Name: You Have to Write Every Day. ChatGPT Won’t Save You. @engvidJames
Uploaded: 2026-09-21T08:17:00-05:00
Duration: 8 min 17 s
Description: You Have to Write Every Day. ChatGPT Won’t Save You.

You Have to Write Every Day. ChatGPT Won’t Save You.

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2026-09-21 | You Have to Write Every Day. ChatGPT Won’t Save You.

Say Sorry the Right Way: How to Make a Real Apology

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2025-09-12 | Do you know the difference between saying “sorry”, “excuse me”, “I regret”, and “I apologize”? Many English learners get these phrases wrong. In this lesson, I’ll teach you different ways to apologize in different context, so you can use the right one at the right time – in the right way! We’ll talk about how to say “sorry” in English for small mistakes, how to use “excuse me” for polite interruptions or to get attention, when to use “I apologize” in formal situations, and cover other useful phrases like “I regret”, “that was my fault”, and “my bad”. I’ll also share my secret 4-step formula for a real apology! engvid.com/say-sorry-the-right-way

Learn everyday conversational English:
Have Better Conversations: The S. E. A. Small Talk Method youtu.be/QjYZ1tTsvTA
5 questions to make you the most interesting person in the room youtu.be/hOXNssFPEnM

In this lesson:
0:00 Introduction
0:41 "Sorry"
2:25 "Excuse me"
4:40 "I apologize"
6:41 Other apology phrases
10:54 How to give a real apology

Transcript:
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo, oh, oh, sorry about that. Excuse me for a second, E. Listen, guys, I got to apologize. I just made a mistake and bumped into E. Today's lesson is on saying "sorry", or "I apologize", or "I"... Excuse me? Today I'm going to teach you the difference between each of these words, and when to use them, and how to use them properly. And as a bonus, I'll teach you a couple of other ones.

So let's go to the board and find out what the big deal about "sorry" is. As you can see, E is saying "sorry", "excuse me", and "I apologize", but should we always say them? Not necessarily. "Sorry" is a general word, so let's go over here. When we look at... Where am I? I'm sorry. "Sorry" is informal, that's why you hear it all the time. I'm sorry. Sorry? What was that? Sorry? It's informal. It's informal. So that means it can be used a lot of times in many different ways, because it's general. It's a general way to apologize, you hear it a lot. And inappropriately... "Inappropriate" means the wrong way, because people say "I'm sorry" when they really should say "Excuse me". Huh? Well, it's a catch-all, you can use it anywhere, but for example, if I'm about to interrupt you, "Sorry" is a bit strong, "Excuse me" would be better. But you can use it almost any time and you'll be okay, okay? That's why we like that. That's why you hear Canadians always say "I'm sorry", "Excuse me", "Thank you, we're so polite", right?

Now, the other good thing about "Sorry" is because it's informal and it's general, it has a place where it can go from minor to major. And you might say, "What the heck does minor to major mean?" See, look, informal t-shirt, it's kind of cool. Minor to major, minor is like little, like minor league. Well, you can say "I'm sorry" for something very small, like if I bump into you, "Oops, sorry", right? But at the same time, you can actually say something like "I'm sorry for hitting your car", and you might go "Well, those are big things", that's why you can use "Sorry" from minor to major things, and that's what makes it general and makes it, you know, a very good word to use. However, many people overuse it, so we talk about "Sorry" being informal, general, and minor to major, but sometimes it's a little heavy, a little too much, right? That's when we use "Excuse me". "Excuse me" is for things like when you know you're about to do something, but you haven't done it. You haven't done it. Imagine with "Sorry" you bump into someone, okay? You say "Sorry" because you've done something wrong, right? It's minor to major. But "Excuse me" is before you bump into them, you might say "Excuse me", and we call that a polite interruption, right? Because something is going on and you are interrupting or breaking into it, right? Okay? You know, you go "Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?" You're not going to say "Sorry, is anyone sitting there?" You're not sorry. You say "Excuse me" if people are there to interrupt them.

Another thing is you can use "Excuse me" to get someone's attention. "Excuse me, is there anybody working here? Excuse me, can you help me for a second?" You're not going to say "Sorry, can you help me?" "What are you sorry for? What did you do?" Nothing yet. Nothing yet. So, if you want to get my attention or anyone's attention, okay, say "Excuse me, excuse me for a second."

Now, also, "Excuse me" is for repeat, and you say "Repeat? I don't understand." Well, if someone's speaking to you and they're looking at you and you didn't hear it because maybe something - you're like - excuse me? What did you say? Okay? I'm asking you to repeat it because I wasn't paying attention. So it's a way of saying sorry, but I haven't done anything really wrong, so I don't want to say "Sorry", it's just "Excuse me, can you repeat that again?" […]

From Vision to Action: My 3-Book Formula for Success

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2025-08-05 | I recommend three life-changing books and give you a simple system to turn them into your own personal curriculum. I’ve shared WHY reading helps you improve all four skills – now let me show you HOW. First, find your big “why” with Jonathan Livingston Seagull, then master small, consistent habits with The Kaizen Way, and finally execute your plan in focused sprints using The 12-Week Year. I’ll walk you through exactly how to apply each approach so you can read smarter, learn faster, and actually reach your goals. Watch now and start building your ultimate learning plan! More importantly, you can go and read other books and use them in a similar way to make a system that’s perfect for you. engvid.com/3-book-formula-success

Make sure you've also seen my "Read More & Learn Faster" video: youtu.be/W6Z94ffQx3s
Another book with important lessons about learning: youtu.be/-YTBQH_bPD8

In this lesson:
0:00 Introduction
1:46 Jonathan Livingston Seagull
9:39 The Kaizen Way
19:49 The 12 Week Year
29:05 Outro

Transcript:
Do-do-do-do-do. Hey, remember that last video we did, Read More and Learn Faster? It's doing pretty well, so I thought I'd follow it up with some books that I want to recommend to you guys. Hi. James from engVid. I have three books that I want to recommend to you. In the last video that I did, I said why you should read, how it helps with speaking, listening, writing, and of course, reading. In this video, what I want to do is show you how you can not just use what I said, but use books in a system to help you learn better. I picked these three books, and I'm showing you a way that you can use them, work with them, in order to improve your learning. Yeah? So, let's go to the board. I'm going to read some quotes and some passages from the books, right? Tell you about the authors, and then tell you about the approach that they have, and how we can, at the end of this, take these different approaches to make a system for learning, sort of like you have your own school curriculum. And by curriculum, I mean way that we're going to learn, what you will learn, and how you will use it to get a result. And the result in this case is learning how to learn. Okay? If you're ready, let's go to the board. Oh, I can't wait.

All right, so, you'll notice I have what's called a Venn Diagram. A Venn Diagram is intersecting circles, and what they say is here, here, and here, where they all come together, the intersection, is where the final result will be, what they all have in common. In this case, it's E's Reads. So, E, pick these first three books for you. I think he's got something for you.

So, let's start with the first one. The first book is Jonathan Livingston Seagull. This book, it's been out for a while. It came out in the 1960s... Well, it was written in the 1960s, published in 1970 by this gentleman, Richard Bach. Okay? It's a book that asks you, and says you need to see a bigger vision of yourself. What he says is that we don't see who our true selves are, and we have a little vision, and we stay small. But if we can expand that vision to see who we truly are, we are capable of the most incredible things. Okay? This is your "why", and he said you need a big enough "why" to get you off of your chair, off of your couch, out of your house to do something, to change. Yeah?

So, this was done in the... Written in the 1960s, published in 1970. It's about freedom. Right? It's self-discovery, pushing your boundaries, and it's become the greatest version of yourself. So, whatever you see in the mirror, imagine if you could be that superhero or that super athlete. Right? You could be... I don't know. I don't watch soccer, really, so I'm not going to make up any names. You know, I remember Pele, so you could be Pele. Uh-oh, I'm dating myself. Okay. Anyway, he also says that you can be a rebel with a cause, and you want to say... What does that mean, rebel with a cause? Well, as he's saying you could become the best version of yourself, to rebel or be a rebel, which is the noun, "rebel" is to go against, you will go against what society is saying you should be, and you need to be an outcast. That means someone outside in order to have the freedom to develop yourself, because in society we play small and we don't get to see how great we can be. Okay?

So, in this book, he doesn't use humans. He uses seagulls, and what's brilliant is half of the book is pictures of seagulls. Seriously. But it's really cool because the pictures do have meaning. […]

Improve Your English FASTER by Reading (It really works!)

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2025-05-05 | Did you know READING can speed up your LEARNING? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to improve your English speaking, listening, and writing skills – all through reading! I’ll explain the techniques of smooth pursuit, subvocalization, and sustained reading. You’ll learn exactly how reading helps you recognize, hear, and understand words faster. Watch and become a smarter English learner today! engvid.com/improve-your-english-faster-by-reading

Next, check out more of my videos about learning English faster!
From Vision to Action: My 3-Book Formula for Success youtu.be/HRQHIdUmvQw
3 Mental Methods to Learn English Faster youtu.be/-YTBQH_bPD8

In this lesson:
0:00 Improve your English by READING!
0:48 Saccades
2:51 Smooth pursuit
4:39 Subvocalization
6:26 Sustained
13:29 A special reading trick

TRANSCRIPT:
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo Hey, E. What's the topic for today? Ah... Ladies and Gentlemen, today I will be presenting to you a secret not known by many people called reading. And you're going to say "What is the secret?" Well, this is the key to help you learn language faster. Surprising, because most people think: well I should talk more, get more talking practice, and I need to get vocabulary, and I need to listen better. And I need to learn how to write! And I'm going to show you today, with the help of magical E -- he's looking surprised because he doesn't want to be involved -- don't know why, you have a book! How this is going to help you with this, this, and this. Let's go to the board.

The first word I'm going to teach you is a word not many people know, but you have to understand: this is an important factor of how our eyes work. So I'm going to use some language that might be really high. I'll explain it. And just be patient. You're going to learn a lot... about you, and improve your language skills at the same time. Saccades. "Saccades" is what I'm going to say. It could be "saccades". This is what we call the way the eye moves. You see, when we look at things in nature, and this is important, because reading isn't natural. There are no books in nature. There are birds, and trees, and cars. Our eyes were designed to look, look, look, look, look, look, look. It kept us alive, because if I just kept looking ahead, a tiger could come and eat me. So, my eyes would look, look, look, look, look, but I would see everything. Now, a saccade is kind of a fixation. Our eyes jump, and a fixation means to stay in one place, but our eyes jump around. Now, if you think about a book, a book has lines, and if you jump around, that makes it very difficult to see. So, we're going to, with our understanding now what a saccade is, we're going to learn to train that to help you with reading. You know, okay, well, how does this help with language? Hey, grasshopper, one step at a time.

Now, reading is interesting. You might have noticed I mentioned vocabulary, and many students say to me, "Oh, I need vocabulary." Here you go, vocabulary on the go. There is one little trick that makes all of this work, so I'm going to mention it now and at the end. You must pick material for this to work that you know at least 85% of the vocabulary. So, don't pick up a book on physics if you don't read physics; this will not be helpful. So, saccades are how our eyes move. A little uncontrolled, they jump around. And you may have noticed this when you're reading, sometimes you're reading and you go, "Oh, where was I?" Because your eye has jumped.

So, the first trick I'm going to teach you, see, this is three S's, and if you want to know what the three S's are, smooth pursuit, sub-vocalization, and sustained. And I will explain each one for you now. Well, smooth pursuit is this. Yeah, some of you are going, "What are you doing?" But you followed my finger, didn't you? You notice my finger did not do this; it went like this. Well, if we can control the saccades, we can control how we read, and it makes it much easier for us to learn. Why am I starting with this for language learning? Well, you're not going to read the book, and most people don't read, to be honest, because it takes too long. And now you understand if your eyes are jumping around, that makes it worse, especially if it's not your language. We're going to use the idea of smooth pursuit, which is using our finger or a pencil to move across a line to help us focus. That focus will actually turn our brains on so we can learn more. So, the first secret I'm going to give you is use your finger for smooth pursuit to move along the line to keep you focused, so you can keep the ideas in your head. That's number one. And in doing this, because you stay on the line, it will help with vocabulary, because in many English sentences we do... We use synonyms. We'll use one word and a little later use a different word to keep your interest, so you're actually picking up on vocabulary. […]

How to Use Subordinating Conjunctions for Better English

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2025-03-18 | Do you feel stuck in English? Do you want to communicate at a higher level? In this English grammar lesson, I’ll show you how to level up from simple to complex sentences. You’ll learn about dependent and independent clauses. You’ll understand how to use subordinating conjunctions—words like “because,” “although,” “while,” “before,” “after,” “unless,” and “since”. These new words and structures can transform simple ideas into complex, meaningful sentences. Add extra information to your sentences, clarify relationships, and give your speech depth. Join me and learn to speak and write in a more advanced way, for greater academic and professional success. engvid.com/how-to-use-subordinating-conjunctions-for-better-english

More of my English grammar videos:
Learn English Prepositions: BY, UNTIL, TILL... youtu.be/jYyC-HDdNb8
English Grammar: Correlative Conjunctions youtu.be/XYYUXskbX_c

In this lesson:
0:00 How to use subordinate conjunctions in complex sentences
4:11 cause/reason
5:22 condition
6:14 contrast
8:16 comparison
9:41 purpose
10:37 time

TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, E, you having a problem with complex sentences?
You don't know what they're for?
You don't know what they are?
Hi.
James from engVid.
This lesson is about subordinate conjunctions in complex sentences.
I know that's a big mouthful, but if you're an intermediate student to an advanced student,
you need to know this.
When we first learn English, or when you first learn English - me too, I guess, yeah - you
learn the simplest sentence ever, which is S-V-O, subject, verb, object.
I like ice cream.
He plays soccer.
It's a simple idea, one idea, and it's the basic...
The basis of the language, yeah?
But once you get bigger, you don't say "I like ice cream", "I play soccer".
You say more than that.
"I like ice cream because it tastes good", or "When I get home, I'll have some ice cream".
What?
Morse words?
Well, yes.
Because we have complex brains - complex sentence - we have complex sentences, which means it's
a sentence that has an idea and something that helps give you more information about
that idea.
So, we go from the subject, verb, object - very simple things, right?
Yeah?
And then we say "And here's some more information about that thing we're talking about", which
does two things.
It gives us information that we want to have, and it makes the sentences much more interesting.
As I said, "I like soccer", and "I eat ice cream", and "I live here", and "I go to school".
I want to shoot myself, okay?
But "I enjoy eating soccer while I'm watching something on the television", and I...
Also, "Whoa, what happened?"
Same thing.
Now it's interesting.
So, we want to think of a complex sentence which is a basic idea, you know, basic sentence,
subject, verb, object, and we add information to it.
Okay?
And today's lesson we're going to go through...
Well, this is E's idea.
He's got a concept.
A concept is an abstract or a general idea, and E's playing a game here to help you remember
all of the ways that we use subordinating conjunctions to make complex sentences.
These are special words that tell us which part of the sentence is adding information
to the basic sentence.
Are you ready?
Let's go to the board.
All right, so we're going to use one of my favourite people in the whole world as an
example on this one, Bitsy.
Hi, Bitsy.
Okay, so concept.
Concept, as I said, is a general idea, so we're going to say, "Well, what is the concept?
What is the general idea?"
Well, some of you have played this game, and my friend I work with went, "You know, most
of these people don't speak English, so they don't play this game", and walked out of the
room.
It was embarrassing.
He has a point, so hopefully you've heard of it.
It's a girl...
Girl.
It's a game called Scrabble.
We have this game, you know, in English-speaking countries where we take these pieces of wood
with letters on them, and we mix them around and we make up words.
When we make up the word, it's a real word, and you can get points and win the game.
In this case, we're using the Scrabble pieces to help you with this concept, and the concept
is subordinating conjunctions.
And let's get started.
"Con" in Latin means "with" or "together".
Okay?
"Sept" is our idea we're putting together, and the first, and we have C4 because there
are four things we want to talk about.
I'll just label them so you know which are the four, so we've got 1, 2, 3, and 4.
The four Cs will start with a reason or a cause.
Next, we use these words to show what we call the dependent clause.
Remember I told you "SVO" is the basic part of the sentence?
We would say that's the independent clause.
"I like ice cream" is a single idea, and we work from that and we can add. […]

Have Better Conversations: The S.E.A. Small Talk Method

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2025-02-27 | Want to improve your small talk and have better conversations in English? In this lesson, I’ll teach you the S.E.A. Method—a simple, three-step formula that makes small talk easy, natural, and engaging. Learn how to tell short, emotion-filled stories that grab attention and make people want to keep talking to you. Whether you’re shy, learning English, or just want to improve your social skills, this lesson will help! Watch now and start using this method in your everyday conversations. engvid.com/have-better-conversations-sea-small-talk

Next, check out more of my videos about small talk:
3 Keys to Small Talk youtu.be/gbfV0b8Tn0A
Conversation Skills: 5 questions to make you the most interesting person in the room youtu.be/hOXNssFPEnM
My full playlist of videos about how to have great conversations: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1MxVBsQo85qo3qUIS4W1us13EnDt8nVA

In this lesson:
0:00 Use the S.E.A. method for better small talk
3:02 1. Simple
4:49 2. Emotion
6:16 3. Action
8:28 Examples
13:57 Conclusion

TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, look. E on the sea. He's a seaman. He's got a little boat. I think he's in the American Navy. He's got his little cap on. Why is he on the sea? Well, today is a specific method working on small talk. You might be thinking, "What is small talk? Why is it important? I need to do big conversations and big presentations, and I need to make friends, and I want to get a partner. All of these involve big talk or a lot of talk, serious talk." I got to tell you a little secret, and the secret is this. Anything that goes big starts out from something small. Small talk is the talk that you have with someone that gets them interested in you to want to have more conversations.

Now, if you're an introvert and you speak English, this is something we need to work on as native speakers, but if you're also a language learner learning English, small talk is your way to get into these larger conversations because someone who's really good at small talk invites bigger, better conversations because the people think you're capable of them. Okay?

Now, E, we got the SEA method, right? S-E-A method, and there's three steps for this which leads to an easy conversation for you, good conversation starter, or how to go from one conversation, small one, to a larger one. Excuse me. What I want to address is how we're going to use our small talk. There's many different ways of getting to small talk, asking questions about something someone's wearing and other things. Today I want to really focus in on stories. Why stories? Because stories, humankind, mankind, people have for thousands of years sat around fires, you know, you can imagine there's a fire, the cold's going up and the people sitting there, it's dark at night, and they hear "Woo-hoo", the wolves, so they're in a circle, huddled, you know, holding together, and then someone would tell a story. "A long time ago when the great moon came down, and our fathers", and it brought the people together. So, stories create connection, bringing different people together.

The other thing about stories, when we tell stories, we can take the everyday, and I meant it this way, the everyday means regular day, not every day, Monday, Tuesday, but your regular day, and we can make it extraordinary. Because in a story, you take an everyday event, and we take a regular person and we make them special. Now, when you do that in small talk, you make the person you're speaking to feel special. Now, how are we going to do that? Well, we have three steps, and as you can see, we're missing them, but I'm going to fill them in and explain them to you so you will be able to start making your own stories and making the everyday extraordinary with small talk. You ready? Let's begin.

The first one you see here is "S", right? It's an acronym... "C" is an acronym for three words. The first one is "S", and after it says simple one-sentence story. Well, if you have a simple one-sentence story, it's going to be short. And how short is it? One sentence. We don't want to make it too long. Why? You're learning about language. You're already having a hard time, you're nervous using this language, talking to people, so if you have a big story in your head and you make mistakes and you're getting it wrong, what's going to happen is you get more nervous and you might forget parts of the story and you're going to lose the person's interest. So, why don't we make a story very, very short? In marketing and advertising, they call this type of thing a "elevator pitch", and if you're wondering what an elevator pitch is, you know when an elevator moves at a certain speed going up or going down, and they would say you should be able to tell your story between the floors. […]

AFFECT or EFFECT? Infer or Imply? Sympathy or Empathy?

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2025-02-03 | Do you have sympathy for someone or empathy? Did the medicine have an affect on you, or an effect? Did the world leader infer that he was going to attack or imply it? Don’t worry, even many native English speakers get these wrong! In this class, I’ll explain three of the most commonly misused word pairs in English and show you simple tricks to remember the correct meanings and usage. Stop making these mistakes, sound more confident, and have fun with the language. Perfect for intermediate and advanced English learners who want to polish up their vocabulary! Watch now and never misuse these words again. engvid.com/affect-effect-infer-imply-sympathy-empathy

More of my vocabulary lessons:
Improve Your Vocabulary: 8 Words for Intermediate English Learners youtu.be/Aa7f_NdYNqs
7 Ways to Master Vocabulary youtu.be/r9BQLR-08Ic

In this lesson:
0:00 3 Pairs of Confusing Words
1:20 "affect" or "effect"?
3:49 "sympathy" or "empathy"?
10:37 "imply" or "infer"?

TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, that or this?
First of all, it's "this" or "that".
Hi.
James from engVid.
He's doing a common mistake called a "malapropism".
What?
Malapropism?
Don't worry.
I don't know what it means either.
It means...
Really?
It means word confusion.
It's when we use the wrong word in a different situation.
In this case-right?-so you don't need to know the big word "malapropism", just know that
you're using a word that you think means this, but it may not.
And that could be for a variety of reasons.
It can be because it's a homophone, which means it sounds the same, but when you write
it down, they look different.
Or it can actually have a different meaning, even though they kind of look the same.
Right?
So, today I have chosen six words, and we're calling them pairs because usually the person
will make the mistake thinking one word means the other.
But I'm going to try and show you in a way that you won't make that mistake.
Okay?
And to make this lesson fun, because learning English is hard, and you're here to work,
but there's no reason you can't have a little fun, I'm going to throw in a fun fact for
you to help you remember these things.
Are you ready?
Let's go to the board.
You might notice the first one says "action verb", something is changing or making a difference,
versus "Batman v Superman".
We know who won that one, right?
Versus "what you get in the end".
This is a commonly confused pair of words, with even native speakers making this mistake,
because they sound very similar, it's a slight difference in pronunciation, but how you're
supposed to use them is very different.
Okay?
And the first difference we can see is one is a verb and one is a noun.
Okay?
And I'm going to put it here and I'm going to help you with it, because it's going to
start with "a", and this is "effect".
When you use this word, you want to show a difference or a change.
So, if someone's using "medicine", for instance, you would say "How is the medicine affecting
them?
What change is happening because they're taking the medicine?"
And I've done "a" and "a" so you can remember, think of a verb and think of an action, that's
what's happening when you get an effect.
Now, what about the other word that people confuse it?
Ah, they almost look so much the same, that's the problem, and that's "effect".
When we talk about the effect of something, we talk about the end result.
What was the end?
So, we say "How is the medicine affecting Victoria?"
And you can say "The effect was she lost her foot."
That's the end.
Do-do-dum-dum-psh.
Another nice ending, but that's the effect, and we can remember that by looking at the
letter "e" for "effect".
So, if you want to talk about the end result of something, use "effect", which is a noun,
but when you want to talk about the action of something, how it's changing, use "affect"
with the "a".
All right.
I already know some of you guys out there, you keyboard warriors, "James, there's time
so 'effect' can be a verb, too, and you're forgetting 'affect' as a noun, which is a
psychological..."
I don't care.
I talk...
I'm talking about how we normally use it, and I just told you I know.
Okay?
Okay.
But that's not for this lesson.
I'm talking about, basically, how it's used and misused.
And as long as we can remember, I think ending for "effect" and "affect" with "action", you're
going to beat most native speakers.
Cool?
All right.
All right.
The next one I'm going to talk about is this one.
"The subject can see the pain in the other person and feel sorry for them", versus...
I feel like I'm in a Tyson fight.
I wouldn't be in a Tyson fight if he...
He out.
He didn't even fight.
He's leaving.
He doesn't want to die.
Sorry.
Serious.
Okay.
Okay.
The next one is "to experience the emotions of another person". […]

The Expectation Effect: 3 Mental Methods to Learn English Faster

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2025-01-15 | Want to learn English more effectively? Today we’re exploring “The Expectation Effect” by David Robson and discovering three powerful mental techniques that can transform your English learning journey. You’ll learn how to create empowering study rituals, use mental rehearsal to accelerate your progress, and build unstoppable willpower for language learning. Perfect for students who feel stuck in their English studies or want to break through to the next level. Learn how top performers like Serena Williams use these same techniques to achieve excellence, and how you can apply them to master English, and master it faster. engvid.com/the-expectation-effect-3-mental-methods-to-learn-english-faster

More of my videos about improving your learning skills:
How to stay motivated to learn youtu.be/LzhvbQhO6uk
5 ways meditation will help you learn youtu.be/5OzqpVBGnLY

In this lesson:
0:00 3 Rules for Learning More Effectively
1:49 Ritual: Rinse & Repeat
6:44 Rehearsal: Mental Practice
10:50 Reinforce: Willpower & Focus

TRANSCRIPT:
The Expection... "Expection"? "Expectation Effect". Oh, hi. James from engVid. Oh, yeah. We're doing a new segment. It's a book review. These are books that I want to give you that are going to help you learn better, so you become effective and efficient at learning.

The first book I would like to show you is this one, "The Expectation Effect" by a guy named David Robertson. Okay? So, this book is going to teach us a... Change our mindset so we can learn well, because after all, we all don't have a lot of time, and if you're going to spend it learning English, you want to make sure you get the most out of your time. Right?

So, I'm going to go over the three main ideas that I thought were important that will help you speed up your learning, but also make it an enjoyable process, because after all, I know you're here to work hard, but you don't want to feel like it's hard work. And once you use these techniques, we'll use them to help us learn English, so by learning English you'll know they work, but you'll also be able to use them for other things that you want to study. Anyway, enough talk. Let's go to the board. I have three words, but before I go there, I want to show you this thing, "The Expectation Effect". That's the book. All right? And I said it's by David Robertson... Robson. And you'll notice that Mr. E seems to be eating his tail. This is an old, old symbol. I like it because I like to think of it as eternal renewal, and what that means is you're forever making yourself better. So, it's a cycle that goes up and up, and that's what we really want when we learn skills, that each skill we learn makes us better and better people; in this case, better and better learners.

In my opinion, from what I took from the book, there are three main ideas that they try and start with, and the first one I want to talk about is Serena Williams. Now, if you watch tennis, you'll know she's been a champion for a long time, and I can't remember exactly, but I believe before she starts a match, she bounces the ball once, two, three, four, and then she hits. Well, she does that for almost every single match, and there's a guy named Rafael Nadal, he takes a cold shower before he does his matches. Every match. Now, when you do something... I want to say the word "precursor", I know it's a long word, but you do something before you do something else. So in doing it, like when you go in the shower, you take off your clothes. When you do that, you know, okay, now I'm going to go in the shower. And you do that every time before you start it, we can say it's a ritual. Some people have a ritual of they get up in the morning, they go to the washroom, and pee-pee. Some people get out of bed and go right downstairs and get a special coffee and make coffee. Delicious. Some people say a prayer. I don't know what your ritual is to start your day, but you know that when you're not able to do it, it makes the day harder. Why am I telling you this? Well, a lot of times when you start studying English, you actually just sit down, open the books, and then you go, "Oh god, I've got to study, it's so hard." If you think about the rituals I talked about, you do them to wake you up and get you ready. Now, in the book, The Expectation Effect, he talks about people who have rituals and they know that these rituals are specifically to help them do something, play sports, study, which is what we're doing, you know, or prepare for our hard speech. The ritual helps to get them energized and ready to go. It actually activates their brain to get your brain, what we call "primed", being ready to do its best work. I would like you to think about what ritual you can do. When I do this, I'm going to say "rinse" and "repeat". […]

Advanced English: 5 Idioms with Unexpected Histories

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2024-12-27 | Learn the real meanings and origins of 5 common English idioms, like “blood is thicker than water” and “curiosity killed the cat.” Learn how the idioms and their meanings have changed over time and how you can use these surprising facts to start engaging conversations. Perfect for intermediate and advanced learners who want to sound smarter in English. Watch, learn, and impress your friends with these fascinating idiom facts! Then take the quiz: engvid.com/advanced-english-5-idioms-with-unexpected-histories

More of my videos that will help you have better conversations:
Conversation skills: 5 questions to make you the most interesting person in the room youtu.be/hOXNssFPEnM
3 keys to small talk youtu.be/gbfV0b8Tn0A

In this lesson:
0:00 5 Idioms that mean the OPPOSITE of what they used to!
1:42 "Blood is thicker than water."
5:24 "a few bad apples"
7:08 "Jack of all trades, master of none"
9:47 "Great minds think alike."
12:37 "Curiosity killed the cat."
15:07 Review

TRANSCRIPT:

[Humming] E! What's confusing you? Oh, hi. James from engVid. Listen. E. wants to do this lesson with you, and it's kind of interesting. Because a lot of times, you'll do idioms. People will teach you idioms, right. But he has an idea where we can use idioms as conversation starters. Now how would we do this? Because everybody knows the idioms, right? "It's raining like cats and dogs." How do you start a conversation like that? You can't, really. If it's raining, they're going to go, "Duh, yeah, it's raining."

But what happens if we gave you five idioms that people probably don't know the total idiom? Because it's been changed through time. And with that change through time, sometimes it means the exact opposite of what they're using it for. And that is a cool conversation starter. You have a depth of knowledge that you can share with someone else.

So I'm going to give you the first one when we go to the board. Now, I'm going to give you the idiom as it's supposed to be, okay? But then I'm going to write what people say, so you can see the difference between what is said and what it used to be, and then we can quickly discuss why it might be the opposite or it has greater information that's given, and you'll see people go, "Hmm. I never knew that." And that makes you look smart. And that's what we want. Not that you're smart. That people take interest in you because you can bring something new to them. So let's go to the board, shall we?

Okay, so here is some blood. I know, not pretty, but some blood, and there's some water causing ripples. So we got blood and water. Why am I showing that? Well, in Western society, specifically North American and, you know, English society, or, you know, England, the island, the British Isles, they love to say this particular idiom. However, this was the original. "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the room, the room, the womb." A womb is like a room, but not really. Okay, so a lot of complicated language here. So you might be like, "What the heck?" Well, when you have a covenant, it's sort of people coming together and making a vow or a promise to each other to be like brothers. Right? So you say, "You are like my brother, and I'm your brother. We will work together." It's a covenant. It's the agreement we make with each other. We are not related. Right? So we make an agreement with each other to work as family. Okay? But this is something you find and you choose. This is the important part. Right? Now, when you look at "water of the womb", I've gained a bit of weight, so just leave me alone. Okay? I'm not going on Ozempic, whatever. The womb is when a woman is pregnant, she has a big belly. Okay? Well, you're inside of that. And when you're inside the womb, you share your mother's water, because it's water. So what this is saying, "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb", is kind of true, because blood is... got more stuff in it than water. But the idea is the friends that you make... the friends that you make and the people you call that you decide to be your family actually have a stronger connection for you and are better than the water of the womb than family you have. So it's not just your mother. But they're saying if you have family that you were born into, and you have family that you have created, decided to create through people from work or friends that you have met, those bonds are stronger and they should be stronger, because you decided to make them. When you were born into a family, you were just born into it. But when you make a decision, you've consciously thought about it, so they probably share more of your values. Yeah? Cool?

Well, here's the funny thing. [Clears throat] The saying today is this. "Blood is thicker than water". Now, we know blood is thicker than water, but they've changed it to mean that family […]

Listening, Vocabulary, Comprehension: Learn Advanced Words with a Story

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2024-12-10 | Listening + Vocabulary = Comprehension. Listen to a short detective story featuring 7 advanced English words like “ambiguous”, “albeit”, and “inevitable.” First, listen to the story and try to follow along. Then, learn the meanings of these challenging words with practical examples. Next, you’ll listen to the story again to see how your comprehension has improved. Finally, do a quiz to really test yourself. Perfect for intermediate and advanced learners who want to level up their English skills! Grab your pen and paper, and let’s start the journey to mastering advanced vocabulary. engvid.com/learn-7-advanced-english-words-through-storytelling

More of my "Listening, Vocabulary, Comprehension" videos:
7 Advanced Words - "pragmatic", "eloquent", "ubiquitous" & more youtu.be/uuoxvt81rjA
8 English Expressions youtu.be/LnAUN66IQgw

In this lesson:
0:00 Listening, Vocabulary, Comprehension: 7 Advanced Words
1:38 Listening Comprehension
2:30 Learn the vocabulary
3:24 ambiguous
4:37 albeit
6:07 unconventional
8:04 conjecture
9:46 profound
12:10 implication
15:57 inevitable
18:18 Listening Comprehension
19:10 Quiz

TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, how's it going?
You like my Batman cuffs?
Sweetheart.
Hey.
Hi.
James from EngVid.
What's...
What's going on here?
Why is the board empty?
Oh.
Guys, you're in for a treat.
This lesson is what we call an LVC lesson.
What's going to happen in this lesson is you notice there's nothing on the board right
now, but soon we'll have the board filled with information to help you.
LVC stands for "listening", "vocabulary", and "comprehension".
What's going to occur here is I'm going to read you a story, I'm going to click my fingers,
and then we're going to take seven words of vocabulary that you probably don't know, teach
you what they mean, listen one more time to make sure you've got comprehension with these
new words to understand the story you're being told, and then we'll have a very quick
quiz to check that comprehension.
It's a complete lesson, you'll enjoy it, so I'm going to ask you right now to please grab
a pen and paper because you're going to want to take notes on this one.
You might have to listen to it a couple times, but I promise you from the ones we've done
before, a lot of people go from "I didn't understand" to "I 100% understand the story"
and have a greater appreciation for vocabulary and the words we're teaching.
So, get your pen, get your paper, get comfortable, and get ready for the story.
Meanwhile, at the police headquarters, the captain was getting more and more angry, trying
to understand the ambiguous text message left by Detective E, who was at the crime scene.
E was a good detective, albeit a little unconventional for being a cop.
This made the other cops make assumptions about the quality of his work.
But Detective E had the profound ability to make the right decisions which would have
great implications on finding and arresting criminals.
It was inevitable that Detective E and the captain were going to get into a big argument
about how Detective E worked on this case.
The captain thought out loud.
Okay, so now you've heard the story, I know you're probably really confused.
And your confusion is understandable because to understand something, whether you're reading it,
or as if you're reading it, or you're listening to it, you need to understand at least 90% of
the words, I'd say 80 to 90, to comprehend or understand what's being said.
Once you get past the 80%, you know, 70, 60, you basically don't understand what's going on.
It's a shame, but I'm going to help correct that by teaching you the seven words I picked
on purpose to make it difficult for you so that you can understand the story when we
read it again and when we do the quiz.
Are you ready?
Let's go to the board.
Now, I have some examples here I'm reading from because it is a hard story for you and for me.
Let's go for the first word.
So, the first word you heard was "ambiguous".
The simple meaning of "ambiguous" is something is not clear.
Right?
So it's not easy to understand, it's not clear.
Other words people will use for "not clear" are "vague" and "unclear", "unclear".
Why is this word important to go from intermediate to advanced?
Well, it helps you recognize that you could have more than one meaning in a word.
When something's ambiguous, it could mean this or it could mean that.
It's not clear so you can't say, "Oh, it's absolutely five."
It could be five or six.
For example, when I say...
Well, let me give you a really good example.
"Marty's ambiguous response made me think there was more going on."
So, instead of saying, "Hey, I'm going to come to the party for sure",
they say, "It sounds like a good idea."
Well, is that yes or no?
That's ambiguous, you haven't said it.
[…]

Expand Your Vocabulary: Say More Than “HAPPY” & “SAD”

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2024-11-16 | How do you feel? “Happy?” “Bored?” How about using words that are more precise and expressive? You’ll be sharing more of who you are when you speak, and you’ll sound smarter, too! In this vocabulary class, you’ll learn 11 words you can use to describe how you feel more accurately. We’ll talk about words like “delighted”, “ecstatic”, “grateful”, “content”, “frustrated”, “fed up”, “depressed”, and more. Learn these words and try to make sure to use them yourself when it makes sense. Express yourself with a rainbow of words! engvid.com/expand-your-vocabulary-say-more-than-happy-sad

Keep expanding your vocabulary with these videos:
Improve Your Vocabulary: Stop Saying "Bad" youtu.be/dM_1lc32SsI
Improve Your Vocabulary: Stop Saying "Sorry" youtu.be/Vf0on6KQP2Y

In this lesson:
0:00 11 words to use instead of "happy" & "sad"
0:56 content
2:07 grateful
3:18 delighted
5:17 ecstatic
7:59 discontent
9:11 fed up & sick and tired
9:36 frustrated
11:00 depressed
12:43 confused & mixed up

TRANSCRIPT:
If I was the richest man in Babylon, if I was the richest man in...
Hi.
James from engVid, reading a book about being the richest person.
I have feelings about that; I'm sure you do.
Some of you will say, "I'm happy.
I would be very happy.
I'd be extremely happy."
Hmm.
Well, that's kind of limited.
Some people also say "sad" or "tired" or "bored", and I want to give you a rainbow
of words to use to express how you feel, because learning a language is great, but
being able to express yourself is even better.
So I want to do a lesson today, or Ian and I want to, on how you feel, and I'm going
to try to introduce to you other words that can help you express your emotions so people
can really know you.
Cool?
And besides, you'll sound smarter, too.
Let's go to the board.
The first one we're looking at is "peaceful" and "satisfied".
You probably don't know this word, but it's a word you've seen many times for different
reasons, and it means, you know, you're generally happy.
Everything's kind of going okay for you.
Now, this word is "content".
You've probably seen it before, like "contents of the bottle", "content this and that",
but it just means you're content because if you were a bottle, everything is okay.
Imagine a bottle of Coke, if you shake it, it explodes.
Right?
The contents, what's inside comes out, explodes.
But if you keep it just nice and, oh, calm, the contents stay stable, nice, little bubbles
floating up.
It's very pretty to look at.
That's you when you're content, sitting at home, watching a soccer game with a beer,
or a Coke and a piece of pizza with your favourite friend, content.
But let's move it up a notch.
You're content, which is great, but you know what makes me feel better?
When someone does something nice for me.
Right?
Or you do something nice for someone else.
You get a feeling, a different feeling than content, because it makes you a little bit
happier because you're not just happy because you're happy, you're happy because another
person has come into your life, or you've gone into their life, and you've given them
something to make them happy.
When that happens, you get to be grateful.
It's like saying "thank you", but in your heart you feel the thank you.
So you're grateful if someone makes a meal for you and you're sick.
You're sick, you've got to take care of yourself, your mother makes some soup for you, or your
dad makes some bread for you and brings it to you, you're like, "Oh, thank you, I needed
it so badly.
You did it for me."
And that is a step above being content, because content is just happy with yourself.
Now you're happy because someone has done something for you.
Isn't that cool?
Right?
Grateful.
And if you look at our picture, I almost forgot, this is the good side.
There's always a bad side.
Okay.
So...
Okay.
Now, what could be better than being grateful and, you know, being content?
Do you remember I said when you're content it's about you or I, right?
And I got too excited and I put an extra "I" in there.
Okay?
It's not always about me and I.
Right?
But let's move down to number three.
Something has happened that gives you great pleasure.
Right?
What would that be?
Well, when you feel good, it's kind of funny, you feel light.
Right?
You feel light.
You feel like there's no weight on your shoulders, everything feels good.
You feel like you could just fly away, it feels so good.
Right?
So, I like this word because "delighted".
And you can use it in so many ways.
If your friend comes over to your house or says, you know, "I'm coming to Toronto, I
want to visit you", you say, "I would be delighted, that would make me feel so good, it would
make my heart just sing and raise up" […]

3 Common Problems in Learning English (+ how to solve them)

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2024-06-19 | Are you feeling stuck in English? Watch and learn how to improve your English faster. Understand how three common mistakes – fear, overthinking, and inconsistent practice – can slow down your progress. I’ll teach you how to focus on learning, aim for communication, and set realistic goals through regular practice. Make a breakthrough now by applying these effective learning techniques. You can do it! engvid.com/3-common-problems-in-learning-english-how-to-solve-them

More of my videos about how to get better at learning English:
How to stay motivated to learn youtu.be/LzhvbQhO6uk
4 ways to learn English faster and better youtu.be/yQZhvkOeMhY

In this lesson:
0:00 3 mistakes keeping you from learning success
0:35 1. Fear of mistakes
1:09 2. Over-thinking grammar
2:34 3. Lack of consistent practice
3:36 Mistakes are part of learning
5:31 Focus on communication
7:32 Set realistic goals
9:09 Review

Improve Your Vocabulary: 8 Words for Intermediate English Learners

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2024-05-24 | Want to take your English to a higher level? Join me now to go from basic and general to precise English! You’ll learn eight words to express complex ideas such as making better, getting used to, in addition, as a result, from a contrasting viewpoint, and more. The words we'll talk about include 'enhance', 'convey', and 'furthermore'. Speak and write more effectively in personal, professional, and academic contexts with this more advanced vocabulary! Then, take the quiz here: engvid.com/improve-your-vocabulary-8-words-for-intermediate-english-learners

Check out these videos for more useful vocabulary!
Listening, Vocabulary, Comprehension: 7 Advanced Words youtu.be/uuoxvt81rjA
Improve Your Vocabulary: Stop Saying "I Know" youtu.be/FXjvpR02uNg

In this lesson:
0:00 8 Intermediate English Vocabulary Words
1:22 enhance
2:10 contribute
2:53 adapt
3:40 efficient
4:24 convey
5:18 furthermore
6:04 consequently
6:46 conversely
7:20 Conclusion

SIMPLE PAST or PRESENT PERFECT? When + how to use them!

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2024-04-30 | “I worked” or “I have worked”? “I went” or “I have gone”? What’s the difference? If you confuse the simple past and present perfect tenses, watch this lesson. You’ll learn how to use both tenses (the structure) and when to use them (the usage). You’ll understand which tense to use in terms of time, action, and signal words. Most importantly, you’ll upgrade your English by mastering these two important and commonly confused English tenses. Take the quiz on this lesson: engvid.com/simple-past-or-present-perfect-when-how-to-use-them

More of my English grammar videos:
10 Types of Nouns youtu.be/dI8il9qmzzc
How to use ALSO, TOO, AS WELL youtu.be/e4TmgzoRRr0

In this lesson:
0:00 Introduction
0:48 How to form the Simple Past
2:02 How to form the Present Perfect
5:10 What is the time frame?
9:28 Is the action completed?
13:24 Signal Words
17:57 Review

3 Keys to Learning English

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2024-04-11 | Learning a language is like building a house. You need a strong base, plan, and strategy. In this class, I’ll show you the three main steps to learning English in a simple, smart way. You’ll learn how to start with vocabulary; move on to grammar; and then improve your English through active listening, asking questions, and speaking with others. Watch now to learn English with greater success, right from the start! engvid.com/3-keys-to-learning-english

Next, watch more of my videos about how to learn English:
How to stay motivated to learn youtu.be/LzhvbQhO6uk
7 ways to master vocabulary youtu.be/r9BQLR-08Ic

In this lesson:
0:00 3 subjects beginners should study
0:59 The 3 Little Pigs/Chickens
2:08 1. Foundation = Vocabulary
4:10 2. Blueprint = Grammar
6:55 3. Build = Speaking & Listening
8:47 Review

How to stay motivated to learn

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2024-01-06 | How can you stay motivated while improving your English? In this lesson, I’ll show you four practical ways to keep your energy high and your stress low. We’ll talk about the power of goals and emotions. You’ll explore why you’re learning English and what fears are slowing you down. I’ll also explain how to use the positive and negative techniques to energize yourself physically and motivate yourself mentally to achieve real results. engvid.com/how-to-stay-motivated-to-learn

If this video helped you, check out my earlier lessons:
How to relax & stop feeling embarrassed when you speak youtu.be/klYxnqQiIJI
5 ways to improve your focus & memory youtu.be/K6-Sd7H0IGg

In this lesson:
0:00 4 ways to motivate yourself
1:28 1. Goals
3:18 2. Emotions
5:27 3. Carrot & Stick
8:43 4. Energy + Motion

English for Finance: 7 Key Terms

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-12-15 | Learn English and finance in one important lesson! You’ll understand the meaning of terms such as assets, liabilities, diversification, liquidity, dividends, risk tolerance, inflation, and ROI. We’ll also look at stocks, shares, bonds, interest, and real estate, as well as conservative, moderate, and aggressive investors. This advanced vocabulary lesson is essential for anyone who wants to understand money, as well as professional accountants, economists, and finance specialists. Test your skills with the quiz: engvid.com/english-for-finance-7-key-terms

More money & business vocabulary:
11 MONEY phrasal verbs youtu.be/ml7vkowQtNg
7 common phrasal verbs for business youtu.be/pJhCJl4CDs8

In this lesson:
0:00 Learn investment vocabulary in English
1:09 Investment Types: Real Estate, Bonds, Stock/Shares
2:50 risk tolerance
7:07 assets & liabilities
8:42 diversification
10:54 liquidity
12:38 dividends
15:57 R.O.I. & The Rule of 72
18:41 inflation
21:34 QUIZ

How to Defend Yourself in English

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-11-22 | Just because your English isn’t perfect, it doesn’t mean people can treat you badly. Watch and learn how to stand up for yourself in difficult situations. I’ll show you what to say, what to do, and how to use 5 different levels of communication to protect yourself. You’ll learn about kindness, boundaries, humor, eye contact, and more. This lesson can help to keep you safe, respected, and confident in personal, social, and professional situations. engvid.com/how-to-defend-yourself-in-english

More videos like this:
RESPECT - How to give it, how to get it youtu.be/aBe0A226ky0
Improve Your Vocabulary - Stop saying SORRY youtu.be/Vf0on6KQP2Y

In this lesson:
0:00 Defend yourself... in English
2:10 1. Respect: Boundaries & Kindness
4:02 2. The Unexpected: Humour
5:40 3. Responsibility
7:44 4. Darwin Award
9:38 5. Last Resort
12:20 Review

Listening, Vocabulary, Comprehension: 7 Advanced Words

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-10-31 | Upgrade your English easily and naturally by listening to a story! Understand and learn to use 7 advanced words. Find out if you’re pragmatic, eloquent, or tenacious. Know what it means to make a compromise, hear a cacophony, or face a conundrum. And what is the word ubiquitous, anyway? Enjoy saying more with less by watching this combined vocabulary, listening, and comprehension lesson. Then take the quiz at engvid.com/listening-vocabulary-comprehension-7-advanced-words

More Listening, Vocabulary, Comprehension videos:
8 English Expressions youtu.be/LnAUN66IQgw
Words Used in Business youtu.be/-r0FstXoNhk

In this lesson:
0:00 Learn 7 Advanced Words
1:47 LISTENING 1
2:54 VOCABULARY
3:45 pragmatic
4:18 eloquent
4:56 ubiquitous
6:07 cacophony
7:17 tenacious
8:14 conundrum
9:01 compromise
10:30 LISTENING 2
11:29 TEST

RESPECT – How to give it, how to get it

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-09-07 | Do you want to build stronger relationships in your professional and personal life? In this special lesson, I’ll show you how to earn respect for yourself by giving respect to others. You’ll learn how to remember names, shake hands, look at others, ask questions, listen politely, and end a conversation. I’ll share my best strategies to make people feel important, relaxed, excited, close, heard, and curious. I’ll also give you my SECRET to creating strong bonds, so people remember you and look forward to seeing you again! engvid.com/respect-how-to-give-it-how-to-get-it

Keep improving your communication skills with these videos!
Conversation Skills: 5 questons to ask people you meet youtu.be/hOXNssFPEnM
How to Defend Yourself in English youtu.be/Zl9xlZuH48A

00:00 Conversation Skills: 6 steps to create respect
01:04 1. How to remember their name
03:32 2. Shake hands
05:49 3. Look into their eyes
07:36 4. Ask questions
10:34 5. Shhh...
13:49 6. Stop
16:46 LISTEN!

Conversation Skills: 5 questions to make you the most interesting person in the room

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-08-04 | Not sure what to say when talking with someone new? Use these questions to come across as more interesting, and to quickly build a deeper and more meaningful connection with the people you interact with. With the questions I’ll go over with you in this video, you will skip the generic small talk and get people to open up and show the parts of themselves that are unique and that make them excited. We’ll use secrets and imagination to create a bond – maybe a bond that’ll last a lifetime. engvid.com/conversation-skills-5-questions-most-interesting-person-in-the-room

Watch more of my videos on how to have great conversations! youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1MxVBsQo85qo3qUIS4W1us13EnDt8nVA

0:00 Conversation Skills: 5 Questions to Ask
1:16 1. What's your superpower?
2:45 2. What's your secret passion or obsession?
6:34 3. What did you want to be as an adult when you were a kid?
7:08 3b. What aspects of that dream are in your life now?
8:20 4. Which actor would you want to play you in a movie?
8:59 4b. What kind of movie would it be?
10:31 5. What's the best piece of advice you have been given?
11:46 5b. Who gave it to you?
12:34 5c. How has it impacted your life?
13:31 Conclusion

7 Common PHRASAL VERBS for Business

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-07-04 | Learn English phrasal verbs that you can use in the office, in meetings, and in other professional situations. In this class, I’ll teach you how to use seven very common business English phrasal verbs. You will learn how to use: kick off, brush up on, turn down, fall through, bank on, ask around, and zero in on. We’ll do practice together to make sure you understand everything. Then it’s up to you to start using these in your conversations. Test your understanding with the quiz: engvid.com/7-common-phrasal-verbs-for-business

More of my videos about phrasal verbs:
Friendly & social phrasal verbs in English youtu.be/FnlC_Yrk7sE
8 phrasal verb opposites in English youtu.be/03VD4PvnwiA

In this lesson:
00:00 Business Phrasal Verbs
00:32 kick off
01:29 brush up on
02:36 turn down
04:03 fall through
04:57 bank on
05:57 ask around
06:59 zero in on
08:18 – Test –
13:21 What's the difference between idioms & phrasal verbs?
16:34 – Homework –

Advanced Prepositions of Time: “throughout”, “ahead of”, “at around”, “out of”…

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-06-06 | Ready to conquer time prepositions and take your English skills to the next level? Join James in this engaging tutorial designed to help you effortlessly understand and use time prepositions. No more confusion with phrases like “through,” “throughout,” or “ahead of”! James will guide you step-by-step, revealing simple tricks to nail prepositions like “at around”, “ahead of”, “out of”, “within”, and more. By the end of this lesson, you’ll be a pro at accurately expressing time. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to enhance your English fluency with James! Click now and get started! engvid.com/advanced-prepositions-of-time

Next, check out these lessons!
Learn English Prepositions: BY, UNTIL, TILL, ’TIL… youtu.be/jYyC-HDdNb8
12 Expressions of TIME in English youtu.be/ebzXpXkf9zY

In this video:
00:00 Advanced Prepositions of Time
01:04 through & throughout
02:06 out of
03:00 at around & at about
05:05 during
06:23 ahead of
06:58 within
07:54 between
09:56 – Test –
14:30 by the time
15:42 on the dot
16:12 just in time
16:59 – Homework –

Expand Your English Vocabulary: 10 Adjectives for Describing Food

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-05-19 | Do you want to talk about food in more interesting ways? Are you tired of using the same words over and over again? Then this vocabulary lesson is perfect for you! I will teach you how to make your food descriptions more exciting and vivid. You’ll learn words like gooey, greasy, creamy, crunchy, crisp, moist, tender, and more. Ever had a cookie that falls apart easily? It was crumbly. Don’t worry, I will explain all these adjectives and give you examples, so you can understand them easily. Whether you love cooking, enjoy eating, or simply want to learn more English words, this video is for you! engvid.com/english-vocabulary-10-adjectives-for-describing-food

Next, check out these videos:
HEALTHY FOOD vocabulary youtu.be/bPPenS5d9NE
Use these adjectives instead of VERY! youtu.be/PCoyTwltu5g

00:00 Improve Your Vocabulary: Food Texture
01:24 gooey
01:57 greasy
03:02 crunchy
03:33 crumbly
04:28 creamy
05:30 moist
06:30 crisp
08:17 – Test –
11:53 chewy
12:56 sticky
13:34 tender
14:39 – Homework –

British English Slang: What does it mean???

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-04-18 | Were you chuffed or miffed when your posh mate got pissed? Do you think my jacket looks naff? Fancy a snog? In this video, you’ll learn some British English slang, and find out what words have similar meanings in North American English. By the way, I was born in England. Now sod off! engvid.com/british-english-slang-what-does-it-mean

More of my videos about English slang:
8 Common Slang Phrases in English youtu.be/jnJHFaIPjgs
English Vocabulary: Using names as nouns, verbs, adjectives... youtu.be/9jIna0huHmU

In this lesson:
00:00 British Slang: What does it mean?
01:55 bloke = guy/dude
02:13 mate = friend
02:33 bird = girl
03:25 fit = good-looking
04:30 chuffed = pleased
04:55 pissed = drunk
05:40 miffed = upset
06:39 bollocks = test...
07:24 posh = fancy
08:03 naff = tacky
09:09 – Test –
12:30 snog = messy kissing
13:10 CENSORED BY YOUTUBE
13:34 sod off = get lost
14:19 – Homework –

Improve Your Vocabulary: Stop Saying BAD!

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-03-21 | You don’t need to use the same word over and over. Improve your vocabulary and you’ll sound more intelligent – it’s as simple as that. Instead of just calling everything you don’t like “bad”, try using more precise words instead. For example, you might replace “bad” with “tacky” or “dowdy”. You will sound more nat11:16 PM 2023-03-20ural and intelligent, and your words will also paint a clearer picture for the people you’re speaking with. Since we use words to think, you’ll even paint a clearer picture for yourself by using more exact vocabulary. In this class, I’ll teach you many words you can use instead of just “bad”, and I’ll also show you the opposite words you can use to discuss positive characteristics. Using these adjectives on the speaking section of IELTS and TOEFL exams will impress your examiner and improve your score. Remember: variety is the spice of life! engvid.com/stop-saying-bad

If you liked this video, check out these lessons:
Say More Than "HAPPY" & "SAD" youtu.be/Fwp_YfBBxb0
Stop saying "I KNOW" youtu.be/FXjvpR02uNg

In this lesson:
00:00 Stop saying "bad": Vocabulary to use instead
01:46 dowdy
02:22 snazzy
02:33 cheesy
03:25 elegant
03:41 dusty
04:32 successful & affluent
04:45 nasty
05:05 pleasant
05:21 gross
05:43 lovely
06:01 corny
06:39 sophisticated
07:03 tacky
08:28 tasteful
09:30 – Quiz –
12:53 sketchy
13:09 dodgy
13:35 grotty
14:24 – Homework –
15:29 – Quote of the day –

7 Ways to Master Vocabulary

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-03-09 | Use these 7 methods to build your vocabulary. These techniques will guarantee that you encounter new words, learn them, remember them, and use them! Before you know it, you’ll have a rich vocabulary – and with it, a richer, more vibrant experience of life. engvid.com/7-ways-to-master-vocabulary

More of my videos about how to learn English:
Learn 10x more vocabulary with Word Webs! youtu.be/e_aA-Hc74Ag
Remember anything with the Memory Palace method youtu.be/PfHNo9HlC8c

In this lesson:
00:00 – 7 ways to master vocabulary –
00:26 Why build your vocabulary?
01:22 1. Use a dictionary & thesaurus
02:57 2. Play word games
03:55 3. Subscribe to word of the day
05:21 4. Make flash cards
06:27 5. READ!
08:38 6. Have conversations
10:10 7. Watch EngVid lessons
11:08 – 5 keys to having strong vocabulary –
15:49 – Homework –
17:08 – Quotes of the Day –

How to Answer the 5 HARDEST Job Interview Questions

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-02-14 | Boost your interview confidence and get the job you’re after! Learn how to answer the 5 hardest interview questions and leave a lasting impression on your potential employer. With my tips and real-life examples, you’ll be equipped to DESTROY any job interview. Job interviews are stressful – you have one chance to stand out and secure your dream job. I can’t help you be better at your job, but if you are good at what you do, these tips may help show your potential employer that they should give you a chance. engvid.com/5-hardest-job-interview-questions

Check out more of my lessons about workplace English!
How to answer 5 of the most common job interview questions youtu.be/YXYx7366YcQ
How to solve 5 common workplace problems youtu.be/IUnEoJ1NdMw

In this lesson:
00:00 The 5 Hardest Job Interview Questions
01:10 Why do you want to change jobs?
04:41 What is your weakness?
07:47 How do you deal with conflict?
11:28 Why should we hire you?
14:12 Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
19:52 How would your colleagues describe you?
22:57 Tell us about a mistake you made.

Learn English Vocabulary: Pregnancy & having a baby

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-01-26 | Learn all the vocabulary you need to talk about having a baby and being pregnant. I will teach you medical vocabulary, slang phrases, and important verbs that all have to do with getting and being pregnant. You’ll learn how to talk about different ways people get pregnant, what happens during pregnancy, and on to the time when the baby finally is born. I got an ultrasound and all I saw inside me was Mr. E. Take the quiz to test your understanding: engvid.com/learn-english-vocabulary-pregnancy-baby

More vocabulary for real life:
Wedding & Marriage Vocabulary in English youtu.be/WAe-8xoiDEk
Learn Real English: Getting sick and buying medicine youtu.be/tcVNEK0U78U

How To Solve 5 Common Workplace Problems

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2023-01-12 | Knowing exactly what to say will help you get out of problems at work that almost everyone has at one time or another. In this video, I’ll show you how you can respond confidently, yet still professionally, when you encounter certain very common problems at work. We’ll talk about what you can say when your employer is giving you too much work, when a colleague is acting as if they’re your boss, when a long conversation isn’t going anywhere, and more. Next time you have one of these issues at work, try using one of my suggested responses and let me know in the comments how it goes. engvid.com/how-to-solve-5-common-workplace-problems

More of my workplace English videos:
How to answer 5 of the most common JOB INTERVIEW questions youtu.be/YXYx7366YcQ
How to be more professional at work: 5 phrases to use youtu.be/4vjryGkgeYE

In this lesson:
00:00 How to deal with 5 common workplace problems
01:48 What to do when your employer is adding to your work
03:25 How to stop someone from acting like they are your boss
05:14 How to stop someone from interrupting you... again and again
08:09 How to get to the point in a long conversation
11:34 – Review –
13:55 Repeat the last few words someone says
16:17 – Homework –

Compound Word Mistakes: ALRIGHT or ALL RIGHT? AWHILE or A WHILE? EVERYDAY or EVERY DAY?

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-12-09 | Is it “a lot” or “alot”? Or maybe “allot”? Today we’re talking about compound words in English. These words sound the same or very similar when we say them, but in writing we need to know which to use. Autocorrect won’t help you here – it will often choose the wrong word for you! In some cases, these compound words are different accepted spellings of the same word. Sometimes, though, they’re words with different meanings. And sometimes, one version is just wrong! Learn these once and for all so you don’t have to search for the answer every time you want to write an email. Then test your knowledge with the quiz: engvid.com/compound-word-mistakes

Next, learn about more common English mistakes with these videos:
One-Minute English: Confusing Words youtu.be/j5BwUE880G8
Learn English: "Make" or "Do"? youtu.be/lvKA9rH_WlU

In this lesson:
00:00 5 Compound Word Mistakes in English
01:01 "a while" or "awhile"?
02:21 "all right" or "alright"?
04:22 "everyday" or "every day"?
06:03 "altogether" or "all together"?
07:18 "alot", "a lot", or "allot"?
09:18 – Quiz –
12:44 "some time" or "sometime"?
14:08 – Homework –

RELAX and stop feeling embarrassed when you speak

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-11-14 | No one likes to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable in front of people. There are good reasons for having these strong feelings when we have to talk with people or when we try to use a new language we haven’t mastered yet. But in this video, I’ll show you that some of these feelings might not be serving us so well anymore. I’ll show you how you can use relaxation techniques to reduce the feelings of embarrassment and strengthen your confidence and performance. engvid.com/relax-and-stop-feeling-embarrassed-when-you-speak

Check out more of my videos about learning skills!
5 Ways Meditation Will Help You Learn youtu.be/5OzqpVBGnLY
Learning a language? Don't let these 3 ideas hold you back youtu.be/nvtwawl4MKg

In this lesson:
00:00 Introduction
00:47 Breathing exercise
04:43 Master embarrassment
08:21 Is your ego helping you or hurting you?
09:50 Risk & Reward
10:32 Why relaxation is important
15:28 Relaxation exercise
17:57 Homework
18:58 Get comfortable with embarrassment

How to answer 5 of the most common job interview questions

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-10-22 | Be prepared and get the job. In this video, I’ll show you five of the most common questions you’re likely to be asked in a job interview in North America, and I’ll give you my suggestions on how you can answer. It’s not a matter of memorizing my answers, though. You need to think for yourself and see how to answer these questions the best way for yourself, so that you present yourself in the best light to your future employer. Preparation is key. Take the first step by watching this video. engvid.com/5-most-common-job-interview-questions

Next, check out my video on the 5 HARDEST interview questions: youtu.be/MfSJ6HbXMlw

In this lesson:
00:00 5 Common Job Interview Questions – and how to answer them
01:20 1. Tell me about yourself
04:02 2. How did you hear about the job/company?
06:28 3. What are your salary expectations?
08:15 4. Independent or team worker?
09:58 5. Why didn't you work during...?
14:41 elevator pitch
15:44 salary range
16:40 job offer
17:02 salary expectations
18:30 – Homework –
21:04 – Quote of the day –

Improve your Vocabulary: Stop saying SORRY!

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-10-04 | “Sorry” is a useful word, but it’s not the right word for every situation. It loses its power when used too much and in the wrong situations. In this video, I’ll give you more precise and powerful words to use in situations you’ll face in life. We’ll cover words and expressions including “whoops”, “my bad”, “sorry about that”, “pardon me”, and “excuse me”, as well as ones you can use in more serious situations such as “I want to apologize”, “please forgive me”, and more. engvid.com/improve-your-vocabulary-stop-saying-sorry

More Improve Your Vocabulary videos:
Improve Your Vocabulary: Stop saying OKAY! youtu.be/GuIPxcXwF30
Improve Your Vocabulary: Stop saying I KNOW! youtu.be/FXjvpR02uNg

In this lesson:
00:00 ~ Introduction –
01:13 Why you should stop using "sorry" so much
02:20 – Light Mistakes –
02:31 whoops
03:08 my bad
03:50 sorry about that
04:25 – Excuse Yourself –
04:42 excuse me
06:57 pardon me
08:43 – Serious Mistakes –
09:21 I want to apologize
09:51 please forgive me
12:23 I didn't mean to offend
19:32 – How to say sorry when someone dies –
20:12 my condolences
20:30 I'm sorry to hear about ____'s passing
20:54 I'm sorry for your loss
21:27 – How to give a real apology –
22:29 – Homework –

Learn English Prepositions: BY, UNTIL, TILL, ’TIL…

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-09-15 | “Until” or “by”? Which do you use? What about “till” and “’til”? What about “up ’til”? Let me show you when to use each of these words in English. “By” and “until” are both prepositions of time, but they are used in different ways. Watch this lesson and test yourself with the examples in the second half of the lesson. By the time you’re done, you’ll have no more confusion. engvid.com/learn-english-prepositions-by-until-till-til

Learn even more English prepositions!
Advanced Prepositions of Time: "throughout', "ahead of", "at around", "out of"… youtu.be/R1pzn5dS4_o
English Grammar: The prepositions ON, AT, IN, BY... youtu.be/sN5H7YTo_IQ

In this lesson:
00:00 "By" or "Until"?
01:25 "until"
01:40 "till"
02:02 "up 'til"
02:47 "by"
03:32 "by the time"
04:17 "by" & "until": Example Sentences
07:16 – Quiz –
12:30 "up until now", "till now", "up to this point in time"
13:12 "by", "bye", "buy"
14:12 – Homework –

5 ways meditation will help you learn

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-08-25 | I will show you how to start meditating right now. You don’t need to buy anything; you don’t need to pay for a class. Just commit five minutes of your time and start! It’s simple, and it will help you become a better learner. In this video, I’ll talk about five ways that meditating helps you learn better and more efficiently. Whether you’re in university or learning a language or something else, increasing your ability to focus and remember will benefit you. engvid.com/5-ways-meditation-will-help-you-learn

Watch more of my videos on how to improve your learning skills!
Steps to Learning English: Where should you start? youtu.be/hC4V1HiQ7to
Become a Better Learner: 5 things you can do to improve focus & memory youtu.be/K6-Sd7H0IGg

How to be more professional at work: 5 phrases to use

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-08-02 | Learn 5 easy phrases that you can start using at work to appear more professional. These phrases are especially useful when speaking to your superiors at work. Not only will you come across as more professional by changing your everyday language slightly, you will give the impression of being more assertive and confident, without crossing over into being rude or aggressive. Today’s lesson will cover “on the same page”, “I need your help”, “I believe”, “My perspective is”, “touch base”, and more. Start trying these out at work and let me know if you notice a difference in how colleagues respond to you. Take the quiz on this lesson here: engvid.com/how-to-be-more-professional-at-work-5-phrases

More of my English work expressions videos:
How to solve 5 common workplace problems youtu.be/IUnEoJ1NdMw
How to answer 5 of the most common job interview questions youtu.be/YXYx7366YcQ

Improve your Vocabulary: Stop saying OKAY!

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-07-01 | Pay attention to how many times the average native English speaker says “okay” in normal conversation. TOO MANY TIMES! “Okay” is a good word to use in some situations, but there are a lot of times when you can say something better: stronger, more accurate, and with more emotion. In this vocabulary lesson, I’ll show you how “okay” is used in English, and when and how to replace it with more descriptive words and phrases. We will also cover some situations where non-native English speakers and learners often use “okay” in a way that is confusing or misleading to native speakers. We’ll also talk about the difference between “okay” and “OK”. There’s lots to cover, so let’s get started, okay? engvid.com/improve-your-vocabulary-stop-saying-okay

More videos in this series:
Stop saying SORRY! youtu.be/Vf0on6KQP2Y
Stop saying VERY! youtu.be/PCoyTwltu5g
Stop saying I KNOW! youtu.be/FXjvpR02uNg
Stop saying NICE and BEAUTIFUL! youtu.be/-C4nJaluO5g

In this video:
00:00 Why you should stop using "okay" so much
01:52 "Okay" or "OK"?
02:18 Why is "okay" used so much?
04:23 "Okay" lacks strong commitment
05:01 "Okay" lacks emotion
06:17 "Okay" doesn't demonstrate you want authentic permission
06:59 "Okay" doesn't give authentic permission
07:23 "Okay" creates unnecesary concern
08:02 When it's good to respond "I'm okay"
09:48 ~ QUIZ ~
13:02 "That is not okay."
13:34 "Okaaaaaaay"
14:36 "Okay, okay."
14:43 quick okay
15:15 ~ HOMEWORK ~

Become a Better Learner: 5 things you can do to improve focus & memory

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-06-07 | Do you feel frustrated when trying to learn something new? Is it difficult for you to focus, or to remember what you’re trying to learn? In today’s video, I’ll talk about 5 changes you can make to your lifestyle that will give you clear and definite improvements to memory and your ability to concentrate. You’ll find that you can learn more efficiently in every way if you implement one or more of these changes. We’ll talk about sugar and water intake, sleep, exercise, and meditation. If you try any of these seriously, leave a comment and let me know what changes you noticed in your ability to learn. engvid.com/5-things-to-improve-focus-memory

Watch all of my videos about how to learn English here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1MxVBsQo85qbTHKgEgpCh7ytX9uyIsYY

In this video:
00:00 5 ways to make your learning more efficient
01:15 Initial test
02:36 1. Food
05:10 2. Water
06:52 3. Exercise
08:39 4. Sleep
11:41 5. Meditation
13:07 Breathing technique
15:13 Retest
16:12 Homework

3 Keys to Small Talk: Meet new people and build relationships

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-05-12 | Once you know how to make effective small talk, you will be able to make new friends and form connections with strangers in many everyday situations. As an English learner, you might think that it’s difficult enough to speak English with people you know or work with. But I’ll show you how using small talk and having conversations with people you don’t already know can improve your English even further. If you don’t know how to make small talk, follow my advice in this video. I’ll give you three keys you can use to speak to new people and form meaningful connections with them. engvid.com/3-keys-to-small-talk

Learn more conversational English with me!
The S.E.A. Small Talk Method youtu.be/QjYZ1tTsvTA
How to start an interesting conversation youtu.be/rTJcpSWtVKI

4 ways to learn English FASTER and BETTER

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-04-24 | I’m going to share with you four strategies that English teachers use to help their students with their learning. But you can also use these strategies by yourself, on yourself! Follow these detailed but simple steps to make yourself a more efficient learner. You can use these four steps to improve your learning in any area, not only English! Maximize your learning and make your home a classroom. engvid.com/4-ways-to-learn-english-faster-and-better

Want more videos like this? I have a whole playlist with all of my videos on learning and studying better: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1MxVBsQo85qbTHKgEgpCh7ytX9uyIsYY

In this lesson:
00:00 4 ways to improve your learning skills
00:44 1. Know the animal
02:05 2. Environment
03:12 3. Questions, questions, questions
06:21 4. Give yourself detailed instructions
08:34 Review
10:15 Homework

Improve Your English Pronunciation: Voiced & Voiceless Consonants

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-03-26 | Sound more like a native English speaker by mastering the pronunciation of voiced and voiceless consonants. In this English class, I’ll show you the difference between voiced and voiceless sounds—I’ll show you how you can physically feel how these are different. You will also practice so that you will be able to form the sounds yourself. engvid.com/english-pronunciation-voiced-voiceless-consonants

More of my English pronunciation videos:
Improve your pronunciation with the BREAK & GRAB method youtu.be/M-TgkGRNz_0
Pronunciation Tricks: The Magic "E" youtu.be/dsW5qQ2B_xE

How to use habits to help you learn: 3 methods

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-03-03 | Let me show you how you can trick yourself into learning more and learning faster. The three methods I’ll show you in this video use the power of habits to make your learning almost automatic. This applies to learning English, but it can be applied to any type of learning. I’ll show the power of stacking, setting small goals that you can work at consistently, and the importance of celebrating and rewarding yourself. engvid.com/how-to-use-habits-to-help-you-learn-3-methods

Next, get motivated with these videos!
Learning a language? Don't let these 3 ideas hold you back youtu.be/nvtwawl4MKg
3 easy ways to get better at speaking English youtu.be/pPvyzXaFWJM

In this video:
00:00 Use habits to help you learn English
01:39 1. Stack habits for success.
03:46 2. Set small goals.
05:40 Be consistent.
07:40 3. CELEBRATE!
10:34 Give yourself a reward.

LISTEN & UNDERSTAND: How to improve your listening comprehension in English

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-02-08 | This is my COMPLETE GUIDE to improving your listening comprehension in English. If you follow my advice, you will understand more of what you hear in English. There is advice in this lesson for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners. This will take you time, but if you do what I suggest, you will see a huge improvement. I give you very precise, specific advice on what to do at each level. If you follow my advice, please leave a comment and let me know how it went. If you don’t follow my advice, you are not allowed to leave a comment. engvid.com/how-to-improve-your-listening-comprehension-in-english

Take your learning to the next level with these lessons!
4 ways to understand more in English youtu.be/GEQhDeNyM8s
How to improve your English with movies and music! youtu.be/7pUvu7zkb1w

In this video:
0:00 Introduction
0:44 Beginner level
1;36 250-300 hours of study
2:21 Materials you understand 90% of
3:28 Slow it down & imitate the speaker
5:32 Listen & read at the same time
8:13 20-30 minute sessions
9:15 Taking breaks
9:37 Repeat the material
11:47 Advanced/intermediate level
12:22 Baby steps/3I
20:26 20-30% comprehension
22:09 Active listening
23:46 Background listening
27:22 Reductions
28:18 Linked words
31:18 What's your favourite movie/show?

Learning a language? Don’t let these 3 ideas hold you back

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2022-01-13 | I’ve taught thousands of students from all over the world and I want to share 3 simple things that I’ve noticed hold many language learners back from achieving their goals. I’m going to talk about the general ideas of hard work, perfectionism, and “have to”. We’ll explore how each of these can block our learning. I’ll also give my opinion on accent and whether you should try to get rid of yours or not. In the comments, please answer my question and tell me “what if” you could speak English at the level you want: What would your life be like? engvid.com/learning-language-3-ideas-holding-you-back

Check out more of my learning skills videos!
3 easy ways to improve your English youtu.be/pPvyzXaFWJM
4 ways to improve your English speaking...alone! youtu.be/N0qEHuyTTp8

In this video:
00:00 What is holding you back from learning English?
01:07 1. English is hard work.
06:04 2. "I have to"
09:08 3. Perfectionism
10:53 What about my accent?
13:21 Homework

Improve Your English Vocabulary: 5 terms for a healthy life

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2021-12-17 | Learn food vocabulary related to a healthy diet and lifestyle. These are terms you will encounter in real life in North America pretty often, because society is becoming more health-conscious. I will teach you common collocations such as: a balanced diet, proteins & carbs, seasonal fruits and vegetables, locally sourced, leafy greens, freshly prepared, lean meat, fatty food, and processed foods. Watch, learn, practice with me, and then eat a double cheeseburger with fries. engvid.com/improve-your-english-vocabulary-5-healthy-collocations

More of my food & drink lessons to enjoy!
Basic English vocabulary for restaurants youtu.be/_mw9-uk_QFk
English vocabulary for eating and drinking youtu.be/KZxswM3Xa4A

In this video:
00:00 Introduction
01:27 a balanced diet
02:57 proteins & carbs
03:47 seasonal fruits and vegetables
05:11 locally sourced
06:30 leafy greens
07:28 freshly prepared
09:18 Healthy Diet Collocations Test
10:14 lean meat
16:26 processed foods
18:24 fatty food
19:02 Homework & Conclusion

Basic English: OF & OFF

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2021-11-19 | Learn the difference between “of” & “off” in English. Make sure you’re pronouncing each of these common words correctly and naturally. Because they’re so common, native English speakers often reduce the sounds of these words a lot – so much that it can be hard to even hear when they’re being used in sentence. But when you know what to listen for, it’s a lot easier. In this lesson, I’ll compare the sound of the words and the different usages each of the words has. You’ll be able to practice with me, and then I’ll give you some extra terms such as “off of”, “out of”, and “offed”. Get your thumb out of your mouth and start learning now. engvid.com/basic-english-of-off

More Basic English!
Basic English Grammar: Parts of Speech youtu.be/SceDmiBEESI
Basic English: How to use SORRY & EXCUSE ME youtu.be/lIFzJkFP4Zo

In this lesson:
0:00 Introduction
1:10 OF & OFF: Pronunciation Differences
2:09 OF: Meanings & Usage
5:40 OFF: Meanings & Usage
8:31 OF: How we say it naturally
12:30 Test
16:53 OUT OF
17:39 OFF OF
18:20 OFFED
19:28 Homework & Conclusion

SUPERCHARGE Your English Language Learning: 3 Strategies

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2021-10-26 | How to learn English FASTER and MORE EFFICIENTLY. I’ll give you three strategies you can use to improve the way you learn English. Actually, you can use these strategies for any type of learning. The methods I’ll teach are: S.A.S., Correct vs. Right, and 10x + Kaizen. WHAT??? That might look like nonsense right now, but watch the video and I’ll explain everything in detail, with plenty of examples so you can use these strategies yourself, starting today. It’s time to SUPERCHARGE your English language learning! engvid.com/supercharge-your-english-3-strategies

More learning & study skills lessons:
4 ways to improve your English speaking...ALONE! youtu.be/N0qEHuyTTp8
How to READ FASTER: 2 tricks youtu.be/pwIUBTwZ8Uo

In this lesson:
0:00 Introduction
4:17 Method 1: S.A.S.
11:07 Method 2: Correct vs. Right
17:01 Method 3: 10x & Kaizen
26:23 Quiz
33:48 Breathing Technique
35:27 Homework & Conclusion

8 Phrasal Verb Opposites in English: pass out, come to, talk into...

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2021-10-01 | An easy way to learn phrasal verbs is to learn them in pairs. When you learn one phrasal verb, learn another that means the opposite at the same time. In this English class, I’ll teach you four pairs of phrasal verb opposites, so eight phrasal verbs in total. I’ll teach you how to use: start out, end up, build up, die down, pass out, come to, talk out of, and talk into. And I’ll give you a few extra meanings for some of these as well. Are you ready? Or are you not even sure how you ended up here? Test your understanding with the quiz at engvid.com/8-phrasal-verb-opposites-in-english

Next, BUILD UP your vocabulary with more of my phrasal verb videos!
5 conversation phrasal verbs you need to know youtu.be/LKp79EOEC8E
10 phrasal verbs with OFF, ON, OVER, UP youtu.be/buoYlm_4CPk

In this lesson:
00:00 Introduction
01:03 Starting test
04:24 Start out
05:05 End up
06:13 Build up
06:46 Die down
07:19 Pass out
08:14 Come to
09:32 Talk out of
10:32 Talk into
12:10 Pass out: more meanings
12:33 Come to: more meanings
13:36 Homework & conclusion

ONE-MINUTE ENGLISH: Confusing Words

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2021-09-07 | An easy English lesson that will teach you the difference between some commonly confused words. We will talk about the homonyms ad/add, be/bee/B, and bear/bare/beer. You will learn to use each of these words so that you don’t make mistakes. If you use autocorrect on your phone, it will often make mistakes with these words, and sometimes “correct” your spelling to the wrong one! So watch out for that and use your own mind to get it right every time. I’ll be speaking more quickly in this class, so you’ll get some extra listening comprehension practice. See if you can keep up! Take the quiz on this lesson here: engvid.com/one-minute-english-confusing-words

More of my lessons to watch next:
How to learn English with YouTube! youtu.be/lVwYCngibPI
The WORST English mistakes native speakers make youtu.be/EJ6SXCpasvI

In this video:
00:00 Introduction
01:50 'Add' or 'ad'?
03:24 'Bee' or 'be' or 'B'?
04:37 'Bare' or 'bear' or 'beer'?
06:16 Practice
12:58 Bonus: More common homonyms

Learn English: SUPPOSED TO

ENGLISH with James · engVid 2021-08-13 | Learn how to use “supposed to” correctly in English. This is a very common phrase we use in English every day. We use “supposed to” to talk about obligation, expectation, and plans. That might sound complicated, but I’ll make it clear in this lesson. I’ll show you the three main ways “supposed to” is used in English, and then we’ll practice together to make sure you’ve got it. A good class is always supposed to include some practice. Test what you've learned with the quiz: engvid.com/learn-english-supposed-to

Next, try these English videos:
Learn English: MAKE or DO? youtu.be/lvKA9rH_WlU
Improve your vocabulary: Stop saying NICE & BEAUTIFUL! youtu.be/-C4nJaluO5g