Hi. What’s up? No episódio de hoje eu falo sobre doing everything in your power, se você quiser dizer doing everything I can com um pouco mais de vigor.

Hello, everyone. How’s it going? We’re starting now a new episode of the Inglês online podcast. That’s right. We’re back!

Let’s get right into it, because on this podcast… We do not waste time. We go right into the expressions and here’s our idiom for today: everything in my power, everything in his power.

It’s quite a simple one to understand, but in Portuguese – or in Brazil, anyway – we say it… We don’t really say it this way. We wouldn’t translated (it) literally to Brazilian Portuguese this way, and I believe even European Portuguese. Everything in my power: that means “everything I can”. I will do everything in my power to make this or that happen. That means simply “I will do everything I can” – but if you use everything in my power, that shows you have a bit more vocabulary, a bit more English vocabulary than just “I will do everything I can”.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say Jane has seen a doctor… and the doctor had a serious heart-to-heart with Jane, and said: Jane, you need to lose some weight… because your excess weight is creating this and that health risk. You’re in a worse shape now than you were, let’s say, three years ago. You have to take care of yourself and get yourself back into shape.

What does Jane do for the next two months? She does everything in her power to lose a bit of weight. She starts exercising regularly… Ok, she starts walking, all right? That’s exercise too! She starts walking around the neighborhood before she goes to work, she learns how to cook better recipes… More nutritious recipes that are still delicious – she enjoys what she’s eating but now she’s eating more nutritious food, which means she is satisfied with less, I guess.

She cuts excess bread from her diet, she starts eating less pasta and more, let’s say, tuna. She looks up healthy recipes online, she starts watching TV shows, she learns a little bit about nutrition – the basics of nutrition. In other words, she’s doing everything in her power, everything she can, everything she has the ability to do. She’s doing everything in her power to go back to a healthy diet.

Another example would be if… Let’s say, you’re a guy and your sister is having a birthday party in three months and she really wants to waltz. You know, waltz? It’s a musical style. She wants to learn how to waltz. And your sister… She doesn’t have a husband or a boyfriend. She asks you – you’re her brother – she asks you Can you dance with me at my birthday party? I really want to dance to waltz. That’s my wish. You don’t even have to give me a birthday gift, seriously! Your gift to me will be: you dance with me.

You and your sister do everything in your power to become better dancers: you watch videos online, you practice every day, you even consider hiring an instructor… But then you find online classes that are pretty good and you don’t hire the instructor. But you are really doing everything in your power to become a better dancer. You’re doing everything you can.

Tell me: everyone can tell a story about this. Years and years ago I did everything in my power to improve Inglês Online when we were just… when I was just starting the website and people started asking me for help to learn English. I did everything in my power: I did research, I talked to other people, I wrote tips, I did videos.

What is it in your life that you did everything in your power to accomplish? Let me know and talk to you soon. Bye.

Key expressions

Vocabulary

have a heart-to-heart with someone = ter uma conversa franca com alguém

lose some weight = perder peso, emagrecer

get yourself back into shape = voltar a ficar em forma

waltz = valsa

How’s it going? No episódio de hoje eu falo sobre o idiom keep your fingers crossed.

Hi. How are you? This is Ana, back with a new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Hope all is well. What’s the weather like in Brazil? I think it’s getting cold in Brazil, isn’t it?

Today I came across this really, really cool idiom, which is keep your fingers crossed. Keep your fingers crossed. Open your hand and look at your fingers: you have your thumb… Let’s say your thumb is the first finger to the left, and then the next two fingers, if you sort of intertwined them… That’s your fingers crossed. Cross your fingers and keep your fingers crossed, because… Let’s say, tomorrow I have my English exam and I’ve studied so hard, and I’m hoping (that) I’m going to do really well. Please keep your fingers crossed. I have to get a good grade on my English exam.

That’s basically what keep your fingers crossed means. It’s like a lucky… It’s as though if people keep their fingers crossed for you, that is somehow going to help you. I guess that’s a symbol of their good wishes or maybe good vibes, I don’t know… But people say to each other “I’m trying to do this thing tomorrow that I really want to be successful. Keep your fingers crossed”.

I did a search on the Inglês Online blog and then I found this old article that I wrote with two idioms. One is “high five” and the other one is “keep your fingers crossed”. Actually I had already written about it!… but it doesn’t have any audio.

Here are some of the examples I included in this article (and you’re going to find the link at the bottom of the podcast episode page). One example was Jane said “I have a job interview tomorrow finally”. And then her friend Tom says That’s awesome. Do you feel ready? And she says I’ve been practicing my interview skills or questions. And Tom says Great, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Another example that I used in the article was about Mary saying that her driving test is tomorrow and then she says Fingers crossed! After all, she has failed the exam three times already. Hey third time’s a charm! Fingers crossed. “Please root for me”… Which is a bit funny – it is a funny thing to say, because I don’t know what crossing your fingers will do for the outcome of the situation that you’re going to go through.

I haven’t really looked into the origin of this idiom, but I bet it’s pretty interesting. If you know what the origin of this is… If you know why people say “fingers crossed”, “Please keep your fingers crossed for me”… If you know why they say that and why it means that maybe there’s a bigger chance of what you’re going to do being successful, let me know.

Tell me: What is the last time that you asked someone to keep their fingers crossed, maybe in Brazil… Using, obviously, a Brazilian expression? Can you let me know? Can you give me an example?

Let me know and talk to you next time.

Article: Keep your fingers crossed

Key expressions

Vocabulary

intertwined = entrelaçou

third time’s a charm = Agora vai, da terceira não passa

root for me = torça por mim

outcome of the situation = resultado/desfecho/consequência da situação

Hey, you! No episódio de hoje do podcast Inglês Online eu falo sobre o idiom let alone, que é suuuuper comum na língua inglesa. Ouvindo os vários exemplos do pod, você vai se familiarizar bastante com esta expressão e chegar bem mais perto do ponto onde é só abrir a boca que as palavras saem (se é que você já não está lá). Ouça, re-ouça e depois deixe seu exemplo nos comentários. Abraço – Ana!

Hello, what’s up? How are you doing? What did you have for lunch? How did you sleep last night?

Anyway, welcome to a new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Today I have a really good expression for you. It’s a phrase… very, very common. And if you’re a listener of, of other podcasts, if you watch a lot of American TV or British TV, if you’re into movies and TV shows I guarantee you have already heard this expression before. But- is it rolling off your tongue? Is it something that comes to your mind when you want to express that idea? That’s the big question. I’m going to give you many examples today.

This phrase is let alone. Does it ring a bell? Sound familiar? Picture this: there’s this little guy, Tommy, who’s in school and his mother is talking about him, let’s say to the neighbor. Tommy’s mother says: Tommy never eats fruit, let alone vegetables.

He never eats fruit, let alone vegetables. Now, what is being said here? The first piece is Tommy never eats fruit, never! He never does it. Now, most kids would probably choose fruit over veggies if they had to pick one. My guess is, it’s easier to get a kid to eat mangoes and bananas than broccoli and eggplant.

Tommy won’t even eat fruit, which, let’s say, is the nicer option. Can you imagine when it comes time to eat vegetables? He just runs in the other direction – he wants nothing to do with vegetables. With fruit, he’s still in the room. But if you try to get him to eat broccoli he’ll get out of the room. That’s why his mother is saying, Tommy never eats fruit, let alone vegetables. No, no, no chance, no chance for Tommy.

Here’s another word, imagine that there’s this girl, Sally. She lives on her own but she doesn’t cook. She can’t even fry an egg. She can’t even fry an egg, let alone bake a cake. Again, what’s more work? Fry an egg or bake a cake? Or what’s the level of difficulty of these two things? I think we can all agree… Baking cakes is probably a bit harder, it’s probably a bit more work, a bit more complex than frying an egg. Sally can’t even fry an egg. She doesn’t have the ability to fry an egg, she just can’t do it, let alone bake a cake. I mean, she can’t even do something that is relatively easy like frying an egg. Do you think she can do something that is more complex like baking a cake? Nope, no chance, she can’t do it. Sally can’t even fry an egg let alone bake a cake.

Here’s an example with me. I can barely understand Japanese, let alone write in Japanese. Actually in this example, I’m actually exaggerating my abilities a little bit… Because when I say I can barely understand Japanese it kind of communicates that I can understand something in Japanese, but that isn’t even true. I can’t even understand the basics of Japanese, let alone write in Japanese. Come on… I guess what I’m saying here is writing in Japanese is a lot more complex than understanding Japanese. I can’t even understand it, let alone write it.

Let’s wrap it up with a final example. Mark never remembers his own birthday. I mean, he forgets his own birthday. Have you ever met someone like that? That forgets their own birthday? Mark never remembers his own birthday, let alone his friends’ birthdays. He can’t even remember his own, let alone his friends’. Nope, not a chance.

Tell me, can you think of an example from your own life? Something that is real for you, maybe it’s about you, maybe it’s about someone you know. Leave it in the comments, I’m curious.

Talk to you next time.

Key expressions

Vocabulary

is it rolling off your tongue? = você está falando isso (a expressão) com naturalidade?

be into something = ser chegado em algo

does that ring a bell? = isso soa familiar, faz lembrar algo ou alguém

Sound familiar? = (Does it) sound familiar?

when it comes to something = quando se trata de algo/alguma coisa

she lives on her own = ela mora/vive sozinha

wrap it up = encerrar, terminar

his friends’ = os (aniversários) dos amigos

What’s going on? Gravei o episódio de hoje enquanto fazia compra em um supermercado online. Você usa esse tipo de site no Brasil? Conte. Mas primeiro, ouça e enjoy :)

Fique de orelha em pé para as pronúncias destas palavras (que muita gente erra!): AISLE, CUPBOARD e BISCUIT

Hello. How have you been? All good? So, so? Whatever is going on and however you are, right now you’re here listening to the podcast… to the Inglês Online podcast. That is a good thing. I hope overall everything is going well.

Today we have a new episode, and I was just browsing a website for… It’s a supermarket that has this online delivery service and I was browsing the pages and seeing how it works. Obviously we’re now in coronavirus lockdown. I live in the UK, in the United Kingdom, if this is your first time listening to the podcast. Things here are a bit stricter than in Brazil from what I’ve heard when talking to people in Brazil.

Here, we can only leave the house… We’re self distancing – we can only leave the house to actually go buy food, to go to the hospital or see a doctor, and exercise once a day. Oh… and if we’re… what they call ‘essential workers’, we can leave the house and go to work. For example, people who work in basic transportation services, like trains and the tube. Or if I’m a hospital worker – obviously I can leave the house to go to the hospital.

I was looking at this website… It’s an online delivery service of groceries, or everything that you would find in a really good supermarket. There’s a bit of electronics, there’s a bit of clothing, things for your kitchen, for dining, cutlery, plates, small appliances… Here in the United Kingdom lots and lots and lots of people who didn’t use to order groceries online, are doing so for obvious reasons right now. But I imagine that the same happened in Brazil: online delivery services of every kind have probably seen an increase in demand.

I’m looking here at the website and just sort of thinking back… When all I used to see in front of me was American English, mostly, and just noticing tiny differences here and there. For example, you know when you shop online and they call it ‘shopping cart’? It’s the place… when you click on an item. I want to buy this item, it gets placed in the shopping cart or the shopping basket and here in the supermarket they call it trolley, which is a very common word here in the UK. People rarely use the word ‘cart’ in that sense.

And I’m looking at the aisles – when you walk the aisles of a physical supermarket, you look to your right and you see the shelves. Let’s say, with tons of biscuits, and sliced bread, confectionery, candy… That’s the aisle with everything that is sweet, let’s say, sweet snacks. Then you go around that aisle and you see a different aisle with flours: wheat flour, almond flour, or ingredients for cooking – sugar, eggs and things like that. That’s a different aisle.

In the online supermarket website, we see the aisles as what… They call it aisles, although obviously they’re virtual aisles. I see Fresh, I see Food cupboard – notice the pronunciation of this word, ‘cupboard’. It’s an interesting pronunciation. And then I see Bakery, Frozen, Baby and child, Toiletries, Household and so on.

I’m clicking on the Food cupboard aisle now. And then I clicked again, because it’s… It’s got different groups of things under it. I clicked again on Biscuits and I’m seeing all kinds of energy bars and fruit bars, and there’s something called energy ball. These little balls… It’s like an energy bar, but it’s just a ball. It’s obviously smaller, it’s a bit cheaper – but still expensive, because it’s supposed to give you a lot of energy. I don’t know… What do you guys think? Do you eat energy bars? And do you think it makes any difference?

Here’s another thing that I can see in the Biscuits aisle, which is a kind of biscuit that I don’t know if we have that in Brazil… It’s called “digestive” –  digestive biscuits. Obviously it’s a kind of biscuit that if you eat… It’s got a lot of fiber and it’s going to help with your digestion.

Let’s pick up the pace a little bit. I’m clicking here and I’m putting a bunch of stuff in the trolley and then, obviously, what I have to do is check out. And when I’m about to check out the website asks me to book a delivery. I have already registered in this website, I have typed in my address and my credit card information. Now I’m checking out, and that’s it.

Tell me something: Are you taking the chance to go every day for a walk when you go to the supermarket to buy some food? Or have you started to use… a delivery service? They can be a bit expensive. I don’t like to use them all the time but they are convenient.

Let me know. What are you doing? Talk to you next time.

Vocabulary

stricter = mais rigoroso/rígido

basic transportation services = serviços de transporte básico

the tube = metrô no inglês britânico. Nos Estados Unidos o comum é ‘subway’

cutlery = talheres

appliances = eletrodomésticos

thinking back = pensar sobre algo no passado, relembrar. Geralmente seguido de to ou on.

confectionery = tudo que for barra de chocolate, bala, etc é chamado genericamente de ‘confectionery’

shopping cart ou trolley = cesto ou carrinho de compras

pick up the pace = acelerar ou aumentar o ritmo, apertar o passo

book a delivery = agendar uma entrega

taking the chance = aproveitando a oportunidade

Nota: go to the hospital, como eu usei, é mais comum nos EUA enquanto que go to hospital é mais comum no Reino Unido.

Tudo bem por aí? No episódio de hoje, eu te faço uma pergunta. Para responder, é só escolher e clicar em uma alternativa ao fim do texto abaixo. Ouça o podcast e me diga o que você acha… Enjoy.

Hi, everyone. How’s it going? How have you been? This is Ana with another episode of the Inglês Online podcast.

Here we go. Today I have a question for you, especially if you’re sort of a long time listener of this podcast – but also if you’re new. If this is one of the first times listening to this podcast that is fine… I want to know your opinion as well. But if you’re a long-time listener, you know that sometimes when I do the podcast I speak a bit more slowly. Usually when I’m explaining English expressions, when I’m talking about idioms and giving examples… Usually I tend to speak a bit more slowly.

On the other hand, when I do sort of a free-form kind of episode where I just talk about my life, and I just go on and on sort of telling a story… You know that sometimes I can speed it up a little bit and talk a bit faster.

I have had requests – from some of you – both ways. Some people asking me to do more podcasts speaking more naturally, faster and other people asking me to slow down a little bit. Lately, though, I have to say… I think I have had a little bit more of the latter, which is… more people asking me to record podcasts speaking a bit more slowly. Instead of going one way or the other, I decided to ask you to tell me which one you prefer.

In this podcast – obviously, not in the audio… but if you visit the podcast page, this episode’s page on the website, you will see a little… This little sort of quiz embedded in the post, in the page… And all you have to do is click on it and you’ll see the question What would you like me to do?

Would you like me to do more episodes speaking slowly? Would you like me to do more episodes speaking faster? Or do you think a balance is best? Let’s say 50% more slowly, 50% quicker… or something like that. All you have to do is click and choose the option. And I’m very interested in what you guys are going to go for – which alternative is going to be number one.

I can do both – I’m happy to do both. As you guys know, especially, again –  if you’ve been listening for a while, I have started to do more episodes without a lot of planning. There’s a lot more spontaneous talk… But anyway, I really enjoy doing the kind of episode where I pick a couple of expressions and give you examples, and repeat the expression a lot. And I also like telling you guys about some… some interesting experiences that I go through because I think that it really helps. Like some real life experiences, where I tell you what other people that I run into every day, say. They talk about their lives… it’s like different situations, everyday experiences… I think that’s interesting as well, and in those kinds of episodes I usually speak a little bit faster.

I’m curious to see what your choice is. Feel free, after you select your choice, to leave a comment as well. Looking forward to hearing from you guys.

Talk to you soon. Bye!

[tqb_quiz id=’28068′]

Vocabulary

speed it up = acelerar, ir mais rápido

the latter = ultimo ou segunda coisa a ser mencionada

run into something/somebody = se deparar, encontrar ou esbarrar com algo ou alguém

feel free to = fique à vontade para

How are you? No episódio de hoje do podcast Inglês Online eu falo sobre coisas assim: I do watch this show. I did study. She does like you. They do have a dog. Só que concentro os exemplos na primeira pessoa do singular (“I”) para simplificar. Está vendo ali – o do, o did, o does? Essa é uma maneira pra lá de comum de usar os auxiliares, e é uma daquelas coisas que a gente só pega (e começa a falar) com muito listening. Então vamos ao listening!

Clique no player e ouça já!

Hello. How’s it going? What have you been up to? Are you social-distancing or are you self-isolating? Here where I am we are all social-distancing, we’re talking online, we’re meeting online to chat… You know the drill.

Today I’m not going to talk about coronavirus, thank God. I’ve got something really, really cool, really interesting that people do with the English language, that the native speakers do… And I think I’ve touched on it on the website. I think we have an article about it but I don’t think I’ve ever addressed this on a podcast episode.

Here we go. Listen to this little example: let’s say your cousin Marilyn gave you a skirt. Let’s say you’re a girl… Your cousin Marilyn gave you a skirt on your birthday, and the skirt is orange in the front – and green in the back. It’s an unusual skirt. The funny thing is, you have a shirt that is also orange in the front and green in the back. They were made for each other – the shirt and the skirt. Obviously, you think that the shirt will be perfect with that skirt. They will match completely, but you’re saving this ensemble for a costume party because you know the colors are so strong… You don’t really want to wear the skirt and the shirt every day. Orange in the front, green in the back… It looks more like a, like some sort of costume, maybe for carnival.

Let’s say your friend Marilyn gave you that skirt in March and now it’s June, and she realizes she has never seen you wearing that skirt. She asks Hey, I’ve never seen you wear the skirt that I gave you. What is it? Do you not like it? And you say: No, Marilyn. I do like it! I do like it, but it’s so unusual. It’s such an unusual color combination… I’m really waiting for the right occasion to wear it. It goes with my shirt. But I do like it! And you’re being honest, you do like it but it’s not a skirt to be worn every day.

Here’s another little story. You had a Math test last week and you got a four out of ten. Your teacher graded your test and you got a 4. Your friend Marcy says Hey, you didn’t study for the test, did you? I thought you were going to study so hard for this. I thought you needed a good grade. Where were you? Why didn’t you study? And you tell Marcy Wait… actually, I did study but I had a cold the week before the test and that really got in the way of my studying. I was feeling really sick and I was in bed most of the time. I tried to study but it didn’t go very well. Yeah, I did study.

Did you notice that in these two little stories I said ‘I do like it’, ‘I do like the skirt’ and ‘I did study’? ‘I did study’. I said, ‘I do like it’ instead of ‘I like it’ and I said ‘I did study’ instead of ‘I studied’. When you do that, you’re emphasizing the action. You say that when you want to really emphasize to the other person that you are doing that action or that you did that action or that you really like something. They’re thinking that maybe you don’t like it, maybe you didn’t do something, maybe you didn’t do that action… But then you say No… I do like it. I did study.

“No… I did see you at the movie theater, but you know… I was with my friend who doesn’t really like you, I didn’t want to upset her – that’s why I didn’t wave! But yes, I did see you at the movie theater.” “Yes, I did like the food, but I had a stomach ache and… that’s why I didn’t eat much.”

In all of these situations, you want to emphasize the verb. You want to emphasize that it is true that you like something, that you saw someone, that you studied, that you liked the food… And we use that little auxiliary particle to do that. I just wanted to give you these two examples today and sort of ask you to start paying attention to that. That’s something that you will acquire the more you listen to English. Start paying attention to that when you’re watching your favorite TV shows or when you’re watching movies and you’ll start noticing how often people do this — because this is really a very common way to express things.

See you next time or talk to you next time! Bye.

Read more about auxiliaries mentioned in this episode by clicking on the links below

Do, does, did… os auxiliares além das short answers

Pratique o inglês: auxiliares

Key expressions

Vocabulary

you know the drill = você sabe o que é; você sabe o que fazer, você conhece/sabe o caminho das pedras

ensemble = conjunto

graded your test = corrigiu/deu a nota para a sua prova

costume party = festa à fantasia

wave = acenar

Hello! How’s it going? Hoje o podcast é sobre… o que mais poderia ser? Sim, o coronavírus – mas com um twist voltado ao entretenimento, ou, pelo menos, ao bom uso do tempo para aqueles que estão fazendo social distancing, self-isolation ou quarantine.

Hi, everyone. How are you guys? This is Ana Luiza of Inglês Online with a new podcast episode, and… We’re in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and it’s all everyone talks about. Everywhere you look it’s coronavirus… There is no news anymore, there’s nothing else that people talk about now. It’s like the world has been brought to a halt and coronavirus is the only thing going on.

If you’re sick, if you’re at home… Especially if you’re sick, I wish you all the best. I hope you’re doing better and taking care of yourself and I hope you get all the help you need and that you have a good rest, and that you fully recover.

I wanted to give us all a break and instead of talking about all the problems and issues, and the suffering that has been brought on by coronavirus, I thought I would just talk a little bit about what I’m doing and what some people I know are doing while we self-isolate… Because from what I understand, you guys in Brazil are doing the same: self-isolating. Some people are probably in quarantine depending whether you tested positive for the virus or not… So I thought it would be just a good topic.

This morning I had a conversation with some people that I know. There were some people there that I’ve worked with in the past and one of the people present has had coronavirus. And he is someone that had very mild symptoms, but his partner got it bad and was very sick for a couple of weeks and they’re both now fine… But anyway, one of the things that I’ve been doing with this amount of free time that I have now is watching old comedies and one of the comedies I watched was Mrs. Doubtfire with Robin Williams. It’s a super old movie – I think it’s from the 90s or from the early 2000s. I don’t remember, but it’s old!

I remember watching it a long time ago and I remember that I liked it and you know what? It holds up! When I watched it last week I had a good time. It was fun, I laughed. I’m kind of now going through a list of, sort of older comedies because my favorites are comedies. I don’t want to watch drama or violent movies or even adventure. I’ll just pass for now – I really want to go for the comedies.

I’m going through a list of the best, most popular comedies from the 90s, from the early 2000s… And I’m going to watch some of those again. And I’m having a good time! Other people in this group that I talked to today… They said they’re doing the same thing. They’re watching reruns of old TV shows… Someone said they were watching Friends, others said that they’re taking the time to really clean their house or organize their drawers, clean out the closet, donate some clothes, stuff like that.

And cleaning my house is something that I’m really going to do, because I’ve been keeping my house relatively clean. But I have to say… with all this free time that I have now I think it’s time for a spring cleaning. I’m really going to go for it.

Let me know, please let me know: What are you doing? What is your family doing? What are the people you know doing in this strange, unprecedented situation that we’re going through? Let me know in the comments – I’d like to hear from you. Talk to you soon. Bye!

Vocabulary

in the midst of = no meio de/da

the world has been brought to a halt = o mundo foi paralisado/interrompido

mild symptoms = sintomas leves/moderados

it holds up = continua bom, ainda dá para o gasto

reruns = reprises

spring cleaning = limpeza/faxina geral. Época do ano em que as pessoas aproveitam pra reorganizar a casa depois do inverno

unprecedented = nunca antes vista

Hi. What’s up? Tudo bem? O episódio de hoje é sobre aquela situação onde a pessoa acha melhor ficar quietinha, não falar nada, não criar caso… pois há o risco de dar problema se ela disser alguma coisa. Em outras palavras – um ambiente bem chato… Por outro lado, bom assunto para o pod :-) Ouça já!

Hi. How are you? This is Ana Luiza with a new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. It’s a beautiful day here where I am. Pretty nice day to be recording a podcast.

Today I was thinking that… I had a chat with someone last week about their workplace, and this person was telling me about this company that he works for, and… It’s pretty interesting, I mean… It’s not great because he doesn’t like the environment too much, but pretty interesting in terms of English vocabulary. I thought of a few expressions to describe my friend’s workplace.

Here’s what it’s like. It’s very hierarchical, meaning… you have your boss, then you have your boss’ manager and then you have the director, and then you have the VP… Whatever they say has to be done: there’s no discussion, there’s no arguing, there’s no challenging. What does that mean?

When you challenge someone’s opinion, and that’s something that I guess we do to different degrees all the time… If someone tells you that soccer team XYZ is the best soccer team in the world, you can challenge their opinion by saying: No, they’re not and I’m going to show you why. Actually, team ABC is the best team in the world. You can challenge someone’s opinion by actually showing them that they’re incorrect and explaining to them why you disagree with what they said. That’s what challenging someone’s opinion means.

In my friend’s workplace no one can really challenge anything. If a director or if even your boss says that you have to do this or that, you sort of have to keep your head down and just get on with it. No one challenges anything that comes from above. It’s a very hierarchical environment where people have to just be quiet and the managers and directors and VPs… They will tell employees what they have to do and everyone has basically to keep quiet and just do it.

Here’s an interesting expression that fits the context: make waves. What happens in that environment in my friend’s workplace… People try not to make any waves, they try not to speak up too much, they don’t give many opinions, they don’t disagree, they kind of pretend to like everything, they don’t make any waves…

They don’t want to make any waves, because if you start making waves, if you start voicing your opinion and criticizing, and maybe even coming up with new ideas… My friend said that you will be seen as a troublemaker. It’s really that kind of environment. The bosses… They don’t really want people challenging them very much. If you work in that place and you don’t want to lose your job, you don’t make any waves.

My question for you is: Have you ever worked in a place like that? Maybe you work in a place like that right now! Maybe it’s the place where you feel that in order to keep your job, you’d better not make any waves. Don’t disagree too much, don’t have any bright ideas, just follow orders and do what you’re told.

Is that the kind of place that you work in? Or is it very different? Is it a place that is very open to your ideas and your boss wants to listen to you and you can give your opinions… You can challenge what your boss says and your boss is okay with it?

Let me know. See you next time, bye.

Key expressions

Vocabulary

VP (Vice president) = Vice presidente

get on with it = continuar ou seguir em frente com algo

troublemaker = pessoa que frequentemente cria problema

pretend to like everything = fingir gostar de tudo

voice your opinion = dar ou expressão a sua opinião ou ponto de vista

bright ideas = ideias brilhantes (frequentemente usada com ironia)

How are you? Hoje voltamos ao “básico” para você ouvir um pouco mais as expressões get used to e be used to sendo usadas. Enjoy!

Hello, everyone. How’s it going? How are you? This is a new episode of our podcast our Inglês Online Podcast. Hope everything is going fine with you and that you’re having a good week.

All right. Here’s what I’m going to talk about today… I’m going to use the expression used to in two different ways: be used to something and get used to something.

I’m going to keep things simple for this podcast. All the examples that I will give you will be… “be used to”, for example, “the heat”. Or “get used to cold weather”. In other words, I’m not going to be adding a second verb form to the examples. The only verbs we’re going to be dealing with are be and get.

Let me start with this example: six years ago I moved to the UK and I was not used to the cold… the cold weather. I lived most of my life in Brazil – obviously I was used to hot weather.

What does that mean? I was used to hot weather, I was not used to cold weather. That means I was familiar with hot weather; I was accustomed to hot weather; I lived in the hot weather… Of course hot weather wasn’t a strange thing to me. I was used to hot weather, and you know what happened after a few years in a colder country?

I think I am not used to hot weather anymore. I am not used to hot weather anymore but on the other hand… I’m used to cold weather now. What does that mean? That means I’m very familiar with the cold weather here where I live. I don’t think it’s too different anymore; I don’t think it’s strange. I don’t suffer a lot anymore. I’m very used to cold weather now. Seriously, I don’t even wear that many jackets anymore when I go out! I’m so used to the cold weather now, guys… You have no idea.

I wasn’t… I wasn’t in the past; I wasn’t used to cold weather… but now I am! I’m familiar with it — it’s fine. I think it’s fine and, to be honest with you, England is not the European country with the coldest weather. There are other countries where it gets a lot colder than England. It’s not that bad, but still… For us Brazilians…

When I got here, I remember one day I went out and I had only a light jacket on. You guys, I thought I was going to die. I was shaking and I remember it wasn’t even that cold by UK standards but I just wasn’t used to cold weather back then.

Now, I am. I’m used to cold weather. What happened? Well… what happened was that I got used to cold weather. It was a process; I became gradually more accustomed to cold weather. I got used to cold weather over time. When I got here 6 years ago I wasn’t; I wasn’t used to it. Now, I am. (In) the past 6 years I gradually and increasingly got more and more used to the cold. That’s it! I got used to it.

Did you see the difference? We use be or, for example, I am used… I am used to this; I am used to that; I’m not used to this… to say what you are or are not used to right now.

On the other hand, get used to… That describes a process. The past 6 years I got used to the cold. You guys, if you listen to a podcast that I did a few weeks ago… I don’t know, I think it was… maybe a couple of months ago, where I talked about the spiders… I even got used to spiders, I kid you not. I even got used to spiders! If you don’t know what I’m talking about click the link and listen to my episode about spiders.

That’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed this podcast and talk to you soon. Bye!

Key expressions

Vocabulary

on the other hand = por outro lado

that many jackets = tantas jaquetas/casacos assim

back then = naquela época

over time = ao longo do tempo, com o passar/decorrer do tempo

I kid you not = sem brincadeira

How have you been? Hoje o episódio é sobre duas expressões fáceis, fáceis.

Veja só como são fáceis: You got it! e You got this. Né?

Mas minha pergunta a você é sempre essa: Você já usa estes idioms sem pensar?

Se a resposta for não, você precisa ouvi-los mais vezes… Simples. Enjoy!

Hello. How are you? What’s going on? How have you been? Well… Today we have a new episode of the Inglês Onlines podcast, obviously. This is Ana, as you know. Unless this is your first time listening to the podcast, but here we go.

Today, I have two really quick and really nice expressions. Both of them with the verb ‘get’, but in the past – ‘got’. These are really, really informal. If you watch any shows at all… If you have the habit of watching TV or movies, American sitcoms… You have definitely heard these before, both of them. But my goal is always enough input that these expressions actually get in your head – because the more input you have, the more you will become acquainted, or… used to these expressions.

And as you know, there’s a tipping point. After that tipping point, that expression just starts coming to your mind whenever you want to express that idea.

Here you go. First one is you got it. This simply means someone is telling you that you will get what you want. Let’s say you have a friend who owns a company, and your friend really likes you and trusts you. And let’s say it’s a guy. This guy has been asking you forever to join his company and to work with him, let’s say as a salesperson.

And you’re finally willing to work with him. You’re finally at a place where you’re saying: Ok, yes, I’ll join your company, I’ll work for you. However, you say to your friend: Ok, I’ll take the job if I get a company car. And what does your friend say? Your friend really wants you. He says: You got it! You got it. You got the car. Ok, you got it, it’s yours. You want the car, you got it.

Next example. Let’s say your neighbor asks you to move his furniture. Let’s say it’s a girl. she’s asking you to help: “Oh, can you please help me move my furniture? It’s a lot of stuff. It’s kind of heavy. Please help”. And you know that she has a bike, and you don’t… And you want to ride somewhere on the weekend and you need a bike. So you tell your neighbor: Ok, I’ll help you move the furniture if you loan me your bike for the weekend.

And she says: You got it! You got it. The bike is yours for the weekend… You got it. Third example: Let’s say your friend Jack got two tickets to a theater play and for some reason he’s not going anymore. You and your girlfriend really want to see that play. You say to Jack: Hey, if you’re not going to use those tickets – can I have them? And Jack is a really generous guy. He says: You got them! You got them. Notice that I’m using “them” right? I’m talking about two tickets. He just says: You got them.

Okay, guys. Now, the second expression is actually one of my favorites because it’s an expression of encouragement. It’s really nice when someone says that to you. Let’s say you’re talking to a colleague, and you’re talking about this presentation that you have tomorrow… And you’ve been preparing, you’ve been working really hard because you’re going to… present, let’s say, to a client.

And your colleague has been listening to you talk about the presentation and he says: You know what? You got this. You got this. That means your colleague believes you’re completely capable of doing this. You will have no problem being a success. He believes you will be a success. “You got this“. Notice the emphasis on the word ‘got’.

Let’s say you’re on a phone call with your boss, and you’re just about to step into a sales meeting with a big client. And your boss, who trusts you, says: “Hey, good luck. You got this. You got this.” Or you’re about to take an exam and you’ve been studying for this exam for months now. You’re about to hop on the bus, or drive to the exam place, and your roommate says “Hey, don’t worry. You got this. You’re going to do great. You got this.”

What does that mean? That means that your roommate knows you’ve studied very hard, and your roommate trusts you. He or she thinks that you’re going to do really well. You got this! Don’t worry. You got this.

Okay, you guys. These are the two little expressions for this week. Give this episode a listen a few times and get familiar with these because they’re really common…

Talk to you soon. Bye!

Key expressions

Vocabulary

tipping point = ponto crucial, ponto da virada/da mudança

someone has beed doing (something) forever = faz tempo que essa pessoa faz (alguma coisa)

willing to do something = disposto a fazer algo

loan somebody something = emprestar algo para alguém

theater play = peça de teatro

hop on the bus = entrar/subir/pegar o ônibus