Hello, I’m Mandeep. Welcome to my Watch and Learn English substack. My aim is to teach “real-life” English using videos and topics that are in the news.
What’s on this week?
We’ll start with our video of the week, which is taken from an American chat show interview that aired last month. When I choose a video, I correct the subtitles and give you notes so you can understand the language and culture. This week’s was difficult! Even though it was between two very intelligent native speakers, at times it was hard to follow. Watch it to find out why.
This week we have:
Video of the week. An interview with Billie Eilish.
Language focus. I’ll explore what made the video hard to understand.
Learn with Wednesday. A free look at our new study guide.
Vocabulary test. A crossword to help you learn the vocabulary from this week’s video.
Let’s get started!
1. Video of the week - Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish is a superstar. Since releasing her viral hit ‘Ocean Eyes’ in 2015 she’s risen to becoming one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. Her latest album ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ was released on May 17th 2024, it’s currently number one in the UK and number two in the US album charts.
In this week’s video, she is discussing her influences and inspiration in an interview with US chat show legend Stephen Colbert.
As you watch, take note of how natural speech between native speakers can be very similar to the way learners of English talk.
Watch the video … and learn!
Click here to watch the video with clear, correct captions (not auto-generated), definitions for the key vocabulary, and an option to slow the video down to help you catch every word.
What did you think of Billie Eilish? Is she popular in your country? Let me know in the comments.
2. Language Focus
This week: How do native speakers talk?
I’m a fan of both people in this interview. I think they are talented, intelligent and speak exceptionally well. But as I listened and worked on the video one thing became obvious - many of the features of their conversation, if made by a learner of English, might make that learner feel like they were making mistakes.
I’ll give you five quick examples.
Remember as you read: all of these things are very normal in natural, native speaker speech.
1: Using filler words
Fillers are words that people use to ‘fill’ gaps in communication. For example: like, so, actually, um, well, and you know.
In the video, did you hear how often Billie uses the word like as a filler? She also starts speaking using oo and um to give her time to think of an answer.
Oo, um, honestly, I think that….
2: Changing ideas in the middle of a sentence
It’s very normal to be thinking of what you want to say while you are actually speaking. In reality, this might mean you change an idea in the middle of talking. Let’s see an example of Billie doing this in the interview:
I may have gone a little..I like..I was like…went..really wanted to prove a point.
3: Repeating words
Another strategy that’s often used to “buy thinking time” while talking is to repeat words.
In this example, the host, Stephen Colbert, says the same word four times in a row when making a statement:
Your… your… your… your vocal style has had an influence..
4: Making mistakes and self correcting
Please don’t think that native speakers always use grammar perfectly!
In the example below, Billie uses the wrong preposition ‘of’ before she realises and then corrects herself and says ‘from’.
I felt like it sounded good and with inspiration of my… from my favourite singers..
5: Running sentences into each other
I’ll be honest, the hardest thing when I looked at the language in this interview was the lack of punctuation!
Billie Eilish is asked questions that mean she really has to think while being honest and accurate. This means her thoughts aren’t always expressed in neat and tidy sentences. Real language is like this!
Here’s a look at just one part of the interview that is confusing because it needs some full stops!
I think that at first cuz you know I started recording when I was 13 and it you.. you got to take time to get to know yourself so I think that I think at first it was..I was singing the way that I knew how to sing and the way that I felt like it sounded good and with inspiration of my… from my favourite singers and songs and artists and I think over time I learned who I was and how I actually wanted to sound and what was genuine and that’s why I think it’s really important that people are more forgiving of inspiration because I think that that we live in a world, where like everyone wants to have everything be perfectly original and no ones ever done it in their lives and like absolutely you don’t want to copy anyone but you have to let yourself be inspired and I think that when anybody ever like…..
So there you have it! Five things that native speakers do when they speak that you probably do too.
None of these things are mistakes, they’re just features of normal, every day speech.
I’m going to finish with my favourite Billie Eilish song! Let me know what your favourite song is in the comments.
3. Learn English with Wednesday
Have you tried our study guide to Wednesday yet?
Click here for a free look at the guide which explains all the language and culture points found in the very first episode. There are also some fun quizzes.
I’d love to know what you think and if you have any ideas of how I could make these guides better. Let me know in the comments or using the feedback form in the guide.
4. Watch the video … and test!
Lets go back to our clip from Billie Eilish. Can you remember the vocabulary that was highlighted in the captions? It’s time to test your memory.
Click here to try a crossword that tests your knowledge of the language in the video.
Say hello
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Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft