This is the All Ears English podcast.
What do you know?
A smooth way to ask questions in English.
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.
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Want to learn a new way to ask questions?
What do you say?
Today, get a glimpse into native English and connection using this key technique.
Hey Michelle, how's everything going?
Everything is good over here.
Lindsay, now that it's getting colder, I was thinking of trying skiing for the first time this weekend.
What do you think?
When did you learn to ski?
What do you think about, Michelle?
That will be a real adventure.
I always encourage you getting outdoors, getting on skis.
It's great because you can't really look at your phone.
You can't be on your phone when you're skiing.
But I'm not gonna lie learning to ski as an adult is challenging.
Oh, is that one of those things where it's easier when you're a kid?
Yeah, because you're not afraid as a kid.
Right, right, right.
And skiing's a dangerous sport.
I mean, like I said, try it, go for it, but like... you got to find a way to work through the fear.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'll have a lot of fear.
Yeah.
Um, I'm not even really doing that Lindsay.
That was just for the purpose of the episode, but maybe one day, maybe one day.
Um, so Lindsay, today we're going to talk about a fun way to ask someone a question.
Yes.
Um, and so we, we actually got this episode, this idea, um, from another episode we did.
Um, so it's really used, um, and, um, Very common.
So we wanted to highlight it today.
Yeah, just it felt so incredibly natural.
I don't even know if our listeners even noticed it, because it was so native and natural what you said.
You said, what do you think?
What do you?
What do you?
What do you?
Yeah.
And I love when we have these episodes that are just teaching something that is so incredibly natural, right.
Yeah.
Yep.
Uh-huh.
So exactly.
We are talking today about what do you?
So...
What in the world is whatia, Lindsay?
Well, this is connected speech, which is actually part of our pronunciation course, which is live now.
It is available now.
It's a brand new course.
Guys, go to allersenglish.com slash pronunciation to check it out.
But yeah, it is connected speech for what do you.
What do you.
We make it whatia.
Right.
So how would you spell this if you're like, let's say you wanted to spell it.
How would you spell it?
Yeah, it looks kind of weird.
You'd probably never write it, right?
But you would basically spell it W-H-A-D-D-A-Y-A.
What a ya.
What a ya.
Yeah.
It's really funny.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But do you... Okay, here's a question, though.
When you mean to say this, would you text this or would you actually text, what do you think?
So I am actually going to look in my text messages right now and do a search for what a ya, so we can see in real time.
Yeah.
I don't really think I would...
I don't know.
I think it just, yeah.
Depends on who you're texting, right?
Yeah.
I actually don't see it in there.
No.
Yeah.
I think, but I also, I had the feeling like I write it, but I guess I don't.
Yeah.
Interesting.
Maybe texting is a little bit more formal.
Some people will write ya, Y-A for you.
I don't even do that.
I just feel like it's a little tacky personally, but that's just my style.
I mostly write out that.
No, I also write out you.
Yeah. so but yeah but for for purposes of speaking we'd Absolutely use it.
We don't always say, Lindsay, what do you think?
No, almost never, right?
Almost never.
So guys, you are getting the secrets of native English connected speech here today.
So hit follow if you want more of this.
You know, we're going to talk about pronunciation this year because we've got this brand new course.
There's a lot to know that other courses are not teaching you.
Other programs are kind of missing that we go into.
So guys, hit the follow button.
All right.
All right.
Perfect.
So Let's talk about some ways you might hear this.
So I asked Lindsay this at first.
Instead of what do you think, I said, what do you think?
What do you think?
Yeah.
So for example, I'm in the mood for pasta tonight.
What do you think?
So you're saying, do you agree?
Like, are you also in the mood for pasta?
Yep.
Yep.
Or you might hear, what do you want?
Right?
Yeah.
So I'm grabbing coffee now.
I'll pick you up a cup.
What do you want?
Oh, yeah.
Very common.
If you're making a coffee run to the coffee shop and you're going to take orders.
Maybe you're doing this at work, too.
Right.
Coworkers picking up coffee for them.
Yeah.
Or what do you want?
Could also be if you're like slightly annoyed like somebody keeps on like for me.
Maybe my kids are like Mom.
I, can I have a snack?
Can I have a snack?
Which is every day.
And I might just, if they say mom, I might say, what do you want?
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
For sure.
Like, why are you bothering me?
Right.
Yeah.
Or what do you say?
I like this one.
It's so natural.
This is a little different.
Um, it's, it's suggesting something.
So I, I would suggest something and then I would say, do you say yes?
Do you agree?
Right.
Um, Right.
So it's not it's not actually about saying something.
I mean, it is asking someone for an answer, but that's mostly the focus.
It's not like it's not, oh, what do you say?
Like, I don't know.
It's a little bit more unique.
I think it's asking for an answer.
Right.
It's like, yeah, what are you going to say to this?
Right.
So, for example, I think you'll feel better if you come with me to get ice cream.
What do you say?
Right.
Invitation.
Right.
An invitation or I really think you're the right person for this project.
So what do you say?
Yeah.
So it's kind of like when we're trying to invite someone to do something and we want to know their opinion.
Do you agree?
Will you do this?
Right.
Exactly.
And then what do you know is another common one.
What do you know?
What do you know?
Yeah.
So this is not actually saying, what do you know?
Right.
Um, the meaning here to me is more an expression of surprise.
Don't you think Lindsay?
Yeah, for sure.
So for example, I thought it was in for a day at home.
And what do you know?
My friend invited me to a party.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's, that's the story of my life, is I?
I think okay, I'm just going to kind of relax that Dan and I joke that we don't stop.
Right.
Well, you know if, if something comes up where they're like, Oh hey, it's a six on a sunday and somebody said oh come, come by for dinner and we're in, we should just say no, we should get ready for the week.
But we're like, oh yes, we're very social beings, that's good.
That's good.
Yeah, i love that.
What it's like?
Yeah, expressing surprise.
What would be another example michelle, right?
So um oh wow, that sweater's on sale.
What do you know, right?
What do you know surprise?
Right, you're surprised.
You did not expect that, Right.
Love it.
And it's interesting because these expressions don't always directly translate to what they are.
So like, what do you know?
It's more about surprise.
It's not, Lindsay, what do you know?
I mean, yeah, I guess I could say, oh, Lindsay, what do you know about the airplane industry?
I could.
Yeah. but here we're saying more of this express.
So, so it could be.
Um.
But so some of them are more just kind of chunks and have a different meaning, and some of them are more basic.
What do you want?
What do you mean?
What are you doing?
Um, but some do have those chunks.
Yes.
I love it.
I love it.
So we want to know what each chunk means and just understand kind of the cultural context for it here.
Right.
Um, why are these good for connection?
Michelle, would you say?
Yeah.
To me, this shows a level of confidence.
It's very native sounding and it shows, you know, it shows you're not intimidated.
You're casual.
Yeah.
You're kind of smooth and cool.
I don't know about cool, but you're kind of, you're flowing.
You're flowing with it.
You're flowing.
I love it.
I love it.
Yeah.
I mean, you're comfortable with yourself, with your observations in life, right?
Mm-hmm.
Um, maybe you're not as self-conscious when you use these, right?
Something like that.
Right.
You're kind of, you're kind of loosey goosey, loosey goosey.
You're not stiff.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I love that.
And that's how we want to be.
That's what creates connection, right?
That what, that's what makes us available to connect.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So Michelle, what are we doing?
Let's do a role play and show her.
All right.
Yeah.
Let's use some of these in a role play.
So here we go.
We are friends waiting for our fast food order.
All right.
Here we go.
All right.
Yes.
I'm starving.
Should we share our fries?
What do you say?
Sure.
We can share.
I'll try yours and you can try my burger.
Ooh.
Okay.
Here it is.
This looks good.
What do you know?
They gave us extra fries.
Amazing.
Where's the ketchup?
Uh-oh, no ketchup.
What do you mean no ketchup?
There's no ketchup.
Oh, this is a disaster.
Last night I was having a veggie burger at home and I was at the very bottom of the ketchup bottle and I was literally like trying to take my finger and get all the ketchup.
Because ketchup is like the best food on earth.
I mean, I can't have a burger of any sort without ketchup.
You just can't.
I just, I don't know.
I had ketchup last night too.
Oh, I had, I had like, breaded cod.
And I was using ketchup with it.
Ketchup is possibly the single best food ever invented.
I'm just a big fan.
I don't know that I'd go that far, Lindsay.
Top 10, Michelle?
I don't know that I'd go that far, but it's a nice addition.
And sometimes when you feel it's necessary, it's necessary.
And if you don't have it, I will say that it's a food where a If you can call it a food.
I will say it's a condiment where you really feel its absence if it's not there.
And what restaurant serves fries and doesn't have ketchup available?
I mean, this is like a crime here.
That's a problem.
I know some places they have like a ranch dressing.
They'll have it.
Or mayo.
Right.
And that also depends on...
Yeah.
It depends on the region you're in.
Right.
Exactly.
Right.
I mean, I don't know.
Is that common in like New York, New Jersey area or is it more... Yeah.
I guess like white, anything, let's say Thousand Island, mayo, anything white.
Right.
No, I think, I mean, I remember in Amsterdam seeing they served mayo with it.
I think it may be a little more European.
Guys, let us know.
Maybe.
Yeah.
I mean, I guess fish and chips in... the UK, they do salt and vinegar.
I don't know what they do, actually.
I mean, yeah, so it just depends on where you are.
In Colorado you might get like a salsa kind of thing, like spicy things, with the influence of the Southwest.
So, wow, a lot of options here.
Guys, this is a good poll question for today.
I actually think this is really fun.
So, Lindsay, are you okay if we turn this into the Spotify poll?
Yeah, let's do it, Michelle.
What's the poll?
All right.
So the poll is what do you dip your French fries in?
All right.
Yeah.
The options are ketchup, mayo.
What else do we want to say?
Ketchup, mayo, vinegar.
So ketchup, mayo, vinegar, or hot sauce.
Let's do that.
Okay.
Ketchup, Mayo vinegar hot sauce.
Guys, definitely check in.
If you're listening on Spotify, we're going to post this and we will read the results in the future.
Yes.
Sounds good.
All right.
Excellent.
Excellent.
So Michelle, let's go back over the role play real quick just to break down our what he is.
All right.
So you're saying you're starving, right?
So and you're asking to share fries.
Should we share our fries?
What do you say?
This is an invitation.
I'm asking for your opinion.
What are you going to say as I'm asking you this, right?
Right.
And then we get our order and I said, oh, this looks good.
And then I say, what do you know?
They gave us extra fries.
That's exciting.
It's just kind of expressing surprise and delight.
I guess what you know is expressing delight, essentially.
Yeah, yeah.
And then you're saying, amazing, where's the ketchup?
Right.
Oh, no ketchup.
And then you're saying, I say, what do you mean no ketchup?
That's a deal breaker, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You're very disturbed by that.
Yes, yes.
What do you mean no ketchup, right?
Nice.
I love it.
So guys, participate in the poll.
It should be live as this episode goes live.
So go ahead and let us know your vote.
And yeah, I'm really interested in how this varies by region, by part of the world.
Yeah, super interesting.
Yes.
Absolutely.
All right, guys, check out episode.
It was a Saturday episode and it was how to connect over a twist in a movie.
So that's a really good one.
Lindsay, takeaway for today.
Oh, my gosh.
The more we can kind of adopt these natural chunks, the more we're going to feel comfortable in English, like seeing ourselves as an English speaker, which is going to lead to connection.
Right.
So try to adopt even if they feel phony, even if you feel phony, if you're using them at first.
Sometimes for me in Spanish, I would feel a little weird using slang at times because I'd be like oh, this is not natural for me.
But it will become that way as you hear yourself saying it.
And that's empowering.
Okay?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, I love that.
That's a really good way to leave our listeners for today.
And Lindsay, should we jump off the mic?
What do you say?
Let's jump off the mic, Michelle.
Let's do it.
All right.
Bye, guys.
Have a good day.
Take care.
Bye.
You too.
Bye.
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