There we go!

Cody and Mary is trying to solve a small puzzle.

Cody: No, no. This piece goes there. It won't fit in here. And that one goes right here.

Mary: Yeah, we're almost done. Here, put it there. And this one too.

Cody: This goes here and...there we go ! It's done

When 2 or more people have just accomplished something, and you are involved, you can say "There we go !"

There you go!

New Clerk: Can you show me how to open this cash register?

Manager: Sure. Here, first hit this button, then hit the enter button. (the cash register is open) (he closes it back)

New Clerk: Let me try it myself. OK, hit this and than hit enter. (it's open)

Manager: There you go!


There you go: You can say this when somebody has just accomplished something.

Though

Example 1
Tim: Are you still going to see her tonight?
Dave: I don't think I can see her tonight, Tim. I'll call her though.

Example 2
Brad: So, are you interested in that project you guys talked about?
Kelly: Not really. I'm not too excited about this project. The budget is slim. I'll still do it though. I'm just not thrilled about it.

Example 3
Jane: The party will be fun if you can come tonight. Some of your good friends will be there.

Mary: Yeah, I'll come.

Jane: Hmm...Ben (ex-boyfriend that she hates) will be there too, though.

Mary: Oh yeah. Hmm..

Jane: I understand if you won't come.

Mary: I'm OK. I'll come.

Jane: You sure?

Mary: 100%

Jane: Great! see you tonight, gorgeous.


And of course though can also replace although in a sentence.

"I'm like.." / "He was like..."

OK, here's another style that people here use very commonly.

Kara: So, I told him about how I don't like the way he talks to me. And he's like "Well, if you don't like the way I speak, then maybe you shouldn't be in the same room with me". I was like "What?, can't you think straight for once in your life. I mean, how can you say something like that when you are living in somebody's house (notice the switch of the subjects). It's my house for God sake! But I didn't really say that. I just walked away.

He's like/ I'm like/I was like, etc is always used in conversations to express what people really say (always direct speech) or just feel/think.

"Can't get a hold of her"

Mary: Have you told Jennifer about the baby shower?

Daniel: I've tried many times to call her cellphone, but I haven't been able to get a hold of her. All I get is her voice mail.

Mary: Did you leave a message?

Daniel: Yes I did. Twice. I told her to call me back as soon as she gets my message.


Baby shower: a party for a newborn baby.

To get a hold of somebody: To communicate with somebody.

Driving 1

The following is a person explaining an accident that just took place to the police.

"After fighting with his girlfriend on his porch he jumped into his vehicle, which was parked in the driveway. And I guess he did not look in the rearview mirror before backing up the vehicle. Another car was driving past him, not seeing him backing up. And he backed right into it. Thank God, no one was hurt."

To back (vehicle) up : To drive backwards. Mundurin
To back into something : To hit something when going backwards
To take place: To happen.
Rearview mirror: Kaca sepion.
Vehicle is a common word for a car or a truck

Pronunciation 2

After /ˈæftər/

Responsible /rɪˈspɒnsəbəl/

Position /pəˈzɪʃən/

Characteristic /ˌkærɪktəˈrɪstɪk/

Would 2

Here's another very common use of "would". It's actually the "if conditional", only shortened and used very commonly in conversations.

Example 1:

Chef: Come, I'll show you how to chop these onions. (Demonstrating it--chop, chop, chop)

Jane: Wow! I would cut myself.
(The full sentence would be "Wow! I would cut myself, if I had to chop those onions myself")

Example 2:

Employee: Do we have to clean all these tables?

Supervisor: It is not necessarily your job to do clean tables but I would get all those empty cups off the table. (..if I were you).

Example 3:

Jhon: Have you heard what happened to Mary? Her husband hit her again last night.

Jane: Again? I would have left him all along. (..if I were her)

Greeting 2

Ben: Hey, how are you doing? (will sound like "how you doin')

Cody: I'm doing good (or good) man. How about you? (will sound like "bout you")

Ben: Never been better (I have never been better) (meaning "very good")

Cody: That's good. I got a class in 5 minutes. I'll see you after class, all right?

Ben: All right. Later man.

Would 1

Here's another extremely common use of "would" that has nothing to do with the past tense in conversations.

Jack: What happened to Matt's arm? It's all bruised up.

Jane: Oh, you won't believe this. He paid his cousin $5 to punch his arm 5 times. That's how he got his bruises.

Jack: What! That is stupid! Why would you do that ? See switching subjects.
(It's the same as saying why would anybody do that? or why would he do that?)


"Would" here can also be used when talking about the future


Tim: I don't want to give him money, coz I'm afraid he'll yell at me.

Sara: Why would he yell at you for giving him money?


Explanation:
"would" can be used when you think that what somebody did or does or will do does not make any sense or illogical.

Switching subjects (I becomes you)

People here have a habit of switching subjects, from I to You. So, my situation becomes yours or everybody's in general. This way, you, the listeners will be sucked into the story which makes the story more alive.

Notice the switch!

Heather: So, I went to join my new group in the other class. I sat down and introduced myself to the group. I looked at those new faces. I had never seen any of them before. It felt kind of awkward. (switch). Coz' you didn't know what to expect from these people. You didn't know how they were like to work with. If they were helpful or not, would they like you or not in the group. You will always have these thoughts in the back of your head.

To make the story even more alive, a lot of people will switch subjects and use the present tense instead of the past tense eventhough it is a story of the past.

Pronunciation 1

is /iz/
his /hiz/
hers /hɜrz/
ours /ˈaʊərz/
its /its/

Plural
cars /...z/
houses /...z/

Verb + s/es
She (carries /...z/) her purse everywhere she (goes /...z/)
She (takes /...s/)

I could't help it

Darren: Somebody told my bos that I'm looking for another job.

Tina: Was he mad at you?

Darren: Duh! He called me to his office and we had a 30-minute conversation about why I'm not happy working for him.

Tina: Sorry Darren, it was me. I couldn't help it. He kept forcing me to tell him the truth. I hope he won't fire you because of that.

Explanation:

Duh: When you think something is so obvious and the other person should also be able to see.

A 30-minute conversation instead of a 30 minutes conversation.

I can't help it: When you can't control or stop something from happening.
Another example is "I couldn't help but laugh when he told me the joke"

Live off his parents

Mike: Have you talked to Bobby since he got fired?

Cody: No, I haven't. you?

Mike: I talked to him last week. Looks like he hasn't changed a bit.

Cody: What do you mean by that?

Mike: He parties every other day. He hasn't started looking for another job, and still lives off his parents.

Every other day: once in two days
To live off somebody: To depend on somebody financially

Make it up to you

Jeniffer: I can't believe you Ben. I waited for your call all night. Why didn't you call me?

Ben: That's what I came here to say Jen. I fell a sleep on my couch. I'm so sorry.

Jeniffer: What a lame excuse. And it's easy to say sorry.

Ben: I know. Let me make it up to you. Let me take you to dinner tonight. What do you say?

Make it up to you: To do something good for someone you have upset, in order to become friends with them again.

"Them" can be used to refer to him or her when talking about somebody, regardless the gender.

Present Tense

In all of our tenses lessons, we will refer to verbs in the following way:
Verb 1: Simple form
Verb 2: Past tense form (irregular or irregular)
Verb 3: Past participle

Simple Present

FORM
Positive: (I, you, we, they) + Verb 1
Negative: (I, you, we, they) + Do Not + Verb 1
Question: (When, Where, Who, What, How) + Do + (I, you, we, they) + Verb 1 ?

Positive: (He, she, it) + Verb 1 + s/es
Negative: (He, she, it) + Does Not + Verb 1
Question: (When, Where, Who, What, How) + Does + (he, she, it) + Verb 1 + ?

Examples:
You speak good English.
They do not speak good English
Do you speak good English?

She speaks good English
He does not speak good English
Does she speak good English?

USE 1 Repeated Actions
Simple Present is used to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that happens repeatedly. It could also be something that people don't do.

Examples:
I play tennis.
She does not play tennis.
Does he play tennis?
The train leaves every morning at 8 AM.
The train does not leave at 9 AM.
When does the train usually leave?
She always forgets her purse.
He never forgets his wallet.
Every twelve months, the Earth circles the Sun.
Does the Sun circle the Earth?

USE 2 Facts or Generalizations
The Simple Present can also be used to talk about facts the speaker believe to be true, and will be true in the future. Whether or not the speaker is right about the fact does not matter. It is also used to make generalizations about people or things.

Examples:
Cats like milk.
Birds do not like milk.
Do pigs like milk?
California is in America.
California is not in the United Kingdom.
Windows are made of glass.
Windows are not made of wood.
New York is a small city. It is not important that this fact is untrue.

USE 3 Scheduled Events in the Near Future
Speakers occasionally use Simple Present to talk about scheduled events in the near future. This is most commonly done when talking about public transportation, but it can be used with other scheduled events as well.

Examples:
The train leaves tonight at 6 PM.
The bus does not arrive at 11 AM, it arrives at 11 PM.
When do we board the plane?
The party starts at 8 o'clock.
When does class begin tomorrow?

USE 4 Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)
Speakers sometimes use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is happening or is not happening now. This can only be done with Non-Continuous Verbs and certain Mixed Verbs.

Examples:
I am here now.
She is not here now.
He needs help right now.
He does not need help now.
He has his passport in his hand.
Do you have your passport with you?

Conversation Practice Tips

"No pain, no gain". You've heard of this phrase before. According to this phrase you have to endure some pain to gain something. This applies to English. You will NOT be able to speak English without going through some "pain" with lots of practice. It does NOT happen magically. Practicing is never fun after awhile. But it pays off.
Here are some tips that WILL help you improve your speaking skill:

- Talking to yourself in your head (so you won't look crazy)
I would spend 15 minutes a day talking to myself in my head (I did not say it out loud when people were around me) when I was on my way to work. This could be the summary of my activities from the day before, or it could be things that I want to get done that day, or it could also be about things, activities or people that I like or dislike. In other words, you can talk about anything you want in your head. Summary of your activities is a good one to do.

- Find somebody who is not shy or ashamed to speak English with you on a regular basis. After all, EVERYBODY speaks English. It's really NOT a big deal. That's the language of the world, and you are the citizen of the world. So,you'd better speak the language.
This will feel weird at first, but after a while it will become your habit. Once it's become your habit, you're off to a good start. Remember, consistency is the key. Good luck.

Accents

You have heard people say “He has an accent” or “She doesn't have an accent because she is from here”. So, what is an accent? And how can one person have an accent and the other does not?

An accent is a manner of pronunciation of a language. Everybody has an accent of their own. People don't realize they have accents because everybody around them talks like them. Then when somebody from outside your region come to visit, you notice the outsider's accent. Guess what, the outsider will notice your accent too. So when people say “She doesn't have an accent”, they mean “She doesn't have an accent from out of town”.

Before I came to the U.S., I knew that there's American, British, and Australian accent. Now I see that people around me talk very differently from those on TV. There are many different accents in the U.S. alone; Southern accents, Northeastern accents, other distinct regional accents and social group accents like, African American. However, there's one standard American accent that Americans see as “accent-less”. It's the Midwestern accent. It's the accent newscasters use. It's also the accent taught to people who are learning English as a second language. It is widely accepted through out the country.

It is really a matter of choice, in my opinion, what accent to adopt. When you are little you adopt accents very fast. By the time you are 20 years old, you may find it very hard or it even feels impossible to adopt an accent. But is it really impossible? I've heard many people say “We are Asians, our tongues are not like Westerners'. Here's my view on it. The tongue is a muscle. What is your favorite sport? Do you or someone you know play that sport better than other people who never play that sport. Why is that? One of the reason is because you train your skeletal muscles that coordinate your movements. You train your muscles so well that you don't even have to think when your muscles have to perform their duty which then will produce well-coordinated movements of your body, movements that other people can not even think of doing. The same principal applies to our tongue. We train our tongue the same way we train our skeletal muscles. Study reveals that accents are not fixed even in adulthood. They can change over time.

Again, it's a matter of choice whether or not to adopt an existing accent or to simply create your own “foreign” accent. And I have made my choice. For those of you who are interested in reducing your own “foreign” accent, dictionary.com is one great place for you to work on your accent. On top of that. I will also try to break down some words and hopefully you will notice particular sounds or emphasizes that you may not be aware before in English pronunciation. I hope my videos on accents will help. Good luck.

More videos will be available soon.

Pronunciation 1 video

Pronunciation 2 video

My Journey

Introduction

Greeting 1

Matt is sitting in a chair on the porch of his house reading a newspaper and having a cup of coffee. He has on a white long-sleeves shirt, a tie and a pair of black dress pants, ready to go to work. A car pulls up in front of his house. Josh, his good buddy, comes out of the car.

Josh: Hey Matt, how's it going?

Matt: Josh, I'm good man (it is going good), how about you?

Josh: Can't complaint. (meaning:Josh has no complaints about life right now therefore he's good). I was in the neighborhood running errands, I thought I'd stop by and see you for a little bit before you went to work. I heard you will be promoted sometime next week.

Matt: Ha! Did Jane tell you about that? I told her not to you yet since its not yet official.

Josh: I would have found out one way or another. You can't keep things from me, Matt. Congratulations! I hope they pay you better after the promotion. You deserve it. I say we should celebrate it! How about a dinner on Friday, I pick you up at 7. Bring Jane too. Dinner is on me. What do you say?

Matt: Thanks and that sounds good to me. 7 o'clock is perfect. I see u then. But I must head out (to work now) now. Tell Carol I said hey. By the way, thanks for dropping by.

Josh: OK, I will. Hey good to see you.

Matt: You too Josh (good to see you too)

Both walk to their cars, jump into the cars and drive off.

Note:
to pull up: "pull" came from the fact that you are "pulling" the steering wheel when you are turning the steering wheel. In this case, to pull up means.
- to bring or come to a stop
- to bring or draw closer.

A lot of times people here only say "wheel" instead of "steering wheel"

How's it going or how is it going?: It's another form of greeting. It's basically the same as "How are you?" The answer could be just "Good". It's more informal.

Running errands: Doing little tasks/missions. Doing this and that. (could be "going to the bank", "picking up a package at the post office", "returning a rental movie", etc.

One way or another: Somehow. not sure how. but you will manage.

Keep things from somebody: to keep secrets from somebody

Dinner is on me: I am paying.

Tell her I said hey: Salam yah buat dia.

Insulting one's intelligence

People have their own way of life, their own way of doing things. I would like to share with you on my blog the way Americans do things that I find interesting and worth thinking. These posts are not meant to downgrade anybody or any culture. They are simply things that I see as "new". I will not say weather something is good or not good. I am simply sharing information based on what I see without judging.

Here's a little bit of American culture that I noticed:

"I don't want to insult your intelligence" is heard in America every now and then. It is important for them to see others as other intelligent beings. I guess that explains why Americans value opinions of others, even those of kids. Parents ask their kids for opinions or suggestion on things. They are interesting in knowing what their kids are thinking. Parents talk to their kids like adults. Kids are treated as beings with intelligence who have their own unique, independent voices.
Having said that, I I'd like to say that this blog is never meant to insult anybody's intelligence by any means.

In a classroom

This is a typical conversation in a classroom. Notice that some words are in bold letters. Those are the ones that you might want to pay extra attention to!

On a Sunday morning in class

Miss. Cooley (teacher): Good morning everyone. Who was your weekend? Mine went by too quick. Other than that it was good. So, I finally got your tests graded. I'll give them back to you at the end of the class.
Brandon: How did we do?
Miss. Cooley: You all did better than I thought. I was impressed. No one got a D in this class. OK, let's pick up where we left off last Friday.

(Miss. Cooley is passing out some worksheets)

Miss. Cooley: (Handing a pile of worksheets) Brandon, please take one of these (for you) then pass down the rest.
Brandon: Yes ma'am.

(Miss. Cooley is teaching the class)

(At the end of the class Miss. Cooley hands the tests back to the students.)

Lindsey: Hey Brandon, what did you make (on the test)?
Brandon: I made a 92, you?
Lindsey: I should sit by you next time. I made a C. I made a 70.

Note:
To pass out =to deliver by hand
To pass down = In this case it's to give the pile to the next person, then the next, then the next, in the same row. (Bahasa Indonya: oper, meng-oper). It can also mean to inherit from one generation to the next.
To pick up where we left off = to continue the lesson.
To hand something to somebody = To deliver / to pass by hand.

Common Daily Prepositions

We've all read these common daily prepositions at one point in our lives. They are very commonly used in our daily lives, yet a lot of people still have a hard time with them, simply because a lot of times we don't pay too much attention to details when reading an article or listening to a conversation. My job here is to bring those details to your attention, so next time we speak we can be more proper.

On or in or at??

These are what's common (although some Americans sometimes say these differently):

To point out a specific position on a screen (TV, Computer, Phone)

- At the top/bottom of the screen

- On the the left/right (hand) side of the screen

- In the lower/upper right/left corner of the screen


To sit or lie...

(lie: most Americans say it lay, which is not grammatically correct, but very common. It's a topic for another day :))

- To lie/lay in bed (You can say "I am lying in bed" instead of ..in a bed" Or you can be more precise by saying "I am laying in my/his/her bed")

- To sit in a chair

- To sit on a couch/sofa/stool/bench.