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Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English.
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For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Michelle, coming to you from New York City and Colorado, USA.
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Hello, Michelle. How's it going today? Hi, Lindsay.
Good. How are you? I'm excited to start off today's episode with a question for you, Michelle.
Are you ready? Okay. Yes, I'm ready. Well, have you ever had the opportunity to live out of a suitcase?
And do you like doing that when you do that sometimes?
What do you think? Ooh. Okay. So I'm actually about to live out of a suitcase for a little while.
Yeah. So, um, I will definitely let you know how I feel about it.
I, I, I think in the beginning it's okay.
Well, actually I have a, I have a followup question for you.
Okay. If you are traveling, are you a person who unpacks at a hotel or who keeps your stuff in the suitcase?
I actually like to unpack. I like to unpack.
So, but you know, obviously if it's one night in a hotel and hotels, not as much more like Airbnbs, if I'm going to be there for four days, I would like to unpack in that case.
But in a hotel one night, no, probably not as much.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah i'm i'm not so great at the unpacking dan unpacks right away it doesn't matter really that's so funny yeah he's the he's the one who unpacks all of his stuff and mine usually stays in the suitcase and uh got it there's one in every couple i guess but yeah so i actually do know someone who lived technically out of a suitcase for a while um over a year yeah i know and it i think that's that's ian who we talked to in a brand new you talked to in our brand new b2 english fluency course is that right michelle yeah yep ian shares his experience ian is my good friend uh actually i know him through dan um they were friends in high school and ian's become my very good friend and I remember they told us, okay, they were moving out of their, he and his wife, they're moving out of their apartment in Philadelphia and they're just going to travel the country.
And they were able to work from home and they went around to different Airbnbs for quite some time.
And I was so jealous because I think that is such an amazing thing to do.
So Ian, actually, when we were looking for people for this project, really new awesome course that we're doing.
I said, we got to talk to Ian. He's got to be in Florida.
Yes, that traveling lifestyle that's so kind of mysterious and mystical for many of us.
And we think, what is that? What is that like?
And you had a chance to talk to Ian. And so our listeners who do join this brand new B2 Fluency course will also get a chance to meet Ian, of course, through this video interview that you did.
Michelle, was there any key grammar that came out of that episode to create the B2 level, to push our students higher beyond the B2 level?
Right. So guys, we teach you some really good grammar in this lesson.
And one of the things that came out of this lesson was about action and stative verbs.
And these are really, really important. So today we're going to focus on stative verbs.
Yes. Yeah. I mean, you know, our, our philosophy here is always connection, not perfection, but in order to move, you know, through B2 past that plateau where many of you guys are stuck, we do need to approach grammar, right?
We can't avoid it. We need to master some of these key, especially in the business world, right?
Why does it matter in business state of verbs, Michelle?
Right. Well, for business, you have to express yourself. and say things that are not describing an action all the time.
It's not always, I am working on this, I am doing this.
Sometimes you need to share something else.
So action verbs are different and we're gonna go over one particular way that you can spot a state of verb.
So this is how you can really think about state of verbs.
So state of verbs are, well, they're about states.
What do I mean by a state, Lindsay? I don't mean the United States.
Yeah, so a way of being. But Michelle, before we get into explaining these state of verbs, I just want to make sure our listeners know what's coming at the end of the episode.
Guys, at the end, stick around, listen in on the lesson today, but stick around for the end because We have just launched the brand new B2 English fluency course.
And again, as we said before, Ian's interview with Michelle, that is one lesson out.
That's one out of about nine native speakers that you meet in this course.
Right, Michelle? Yep. This course has never been seen before.
So we are so excited for you to get this brand new course.
Very exciting stuff. Yeah. Yeah, we're unveiling this course for the first time.
So, guys, listen in. There is going to be a special early bird offer we're going to announce on this episode at the end, so keep listening.
All right? Yes. Good. Exactly. Okay, Michelle.
So, one kind of state of verb talks about thoughts and opinions.
So, that's really our focus for today. Your thoughts or just something that's going on where it's something that is a way of being.
It's talking about a state or a condition.
So, Expressing yourself at work is very important.
This is good for meetings, talking with coworkers, sharing your opinions.
And what do we not generally do with stative verbs, Lindsay?
What don't we add to them? We usually don't add the continuous tense, although Aubrey and I just did an episode on, I think on All Ears English, guys, where we did talk about some new language trends. that are in the gray area of the rules, okay?
But don't worry, there's always trends and there's always opportunities to break the rule, but first we have to learn the rule, right, Michelle?
Right, yes, that's exactly right. We talk about that a lot on our shows.
You know, you- There's a lot of breaking rules in English, but we have to get to that place where we're comfortable with the rules in order to break them.
I think that really defines the B2 level, knowing the rules, but then knowing which rules are sometimes broken on a colloquial level.
When is it just something I'm going to say to my coworkers, and when is it something I'm going to write in a presentation, for example, or a paper?
Exactly, exactly. Guys, so these verbs are really important to be at that B2 level, which is what you guys are ready for.
You guys gotta, you know, gotta get there, right?
So we know that this is what you want. So this is a brand new way to learn about getting to that level.
So let's go over a couple state of verbs and how we can use them at work.
Lindsay, what's the first one? This is a good one.
So understand, right? Understand. So I understand the project, but I'm too swamped to work on it just yet.
Yes. Or you could say, do you understand how this program works?
Yeah, I mean, this is pretty straightforward, but we're just understanding the nature.
We're on. Oh, my gosh. I just in the eye and I just broke the rule.
I just exactly broke the rule that we're presenting to our listeners right now.
Oh, boy. Oh, boy. That's that exactly defines the B2 level.
Right. That is its flexibility, guys. It's moving past the plateau of feeling you're locked into rules and And now that you know the rule, you can break them.
So we're telling you that stative verbs are not used in the continuous tense.
And I just literally spontaneously said we're understanding that.
So, Michelle, how do you explain that? I don't know.
It's just it's a phenomenon that happens and language evolves fast.
And it doesn't always work in this way. But generally, we would use understand, right?
For example, you wouldn't say, do you understanding how this program works?
No, of course not. Right. All right. Yeah, or another sample sentence.
Can I say this one? Ready for it? Yes. So we understand the situation you're in.
That's why our company will give you 50% off for the first year.
So most of the time, understand is not going to be used in the continuous form.
It's going to be a state of verb, especially at work in these examples, guys.
All right. Good. Exactly. So the next one is believe.
Believe. okay so instead we wouldn't say we are believing right here's an example we believe it's a mistake to start this process without waiting for all the stats to come through yeah this one i definitely wouldn't break the rule now watch me do it now yeah yeah just Watch me do it.
No, just kidding. I don't think I will. So here's another sample sentence.
I agree with you, but I believe there's a more efficient way to get this done.
Yeah, definitely. And then let's do one more.
So the last one we're going to do is no.
OK. Yeah. So this is this is a state of being.
It's something going around in the background.
Right. And you wouldn't really say you wouldn't say do you knowing that.
Okay. No way. No. Are you knowing? You would never say, are you knowing?
No. No, no, no. So for example, do you know where the copy room is?
Yeah. Or I know you want to be a part of this project, but unfortunately I need you for something else.
Okay. So these are three good examples. And Michelle, I mean, what is the key thing that really makes our courses?
And B2 is a perfect example of this. you know different from typical online fluency courses what would you say any sense of that well to me it's that they come out naturally we don't say now we are looking for something on state of verbs and let's find it in the interview what we do is we have these natural interviews i mean here i was talking with a friend i'm finding about more information about an experience he had in his life that I actually didn't have the chance to talk to him about it until this interview.
Is that true? That's so cool. I hadn't had a long conversation with him.
I knew where he was. I knew generally what was happening, but it was really fun to get to hear about it in this deeper way.
I didn't say, okay, Ian, here's the script.
And now we're going to go over it. And because we need to get to these, these words, what we did was we had a natural conversation and we went through and we said, oh, this is what our listeners need to know in this new course to get to that B2 level.
So that's what I love about it is these things are extracted from natural native conversations that are unplanned.
Exactly. That's very well said. Extracted naturally.
It's the spontaneous discovery. And the fact that you hadn't really talked to him about that makes it even more interesting.
You were also discovering this. So you're going to hear the real intonation in Michelle's voice too. the discovery.
And that's what makes All Ears English courses different fundamentally from other courses on the internet.
Most courses on the internet are going to fabricate or manufacture the language for you.
They have script writers. They have script writers.
We don't do that. We actually, it's harder the way we create our courses because we have to go out, find the interviews, but we do it for you guys to show you real English.
All right. And then We go back and we extract the learning from those natural interviews.
And one of the things that came out in terms of the grammar goal for this lesson was stative verbs.
Yeah. I think Ian spent some time talking about how he felt about these were inspired by the conversation because we noticed he was using a lot of stative or action verbs.
And so we that we chose three that were helpful.
So but what he was talking about, I believe he mentioned how he felt about New Orleans.
So he talked a little bit about his travels.
And also I asked him about, you know, how do people feel about you traveling?
Did anybody think it was weird? Did people understand it?
So a lot to a lot to unpack there, a lot of interesting stuff.
Yeah, it's interesting to interview people who are doing something a little different, a little outside the norm, and see what the world's reactions have been to them.
You know what I mean? It's always fascinating to see how people react to what they're doing if it's a little bit different.
So that is just one example out of, I think it was 10 interviews, Michelle, that we have in that course for our listeners.
And that is just... I mean, they're just awesome.
We talked to an actor on, I think, Broadway or in New York City, an actor from New York City.
We talked to my friend Alan, who has interviewed Matthew McConaughey, for example.
I asked him what that was like. What is it like interviewing Matthew McConaughey?
And so you get a lot of good stuff. But Michelle, let's talk about the B2 level.
Why is this such a pivotal place for our listeners right now, whether they're business, IELTS or fluency?
Well, that's a good question. So this is really that place where students can get stuck.
Right. So speaking in simple sentences, never really never really getting to that place where you're enjoying those interesting and deeper conversations in English, just kind of very on the surface.
Right. And so this is that moment where you can take that jump to that level to get to those deeper conversations, to form those relationships, to get ahead at work.
This is going to help you do that, that B2 level.
Yeah, exactly. I mean, the truth is, it's just unsatisfying to get stuck at the B2 level, to not move beyond, not work through the B2 and move into C1 advanced.
It's not satisfying. Professionally, it's not satisfying.
And personally, it's not satisfying, right?
Yeah, and we already talked about the connection method, which is our method of taking real English guys, right?
And then extracting the English, the lessons, the vocabulary, the grammar, the pronunciation, which are the three big things we focus on for you in this course.
Michelle, if someone joins B2, which I'm sure they will after today's lesson, what's the time commitment like?
You know, if we want to take on this task of moving past B2, Great question.
What's the time commitment? Guys, we know that you are busy professionals, you're global professionals, you are, but you still want to get to that next level.
So the time commitment is 20 minutes per day, three to five days per week for 90 days.
Okay. So it's a commitment, but it's also manageable.
And really what this is about is it's about building the habit.
So, you know, okay, this is the time commitment.
This is what I need to put in. And you start to, you'll notice that Over time, you're starting to feel it's like exercise.
Right. Eventually you start to know, OK, you're almost craving it.
You're you want it. Right. And this is great because you also have a clear study plan.
It's not willy nilly all over the place.
We we really give you that study plan to help you get to that goal.
Yeah, and that's really the biggest difference.
Listening to the podcast is great. I know a lot of you guys have seen massive improvement just listening to the podcast, but there's no study plan here.
These are random lessons, randomly inserted.
There's no clear method or plan that will get you to an outcome, get you to a final exam, a score, a certificate, and now we move on to C1.
That's not what you get on the podcast. So that's why we joined the courses.
Yeah. But Michelle, I think the biggest thing that we've added to our courses lately that our listeners are excited about are the speaking opportunities.
What are they? Oh, well, there's tons of them.
So we have weekly open conversation club.
Yeah, we have. And I've gotten to be a part of these.
These are so fun. Yeah, I love them. I love getting to meet our students.
So and then we also have monthly fluency parties.
And these are just really great ways to practice with students.
With us. And if you join this course, you will be invited to these things.
You got it. Practice with us as the host of All Ears English and also with other students.
And often we leave the room open at the end so you can continue connecting with other students, guys.
So, Michelle, speaking opportunities are massive now for any students who join any of our courses.
So now let's let our listeners know why they should join now.
We have an early bird offer, right, Michelle?
Mm-hmm. Yeah, this is great. This is great.
So not only do you save up to $100 and get the special bonus five cool phrases in English.
So we got a whole bonus over there for you.
But also when you join before June 1st, you get how to be polite in English.
Yes. Right. Yeah. So tell us a little bit about that.
Yeah, this is a mini course of ours, guys.
It's a free gift that comes with the early bird action for this brand new course.
How to be polite in English. I know this is something especially for you guys in the business audience.
We need to know this. We're going on business lunches.
We are greeting people. Politeness matters.
It still matters in 2024, right? And so we show you certain key phrases, certain key things you want to do.
And so guys, this is a special early, early bird offer when you join before June 1st.
After June 1st, you're still going to see the offer around our community but you're going to lose the how to be polite bonus that goes away all right so michelle where can our listeners go right now to join this brand new course we've been working on this all spring and we're excited for our listeners to get in yes shiny and new so go to get this course at allearsenglish.com b2
Yes, guys, go over to allearsenglish.com slash letter B number two.
So allearsenglish.com slash B2. Type that in and capture that special early bird offer.
You are going to want to get in there and you'll meet Ian, you'll meet Alan, you'll meet so many interesting people or log.
I mean, it just goes on. Michelle, it goes on.
Yes, definitely. So much fun. So guys definitely get in on this today and you know today again consider those state of verbs and how you're using them at work and this is again a great way to get to that b2 level and you'll hear more about that in the course all right we'll see you all there thanks michelle talk to you soon all right bye lindsay bye Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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