It is a pleasure to welcome you back if you’ve been with us for a while, and hello if you’re

new.

We have, uh, an actually really interesting lesson set this month.

We’re going to talk about a wide range of things that have to do with a little bit of

travelling, exploration, doing some other things that are, you know, kind of normal

in everyday life, but also checking out cultures and exploring, as I said.

Uh, so it should be a really interesting mix of words, but you’ll see how they all work

together in the conversation.

So, as usual, in this lesson, we’ll be covering the shorter words first, and then we’ll

talk about the longer phrases and expressions after that.

Let’s begin.

Okay, our first word is aspiring.

Aspiring.

Now, remember this is different from inspiring.

To inspire someone means to help motivate them, like I’m trying to inspire you to

improve your English, so get out and start practicing.

I’m trying to inspire you to do that.

But to be aspiring, to do something or to aspire to do something means that you have

a particular goal or you have a particular aim.

So, in your case with English, you are an aspiring English learner.

You’re an aspiring English learner, or you are aspiring to learn English.

So, you’re aspiring to get fluent, aspiring to learn English, uh, aspiring to become,

you know, whatever else your goals are in your life.

And you’ll see this in the conversation when Henry is talking about being an aspiring

musician.

So, usually when people talk about this, uh, the two big ones that you’ll hear in conversations

are aspiring musician and aspiring actor.

So, people that are saying, well, I’m working as a waiter in a restaurant, but really I’m

an aspiring musician.

So, really I want to do this and that’s my real goal, but I have to do this other

job over here.

So, whenever you’re aspiring to do something, that’s your goal.

Aspire.

Aspire.

Next, a great conversational word, max.

Max.

To have a max of something or a maximum limit, this is the short form of maximum, uh, it

just means that you’re having a, uh, higher limit or the greatest amount of something

you can possibly do.

So, as an example, maybe I have a max of about three hours to practice playing the guitar

every day.

So, I can practice for three hours max, and then I have to go do my work, or whatever

else it is I have to do.

So, to have something max, this is a great way conversationally to say that you only

have a certain amount of time, or a certain amount of effort, or something like that.

A certain amount of energy.

So, this power, maybe I have, uh, a light bulb here.

Uh, it can shine for 20 hours max, so 20 hours maximum.

Or, I can run for maybe five kilos max.

And this is just how you would use it in a conversational expression.

So, I can do something, uh, maybe I can, I can walk for ten hours max, but then I, I

fall down after that, so ten hours max.

And you can end a sentence like that as well.

So, I’ve been practicing for English, uh, speaking English for a long time, but I can

only speak in a conversation for five minutes max, something like that.

Anyway, I highly recommend you use this, uh, and again, listen for it in the conversation

as well.

Max.

Max.

Next, to be over with something.

To be over with something.

Now, when you’re finished with something, these are very related, so listen carefully.

When I’m finished with something it just means I’ve stopped doing that thing.

I don’t have any emotional content or any emotional feeling in any way about that thing.

So, if I’m eating my dinner and I stop, I’m finished with dinner.

If I’m doing my homework and I stop, I’m finished with my homework, but I’m not thinking

about it in a good or a bad way.

So, I’m just finished with my homework.

I’m finished with this video if I’ve stopped making this video, that kind of thing.

But, to be over with something, this is a related thing but slightly different.

This is where we have emotion in that, and it’s usually where we’re really tired

about something, or we’re not very happy with that thing.

So, I’m, I’m over with that situation.

I’m over with that.

I’m over with that.

So, I can be over a situation or over with a situation, it just means that I don’t

like it anymore.

Like, oh, like my ex-girlfriend, yeah, I’m, I’m over that.

I’m, I’m over her.

I’m over her.

So, it just means I’ve, I’ve stopped that, and I also have, you know, kind of an emotional

or even maybe a very strong emotional feeling about that where I’m not excited about my

girlfriend, or I’m even upset with her.

So, I’m, I’m, I’m done with that relationship, I’m over with her, or I’m over her.

I’ve forgotten about her, I’m past that.

You can also talk about being over something, like maybe a new fashion trend.

So, maybe like these t-shirts are very fashionable right now, but maybe next year people are

over with these t-shirts.

They’re, they’re over them.

They’re over these t-shirts.

They don’t use them anymore, they don’t like wearing them, that kind of thing.

So, when you’re over with something it’s something that you pass and you’re leaving

it behind, you’re not going to use that thing anymore, and usually there’s some

kind of emotional connection, some kind of, uh, deeper feeling with that thing.

I’m over with that.

I’m over that.

I’m over that.

I’m over my ex-girlfriend.

I’m over my ex-girlfriend.

Next, the expression, full on.

Full on.

Now, Henry is from Australia and this is an Australian expression.

You won’t really hear this in America.

I don’t know about the UK, maybe some people use it, I think, but it’s not a very American

expression.

If you hear someone say that something is full on, it just means there’s a lot of

that thing.

So, you know, work is really full on right now.

So, it just means like full on, like, I have a lot of that thing.

So, you can kind of guess the meaning of that.

But, again, it’s an Australian expression, and if you use it in America people might

not understand what you’re saying.

But, you know, if you go to Australia, there you go.

So, the, these lessons are really full on.

So, my English learning is really full on right now.

I’m practicing a lot.

I’m studying a lot.

It just means there’s a lot of that thing.

Full on.

Full on.

Next, another great word, monotonous.

Monotonous.

Now, in this set of lessons we’ll cover a few things, the prefixes and the suffixes

of words.

These are the little pieces that begin a word.

So, bicycle you’ve got like bi and you’ve got cycle, so two circles.

And when you’re learning a lot of vocabulary, it’s a really great idea to learn these

pieces of words, so that you can really maximize your vocabulary learning because if you learn

all these different pieces, then you can put them together to make lots of different words.

So, the word mono means one.

And monotonous, like monotone, just means ooh, one sound.

So, something that is monotonous, and again, notice how it kind of changes from monotone

to monotonous.

Monotonous.

Yeah, this is a really monotonous situation.

It just means it’s boring and it doesn’t change, it’s the same thing over and over

again.

Monotonous.

I was at a lecture very, uh, very, I don’t know, yesterday, and it was very monotonous.

I didn’t enjoy it at all.

It was very boring to listen to.

So, some people are really animated, they move around a lot, it’s a very exciting

lecture, but other people, it’s very monotonous and boring.

Monotonous.

Monotonous.

Next, pro and con.

These are great native, uh, conversational words you can use when you’re talking about

the positive or the negative of something.

So, you can say, well, with my new job a pro, or a positive thing, a pro is that it’s

close to my house.

But, a con, or a negative thing, is that maybe I don’t get paid as much as I’d like.

So, there are pros and cons with everything.

Pro.

Con.

Pro.

Con.

Next, jaded.

Jaded.

To be jaded means you’re kind of tired of something, or maybe you don’t really like

it so much anymore.

You’ve done it so many times that, yeah, it’s just, it’s just not your thing.

You don’t really like to do it.

Uh, you can also feel jaded about something where, uh, maybe, you know, you like bring

your lunch to school every day, but somebody keeps stealing your lunch, or they keep stealing

something like that.

And after a while, you don’t want to bring your lunch anymore.

The situation has kind of jaded you.

So, you think, well, all people are bad, uh, you know, I don’t like that people try to

steal my lunch, that kind of thing, so you feel bad about that situation.

So, it can be feeling bad, or it can also just be feeling kind of tired of something.

Yeah, I’m kind of jaded.

I’m jaded.

I’m jaded, you know, I’ve been like, maybe some people are jaded about learning English.

Maybe you’ve been learning, uh, English for a long time with many different programs,

and you feel kind of jaded about the whole learning situation.

So, you’re tired of it, like, ah, why can’t I just get fluent, why can’t I just find

a program that works.

And if you just find something and stick with it then you will get fluent, but maybe you

feel a little bit jaded if you’ve been studying for a long time.

Jaded.

Jaded.

Next, we’ve got two words that are usually for younger people, this is a bit more of

a younger generation, uh, and actually, the person I’m speaking with in the conversation

this month, Henry, he is, I believe, uh, maybe 20 years old or 19 years old.

So, he’s going to use the vocabulary of a slightly younger person.

And these two words are killer, and sweet.

Sweet.

So, the first one, killer, killer just means it’s a slang word of, like, wow, this is

just really cool, like, wow, that was a, that was a killer rollercoaster we went on.

That was just a really amazing, a really exciting, um, you something like that.

So, something that’s killer, you know, it could be like a killer vacation, you know,

again, it’s one of those things that young people would use it.

I don’t really recommend this word if you’re, um, you know, watching, uh, or if you’re

in a conversation with people at work, something like that.

But, again, these are the kinds of things that I’ll teach you because you will see

them in movies and I want you to see how the language is evolving, so the new things that

are coming up that younger people are using.

So, it’s killer.

Hopefully, these are some killer English lessons.

Maybe you wouldn’t say that, but hopefully you can.

Hopefully you can.

It just means something that’s really exciting and good.

So, the second word, sweet, it just means it’s a, like an exclamation thing.

You can say, wow, a friend of mine got tickets to the new concert.

Sweet!

It just means yes, yes, very cool, very exciting.

Sweet.

So, it’s the regular word, this is, you know, just like I have, I’m eating something

sweet like some cookies, but the, again, slang usage of that, it just means cool or exciting

or great.

I hope these lessons are killer, and I hope when you’re, every time you, you get a mail

from me you’re like, sweet, yes.

Next, a more advanced word, proficient.

Proficient.

To be proficient at something just means to be skilled, and that’s what we’re trying

to do here.

We’re trying to help you become proficient in English.

So, if you can become a proficient English speaker, then you can speak confidently, and

you can enjoy lots of more things, maybe in business or personal life, whatever those

things are.