This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 1594.
How to be natural in English from the get-go.
Welcome to the All Ears English podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times.
Are you feeling stuck with your English?
We'll show you how to become Fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection.
With your American hosts Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl.
Coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA.
All ears englishcom forward.
Slash subscribe.
How can you talk about the things that have been happening for a long time in English today?
Get this classic connection skill to refer to the past and things that have been going on for a while.
Do you ever feel like your English is good but not quite where you want it to be?
Maybe you can have conversations, but you still hesitate when expressing complex ideas.
Maybe you know what you want to say. but you can't always say it naturally.
If that sounds familiar, our B2 English fluency course was designed for you.
You'll learn how to speak more naturally, express yourself with confidence and finally stop feeling stuck at the intermediate level.
This week, you can save $50 on our basic plan or save $100 on our personal coach plan.
Go to allearsenglish.com slash B2.
That's allearsenglish.com slash letter B number two.
Hey, Michelle, how's it going?
How's everything?
Good.
Lindsay, how are you?
How's your day going?
Oh my gosh.
A lot of chaos, a lot of craziness going on.
I can't believe it.
Sometimes we have technical issues, but it's okay because we love podcasting.
That's okay.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Lindsay, did you love podcasting from the get-go or did it take you some time to get used to it?
I loved it.
Well, at first it was weird, right?
Turning on the microphone and hearing your own voice and you get kind of self-conscious and you think, oh my gosh, I sound weird.
I'm not sure.
But then eventually I just got into the groove and pretty much from the get-go, I was feeling good about podcasting.
What about you, Michelle?
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, my gosh.
No, I love it.
I mean, yes, there is when you hear yourself.
I don't know if you ever get used to hearing yourself.
But as far as the like...
Output.
I think, yeah, from the get-go, I just loved it.
So, yeah, so lucky that we get to do this.
So, Lindsay, we were using this very useful idiom.
I love this one.
So, what was it?
Yeah, so this idiom is from the get-go, and this is going to be great for our listeners today.
I mean such a natural expression, such a cool way to talk about things that you have started and how you felt at the beginning of things.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, yeah, it basically means right from the beginning, right?
That's what from the get go means.
Exactly.
And Michelle, I'm going to ask you a question.
Did you love New York City right from the get go?
Or did it take you a little bit of time?
Was there a learning curve to living in New York?
It is a very unique experience living in New York, isn't it?
Yeah.
I think in the beginning, it was pretty hard for me because I didn't really know a lot of people.
And I actually thought about moving home.
I thought about leaving.
Yeah, I was like, I don't know, maybe I made a mistake.
And I almost...
I almost was like I don't want to do this and then I had applied to a job and I ended up getting that job and I was almost this sounds funny, but I was almost disappointed that I got it because I was like I didn't want, I didn't like I want to go home, but like once I kind of fully committed to being there.
Then I loved it and yeah.
So from the get-go, it was a little bit tough, but yeah.
What about you, Lindsay, or New York or Denver or any of your places?
Yeah, from the get go in New York, it was tough, right?
I remember searching for an apartment, you know, in 80, you know 90 degree New York City summer, just pounding the pavement trying to find my place.
It was a tough life.
But I loved it.
I mean, it was great, right?
You're in your 20s, you're living your life, like you have a tiny apartment, but you're never home.
It's awesome.
Just you feel like the world is at your fingertips when you live in New York.
So from the get go, I loved it.
But I don't think I could do it my whole life.
Yeah, that would be hard.
Yeah, it's a it's a commitment for sure.
So Lindsay, this expression from the get go, does that feel really natural to you?
Do you think you use that?
Definitely.
We just used it a couple of times here.
It feels very natural, very native.
Good.
Definitely.
Yeah.
And this is one of those episodes that I came up with because I heard it somewhere.
And I was like, Oh, yeah, that's like, so useful for our listeners.
It's so good.
So guys, and from the get go, I know will be a keyword for today on our app.
Right?
I mean, I can't leave this one out.
Well, our app is now live in iOS and Android, guys.
So now every member of the All Ears English community can finally use this app.
And the coolest thing about it is that we select five to seven vocab words every week that we want you to learn, right.
The important ones, right, Michelle?
The ones that really matter to moving to that next level for our listeners.
Isn't that right?
Exactly.
These are going to be the key words that are going to help you sound more natural, more confident in English.
So again, allearsenglish.com app to get our Android or iOS app.
Awesome.
All right, Michelle, let's get into this phrase then.
Okay.
So, I mean, Lindsay, we always want to vary our language, right?
So, I mean, this is kind of fun.
Do you think from the get-go is formal or informal?
From the get-go is pretty informal in my mind.
Yeah.
I think it's more informal too.
I mean, I feel like you could hear it in more formal settings, but if I were to choose one, I would say informal.
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
It feels familiar.
It feels casual.
It feels natural.
So yeah, more on the informal side.
Yeah.
Let's give a few more examples here.
So we're going to do a few role plays.
So in this one, we are colleagues, okay?
Okay.
So here we go.
Wow, I can't believe she just stopped showing up to work.
I knew there was something strange about her from the get-go.
So I'm saying I had an intuition about her right from the beginning that she maybe was going to be a little off or something was going to be weird about her.
Exactly, exactly.
And then what is the next one, Lindsay?
We are roommates in this one.
Okay, here we go.
We can't leave this apartment.
I know.
We've been here from the get-go, but it's time to move on.
All right, great.
And now in this case, we are friends.
Okay, here we go.
You don't want to go on the trip anymore?
I do, but somewhere else.
I know we've been talking about the beach from the get-go, but can we discuss other options?
Okay, fine.
Okay, so here you're saying from the beginning of the time that we've been talking about a vacation, right?
Is that what you mean?
Exactly, exactly.
The easiest way to maximize your learning with today's episode is to listen inside the app for iOS or Android.
You get real time transcripts, clickable vocabulary, words with meanings and sample sentences and you can create your personal power vocabulary list.
So go right now to listen to this episode on the app, allearsenglish.com forward slash app.
Don't you hate it when you're trying to buy something online and when you finally make all of your selections and get ready to check out, your credit card is nowhere to be found.
When this happens, I love seeing the purple pay button at the top of the checkout, because I know I won't have to dig for my card.
This simple purple button is one of the best features in all of the online shopping world and can make a huge difference in sales for your online business.
Shopify is the e-commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10 of all e-commerce in the US.
From household names like Skims and Thrive Cosmetics to brands just getting started.
Get the word out like you have a marketing team behind you.
Easily create email and social media campaigns wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling.
Best yet.
Shopify is your e-commerce expert, with world-class expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping, to processing returns and beyond.
See fewer carts go abandoned and more sales go... with Shopify and their Shop Pay button.
Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash A-E-E.
Go to Shopify.com slash A-E-E.
That's S-H-O-P-I-F-Y.com slash A-E-E.
And let's do one more.
Here we go.
So we're sisters.
All right.
Okay.
Want to join me at the gym today?
I've been doing YouTube videos from the get-go, so I don't think I'll pay for the gym.
That does not work for me.
I need to pay and go and be told to run.
How's the workout plan going, Michelle, by the way?
Well, I knew that was coming.
You knew it.
But I'm having that feeling right now where I'm like, I have to move.
So I'm going to try and figure out how to do it today.
So it's still going.
When I get back, I'll get into my routine and I'm not giving up yet.
I'm not giving up at all.
I wanted to check in on behalf of our listeners because I'm sure they're wondering if you've been keeping up with it.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Okay.
So, I mean, guys, this expression from the get-go is very natural.
And also I feel like it's good for connection, because you talk about what you've been doing for a long time.
And it's also used to talk about how we feel, like perhaps, maybe your feelings have changed about something or –.
You know, I feel like – or you're just showing like in one of the examples we talked about intuition, right?
Oh, from the get-go, I knew this.
Yes, I love it.
It's so good.
And what else does it do?
It kind of adds variety.
What does that mean?
What do we mean by that, Michelle?
It's just more interesting than always saying, oh, from, you know –
At first or something like that.
You know, it's just one of those.
It's just fun.
It's just a very fun expression.
It's kind of fun to say, get go.
It is, from the get go.
I love it.
Not gecko, not the animal.
No, I know.
From the get go.
It's good to be able to add variety.
Like Michelle said, we want you to have a number of options in your repertoire that you can throw into a conversation.
So this is one of them.
Definitely.
I love it.
So, Lindsay, let's talk about a couple other ways that we can continue to add this variety.
And we'll talk about kind of our opinions and if these are similar or different.
Okay.
So the first one is, and we may have said this a little bit, I'm not sure, is right from the start.
Right.
I like this one.
So, for example, I've known you are the one right from the start.
Oh, so romantic.
Yeah.
Exactly.
What else?
Yeah.
Or another one is from or since day one.
Right.
So the very beginning.
So from day one, I knew this was my dream job, right?
From day one, also very natural and native.
Yeah, it is definitely.
And then let's do one more.
Okay.
Let's do since the beginning, or I guess you could say from the beginning too.
Yeah, I've been a fan of that show since the beginning.
So many of our listeners have been a fan of All Ears English since 2015 or 2013.
You know, some of them maybe, right?
So that's exciting.
From the get go.
Yeah, we love it.
So guys, these are all super useful.
So we are going to now put them together in one final giant role play.
So in this case, we are shopping.
We're friends and we're going shopping for guitars.
We want to buy a guitar.
Cool.
Okay, cool.
All right.
So all right.
Wow, this one is really beautiful.
I've been wanting one of these bad boys from the get go.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, my gosh.
It's amazing.
You've been talking about a red guitar since day one.
Well, it's a bit pricey, though.
I said I wasn't going to spend over my budget right from the start.
Yeah, but I've heard you talk about this since the beginning of our friendship.
Could you consider it?
I'll think it over.
Okay.
I feel like in our shopping role plays, it's always me like trying to convince you to buy things.
Shoes or whatever it is.
Do you secretly get a commission from that store?
Oh, my gosh.
So funny.
Okay, so let's go through it.
So at first, he said, I've been wanting the one of these bad boys from the get go.
And that's a fun bonus on Lindsay.
These bad boys, one of these bad boys.
Do you hear that?
Yeah, for sure.
This is fun.
I've heard a lot of people play around with this.
What do we mean?
I mean, we're not talking about boys, right?
This is not about boys.
Yeah, or anything bad.
I don't know.
I was thinking we could even do a whole expression on this, but I'm not even quite sure how to explain it.
I'd have to think about it.
Oh, like sometimes we just say like, oh, yeah, let's get this bad boy.
It's true.
And it really is something that natives use.
They throw in there.
We're going to prepare another episode on that and try to show you guys exactly what we mean.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And so you said from the get-go, right?
So from the very beginning, right?
Yes.
And then you said, yeah, it's amazing.
You've been talking about a red guitar since day one.
Okay, that means, so what does that mean?
Like the day I was born, Michelle?
Or what do we mean?
No, maybe since, like either since maybe you started playing guitar like we were friends and then you started playing guitar and you said you wanted to do red guitar, or maybe from the start of our friendship.
Okay.
Yeah.
So for a while, right?
A long time.
A long time.
Yeah.
And then you said, yeah, I said I wasn't going to spend over my budget right from the start.
So like this means you set your budget in the beginning and you said you're not going over that.
Yes, exactly.
And then you said yeah, but I've heard you talk about this since the beginning of our friendship, right?
So we've been talking about buying a red guitar for a long time, or at least I have.
And clearly you're getting a sales commission.
Yeah, exactly.
I work at the store.
Oh, man.
Who can you trust, right?
Yeah, I don't know.
I don't know.
That's great.
So yeah, a lot of examples, guys, for you.
Make sure you write these down.
Make sure you get the app, because that is how you know.
Many of these will probably be highlighted as keywords inside the app.
So make sure that you get the app so you can highlight them and you can save them to your personal power list, your vocabulary list, to review later.
Exactly.
Exactly.
There is going to be a lot of good stuff on there today.
So definitely all ears English dot com slash app.
Lindsay, what's the takeaway for today?
Guys, today we've shown you some really fun ways to talk about starting.
You know something starting that started at the beginning.
Right.
That started a long time ago from day one or from the get go.
This can help you connect because it's fun.
Also, you know the other thing that I was thinking Michelle, that this does as a connection skill when you have history with someone that is so valuable.
For example, when I was back in Cambridge last week, I had lunch with my friend Emma, who was my best friend in high school.
Oh, that's nice.
Yeah, we've basically been friends since middle school, high school.
And it's just really cool to have that history with someone.
And I could use those things with her. to refer to what I know about her from years ago.
And that's really special.
That creates immediate connection and it reinforces the connection you already have.
So I think that's what's valuable about this, Michelle.
Yeah, I agree.
Yeah, this can be valuable in a lot of ways.
You know you're sharing something about yourself, you're connecting with someone over a long you know relationship and saying that you know them really well.
You know this about them.
So there's just a lot that you can do with all of these.
Yeah, very cool.
So guys use these phrases.
And Michelle, thanks for hanging out today.
It's been fun as always.
Thank you, Lindsay.
Have a good day.
All right.
Take care.
Bye.
Bye.
Thanks for listening to all ears English.
Would you like to know your English level?
Take our two minute quiz.
Go to allearsenglish.com forward slash fluency score.
And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything.
See you next time.
