's something that I
wanted to show you. I've experimented
with different ways of making this
recipe and in my experience I have
discovered or I have found that this
method works the best. I'm not using the
word to find to talk about physically
searching for something. Can you help me
find my keys here? I'm talking about
finding an idea, finding a method. And
for me, I have found that that's the
best way for me to make bread. So for
me, I might say, I've found that when I
drink coffee in the morning, I am so
wired all day that I can hardly focus at
all. Wired means a little bit crazy, a
little bit anxious, a little bit of your
heart pounding too fast.
So I don't drink coffee. Instead, I
drink a cup of black tea in the morning
and that is enough caffeine for me. I
have experimented. I have discovered
that drinking black coffee or milk
coffee or any kind of coffee is not a
good fit for me. Instead, black tea is
better. So, I have a question for you.
Can you use this phrase I found that to
show us some discovery you've had about
your life? I found that speaking English
every single week is challenging but
really important. I've found that. Let
us know in the comments. Try to use this
phrase. It's my challenge to you. All
right, let's watch that original clip
again and I want you to hear how I used
I have found that. Let's watch. Uh I'm
not quite sure exactly what this does.
Maybe makes the gluten better or
something. I don't know. But I have
found that it works much better and the
bread is a better texture if I mix it
just a bit. Well, congratulations. You
just learned 10 common daily life
English phrases that I used and I hope
now you can use as well. So, what do you
do next? Don't forget to download the
free PDF worksheet. It includes all of
these phrases, all of the definitions
and nuances that I talked about in this
lesson, plus a bunch of sample sentences
so that you can really remember what you
learned in today's lesson. Plus, there
is the bonus quiz. Hooray. Quizzes can
be fun when they're not required and
they're not in school. So, in the free
PDF, there is a quiz so that you can
test yourself, see if you can really
understand how to use these phrases. And
I challenge you, go out into the world
and use them yourself. All you need to
do to get this free PDF worksheet is to
click on the link in the description,
enter your name and email address, and
voila, just like that, the worksheet
will land in your email inbox, and you
never need to sign up for my free PDF
worksheets again because I will
automatically send them to you every
single week. Isn't that so cool? It is
my gift to you. So, make sure you click
on the link in the description and get
the PDF worksheet plus bonus quiz today.
Well, thank you so much for learning
English with me and I'll see you again
next Friday for a new lesson here on my
YouTube channel. Bye. But wait, do you
want more? I recommend watching this
video next. This is the original
conversation lesson where I bake bread
and chitchat with you as you are invited
into my kitchen and we have a lovely
English conversation about baking bread
and making a mystery drink. I can't wait
to share it with you. I'll see you in
that lesson. Bye.
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