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I have purchased a microphone!
Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series on our YouT ube channel where you
ask me questions, and I answer them! Maybe.
First question.
A lot of you have asked about what to do to get a—a voice that sounds like mine.
When I'm making these videos, I'm specifically trying to speak clearly.
T he way that I talk with my friends and the way that I talk, uh, regularly, is a bit
different than the way that I talk on this channel.
But, if you want to try to get this kind of pronunciation, the best advice I have is just to
repeat this kind of pronunciation.
It depends on your goal. If you want to learn to speak like me, or to speak like
somebody else that you really admire, you should try to mimic them. T hat's what I do.
And that's, uh, actually, a strategy I use when I study other languages as well.
So, if I hear something interesting that a—a—a vocabulary word that a friend, uh, has
used, like, in Japanese, for example, or they have a really good intonation, or just the
way they deliver—the way they say something—is really, uh, interesting to me, or I
want to—I want to be able to use that too, I put that in my head.
ENGLI S HCLAS S 101.COM AS K ALI S HA: YOUR ENGLI S H QUES T I ONS ANS WERED #2 - HOW DO YOU S PEAK LI KE A NAT I VE ENGLI S H S PEAKER? 2
T o make this explanation shorter… mimic! Mimic.
If you want to learn to speak like somebody else, try to mimic someone else.
But just keep in mind that the way that I talk in these videos is different from the way
that I talk in real life.
Next question!
It's common slang among young people, especially in the US right now.
Uh, maybe many of you know that the verb "to light" has the past tense, uh, "lit."
Lit is used to talk about, for example, a party, or, um, some kind of social gathering,
usually, that's really exciting, or that's really really fun, or that's kind of crazy.
So, "lit," using the past tense, there, you can kind of imagine that, like a fire, when you
light a fire, it maybe, it gets bigger, and it gets kind of wild, a little bit crazy, like
there's a spark, and then it starts.
So, if you see the word "lit," like "this party was lit," it means it was really crazy; it
was really good; it was really fun.
Uh, you can use it if you want, but just keep in mind that, really, young people use that
word.
I don't use that word, for reference. But again, I am not cool.
Next question!
What is correct?
We need to use, "I thought you were gone" here. I thought you were gone.
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So, "I thought," past tense, and "you were" is also past tense.
It's a past tense thought, past tense situation, so...please use past tense! Yeah. Ah,
next question!
Also maybe about "were" and "was." Why do we use "If I were" and not "if I was"?
Uh, this is a great question.
It's a small point, to be fair, but if you want to be correct, you should always use "if I
were."
T his is a grammar point, uh, it refers to the subjunctive mood. T he subjunctive mood.
An explanation of subjunctive is a bit beyond the scope—it's a bit much for this video.
But we will always use "if I were." Uh, when the subject there is "I," in the conditional,
"if I were," we always use "were."
You will hear native speakers say "if I was," "if I was."
If you want to be extremely strict, and extremely nitpicky, um, "were" is actually the
correct one, but if you use "was," if you make a mistake and you use "was," you will
still be understood.
So, um, but yes. T his is related to the subjunctive mood in English.
Next question! Okay! Next one isn't really a question, but something I have noticed
that many of you do.
You like to put the article "a" or "an" before your adjective. Before an adjective, but
you forget to use a noun.
Do you know how, like, Mario introduces himself, and he says "it's a me"?
When you forget to use some kind of noun after—after your adjective, or whatever, you
sound a bit like Mario.
It's a nice. It's a nice. It's a nice WHAT ? It's funny to me, like—it's a nice! Or, it's a me!
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It's nice, or "it's bad," or "it's good," or "this was a nice explanation."
But don't forget to use your noun after you use the adjective.
So please, uh, no article without a noun. Make sure to use your noun.
If you are using "a" or "an," you need to use the singular form of the noun.
Next question! What does it mean "they can't take that away from me"?
We use the word "they" to mean generally, just other people outside of us.
T his is used a lot to talk about, like, news, or to talk about general opinion.
T hey say that this pizza is the best pizza in the city right now.
T hey say that your English will only improve if you study every day.
T hey say that the most difficult thing you can do in your life is move to another country.
T ake away means to—Some object that belongs in one location is removed from that
location. Like take away food.
But take away food is a similar idea, especially like in British English. T akeaway. So,
you take away your food from the restaurant. So, you're taking something else. You're
removing your food from the restaurant.
So, in the expression "they can't take that away from me," "they," meaning other
people outside you, can't take something away from you.
Next one!
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What does the phrase "don't be a creep, don't be a creep" mean?
So, I talked in a live stream about the word "creepy," adjective "creepy."
So, something that causes, like, nervous suspense, is something that's creepy.
A guy can be a creep. A girl can be a creep. So, a creep is someone who causes
creepy feelings.
Like, uhh, something bad might happen! I feel nervous! T hat person's a little strange; a
little weird. T hat person is a creep. He's a creep. She's a creep.
So, "don't be a creep" means you should not behave like a creep.
Next question! Oh, that was my last one for this week. All right!
So, those are, um, my favorite questions, or the questions that I wanted to talk to you
about this week.
I hope that those are some useful points for you. And if you have any questions, please
feel free to let me know at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha.
It makes it very easy for me to check and see, um, all the questions in one place.
I think you can sign in with your, uh, regular EnglishClass101.com account, and
submit as many questions as you want. And then I'll choose what I like, and what I
want to talk about.
And of course, if a lot of you ask the same question, I'll definitely try to answer that,
too. So please check that out!
ENGLI S HCLAS S 101.COM AS K ALI S HA: YOUR ENGLI S H QUES T I ONS ANS WERED #2 - HOW DO YOU S PEAK LI KE A NAT I VE ENGLI S H S PEAKER? 6
EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha.
If you liked this video, please make sure to give it a thumbs up, because if you guys
like it, then I can continue to make the videos.
Also, subscribe to the channel if you haven't already, and check us out at
EnglishClass101.com for other good stuff too. T hanks very much for watching this
episode of Ask Alisha, and I'll see you again next week.
Byeee!
I feel like I had some ideas for this when I was laying in bed last night, and now I've
forgotten them all.
Oh, now, I can take my videos on the road and be, like, a golf reporter. Uh, yes, the ball
—the ball is rolling.
Why am I Russian? I'm a Russian golf reporter now. Ah! Maybe I'll be a beatboxer.
How do you do that?
[questionable beatboxing]
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