This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 906 how to intensify your statements with one key word.
Welcome to the All Ears English podcast where you'll finally get real native English conversation and fluency for business and life.
We believe in connection, not perfection when it comes to learning English.
Now here are your hosts.
Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl, coming to you from Boston and New York City, USA.
Today, find out how natives use the word that to intensify what they're saying.
Do you want to get the inside scoop on how you can do it too?
Find out today.
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 are you doing today?
Hey, Lindsay.
I am good.
I'm good.
How are you?
Oh, I am excited to be recording because things are so busy.
But recording is kind of like relaxing for me.
It's like a break from the busyness.
It's great.
It's the zen.
Yeah, things are busy but exciting over here.
You know Michelle, we have a bunch of people who have signed up already for the Urban Immersion Adventure in New York and Boston this summer, but we still have some room left.
Are you excited for this summer, Michelle?
Oh, of course.
Well, I loved Boston last summer.
It was so much fun.
But now I'm so excited to be a part of the New York one.
Oh, it's going to be so cool.
It's going to be so cool.
Some of the students that we've interviewed this week are so excited to see New York.
As a local, you know.
So if that's part of what you guys want to do and you want to go through this transformation of confidence, see it from a local perspective and speak with natives.
It's pretty awesome.
Go to allearsenglish.com forward slash immersion and sign up.
Apply today because it's March.
It's time to start planning for summer.
Right, Michelle?
Oh, I like the idea of that.
That sounds nice.
Yesterday it was.
Did you guys have a bad day in Boston yesterday?
We had a tough day.
Even now I look outside, the sun's out, but like there's ice all over the roads and it's just winter.
Yeah, so I like this idea.
Let's keep looking towards the summer.
So yeah, very excited.
Yeah, I think March is like personally is the hardest month for me, because it's like winter isn't gone yet, but you feel like it should be.
Oh, 100.
And like, I feel like it's starting to take, I don't know, I guess this could be climate change.
It's taking like longer and longer to get to actual good weather.
Like, I feel like March used to be kind of the month where it started to get a little nicer.
And now it's not.
Now it's like April and sometimes like end of April, I feel like.
I know it's true.
I remember when I was a kid, we played tennis.
I was on the tennis team.
Sometimes it would snow in like early May and our tennis practice would be all messed up.
Yeah, it was horrible.
Anyways, so but eventually we know the snow will clear up like maybe by July.
I hope by July by the time our students are here in New York with us.
Right.
And I've warned our listeners, our students who have signed up already.
It's going to be hot at the end of July in New York.
Right.
Oh, yeah, it's gonna be hot, but it's okay.
It's okay.
You know, you can buy one of those fans that you carry around.
It's okay.
I mean, it's gonna be an intense but fun weekend.
So let's go into a quick roleplay where we're going to incorporate what we're going to teach our listeners here into our roleplay.
Let's do it.
Are you ready?
I'm ready.
Okay, so...
Speaking of the urban adventure Michelle, where should we take our listeners in New York during this program this summer?
Well, Chelsea Market isn't that interesting anymore, and the High Line can get crowded.
Oh, I know.
We'll take them to this little cafe I know in the West Village.
Ooh, are you sure it won't be too crowded?
Nah, I don't think it will be that crowded.
Ooh, I love how you said that.
I don't think it'll be that crowded.
Thank you.
Yeah, it's so natural.
I'm excited today because we are teaching something that's so natural.
I've never thought about this use of this word, but it's just very native, isn't it?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
It's definitely a good way to kind of like emphasize things.
Yeah.
So what is that word then, Michelle, that we're teaching?
What are we teaching today?
That.
That.
It sounds funny.
It's such a simple word, but... What is that word?
It's that.
There's so much you can do with it, guys.
There's so much you can do with it.
Exactly.
But we're teaching it in a specific context today, right?
And what is that context?
Well, we are emphasizing intensity.
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
And before we go into this, guys, I want to remind you really quick, grab the transcripts for today.
If you subscribe, you do save 50% on the price.
So go to allearsenglish.com forward slash subscribe.
So Michelle, this came in from a question from a listener.
I think it was a very smart and observant question.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
I like this.
So should I read it?
Sure.
Could you?
Could you do that for us?
Thank you.
Absolutely.
Okay, cool.
Hi, Lindsay and Michelle.
More than three years has passed since I started to listen to your great podcast.
That's awesome.
I know.
That's amazing.
At that time, the episode number was 200 something, but now the episode 1000 is coming closer, which is so amazing.
Thank you so much.
Wow, that's so cool.
Yeah, we're so happy to have you listening.
And yeah, I know, I can't believe how close 1,000 is, right, Lindsay?
I know.
I know that's around the time that you came on, Michelle, around 200, right?
Is that right?
Yeah.
I think so.
Yeah.
We've done a lot of talking.
Anyway.
We have.
Okay, here we go.
Today I have a question, as always.
What's the difference between it's not easy and it's not that easy?
I often hear it's not that plus adjective expressions, and I want to add these phrases to my vocabulary.
Your nice, hearty voices and wonderful conversations always encourage me.
I really appreciate all of your work.
I love you guys.
Thank you, Eriko.
Thank you so much.
That is such a nice, nice message.
Thank you.
Oh, and Eriko has had good questions over the years.
I recognize her name.
And thank you, Eriko, for this great question.
This is awesome.
So cool.
Yeah, thank you.
Three years listening amazing, amazing.
We should give our listeners like badges for how long they've been listening.
Yeah really, that's so cool.
That's so cool.
So let's take a look, michelle.
I mean erico is asking about this very natural skill right, so let's go into it.
I mean, what do we need to know here?
Okay well, you know, it's important to know that.
You know that this is very natural, and here we're using that as an adverb to mean so or very right.
Yeah.
So, like, for example, it's not that easy to learn to do karate when you're over the age of 60.
Yeah.
Or what else, Lindsay?
Or another one would be the restaurant wasn't that good.
Right.
It's like maybe I was expecting it to be better.
And I would say, oh, it wasn't that good.
Right.
It wasn't as good as I expected.
Hmm.
Oh, and then there's.
So Lindsay, I mean, do you think we use it only when we're making a negative statement?
Hmm.
I think most of the time we do.
What do you think?
I think most of the time as well.
The only time I'm thinking of is like...
Oh, I went back five times to that pizza place, Lindsay.
And if you're like, oh my gosh, was it that good?
And I'd be like, yeah, it was that good.
Like I couldn't stop eating it.
Yeah, it was that good.
Yeah, yeah.
So it's usually in the negative, but there are cases when it could be used in the positive or in the question format right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
I love that.
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 dot com slash A-E-E.
And let's go back to Eriko's question directly.
So she said, what's the difference between it's not that easy and it's not easy?
Right.
So I think it depends on the context.
Right.
So this could mean a few different things.
Right.
We could be using that in this case to mean so or very like we've just talked about.
Or it could be referring to something else.
Right.
For example, let's do a quick role play.
All right.
I can't make it on Saturday to the party.
Oh, just hire a babysitter and come out.
It's not that easy.
Okay.
So in my mind, that's different from saying it's not that crowded.
Right.
That's not so much about the intensity.
That's about referring to the fact that the babysitter.
Right.
The idea is just not that easy.
It's not as easy as hiring a babysitter and coming out.
Right, right, right.
Yeah, this is interesting.
This is definitely all about context, right?
So like if, my friend, if like, let's say, you were taking, let's say you decided you wanted to learn how to crochet.
Yeah.
And I was like, Lindsay, like, yeah, crocheting, it's a really easy thing to do.
And you're like, oh well, then do you think that I'll be able to like start a store and start selling my stuff, like next week?
And I could be like, well, it's not that easy.
Right.
Right.
That's a good example.
I don't know where that came up in my head.
Are you thinking about taking up crocheting?
No.
Actually, I did.
I know why.
Because I saw at the library that they're doing like crochet classes.
So maybe...
That stuff is always hard for me, though, because I'm a lefty.
Oh, you are?
Oh, I didn't realize that.
Interesting.
Yeah.
Okay.
Explains a lot, doesn't it?
Crocheting is kind of like hipster now, I think.
There's like a whole subculture of crocheting that's kind of hipster.
Did you know that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, I used to.
I used to try to do it actually, but I haven't in a while.
Anyway, sorry.
Interesting.
But that's a good example, right?
And now I've just forgotten your example.
It's not that easy.
Not that easy.
That's intensity, right?
Whereas this other example is referring to the idea of hiring the babysitter.
It's not It's not that easy.
It's not as easy as hiring a babysitter and coming out.
So there's a subtle difference as to what the that actually means, guys.
And this is going to be a case where you're going to want the transcripts to go back and comb through this episode to really make sure you understand guys.
All right, so go to allearsenglish.com forward slash transcripts. subscribe.
But let's focus today, Michelle, on intensity, using that to mean intensity.
Does that sound good?
Yeah, that sounds good.
I just want to point out one thing.
So you might be able to tell the difference if somebody says it like this.
Like, it's not that easy rather than it's not that easy, right?
Yeah.
So the babysitter one, like the stress is more towards like, it's not that easy, right?
Yeah, I love that.
Really good point.
Just a little way you might be able to, you know, understand.
Yeah.
So so you're saying that when we are focusing on intensity, we're going to put more stress on that.
Right.
It's not that easy.
Yes.
Don't you think?
Yeah, I agree.
I think that's a good.
Yeah, I love it.
Or it's not that crowded.
Right.
We should go to the high line.
It's not that crowded.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Right.
OK, I love it.
So let's do a role play to make this.
If you guys aren't getting it yet, don't worry.
Don't panic.
Just listen to the role play today.
We'll try to make it more clear for you.
OK, great.
So in this case, let's do it, Michelle.
So I'll be A and you can be B. All right.
I always I felt like B today.
I woke up and I knew it was a P-Day.
It was a P-Day.
All right, then we'll go with that.
So, hey, you went to that concert that you were super excited about, right?
How was it?
It wasn't that good.
Kind of a disappointment, actually.
Oh, man.
Sorry to hear that.
I figured it would be good.
Yeah.
Unfortunately, the Beastie Boys just aren't that good anymore.
I thought that was funny that you went to a Beastie Boys concert.
Oh, yeah.
I remember some of their songs.
Yeah, my brother.
Oh, wait.
Sorry, what?
No, I was going to say my brother used to listen to the Beastie Boys a lot.
That's all.
Yeah.
I just remember Intergalactic Planetary, that one.
You remember that?
Horrible.
Horrible.
Yeah.
So what were you going to say?
Go ahead.
No, just that I feel like I kind of broke my own rule about where the stress is because –
It's kind of tricky if you think about it.
I don't want to confuse the whole thing.
But, you know, just like I think that our advice is always is to listen to how people use it.
So it can be kind of tricky, like, oh, where are you going to put the stress?
But so, for example, when I say, oh, it wasn't that good, like I might say a little bit differently.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
So it's a little bit nuanced, guys.
But I think, you know, listen, listen to what other people are saying and how they stress it, right?
Because there are, as always, there's always a million different ways to do something.
Yeah, exactly.
And it's about understanding the context, right?
When we get into trouble is when we try to take single words or single phrases and try to figure out what they mean.
But we never do that.
That's not connection.
Connection is what is the context here?
The context is that you went to a concert that you were excited about.
And in the end, it wasn't that good.
Like it wasn't that good.
It wasn't as good as you had expected, right?
Intensive fire, right?
So that's the point.
That's the point in the end.
It's about matching the context, looking at the context and understanding what are we really talking about, guys?
Right, right.
Exactly.
So here, if you say it wasn't, they aren't that good anymore or they aren't that you know there are different ways to do it.
But yeah, I agree.
Focus on focus on the situation.
Exactly.
So what's the takeaway today?
Well, using that in the right part of, oh, do we want to go through the role play?
Oh, we could.
Yeah, we could do it.
Sure.
Okay.
Yeah, because we used it twice.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I said, you said, or I said, it wasn't that good.
Yeah.
Okay.
So another way of saying that is just saying, oh, it wasn't very good.
It wasn't so good.
Right.
It really wasn't.
It wasn't good.
Right.
That's really what you're saying.
Right, right, right.
And then again, yeah, it wasn't that they aren't that good anymore.
So there we go.
Yeah, that's the last one.
We use it again.
So yeah, unfortunately, the Beastie Boys just aren't that good anymore, right?
Another way of saying that is they aren't very good anymore.
So this is really just another way to say very or so, as we said in the beginning guys okay yeah exactly, exactly so yeah and, as we said, pay attention to the tone of voice right, that can be a clue as to what that is doing, right?
And but you know, i think the most important thing is that this is such a good question by our listener.
Like this is like it's a really good question about natural English, something our listener heard out in conversations.
And, you know, we want to encourage you guys to always be listening in this way.
I love it when our listeners take something that's just super native and super natural, because that means that they've been paying a lot of attention to natural English.
So good question from Erico.
As we as Michelle said, pay attention to the tone of voice just to wrap it up today, guys.
And yeah, I mean, keep keep keep your awesome questions coming at us, right?
Come to us with your good natural native questions and we will answer them all day long.
All right.
Awesome.
Thank you.
So cool.
And guys go get the transcripts for today, because this could be a little bit confusing if you're doing it without the transcripts.
There are hundreds of people that are getting these transcripts every week.
So you should join the list to go to all ears English dot com forward slash subscribe.
OK.
Awesome.
And we are out of here for now.
Yeah, all right.
Bye, Lindsay.
Okay, bye.
Thanks for listening to All Ears English and if you believe in connection, not perfection, follow our show wherever you listen to podcasts to make sure you don't miss anything.
See you next time.
