Howdy, Harvey.
How about some grub before we turn on the NASCAR?
I'm not going to lie.
I like where this is going, but I'm not sure I'm supposed to.
Ain't this what you want?
The perfect American wife to make your life more convenient?
You think that's an American accent?
It's from Texas.
Oh yeah!
I'm Ksenia, your real-life English fluency coach, and today we're learning with one of the most beloved sitcom characters of our time, Gloria from Modern Family.
I think what makes her so endearing is that she's an English learner just like you and me, so she shares many of the same challenges with the language that we do, and there is actually a lot we can learn with her beyond just english, and that's exactly what we're gonna do today with our four short and funny clips.
One thing we will see is that a gloria often confuses words.
You don't want that to happen to you, right?
I mean, we're gonna learn over 17 native expressions in this lesson, and if you do not practice them, they will disappear in hours or even minutes.
I have a great solution for you.
You can remember them all forever with the magic flashcards on our real-life app.
They use a scientific method to make sure new words stick in your brain like super glue.
All you need to do is get your free access to the premium Modern Family lesson with the link in the description.
Alright.
In the first hilarious scene we watched, Gloria is feeling some serious imposter syndrome so she tries to seem more American by adopting what she thinks is an authentic Texan droll.
Let's learn all the slang, expressions, grammar and culture.
Now, hobby is an affectionate, informal word for husband.
It's cute and casual, something you'd say at home rather than in formal situations.
You might say, my hobby surprised me with flowers today.
Let's check out another slang Gloria used here.
What do you think grab means?
A movie, drinks, or food?
Right, you might text a friend, want to grab some grub?
Grub is an informal word for food.
Perfect for friends and family, but not fancy restaurants.
Check out this other example.
Hey, we were thinking about going to dinner, photographer.
You want in?
You want to grab some grub?
No, thanks.
To turn on means to activate or switch on a device, like turning on the lights, turning on your computer or, in this case, turning on the telly.
NASCAR is a car racing sport similar to Formula 1 and popular in the southern parts of the US like Texas.
I'm not gonna lie.
I like where this is going.
But I'm not gonna lie is a super common conversational phrase, meaning I'll be frank with you.
Native speakers use it to introduce an honest opinion or when admitting something.
You hear this in casual conversations.
For example, when tom holland admitted in interviews that he accidentally spoiled avengers end game details, he might have said i'm not gonna lie, i have a hard time keeping secrets.
Here's another example i'm not gonna lie.
He kept up a really big secret and it's gonna hurt a lot of people when it comes out.
Ain't this what you want?
Now, ain't is a non-standard contraction that means isn't, aren't, hasn't, or haven't.
It's considered incorrect in formal English, but it's very common in casual speech, especially in Southern American English, which is why Gloria uses it here for her Texas accent.
In standard English you would say isn't this what you wanted?
You might hear it in song lyrics, casual conversation or regional dialects.
Like in this classic hit, where it means, there is not.
By the way, I think a valuable lesson from Gloria here is that it's okay to play with different accents and have fun.
We don't need to sound perfect or take speaking so seriously.
I recommend that when you hear native speaking in an interesting way, you become curious about it and try to imitate them.
And eventually you will develop your own voice in English.
Now let's move on to the next hilarious scene, where we see how Gloria confuses many expressions in English.
One time she says, don't joke or I'll have to give you the Hindenburg maneuver.
One time she caught me staring off and she goes, come, what's wrong?
You look like a deer in headlights.
And if you tell her she doesn't have a choice, she'll say, don't you give me an old tomato.
Okay, enough!
You try speaking in another language.
Everybody out of my house!
Now let's learn what Gloria was actually trying to say.
One time she says, don't choke or I'll have to give you the Hindenburg maneuver.
So here she meant to say the Heimlich maneuver, which is the emergency technique you use to save someone who's choking, like we can see here.
But Gloria said Hindenburg, which was actually a famous airship that caught fire, a completely different thing.
Let's hear another funny mistake.
Oh, one time she caught me staring off and she goes, come, what's wrong?
You look like a deer in headlights.
To stare off means to look into the distance without focusing on anything specific, usually because you're distracted.
So, if you are staring off, you might look like a deer in the headlights.
This means you appear lost or confused.
It comes from how deer freeze when a car's headlights shine on them at night, but gloria thought the expression used headlights instead of headlights.
Headlights are tiny insects that infest people's hair.
If you tell her she doesn't have a choice, she'll say don't you give me an old tomato.
Here gloria was trying to say ultimatum, which is a final demand or warning.
It's like saying do this or else there will be consequences.
But ultimatum sounds a little bit like old tomato.
Here's how you'd use ultimatum correctly.
My landlord gave me an ultimatum.
Pay the rent by Friday or move out.
The lesson here, learn to laugh at yourself.
Glorious writes that learning a language is challenging, but she didn't need to lose her temper.
Mistakes are part of the journey, and if we have the right attitude, they can even be fun.
We can continue to empathize with Glorious' challenge in our next clip.
Do you know how frustrating it is to have to translate everything in my head before I say it?
To have people laugh in my face because I'm struggling to find the words?
You should try talking in my shoes from one mile.
I think you meant... I know what I meant to mean.
Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish?
Of course you don't.
I didn't think how it must be for you having to speak English all the time.
You have no idea.
Anyway, I just wanted to tell you I hired a tutor back.
Manny's not gonna like that.
He's too much into his French thing.
The tutor's not for Manny.
It's for me.
Oh, Jay, I love it.
Now you sound like the stupid one.
To have people laugh in my face because I'm struggling to find the words?
To laugh in someone's face means to make fun of someone openly.
It's disrespectful and hurtful.
Listen to this example.
If your enemies do something to mess with you or laugh in your face, good.
Take all that anger and store it. because you're going to need it when the time comes.
Notice how Gloria talks about how it's frustrating having to translate everything in her head before speaking.
I bet this is a frustration you've had at some point too.
An important tip I can give you is to not rely on translation tools, but rather look up the expression's definition in English.
This trains your brain to think in English without needing to translate from your native language.
So, case in point, Gloria is messing up the English idiom here.
The correct expression is to walk a mile in someone's shoes.
This means to understand another person's perspective by imagining yourself in their situation.
Her mistake is probably because she's referring to talking in a foreign language.
She says Jay shouldn't judge her until he's tried communicating in another language himself.
Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish?
Of course you don't.
It is also important to know that it is completely normal to feel a bit like a child when we speak English, or not feel as smart speaking English as our native language.
By actually embracing this reality, we can feel less self-conscious and enjoy the journey.
However, one way you can feel more confident natural and confident is by challenging yourself to discuss different topics.
You can also do this on the real-life app in a low-pressure environment with our AI coach.
You can try it now with the link below.
He's not gonna like that.
He's too much into his French thing.
This means to really like or be enthusiastic about something.
Super casual, very common.
A similar expression is to be way too into something.
Like in this example.
Sandy has a creepy guy at work.
He's way too into her.
And if you say you're into someone, you mean you're romantically interested in this person, like in this example.
Isn't every conversation you two have awkward?
Painfully so.
We have this rule on the phone that if no one talks for three minutes, you can just hang up.
So into her.
The scene has a heartwarming ending where Jay attempts to speak Spanish.
Quiero poder decir te amo en todos los idiomas que conoces.
This means I want to be able to say I love you in all the languages you know.
And Gloria's response is sweet and humorous.
Ay, Jay, I love it.
Now you sound like the stupid one.
Jay, courageously trying to communicate in a language he just started learning means that both he and Gloria can better empathize with the challenge.
It's okay to sound silly when speaking another language.
The important thing is that you are pushing yourself and making yourself understood.
Now let's check out our final clip for today, where Glory is preparing for the US citizenship test.
This is a real test that immigrants must pass to become American citizens, and it includes questions about American history and government.
What are the last two states to be admitted into the union?
Alaska and Hawaii.
Name two cabinet-level positions.
That's easy.
There's a higher one for the glasses and a lower one for the pots and the pans.
Hey, don't get cocky.
When we started studying for this, you thought the Secretary of Defense job was to guard defense.
Gloria's about to take her citizenship test.
This little jumping bean's about to become an American.
Jumping beans are Mexican.
Once you're an American, you won't see the difference.
What are the last two states to be admitted into the union?
Alaska and Hawaii.
We got to learn some fun cultural facts here.
So starting off, to be admitted means to be officially accepted or allowed to join something.
In this context, it means to be accepted as a state in the United States.
You can use admitted in other contexts too.
She was admitted to Harvard University.
He was admitted to the hospital for surgery.
Only members are admitted to the club.
The Union refers to the United States of America as a whole.
All the states joined together under one federal government.
Actually, during the Civil War, the Union specifically referred to the northern states that stayed loyal to the federal government.
The other states were called the Confederacy.
In modern usage.
We still talk about the State of the Union Address, where the President speaks to Congress and the nation about the country's condition.
Name two cabinet-level positions.
That's easy.
There's a higher one for the glasses and a lower one for the pots and the pans.
These are the big jobs in government, the people who report directly to the president.
Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Education.
The president's top advisors.
Glory is so confident that she makes a play of words here.
Cabinets are also the closets in a kitchen.
So she jokes that the cabinets at different levels in the kitchen have different purposes.
Jay says that she shouldn't be so cocky though.
Hey, don't get cocky.
This means to become overly confident, especially in a way that might lead to mistakes.
Cockiness is a negative type of confidence when someone thinks they are better than they actually are.
Check out this example.
And that's why I can sell myself to any woman, anywhere, anytime.
Make a woman fall in love with diamonds, Benjamin?
Or with you, either one that's cocky ben no, not cocky confident.
And why does jay say this?
When we started studying for this, you thought the secretary of defense job was to guard defense.
It's because of connected speech.
That's how natives cut, reduce and link.
Words influence speech.
The article b usually is reduced to the or even duh.
So if we say the fence like it's behind the fence, it would sound like it's behind a fence.
Now, while it's funny, it makes sense how Gloria could confuse the fence and defense, right?
This little jumping bean is about to become an American.
Jumping beans are Mexican.
Once you're an American, you won't see the difference.
In this context, see the difference means to notice that two things are distinct.
Jay is making a joke about American ignorance, saying that people from the USA do not notice the difference between people from different Latin American countries like Colombia or Mexico.
You might say, for example, that you can really see the difference in the camera quality of your new phone compared to your old one, or that you can't tell the difference between two paint colors that your partner is proposing for the living room.
Listen to this other example.
I can't tell the difference.
We have two of these, okay?
Learning about culture makes language learning richer, like understanding NASCAR or US government.
In today's lesson.
And you've done a fantastic job today.
I hope you have enjoyed not only learning new expressions, but also some tips about how to be more successful English speaker with Gloria.
But we're not done yet.
In fact, this is the most important part.
Your test.
You will test your comprehension by watching those four clips again without subtitles, and answering some quiz questions.
You've got this.
Howdy, hobby.
How about some grub before we turn on the NASCAR?
I'm not gonna lie, I like where this is going, but... What does I'm not gonna lie mean?
I never tell lies.
I'm being honest with you.
I'm about to lie.
I'm not sure I'm supposed to.
Isn't this what you want?
The perfect American wife to make your life more convenient?
Do you think that's an American accent?
From Texas.
One time she says, don't choke or I'll have to give you the Hindenburg maneuver.
Fill in the blank.
If someone is phrasing with shock and confusion, you can say they look like a, Like a deer in the headlights.
One time she caught me staring off and she goes, Cam, what's wrong?
You look like a deer in headlights.
And if you tell her she doesn't have a choice, she'll say, don't you give me an old tomato.
Okay, enough!
You try speaking in another language.
Everybody out of my house!
Do you know how frustrating it is to have to translate everything in my head before I say it?
To have people laugh in my face because I'm struggling to find the words?
You should try talking in my shoes from one mile!
True or false.
The expression walk a mile in my shoes means to literally wear someone's footwear for exercise.
It means to experience someone else's situation to understand their perspective.
I know what I meant to mean.
Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish?
Of course you don't.
I didn't think how it must be for you having to speak English all the time.
You have no idea.
Anyway, I just wanted to tell you I hired a tutor back.
Manny's not gonna like that.
He's too much into his French thing.
The tutor's not for Manny.
It's for me.
Oh, Jay, I love it.
Now you sound like the stupid one.
What are the last two states to be admitted into the union?
Alaska and Hawaii.
Name two cabinet-level positions.
That's easy.
There's a higher one for the glasses and a lower one for the glasses.
Imagine your friend just got promoted at work after their first month and is now acting superior to everyone else.
Using an expression from this lesson, what would you tell them?
Don't get cocky or you're getting cocky.
Hey, don't get cocky.
When we started studying for this, you thought the Secretary of Defense job was to guard defense.
Gloria is about to take her citizenship test.
This little jumping bean is about to become an American.
Jumping beans are Mexican.
Once you're an American, you won't see the difference.
Match the expression to its meaning.
To be into something, get cocky, see the difference.
Great job!
Don't let all these useful everyday expressions disappear from your memory.
Practice them with the flashcards on the RealLife app using the link below.
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Now that she's pregnant, she's decided she's not gonna take the job in paris.
So there goes your promotion.
Not exactly.
They still need someone there, like american eyes and ears, to help with the whole transition.
So they asked me if i would take the job for a year, but in paris they said that if i did that, they guarantee me senior brand manager when i'm back.
