Hello! 😊 I’ve been thinking of you. Hope you are well. ❤

So glad to hear it! Thanks for your comment. 🥰

@keramanbub8799, I respectfully disagree. The issue addressed in this video is about a specific pronunciation error unrelated to where I am from and completely related to my expertise as a language teacher. Can you clarify what you mean? I am curious about what pronunciation you are referring to when you say it depends on which country you are from. If you are referring to the first syllable (UK/ˈfɒr.ən/ US/ˈfɔːr.ən/), of course, but this video is targeting a specific problem and mispronunciation of the second syllable, which is unrelated to where I am from. Accents from around the world are lovely and to be celebrated, but that is a separate matter and different from pronunciation. Regional accents are beyond the scope of this short, which is addressing a common mistake made by my South Korean students.

Sure, you have an American/Canadian accent. If you were from Scotland, Yorkshire, Ireland, London Cockney accent the pronunciations are different. Then you have to throw the South African and and Indian accents in there. And the New Zealanders who have somehow reversed the letters "E" and "I" eg.. "Six" is pronounced as "sex" and "sex" is pronounced as "six" and then throw the Australian accent on top of all that to confuse the issue. Oh, and have you been to Singapore recently the English spoken there can be an eye opener.

Thanks for clarifying. All true in terms of accents, but in any of those cases, the 'g' would not be pronounced.

Yeah you are correct there...

Thanks for your comment, @cadsticcadsticc1322. I know what you mean. It's true that the word is inherently neutral, but words have power, and language is shaped by members of society. With freedom of speech as an unalienable right throughout U.S. history, people will continue to use words however they want, especially to convey emotional messages. Thus, when a word has the power to make someone feel excluded, I prefer to use a different word. In a different context, where the word is seen as neutral, I'll use it. Context is important.🕊️

Thanks for your question. The answer is a bit long, which is why I didn't get into it in the short. I'm happy to do so here. It depends on the context. I'm from the Boston area, which is home to many immigrants/has a large immigrant population, but many families have been there for generations. They are American. There is no way to determine an American based on ethnicity. So when describing Boston to people who ask, we say it is very diverse, which has positive connotations. Because the words 'foreigner' and 'immigrant' have been used by some Americans in a negative or even inaccurate way, people who are accepting and welcoming towards people from other countries are careful in how they use those terms. Of course, tone carries a lot of information about whether the terms are being used in a negative or a neutral way. If it is a university setting, we would say 'exchange student' or 'international student' depending on the situation. I have lived in Korea for many years, and they use the word foreigner a lot. In fact, it is one of the first words I learned in Korean because I heard it so often. For the first few years, it was jarring to hear, but I've heard it so much now that it sounds natural. I've gotten used to it and even catch myself saying it at times. However, it carries a feeling of 'other' and of 'outsider' in it, which creates a clear separation that contains negative associations. This has cultural and historical roots in both Korean and American culture. That said, to decrease the negative aspects, I would use specific terms, such as 'tourist' or 'American,' because these do not carry the negative aspects of othering that 'foreigner' does.

@@eavesdropenglish thanks for your reply. I can understand why it is inappropriate to use foreigner in your area. In return, I'll share some insights on how people in my country call a foreigner. In general, we call a white foreigner as "bule" (/'boo-lay/) regardless their nationality or ethnicity. An east-asian looking foreigner as "cina" (/’chee-nuh). South-asian looking as "india". Middle-eastern as "arab". Dark skinned foreigner as "negro" (from the Spanish for black). Special for my ethnic group, we sometimes interchange the word bule with "londo" (/'lawn-daw) from the word Belanda which came from the Dutch word "beland" which means "foreigner" due to 3 centuries of colonization. Until now our nation officially call the country Netherlands as Belanda, so technically they're forever foreigners to us. However, we have no hard feelings for the Dutch. We're cool.

@@christiananggoro thanks for your reply as well. The different uses of language are interesting. Many of those terms would definitely be seen as offensive depending on where they are said, but it seems from what you've shared that they are not seen as offensive in your country. On a side note, I believe I am currently in your country actually. There are some kites in the sky and lush greenery. Such a beautiful place.

Glad to hear it. 😊♡

American - native speaker, lol

I doubt that. Do you speak English often in your daily life? Though we've interacted here quite a bit, I really don't know much about the role of English in your life. I sometimes imagine that you're a linguist.

@@eavesdropenglish No, I‘m not a linguist, but I‘ve always been fascinated by languages, especially Latin. It’s to me the greatest language. It’s not in use but still omnipresent. You see?😁 And I actually do use English in my current job a little bit, but not as much as I would need in order to become fluent. Furthermore I believe that learning a language keeps one mentally fit

@@Dareios074 Well, in my book, you are certainly an amateur linguist.😁 I agree completely on the benefits of learning a language. I'm guessing you know more than three?

@@eavesdropenglish only two and a half😁. But I‘ll master English too, I‘m very tenacious . I somehow envy native speakers, but on the other hand, they will never know how fun it is to learn English😁

@@eavesdropenglish and I have an additional piece of information to share, if I may. I‘ve figured out why so many learners struggle with the English pronunciation. English native speakers move their mouth, tongue and jaw a lot more than others. That‘s not easy for people who are not used to it. Slavic languages are almost like Japanese in this regard. It‘s a logopedic issue basically

That is common too. It's good. ☺️

😊

Hmmm...I'm hitting the gym after work. We say that, but no, not to replace "heading" or "going" unless it is a stop on the way somewhere else. "Hit" can mean to arrive at or go to a place, but not in this context. Perhaps, "I need to hit home before going out later." with the sense of stopping by home on the way out for the night. We also use it when traveling, like, "We hit the border at midnight." Or, "Call me when you hit San Diego." So, it's kind of like "get to" in this context. This brings "hit the books" to mind. I think you know that one, yeah? Of course, 'to hit home' has another meaning. Are you familiar with it? Gosh, 'hit' has a lot of meanings. New idea for a video has been sparked! 😊

@@eavesdropenglish yes! U could make a whole video about "hit". Thanks a lot for ur long explanation; it's been very useful. And yes, I know about hitting the books (poor ones - they'll end up shattered to smithereens 😂). When sth really makes an impact on you (to hit home = tocar la fibra 🇪🇸 ). Have a brilliant weekend to come! 😉

Thanks, you too! Thanks also for the Spanish. It's always fun when the same expression exists in different forms in different languages.

​@@eavesdropenglish I just stumbled upon your short video here, and I'm not an English learner, but this discussion was very interesting and fun to read. I have never thought about the way we use these words in such detail. It is just something we kind of pick up on, I guess. Thank you both for having this conversation for me to read.

@@NoSageMeadow Happy to hear it @NoSageMeadow. As a language teacher, I think about this type of thing a lot. It's fascinating to think about all the different uses of the same word that, as you said, we just pick up on. Dictionaries only go so far when it comes to language use in real life. Thanks so much for the lovely comment. It made my day.

I know what to do but i don’t know if i have the strength to do it

XD ​@@yo_046

😂🤣😂🤣Indeed, if a hominid of the Homo sapiens species is an individual with a particular aspiration for a bout of cephalalgia, that is definitely the way to go.😊😉

Glad to hear it! ♡ You're so kind. 😘My handwriting is actually really bad and usually quite messy. Even I can't read it at times! 😜

@@eavesdropenglish well, it doesn't look like that to me, at least in this video. 😘

@jayfromthesky I tried! Glad I pulled it off. 😊

: ) The video is short, so it doesn't get into the particulars, which I think are interesting to discuss. I kind of expected someone to mention this point, so I'm glad you did. Context is important in language. The words we use are revealing. What are your thoughts on the following? Grammatically acceptable, yes, absolutely. Acceptable in terms of meaning, yes. Commonly used? No. In reality, it's overly formal sounding (at least in American English) for the situation, and I've never heard anyone say it, especially not young people. Has anyone ever said it? Probably. Can people say it? Sure. If they say it, does it create a particular impression, yes. Is that okay? If that's the impression one is aiming for, absolutely. My point is never to dictate how people speak. It is to point out differences in spoken and written English and familiarize learners with colloquial speech. I'd be interested to hear your experience with the use of "I obtained my driver's license." Perhaps it's more common in British English? Do tell. Thanks for your comment! ♡

I'm glad to hear this can be helpful for you. ♡ I already have a similar video with "put" in the works and plan to keep making more of these.

Thank you! 🙏

Thanks for your comment. I will!

Thank you! 🥰

And the best thing about is, I‘ve recognized the pattern when to pronounce it as get, ged, ge‘ and when to use the glottal stop. Please make more of these in the future🙏

@@Dareios074 Love it! So glad to hear it. 😊I will!

De nada. Thanks for your comment. I'm glad it was useful. 🥰

안녕하세요 네, 저는 미국인입니다Thanks for your comment. Yes, when I have a little free time, I'm trying to improve my Korean. I am American, but I live in Korea. I just checked out your channel. You're live now! I'm watching. Looking forward to watching your other videos.

@@eavesdropenglish thank you for joining my class ^^ I will try my best ^^ and Have a happy life in Korea^^ 1. For Beginer Solving 20 Words Quiz on TOPIK : 1:00AM (Korean Local Time 2. Studying Korean Word Class & Grammar Time : 9:00PM (Korean Local Time) 3. Studying Chinese letter Class Time : 10:30PM (Korean Local Time) 감사합니다. 좋은 하루 보내세요 ^^

Thank you! So, may I ask, are you living in Korean now too? A fellow night owl? I'm working on my next video script, but will stop by for the 10:30 class. I really love learning the Chinese letters/한자? It is really helpful for vocabulary. I enjoyed learning 토 because I already knew 토요일. See you soon!

@@eavesdropenglish Now i live in Gyeong-gi-do in Korea. Where do you live in Korea? thank you so much ^^

@@lkbwithyooshin4112 I'm in Seoul.

Thank you for taking the time to comment. 🤗 I'm really happy to hear that the explanation was helpful. 🥰 I'd love to know some other words that are confusing for you if you are willing to share. Or any grammar that is difficult? Or some aspect of English that you are curious about? 😊Maybe they can give me an idea for a video. 💖

Interesting, and I definitely support linguistic flexibility and changing narratives. Though, I think if you tell most people that your lover is coming over, they are going to think it is sexual. To be clear, I'm not saying there is any problem with having a lover. Of course love is not sexual and marriage is not the only place for lovers. You are indeed a lover of people and nature. ❤️ This reminds me, while it's not common to call the people you love lovers, it is common to call them your loves. As in, "My love, I'm so happy to have met you."

Very much so. It's that translation that helps me to break English rules. For e.g.we don't have him her they or any of that in many African languages. It's just a person. Life is super easy. In my language: Ke(I) tjhaketse(visited) Trey, ho ne ho le (it was) monate (nice) ho ba(to be) le yena(with that person) . Learning a new language is not easy to grasp when one has built in perceptions. Also some perspectives are not shared. E.g. Been advocating for years for FB now Meta to stop putting me and many in their prison (suspending our accounts) over showing our boobs. To us they have no sexual connotations. They are our pride, baby milk holders and nurtures life when babies are fed from them, which happens exclusively in woke nations. Them being sexualised on media platforms is unAfrican and wrong. So you see, culture informs language. So target audience is a crucial factor.

Culture 100% informs language and no one, including me, really has any right to say how you should use it. Oh how I wish we didn't have those pronouns It would be a lot easier. People, myself included, I am sure, because how can I not as a white person, have a lot to learn from your perspectives. xo

The way forward is to live and let live. Allow meanings in language that assert inclusivity and not divisive meanings. We are the change we are seeking,

❤️

Thanks so much @Dareios074. It is definitely a skill that not enough people invest time in developing. This video was adapted from when I was teaching online during the pandemic. My English Conversation II students had to watch it last week for homework, and today we applied some of those skills during class discussions where some of them had to play devil's advocate. In Korea, it's not common to disagree with people who are older than you or who have a higher status, so we practiced disagreeing politely while exploring different perspectives.

@@eavesdropenglish Critical thinking doesn’t necessary need to end in an argument or disagreement. It’s more about not taking everything as sacrosanct.

@@Dareios074 Yes, exactly. A discussion is not the same as a debate. We don't discuss in order to win or argue. We discuss to explore various perspectives and reasons that people might have about a topic.

Very good distinction 🙂

Yes, you can use "dying to" in this way. I'd say it is a little stronger/enthusiastic than "can't wait." I love your example and the Spanish translation. So, do you also say, "I hope you don't think I'm going to wait for you." using pensar?

@@eavesdropenglish "Espero que no pienses/creas que voy/vaya a ir a esperarte" is a valid construction too. 😉 I am keen to see your next video.

@@jayfromthesky Thanks. 😊 Nice work including yet another way to express anticipation.