Speak With Me: 2 Hour English Speaking Practice

Vanessa introduces herself and her English teaching platform, SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com. She invites learners to practice common conversation topics in English, including vocabulary, questions, and sample conversations. Vanessa emphasizes the importance of using the conversational questions 'What about you?' and 'How about you?' to keep the dialogue engaging. She also presents a free PDF worksheet to help learners practice and retain the lessons.

The lesson focuses on discussing weekend plans, starting with the importance of the questions 'What are you doing this weekend?' and the conversational ball-throwing technique of returning the question to the asker. Vanessa provides common vocabulary such as 'brunch', 'social butterfly', 'homebody', and 'binge watch', along with their meanings and usage in sentences. She also discusses how to talk about staying in and doing chores, and shares common phrases for small talk about weekend activities.

Vanessa teaches how to reduce common conversational questions for a more casual and fast-paced dialogue. She breaks down phrases like 'What are you up to this weekend?' into its reduced forms, such as 'What're you up to?' and 'Whatcha'p to?'. Vanessa also explains the flapped T sound in American English and demonstrates how to use it in phrases like 'Whadayagot goin' on this weekend?'.

In this part, Vanessa discusses common phrases and questions related to eating out and ordering food. She covers expressions like 'Do you want to eat out?', 'Where do you want to go?', and 'Should we order pick up?'. Vanessa also explains the various ways to ask someone about their food preferences, such as 'What are you in the mood for?' and 'Whatcha in the mood for?'. She provides sample answers and reductions for these questions, like 'Let's order in. How about pizza?' and 'I'm feelin' tacos. How'zat sound?'.

Vanessa talks about common questions and phrases used when discussing vacation plans. She starts by mentioning reduced forms of questions like 'Where you going this summer?' and 'Whatcha got goin' on this summer?'. Vanessa then provides sample answers that express both ideal plans and the reality of changed plans due to circumstances, such as 'I'd like to go to Europe, but I'll take a road trip around the US instead'. She emphasizes the importance of the questions 'What about you?' and 'How about you?' in maintaining a conversation.

Vanessa discusses vocabulary and questions related to describing where one lives. She covers terms like 'busy', 'crowded', 'relaxed', 'quiet', 'urban area', and 'in the country'. Vanessa also introduces phrases like 'off the beaten path', 'up and coming', and 'must see' to describe places and attractions. Common questions such as 'Where are you from?', 'What's it like there?', and 'What's the best time to visit?' are discussed, along with how to answer them and engage in conversation about one's city or town.

This section focuses on common vocabulary related to birthdays, such as 'birthday bash', 'gathering', 'get together', 'surprise party', and 'RSVP'. Vanessa explains the concept of a 'sweet 16' and a 'trip around the sun' as birthday expressions. She also discusses common questions related to birthdays, including 'Any plans for your birthday?', 'What do you want to do for your birthday?', and 'How old will you be?', providing sample answers and encouraging the use of these phrases in conversation.

Vanessa covers vocabulary and phrases for discussing pets and animals. She talks about terms like 'animal lover', 'cat person', 'dog person', and 'allergic to cat fur'. The conversation includes descriptions of pets using words like 'breed', 'rescue', 'mut', 'fur', and 'coat'. Vanessa also discusses words to describe how friendly an animal is, such as 'friendly', 'wild', 'stray', and 'domesticated'. The section concludes with pet care vocabulary, including 'cage', 'crate', 'kennel', 'collar', 'tag', and 'veterinarian'.

Vanessa engages in a sample conversation with her husband, Dan, about pets. They discuss whether Dan is a cat or dog person, the friendliness of pets, and the types of pets they have. Vanessa then invites the viewer to participate in a conversation about their pets or desired pets, using the vocabulary and questions from the previous sections. This interactive approach helps learners practice speaking about pets in a conversational setting.

Vanessa introduces common vocabulary related to jobs and employment, including 'day job', '9:00 to 5:00', 'gig', 'side-gig', 'hustle', 'side-hustle', 'part-time job', and 'unemployment'. She explains the difference between being 'laid off' and 'fired', and discusses feelings about jobs with phrases like 'It's just a job', 'dream job', 'work/life balance', and 'burnout'. The section also covers how to describe jobs with phrases like 'I am a', 'I work in', 'I work for', and 'I run a business'.

Vanessa and Dan have a sample conversation about their jobs, where they use the previously discussed phrases and questions. Vanessa talks about running her online English business and the challenges of avoiding burnout. Dan shares about being laid off from his job at a coffee shop and starting a part-time job at a hotel. Vanessa then offers Dan a side-gig in marketing. After the sample conversation, Vanessa invites the viewer to engage in a similar conversation, practicing the use of the discussed vocabulary and questions.

Vanessa concludes the lesson by encouraging viewers to practice the discussed topics and to download the free PDF worksheet for further practice. She reminds viewers to subscribe to her YouTube channel for regular English lessons and looks forward to seeing them in the next lesson.