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0:00are you ready to think and speak in English today
let's do it if you have ever been watching YouTube
0:07on your phone and then looked at the clock and
realized that 2 hours passed by just like that
0:14well today's lesson is for you you're going to
learn how to think and speak in English about
0:21technology and also about your age hi I'm Vanessa
from speak englishwith vanessa. comom and like
0:30always I have created a free pdf worksheet for
you with all of today's important vocabulary
0:36definitions sample sentences and at the bottom
of this worksheet you can answer a quiz to test
0:43yourself to see if you really learned everything
from today's English lesson you can click the
0:48link in the description to download that
free pdf worksheet today all right let's
0:53get started thinking and speaking in English
about our first topic which is technology let's
1:00go in this lesson I'm going to tell you a little
story about my journey with using technology and
1:07I will explain some key vocabulary along the way I
hope that you too will feel confident thinking and
1:13speaking in English about the topic of technology
by the end of this lesson let's start with the
1:19story so I need to watch YouTube for work but I
would often times log on to YouTube for work and
1:28end up watching t tons of other videos unrelated
to work it was a time suck can you guess what this
1:36word time suck means take a look at this sentence
I removed all unnecessary apps from my phone
1:43because they were just a Time suck we can kind
of Imagine a vacuum sucking away your time and
1:52that's what it is it's just something that wastes
your time I was wasting time on YouTube it was
2:00a Time suck for me I was developing a Reliance on
technology because I felt like it was important
2:08for my job but was it really this word Reliance
is talking about being dependent on something it's
2:17good to be dependent on some things I am dependent
on my family or I rely on my family but the way
2:27that I just used it a Reliance on Tech technology
you kind of get the sense that I don't want to be
2:34reliant on technology have you ever said something
like this I realized that I have a Reliance on
2:41technology when I use Google Maps to get anywhere
Google Maps has saved me so many times I have a
2:49Reliance on Google Maps technology all right
let's go to the next part of the story but the
2:55thing was I couldn't stay focused using the apps
that I thought I needed for work there were too
3:01many distractions let's take a look at this fun
expression the thing is or the thing was I love
3:09expressions like this because Advanced English
speakers and native English speakers use these all
3:14the time but I feel like English Learners don't
really integrate these into daily conversation so
3:20here's your chance to be able to use this we
use the thing is or the thing was to give an
3:27introduction to a topic or maybe like a summary of
a topic so let me give you another example I know
3:33that I need to get healthier but the thing is I
don't like to work out so we're kind of narrowing
3:41the topic here I know I need to get healthy
but the thing is here's my introduction to the
3:48problem the summary of the problem I don't like
to work out and that's how I used it when I was
3:54talking about technology the thing is my summary
or my introdu of the problem the thing is I just
4:01couldn't stay focused and why because the next
word there were too many distractions this is
4:10the problem with the internet right there are too
many distractions if you've ever worked online I'm
4:16sure that distractions have been a problem for you
what are distractions well they are things that
4:21are trying to take your attention away from what
you need to be focusing on right now you need to
4:27be focusing on this English lesson on on YouTube
but do you know what there are recommended videos
4:33there are other things online everything might be
popping up and moving there's so many distractions
4:40that it's hard to stay focused and learn English
I know it's hard to stay focused but we need to
4:46push aside distractions and I'm going to give you
a solution for this in just a minute telling you
4:51about what I did let's move on to the story even
worse my bad Tech habits were making me miss out
4:58on real life interaction actions with my friends
and family this word real life interactions notice
5:06the pronunciation here interactions the tea has
been completely cut out real life interactions
5:14this is talking about connecting with people in
real life the people who are at the table with
5:19you the people who are in your classroom these
are the people tangible people around you not
5:26the things that are going on online it's a problem
when whenever I heard a notification on my phone
5:32bling I felt like I needed to check it but the
problem was I wasn't being present and I needed
5:40to do something about it this word notification
is highly linked to technology nowadays we get
5:48lots of notifications on our phone all the time
it's such a pain what about this being present
5:57well you probably know what a present present
is like a gift I gave a present to my friend on
6:03their birthday but that's not what we're talking
about we are talking about your body and your
6:09mind being physically there in the moment you are
being present you're not thinking about something
6:17else you're not worrying about something else
you are being present and that's the problem
6:23with our phones it's hard to be present when we're
looking at our phones and technology so what's the
6:30solution well I decided to read a book called
digital minimalism and it inspired me to add a
6:38block on my phone so that I could only use YouTube
for a specific amount of time at a specific amount
6:46of time per day I like this expression inspired me
it gave you some inspiration to make some change
6:54in your life this book inspired me it really made
me want to make a change his descriptions were
7:00great his analogies were great his story was great
and reading this book inspired me to what add a
7:08block you might also hear this called blocker add
a Blocker on my phone there's certain apps I use
7:15app Block but there are plenty of others that
will have you set a type of plan I want to only
7:25use YouTube from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. each
day maybe this is something that you need for
7:31work like me so this is my working time and I only
can watch YouTube during that time so it makes me
7:39Focus because the block is restricting my access
and also 9:00 a.m. is when my new YouTube videos
7:48come out so you're able to focus and study English
at this time each Friday I hope so and not give in
7:55to all the distractions the most useful thing is
that the block turns off all apps at night so that
8:04I don't start Doom scrolling or get sucked into
news articles late at night has this ever happened
8:11to you you're looking at something and then all
of a sudden the internet shows you terrible things
8:16happening around the world oh no bad bad bad
and you have to click on it you have to know
8:22what it is so you start reading more and more bad
things this is Doom scrolling and unfortunately
8:30it's something that social media does really
well because as humans we want to click on bad
8:35things we want to find out all of the terrible
things that are happening so it brings a lot of
8:41attention and eyeballs to social media but it's
not good for us as humans to be Doom scrolling
8:48and feel really anxious the other expression
that I used is to get sucked into something
8:54here again we're talking about imagine a vacuum
our attention and our brain is being sucked into
9:03these news articles or whatever else you might
be looking at and all of a sudden 3 hours passes
9:09just like that and we haven't really noticed the
world around us we're not being present this app
9:15Block was a GameChanger I felt free finally from
the pool of unlimited media I'm more productive
9:24during my workday and I'm more present when
it comes to time with my family and friends
9:29and you know what I can even sleep better at
night I love this word GameChanger it's such a big
9:36expression that means everything changed because
of someone or something so this simple app on my
9:43phone this app Block was a GameChanger it changed
everything for my experience using media it was
9:50a game Cher you might even say that about my
English lessons Vanessa's English lessons were a
9:57GameChanger for my English learning Journey all of
a sudden I felt like English was possible it was
10:03fun it was enjoyable I had a plan great it was a
game changer I also used the word productive when
10:11you are productive you can achieve more so it's
great to be productive at work when you're trying
10:18to clean your house you want to be productive
and not distracted of course you don't need to
10:24be productive all the time sometimes it's nice to
just go have a picnic outside and spend time with
10:30friends you're not creating something and working
and being productive no you're just enjoying life
10:35but it's important to be productive when you want
to be productive and did you notice that I used
10:41the word present again I could be present with
the people who mattered the my friends and family
10:48I was present with them and most importantly
I was able to set a good example for my kids
10:55who are growing up with more technology than I
could ever have imagined having as a kid when I
11:02was a kid there was a TV and a phone on the wall
and that was it but kids nowadays are growing up
11:10with the possibility of so much technology and
I think this role setting is really important
11:17I use the word most importantly because to me I
think this is one of the most important things
11:23as a parent that I can do my habits affect me but
most importantly they also affect ffect the young
11:30people who I'm trying to raise into good adults
when you're a parent you try to set a good example
11:36or even just as a human you try to set a good
example you don't throw your trash on the ground
11:43you put it in the trash can why of course to help
the Earth but also to set a good example you're
11:49trying to be a good citizen a good parent a good
human and I also used this wonderful verb phrase
11:57could have ever imagined or we can switch it could
ever have imagined this is obviously another big
12:05full expression here I said more technology than
I could ever have imagined maybe you can even use
12:13this for your English learning Journey as well you
might say when I was taking English classes as a
12:20child occasionally we watched a VHS in English
but it was so limited now there are more English
12:30videos than I could ever have imagined when I was
a kid right now there are really unlimited videos
12:38that you can watch in English and I hope that
this one is useful to you and finally I want to
12:44show my kids and anyone else that technology is
a great tool that you can use when you establish
12:51boundaries this phrase establish boundaries is the
key for pretty much everything in life you need to
12:59establish boundaries with technology with your
work with your relationships with yourself it
13:06is important to establish boundaries this means
that you're setting limits or guidelines you not
13:14just saying everything's okay no instead you
are establishing boundaries in a relationship
13:21maybe your relationship with technology and
for me it was really useful to have this app
13:27Block that was able to help help me establish
boundaries with technology so now I feel a lot
13:33healthier and I'm able to use it in a better
way well I hope that you felt inspired to focus
13:41when you are using technology so that you can
really learn English let's talk about our next
13:47topic which is age everyone grows older and how
can we talk about it well let's learn how to do
13:54it in English let's go are you ready to get
started let's start with the story recently
14:00I went to the grocery store to buy some wine and
the 16-year-old cashier asked to check my ID okay
14:07so I don't know if this 16-year-old cashier was
actually 16 years old but I wanted to introduce
14:15you to this useful way of describing age do you
notice something about this expression there are
14:21two hyphens 16 hyphen year hyphen old cashier
this is an adjective describing cashier so we
14:33could say my 4-year-old son loves snakes it's true
he loves all kinds of snakes and here I'm using it
14:43as an adjective to describe what to describe
son my son my 4-year-old son the 16-year-old
14:53cashier now there is another way to talk about
age which you'll see in an upcoming sentence
14:59so keep this in mind and let's go on to the next
part of the story in the US you'll get carded if
15:05you look younger than 50 years old they're pretty
strict about underage drinking do you know this
15:12lovely phrase to get carded it doesn't mean that
they're giving me a greeting card happy Birthday
15:19Vanessa no instead it just means that the cashier
is checking my ID to make sure that I'm old enough
15:26to buy something usually it's tobacco or alcohol
so if you look under the age of 50 you will get
15:36carded most likely they'll say can I see your
ID or do you have an ID sometimes they'll say
15:43what year were you born in if they're pretty sure
that you're over the age of 21 which is the legal
15:50drinking age in the US but usually you'll get
carded and sometimes I know I have some older
15:57neighbors there 55 years old when they go to buy
alcohol and they get carded they get so excited
16:07you think that I'm under 21 years old yes I will
show you my ID no problem and this is a a big part
16:16of American culture that they are strict about
underage drinking that doesn't mean that people
16:21underage don't drink they definitely do but
this is just the legal system remember how we
16:26just talked about 16 year old cashier take a look
at the phrase I just used 50 years old what's the
16:36difference between these two 16y old cashier and
50 years old it's the S and there's a Hy hyphens
16:47in the first one so here take a look at how we're
going to grammatically use the second one he is
16:5450 years old I am 5 100 years old amazing so here
we are going to be using the S when we are simply
17:07stating an age he is 50 years old but we could say
he is a 50y old man notice how we added man to the
17:22end and we need those hyphens when we're adding
the noun at the end lots of ways to talk about age
17:29okay let's continue with the story and see what
happened at the grocery store well the girl looked
17:35at my ID and said oh my mom was born in 1987 too
what I have never felt so old I know that 36 years
17:47old is not old but it made me feel old let's
talk about this phrase to feel old I know that
17:5736 years old old is not really old but it made me
feel old so here we have a discrepancy between my
18:06true age and how I feel I think this has happened
to everyone at some point maybe you're watching a
18:13professional sport and you realize oh everyone
playing that professional sport is younger than
18:19me what there becomes a turning point when you're
becoming wiser more mature and older along the way
18:29so you might say I remember when my cousins were
born and now they're graduating from high school
18:36it makes me feel so old all right let's continue
with the story yes I felt old but I know that age
18:43is just a number it's all about your mindset and
your creaky knees right this phrase might exist
18:51in your native language as well age is just a
number maybe if you are 75 years old old you
18:59might feel extremely old or you might feel young
and vibrant excited about the world curious and
19:07interested well it's just a mindset usually so
we could say age is just a number all right let's
19:16continue for me I hope that as I age despite what
my body does I'll continue to be young at heart
19:25did you notice that I used this word differently
than usual ual I said I hope that as I age I used
19:33it as a verb usually the word age is a noun right
what is your age but here we're talking about to
19:43age which means simply to get older so you might
say something like this everyone ages it's just
19:50a part of life isn't that true everyone ages a
lovely verb the next phrase about age I'd like to
19:58introduce you to is this one to be young at heart
I know that as we age and as we get older life
20:07happens there are difficult and heavy things that
happen to us so how can we stay young at heart
20:16take a look at this sentence in my opinion being
around young children helps you to stay young
20:22at heart you enjoy playing you can laugh at the
silly things that they do it keep keeps you young
20:29at heart all right let's continue with the story
I hope I'll always be curious and interested in
20:36the world it's never too late to learn something
new like English I love this phrase it's never
20:43too late we can use this about growing older about
aging it's never too late to learn English I know
20:51a lot of my students are retired now you all of a
sudden have this free time and you want to invest
20:57it in in yourself being curious and interested
in the world improving yourself keeping your
21:03mind active it's never too late to learn English
but we can also use this phrase for a lot of other
21:09things as well my family loves to plant things
including trees well trees take a long time to
21:18grow and yes I wish I had planted trees 10 years
ago but I could use this phrase it's never too
21:26late to plant a tree start today and in 50 years
it will be a big mature tree it's never too late
21:35all right let's continue here's my advice as your
English teacher don't listen to all those negative
21:41people who say that you can't teach an old dog
new tricks does this phrase exist in your native
21:47language unfortunately this is quite a negative
phrase that's usually meant to discourage people
21:55or if you feel like you're not learning something
fast enough you might use this and say I got my
22:02first cell phone last week and I just can't
figure it out I guess you can't teach an old
22:09dog new tricks but the truth is you can keep your
mind open your style of learning might be slightly
22:16different your results might be slightly different
but do you know what it is worth it to keep your
22:22mind active and always learning new things that
interest you all right let's continue a lot of my
22:28older and wiser students tell me that they are
learning English in order to keep their mind young
22:36what a great idea I love it this phrase to keep
your mind young means that even though your body
22:44is getting older maybe your body is not capable of
the same agile fast difficult things that you used
22:52to do when you were younger your mind can stay
young and active there are a lot of way that you
22:58can do this the number one way is to speak English
with Vanessa of course but the other ways that you
23:05can keep your mind young are doing puzzles trying
to figure out different problems that you can
23:11solve try a new kind of art try some painting
maybe make something with Clay these types of
23:18things can help to keep your mind young and fresh
I want to share a quote with you about age and
23:25growing older by George Bernard Shaw the author
it's this we don't stop playing because we grow
23:34older we grow older because we stop playing of
course you can't stop the Aging of your body but
23:43here he's talking about the Aging of the mind if
you continue playing enjoying things finding the
23:50joy in the little moments of Life your mind will
stay young wonderful idea well congratulations on
23:58learning how to think and speak in English about
technology and your age and now I have a question
24:06for you let me know in the comments how old were
you when you got your first cell phone I think for
24:14me I was maybe 19 or 20 years old let me know in
the comments how old were you when you got your
24:22first cell phone and I can't wait to see what you
have to say don't forget to download the free PDF
24:28worksheet with all of today's important vocabulary
sample sentences and you can take the quiz at the
24:34bottom of the worksheet you can click on the
link in the description to download that free
24:38pdf worksheet today thanks so much for learning
English with me and I'll see you again next Friday
24:43for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel bye
but wait do you want more I recommend watching
24:50this video next where you can speak with me for 2
hours including learning about how to speak about
24:59when you have truly fallen in love let's watch
that video to find out and I'll see you there
