RealLife Native Immersion

Lesson 30:
Max’s Journey of
Determination
Intro
Hey there, citizens of the world! Welcome to the Real Life Podcast, where our mission
missionis to
is to
inspire, connect and empower the world to learn English the fun, natural and real life way.

We believe that English should not be a dry and boring school subject, but an inspiring,
enriching lifestyle that you can practice and enjoy whenever and
wherever
and youyou
wherever want.
want.

In this podcast you will have lots of fun, learn plenty of new expressions, and drastically
improve your listening comprehension.

We'll also teach you the secrets of native pronunciation, connected speech, and help you tune
in your listening and speaking to the rhythm and flow of English.

So sit back, relax, and let's get on with the show.

Red and light blue for Pronunciation - Blue for general Vocabulary

Green for Grammar - Purple for Phrasal Verbs

MAX: What was that, Chad? Was that 1. the deal

you, Chad? What's the deal 1 with
today's intro?
CHAD: Oh, hey Max Power! Thanks
for join us in the studio today. And,
just so you know, that was actually
not me speaking in today's intro.
ETHAN: It wasn't?
CHAD: It wasn't, no.
Deal has many different meanings, but
when we say the deal, we’re just using a
more informal and casual word for
‘situation’ or ‘state of affairs.’ >> I don’t
understand what the deal is with the new
schedule.
It’s very common to hear this phrase in the
question what’s the deal with … >> What’s
the deal with Dan? He’s been acting weird
lately.
It can also mean ‘purpose’ as in >> I don’t
know what his deal is in this city.
Furthermore, a big deal is something
considered important and often with
negative implications. >> It’s not a big deal,
I can handle it. Finally, the real deal is a
person with legitimate talent. >> I knew
Messi was the real deal before anyone else.

1:02 1
ETHAN: I'm so surprised.
CHAD: That was actually RealLife
Radio's youngest listener, that is Ines
who is Ellis'2 daughter3.
ETHAN: And who is Ellis?
CHAD: Ellis is a fan of RealLife Radio,
he's a member of the RealLife Fluency
Circle4. You've probably heard5 us
mention his name before because
we've given him many shout outs as
he's constantly giving us great new
ideas and helping us out with the
podcast.
ETHAN: Aww yeah!
CHAD: Aww yeah! So, thanks a lot for
that Ines and it's great to know that
we're helping you with your English.
And it was really great6 'Aww yeah!'
she did at the end7 there.
CHAD: It was.
CHAD: Okie, dokie. So, let's get on to
today's episode.
CHAD: Aww yeah! What's going on!
This is Chad from RealLife English,
where we believe that listening to
podcasts is a fun, natural, effective
and...
ETHAN: Sassy8...
1:55
2. Notice that when a noun that bears the
possessive S ends in S, we add an extra
syllable at the end. We say /is/.
Also, we don’t write, for example, Ellis’s
daughter. We just put the apostrophe >>
Ines’ (not Ines’s) or Jesus’ (not Jesus’s)
3. daughter: daw-dir American
T
4. circle: sir-kul Dark
L
5. heard: herd Stop
D
The stop D functions the same way the stop T
does. Heard (past and past participle of hear) is
a word that confuses a lot of learners, or makes
them hesitant of how to place it within
connected speech. To pronounce it well just
think of the word her (opposite of him) and
then just touch with your tongue the area
immediately behind your upper teeth to make
this soft D sound.
6. great: greyt Stop
T
7. at the end: uh-thee-end
TTH
assimilation
In this case, the “a” in “at” absorbs the “th” in
the. In connected speech, fully pronouncing
the /t/ in at would sound strange (and not
really connected speech). To remedy this, just
pronounce it as a schwa. And make a quick
transition from the /t/ to the /th/ (or even
easier, don’t make a t sound).
8. sassy: improperly bold and
challenging, like a little kid being sassy
with his friends, but getting in the wrong
end of disciplinary measures if he decides
to be do it with a teacher.
2
CHAD: Way to learn English, so 9. to parachute
download this podcast now and listen
to us while you're stuck in traffic.

ETHAN: Painting your grandma's car.

MAX: Parachuting9.

CHAD: Climbing10 a volcano.

MAX: That's pretty badass11!

CHAD: That is pretty badass.

ETHAN: Or fighting a bear with your Silent

10. climbing: kly-ming
friend Chuck Norris. K
MAX: Or fighting Chuck Norris. 11. badass: adjective (or noun) used to
describe that something or someone is
pretty cool.
CHAD: Or fighting Chuck Norris, sure.
All great ways to listen to this
podcast. I'm joined here today in the
studio with the man who can run on a
treadmill12 until the treadmill gets
tired, our special guest in the studio
today, that is Max Power. 12. running on the treadmill

MAX: Hey guys! Nice to be here on

the show, it's awesome.

CHAD: For those of you who don't

know, Max Power for all of you who
are in the Fluency Circle who have
probably seen his work you guys are
getting the Power Lessons every
week with each podcast, so Max is
here in the studio with us today. How
2:52 3
are you man?
MAX: I'm great man, I'm great. Yes,
so I'd say I chip in13 with the Power
Lessons, I do my part14.
ETHAN: What does chip in mean?
MAX: Chip in is just basically to help.
So, some of you15 guys might
remember my voice from a past
episode I think that was episode
number 51, yeah?
CHAD: I think it was.
MAX: On16 slang17. Yeah, so this is
my second time here, and I'm very
excited to be here.
CHAD: Yeah, it's great to have you
here in the flesh18.
MAX: In the flesh, that's right. I'm
here sitting next to19 you guys.
CHAD: Yeah, generally Max is in
Argentina. And before we move on
with the show let me not forget our
other co-host today, Mr. V himself,
Mr. Vocabulary, Ethan. What's up?
ETHAN: Not much.
CHAD: Yeah. Do you feel like maybe
3:39
13. chip in: to contribute with money or
assistance. >> If the four of us chip in
equally, a taxi downtown shouldn’t be too
expensive.
This is what someone would normally say
in a situation where everybody in a group
of people is supposed to collaborate
monetarily.
14. do one’s part: to contribute; to do the
part of the job that one is supposed to be
in charge of. >> If you’d done your part in
a timely fashion, we would’ve met the
deadline.
15. some of you Linking
suh-muh-vew
>>
“vew” rhymes with “you”
16. The article on in this case is very similar
in meaning to about. It refers to the topic
something is based on. So we say, for
example, a speech on bullying, an article
on the history of America, a book on
economics, an episode on collocations, etc.
17. common mistake: slangs
Slang is an uncountable noun, and because
of this you can’t say slangs. Instead of
pluralizing this word as slangs, you should
say slang expressions.
While we usually pluralize uncountable
nouns saying, for example, pieces of
advice, other uncountable nouns are
turned into plurals by adding another word,
like homework and homework
assignments (homeworks is incorrect)
18. in the flesh: in person, rather than in
a virtual way like through Internet or
telephone.
19. next to: neks-tuh Assimilation
TT
4
the fact that we put so much
emphasis maybe on Max's20 presence
here in the studio today that maybe
we would have21 forgotten about
you.
ETHAN: No [No? OK] I know you can't
forget about me, Chad.
CHAD: OK, Cool. We always need Mr.
Vocabulary in the studio because
without him the show would not go
on. Talking about the show going on,
let's start off like always with today's
shout outs.
CHAD: Okie, dokie. So, we have two
shout outs for you guys today. First
one is a five-star iTunes review from
Christy from the United1 States but
she also goes by2 Mamacita67 and
she says 'Wow! This is a great podcast
that I've3 been sharing with all my
international students here in
Redondo beach4, California. Thanks,
and keep the lessons coming.'
ETHAN: Aww yeah!
CHAD: Aww yeah!
4:37
20. Max's: mAk-siz
How
to
pronounce
21. modal verb + have
When a modal verb (could, must, might,
should, would, etc.) is used in the past
tense by placing have after it, people rarely
ever fully pronounced have. It generally
gets reduced to /hav/:
So, could have is /kou-duv/, must have is
/mus-duv/, might have is /my-duv/, should
have is /shou-duv/, and would have is
/wou-duv/, or the “uv” at the end of each
word is often reduced to an “a” in writting
(/uh/ sound): coulda /could-uh/, shoulda
/should-uh/, woulda /would-uh/, musta
/mus-duh/, mighta /my-duh/.
Note: would, could, and should rhyme
with “wood” and “good.”
1. united: you-ny-did American
T
2. goes by: (also goes by the name xx
xx) we say this to say what name
someone uses, which is generally not his
or her real name.
3. that I’ve: thuh-dy-uv Linking
>>
4. minimal pairs
beach bitch
/beech/ /bich/
long /ee/ sound short /i/ sound
To pronounce the long “i”, you just have to
spread/tense your lips, and to pronounce the
short I, your lips are relaxed and in a neutral
position- the sound comes from your throat.
5
MAX: Aww yeah!
ETHAN: I love Redondo beach.
CHAD: I don't know where that is.
ETHAN: It's in California by San
Diego.
CHAD: Ok, you've been there5?
ETHAN: I have6, I’ve got an uncle that
lives in San Diego so I know that area
pretty well.
CHAD: You could say like the back of
your hand.
ETHAN: I could, what would that
mean?
CHAD: Well, if you know something
like the back of your hand, it means
that you're really, really familiar with
that. Generally a place, right? [Yeah]
Yeah, I know it like the back of my
hand. Awesome. What else we’ve
got?
ETHAN: We’ve got an awesome shout
out from Claudia from Germany who
is another Fluency Circle Member like
Ellis, we mentioned earlier. So, she
says about RealLife Radio: "With an
exceptional way of showing how
American English pronunciation
works, it has7 been freaking helpful
5:25
Redondo beach
5. Natives frequently ask questions with
statements. A proper question would be
have you been there? but the pseudo-
statement you’ve been there? is just as
common in everyday speech. We say it’s a
pseudo-statement because the tone of the
voice is that of a question.
6. short answers
The premise of short answers is giving
either a positive or negative answer in as
few words as possible so as not to be
redundant. We answer just with the
auxiliary verb.
If someone asks ‘Are you Tom?’ you might
answer with a short answer either by saying
‘I am’ (yes is optional) or ‘I’m not’ (no is
optional) -the verb ‘am’ is the auxiliary.
The same is true with questions with have,
like ‘Have you ever been abroad?’ to which
you might answer ‘I have’ or ‘I haven’t.’
The opposite of a short answer would be
saying ‘Yes, I have been abroad,’ but no
one ever answers like that.
Shrinking
7. it has: ih-duz
><
6
for my listening comprehension and
probably pronunciation as well. Now
I'm more and more8 able to
understand all that shrinked9 and
linked way of speech. It feels like
pursuising a new horizon10. So,
everybody who wants to know how
native speakers speak in their
everyday life, even if you have no
opportunity to live over there and
who wants to have fun while learning,
yes, it's possible to learn and have
fun. I highly recommend11, come on
in12, become a member of the
RealLife Fluency Circle, get all the
RealLife Radio Power Lessons, and
meet these phenomenal guys. What
are you waiting for? And then she
actually linked to a new song by
Nickelback that's called 'What are you
waiting for?'"
CHAD: Why don't we just wait for that
one a little bit and we can play them
out with that song at the end of
today's episode?
ETHAN: Aww yeah!
CHAD: Aww yeah! So Claudia, thank
you so much for that great review. It's
always great to hear from people who
are actually members of the Fluency
Circle. They are people who are
receiving Max Power’s awesome
Power Lessons that we create to...
6:27
8. more and more
We say more and more or less and less
to say something is gradually (but
constantly) changing to what the
adjective means.
>> She’s getting more and more
attention from the media every day.
>> I have less and less money. I am
spending a lot of my savings and
nothing is coming in.
We can also use the comparative form
of adjectives.
>> I’ve been exercising regularly and
now I feel healthier and healthier every
day.
>> My children are getting bigger and
bigger.
9. The standard past tense of shrink is
shrank (/shrAnk/) (>> My shirt shrank
in the washing machine) but some
people might every now and then say
shrinked as well as a nonstandard past
tense form.
10. horizon: huh-ry-zun
How
to
pronounce
11. highly recommend: If you want to
put more emphasis on the word
recommend, the collocation that goes
with it is highly >> I highly recommend
you check out Ipanema beach in Rio. We
can also say strongly, which is a bit more
flexible because you can use it with other
verbs like suggest / advice >> I strongly
recommend you talk to her. >> I strongly
advice you go to the doctor.
12. Come on in is actually the combination
of two phrasal verbs. We say come on to
prompt people to do something faster; it’s
similar to ‘hurry up.’ Come in means come
inside. The combination of these two
phrasal verbs is come on in, and it means
come inside in this very moment (inside
being actually used metaphorically).
7
MAX: Come on13, guys. It's not -
they're not my Power Lessons, all of
us14, you know, do the job. I just
contribute, and by the way, Claudia, is
that Claudia? Where is she from?
CHAD: Germany.
MAX: Great English. I mean, you
know the vocabulary she used there
is, you know...
CHAD: Freaking15 awesome, right?
MAX: Freaking awesome.
ETHAN: What does freaking mean,
Max?
MAX: Freaking, like a euphemism16 I
would say for the word 'fucking' you
know to give it more emphasis, to
emphasize something you said.
CHAD: Exactly, so yeah thanks for all
those were freaking awesome shout
outs and just connecting with us, it's
great to hear from you guys. And
please feel free to go to iTunes or
Stitcher and give us a five-star review.
Alrighty, so now let's move on to
today's kickass quote.
7:16
13. come on: in this case come on doesn’t
mean hurry up, but it’s rather used to
indicate that someone is wrong. >> Come
on, man. It was a good effort. Don’t beat
yourself up for it.
14. all of us: aw-luh-vus Linking
>>
15. freaking: less offensive alternative to
fucking. Both these words are used in
pretty much any position in a sentence to
give a part of speech more emphasis.
Check out Justin’s video article: Not So
Offensive Alternatives to Bad Words
In British English you might hear
bloody as an alternative to fucking.
16. euphemism: word that is used in
replacement for another because it
sounds less offensive, shocking, or it
takes away some of the unpleasant
connotation or image the original word
has. For example, instead of saying ‘The
old lady died last night,’ you might want
to be a little bit more tactful by saying
‘The old lady passed away last night.’ A
lot of taboo terms (like bodily functions)
are said with in the form euphemisms in
certain contexts, like saying ‘urinate’
instead of ‘to piss’ or ‘to take a leak.’
8
CHAD: So, Max, because you are our
very special guest on today's episode.
We thought it'd be very fitting to1
have you give us the quote.
Something that's inspiring, maybe
inspiring for your English learning, as
you are obviously not a native English
speaker, coming from Argentina
[Exactly, yeah] What have you2 got
for us today? What would you like to
share with us and the rest of the
RealLife Radio community?
MAX: Yeah, so this is a quote I came
across3 recently and I really like it. It's
-you know, I’ve really resonated4 with
what it says and, you know, I think
this is a nice quote and nice mantra to
go about5 in life, and never hurts to6
be reminded of it.
CHAD: Ok, really quickly what's a
mantra?
ETHAN: I think it actually comes from
Buddhism, I believe, or Hindu. It's
kind of like a phrase that you kind of
repeat to help give you focus [Yeah,
exactly] So, we also use that kind of
metaphorically.
8:12
1. it’s fitting to: we say this when it’s
appropriate to do something. >> It’d be
fitting to welcome him with a nice meal.
2. what have you: Shrinking
wuh-duh-vew ><
3. come across: to encounter or discover
something by change (without purposely
looking for it).
Come across means the same as run
into. If you run into a person or come
across a person it means that you
encountered them by change.
However, come across as opposed to
run into is for things, not people; You
can’t say I ran into a book. Run into
only works with people, and come
across only works with things.
4. resonate: (also hit home) if something
resonates with you, you can really relate
to it. >> His speech on animal care
resonated a lot with me because I love
animals.
5. go about (+ ing): to do something
following a particular method, process, or
doing it in a particular way. >> How should
I go about getting my driver’s license in a
foreign country? >> I don’t think he knows
how to go about creating a website.
6. It never / doesn’t hurt to (do
something): we use this to say that doing
something is actually helpful, useful or
worth doing. >> It never hurts to double
check that you’ve got your essential
belongings before leaving for the airport.
9
CHAD: It's kind of guidelines7, right, 7. guidelines: gaid-lains
ai
as well. Dipthong

8. A typical mistake that many people

ETHAN: Something to help guide make is saying from instead of by in
your path. sentences like ‘this song is from…’ or
‘this book is from.’ When we talk
about authorship we use the
MAX: So this quote is by8 none other preposition by >> A quote by Ghandi.
than9 Gandhi, ring a bell10?
9. none other than: used to introduce or
talk about someone important, special or
CHAD: Who's that?
also to put more emphasis on who a
person is. >> I got a message from none
MAX: Yeah, so the quote is "Your other than my favorite singer.
beliefs become your thoughts, your
10. ring a bell: If something rings a bell to
thoughts become your words, your you, it means it’s familiar to you.
words become your actions, your
Common mistake: it sounds a bell
actions become your habits, your
habits become your values, your
values become your destiny." Yeah, so
the breakdown11 of this quote by
Gandhi would be that your believes
are the very foundation of you as a
human being, so for example if you
believe in, I don't know, in love, hope,
peace, solidarity, then your thoughts
are going to be founded on these core
principles, you know. If your thoughts
are based on positive things like
these, then your words won't come
out with the intention of hurting 11. breakdown: (1) a thorough or
someone, and neither will your complete description or analysis of each
part that constitutes something bigger.
actions, right? So, then the quote is- >> A breakdown of the annual report. (2) a
goes on saying that your actions very stressful situation in which someone
become your habits. Actions, good or loses their temper or gets very nervous; a
nervous collapse. >> Their kids are going
bad, become your habits. If you do to cause her a mental breakdown.
something a lot of times, if you do
American
something repeatedly12, they 12. repeatedly:
become a habit.
rih-pee-did-lee T
9:32 10
CHAD: Like listening to our podcast.
MAX: Exactly, listening to podcasts.
CHAD: Or practicing your English
maybe.
MAX: Practicing your English, you
know, to make it a habit. Your habits
are your values. For example, if you
don't help out people without
expecting anything in return13 then
you can't say solidarity is a value you
have, right? Another example would
be: if you lie, then trust or loyalty14
can't be your values.
CHAD: Because it's not something
that you practice yourself [Exactly,
yeah]. So you can’t really- you never
really expect that from other people.
MAX: Yeah, that pretty much sums it
up.
CHAD: Well, let's jump into this. I
know we have a lot to talk about with
Max here today. I know you’ve got a
lot of interesting ideas and you
wanted to just kind of explain us a
little bit about your journey as an
English learner. Am I right?
MAX: Yeah, yeah. I think that would
make for a good conversation.
CHAD: Ok, so let's jump into today's
conversation topic.
10:28
13. in return: what you want in exchange
for something. >> It’s volunteer work, and
if there’s anything I ask in return, it’s the
fulfillment I get for helping people in need.
14. loyalty: the act of being loyal; that is,
supporting someone or something
consistently. >> Our team has loyal fans
who support us through good times and
bad.
Note (about image above): to be “down
with” means to be in support of
15. sum up: to summarize. >> He
summed up the narration perfectly.
We use this verb in different forms.
We often say:
Summing up, [here the summary].
To sum up, [here the summary].
In sum, [here the summary].
>> Summing up, both kids returned
safe and sound.
>> To sum up, we were in deep trouble.
>> In sum, I wound up skipping one
week at school
16. jump into: to promptly start
something.
17. make for: to have all the necessary
elements or conditions for something to
be in a certain way (either good or bad).
>> Your patience and knowledge makes
for a great teacher. >> His personality
doesn’t really make for an great leader.
11
CHAD: What are you talking about1,
Willis? What are you talking about,
Max Power? First of all, I guess, you
know, a lot of people here probably -
maybe they haven't listened to
episode 51, where Max first appeared
on the RealLife Radio. How about you
just quickly tell us a little bit more
about yourself, what you do2, where
you’re from, but very quickly.
MAX: So I'm from Argentina. I live in
north Argentina. And, you know, I've
been a longtime3 fan of RealLife
English. Now I am actually working
with you guys, so a little bit of a you
know, bigger team now.
ETHAN: Yeah, adding a little bit of
your special Max Power to the Power
Lessons.
CHAD: Yeah, a little bit of Argentinian
spice4.
ETHAN: Tango.
11:23
1. what are you talking about
wuh-chuh-taw-kin-bowt
2. Remember that to ask someone in
English what his or her job or
occupation is we ask the question
what do you do? Another way to ask
the same is what do you do for a
living? You might also say where do
you work?
3. longtime: if you’ve been doing an
activity for a long time, then you’re a
longtime practitioner of that activity. We
often say someone is a longtime, for
example, rock fan, a longtime friend, a
longtime supporter, etc.
Note this is works as an adjective and that’s
why it’s one word. If you’re going to use as
an adverb, then you should write it as two
words >> That happened a long time ago.
4. spice
5. We can use spice as a phrasal verb. To
spice something up means (literally) to
make food more spicy or (figuratively) to
make something more exciting or
interesting.
12
CHAD: A bit of tango, yeah. Do you tango
dance tango?

MAX: No, I've never danced tango.

CHAD: You’re not really

representing6…

MAX: You know what, that's actually 6. representing Softened T

you know -I wouldn't say it’s reh-preh-seh-nin NT

Argentinian like the whole country,
just Buenos Aires.

ETHAN: I think everyone who's

listening right now is asking
themselves7, “Why do they call you
Max Power?”

MAX: I don't really know, you guys

have to explain to me8. You know,
probably because of the Power
Lessons, but I know there's a
Simpson’s episode that they, I don't 7. themselves: mm-selvz Shrinking

know, I think Homer calls himself 9. himself: im-self ><

Power, or Max Power.
8. Common mistake: the verb pattern is
actually explain something to someone,
ETHAN: He calls himself Max Power so Max should have said you guys have to
explain that / it to me.
looking for a, he's looking to reinvent
himself with a cooler name, and starts
calling himself9 Max Power. But what
is the kind of the joke there, why is
that kind of a funny nickname.

MAX: Well, because I take part10 in

the building of the Power Lessons,
and so you would say Max Power
Lesson. I don't know. 10. take part: to participate.

12:19 13
CHAD: But I mean power can also be
sometimes used as a verb, like we can
say to power through11 stuff. And so
If I said like Max he really powers
through the production of the Power
Lessons, it means he's like. You ask
him12 to do it, and he's like BAAM!
He's done them. He powers through
them.
ETHAN: And just to like increase the
power of something to the maximum
level, so like maximum gets
shortened down13 to max. So it's like
Max Power.
MAX: Yeah, there are a lot of puns14
with my name you can come up with.
CHAD: There are a lot of interesting
ways we can refer to that. We don't
make fun of at least have with [yeah].
Cool!
ETHAN: We're not laughing at you,
we are laughing with you.
CHAD: And now, how about you just
tell us a little bit about, you know,
what you're doing, we know, you’re -
you just told me a brief story about
what you wanted to kind of talk
about. It seemed pretty interesting,
but maybe we can go all the way back
to the start of your English adventure,
your journey of learning the English
language.
13:15
11. power through: to do something with
a lot of energy, often despite difficulties.
>> Power through a task.
Shrinking
12. ask him: Ask-im
><
13. shortened down
shor-tin-down
How
to
pronounce
14. pun: a humorous combination of
similar-sounding words that suggest two
or more meanings.
Puns are the base of many jokes and it’s
also nowadays used on the internet to learn
English. Check out Trevor’s classic article.
As chilly means ‘it’s cold,’ these chilly
peppers look like they’re shivering because
of the cold. The pun is a play on words on
the two meanings of chilly.
15. We have explained before the ‘at’
of bad intentions. If we say Chad is
throwing something at Justin, this
implies Chad wants to hurt Justin. On
the contrary, if we say Chad is
throwing something to Justin, it
implies it might be a game and Chad is
throwing the ball at Justin.
Similarly, to laugh at someone is to
make fun of someone, which leads to
that person having their feelings hurt.
To laugh with someone is just to have
a good time laughing in the company
of someone.
14
MAX: Yeah, so. I'd like to talk about
that. I've been learning English, you
know, been on this journey for a little
over 4 years now. And I guess it all
depends what specific point in time,
point in time you consider it to be
your starting point. I guess there's not
really one specific moment, but you
know February, 2011 I'd say it's the
time where I really, you know, got
serious about learning English. That's
the time I made the decision, you
know, I started showing grit16,
determination, I said I'm going to be
proactive17, I'm going to take
responsibility for this, and I'm going
to make English a part of my life. That
was back to February 2011.
CHAD: And why did you take such
action18, what made you make up
your mind19 like that. Why did you
feel like you needed to be so driven20
to learn English?
MAX: Well, you see, to give you an
answer to that I should, you know,
probably go back a little bit to my
beginning. So I'd say that before you
make a decision like that, there's
always a period of time where you
kind of warm up21 to the idea, right?
So my story goes a little bit further
back to 2008, you know, by that time
I wasn't really into English. I even
struggled a lot with22 it at school.
You know, I used to think of it, looked
14:39
16. grit: this word encompasses the
meaning of motivation, perseverance,
hard-work and determination that is
needed to achieve a challenging and
long-term goal.
This is the single most important thing you
need to learn English.
17. proactive: making things happen by
working hard instead of waiting for things
to happen as if by magic.
18. take action: to do something with
determination. The meaning of this
phrase implies the opposite of idleness
(not doing anything productive).
19. make up one’s mind: to finally do
something after a state of indecision. >> I
haven’t made up my mind yet. I think I
need a bit more time to evaluate the two
options.
20. If you’re driven, you have drive. if
something drives you, it is a force that
gets you to do things in order to get to
that place; you can say that the force
that drives you to do something is
your driving force, like your passion
being your driving force to learn
languages.
21. warm up: literally, warming up is the
activity athletes do to warm their muscles
before engaging in physical activity.
Figuratively, you can also warm up to
something, and this means to slowly
prepare to it before actually doing it.
22. struggle: to try hard to do something
but get frustrated and make little
progress. In this sense, you could be
struggling to do something, like I was
struggling to start my car. You can also
say struggle with something, like Steve is
struggling with his weight or struggling
in life.
15
at it, as you know being just 'Uhg, just
another subject I have to deal with23.'
CHAD: Boring subject.
MAX: Yeah, that's the way I looked at
it24 back then, 2008. However, one
day, out of nowhere, you know I'm
like, 'Tomorrow I'm going to join an
English school.' You know, out of the
blue. There was no pattern. It was one
day I said that, and next day showed
up25 at the school.
ETHAN: That was 2011.
MAX: Eight26. 2008 [Ah, ok] I
remember I think it was the -you
know, in the same day the Olympic
Games were starting. But I wasn't
really committed to it. You know, I
wasn't yet quite ready to embrace
English. And so I just took a few
classes27 but you know, not too long
afterwards I got sidetracked28, and I
stopped showing up at the school.
ETHAN: What do you mean
sidetracked?
MAX: When you get sidetracked is
when you are, you know,
concentrated on doing something but
then you get distracted. For example,
I'm working but then, oh, Facebook.
You procrastinate29.
15:50
23. deal with something: to do
something that might be (either slightly
or completely) unpleasant to you, as you
have no other choice but to do it. It can
also mean to put up with (tolerate) a
person you don’t like too much, like in I
have to deal with Ryan, or also to deal
with an emotion, like in deal with it!
Linking
24. looked at it
loo-tuh-dit >>
25. show up: to make an appearance; to
turn up. >> Many distant relatives
showed up when my grand-dad passed
away last year.
26. eight: eit Stop
T
Again, note how this is a stop t and not a
regular t.
27. The collocation is to take classes of
something at someplace, like I took
some classes of English at the school
near my house. Some learners might
sometimes say I went to some classes,
and even though it’s not wrong, the
first example sounds better.
28. get sidetracked: to get distracted
from your main focus. This expression is
an analogy about a train getting off the
main track to a sidetrack.
29. procrastinate: to spend time
distracted, or doing addictive things as
opposed to working, studying or doing
any other productive activity.
16
ETHAN: Yeah, Facebook is -sucks for
getting distracted [It does], getting
sidetracked.
CHAD: It definitely does.
MAX: Flashforward30 to early 2009,
you know, English was still at the
back of my mind31 as something I
would like to learn but you know...
CHAD: So you gave up32.
MAX: Yes, I gave up completely. I
forgot about English for those six
months or a little bit over, more than
that.
CHAD: Ok, so you went to just a
couple classes.
MAX: Yeah, and after totally33 forgot
about that, and just, yeah.
ETHAN: Why did you give up
originally in two thousand….? Why
did you give up on your English
classes?
MAX: I wasn't actually into34 English,
it just, it was just an on-the-spur-of-
the-moment35 thing. Like I want to
go learn English. And I guess, I've
always wanted to learn English and so
I said ok I am 18 years-old now, so I
should actually take action now, but it
wasn't actually, you know, something
16:40
30. flashforward: a flashforward is a
cinematic or literary device in which the
normal sequence of events is interrupted
by a future event. However, when we’re
narrating a long story, we can also say
this word to start talking about
something that happened more recently.
31. to be at the back of one’s mind: if
something is at the back of your mind,
you’re not entirely focused on it, but
every now and then it crosses your mind
and you’re reminded of it. >> I can’t forget
her. No matter how busy I am, she’s still
there at the back of my mind.
32. give up (on something): to voluntarily
stop trying to do something without
success. >> Don’t give up. Keep making an
effort and the hard-work will pay off.
33. totally: tow-duh-lee American
“tow” rhymes with “go” T
34. to be into something: if you’re into
something, like to be into shooting video
games, it means you like it, you’re
interested in it and you know about it. >>
I’m not really into tobacco.
35. suddenly
There are different ways to express that
something happens suddenly. You might
say:
on the spur of the moment >> A spur-of-
the-moment idea. Note that if this phrase
functions as an adjective (when it goes
before the noun, which is idea in this case)
you should put a hyphen in between each
word. If it’s the other way around, no
hyphens must be put, like in That idea
came on the spur of the moment.
out of the blue >> He reappeared out of the
blue.
out of nowhere >> I met him by surprise
and out of nowhere he became my best
friend.
on the spot >> I decided to fire him on the
spot. >> An on-the-spot decision.
17
like I said, “Ok I'm going to go for it,
I'm going commit to36 it,” no. It was
just a hobby maybe.
CHAD: Spur of the moment, so that
expression. What does that mean to
be the spur of the moment?
MAX: Something that happens, you
know, in the moment, right there,
there's no planning before it.
CHAD: Sure, yeah.
ETHAN: All of the sudden37.
MAX: In all of a sudden, yeah. So I
would think of it as a hobby because
my main focus38, this is 2009, my plan
was to study law at the university. To
be a lawyer, you know? [Ok] Didn't
quite succeed at that. Even though I
liked it39, it's like it wasn't supposed
to be like that. I quit.
CHAD: You quit40 law school.
MAX: Yeah, that was like by mid-41
2009 [Ok] and then this question pops
up in my mind: 'What if?' You know,
'what if' I study English? You know,
after all42 it's what I love.
CHAD: So now you love English.
MAX: Kind of, yeah. Yeah, by that
time I started to learn more English,
you know. Had a deeper connection
with the language.
17:48
36. commit to (something / doing
something): to take something seriously,
and start doing it. >> I’m committed to
my children. >> Next year I’m going to
commit to going to the gym every day.
37. Another expression with a similar
meaning is all of the sudden >> It was
a good day, but all of a sudden it
started to rain like crazy.
38. This is a very common mistake. It’s
not /fuh-kews/ it’s /fow-kuhs/ “fow”
rhymes with “go”
39. liked it: lyk-tid Linking
>>
40. quit: leave, give up; walk away (from
your job). >> I’m done here, I quit. >> He
quit the rehabilitation program because it
was too expensive.
Keep in mind this is an irregular verb.
That means it doesn’t add –ed to the
end to form the past tense. Actually, it
doesn’t change. You say he’s going to
quit today, or he quit yesterday.
41. mid-: in the middle of a time period.
>> I’ll be there by mid-December.
42. after all: used to say a statement that
is true despite any doubt. >> Don’t be
afraid of asking her out, you have nothing
to lose after all.
18
ETHAN: And how did you kind of get 43. forget about Linking

that deeper connection to it? for-gaw-duh-bout >>

44. along
MAX: I used to listen to a lot of rap
music. I was starting to listen to rap
music and that I think was one of the
main reasons, you know, in the
beginning. Now I don't have the same
connection with rap music, but I've
learned so many different things I
kind of forgot about43 that. But in the
beginning music was, you know,
something -it inspired me to go 45. path: [literally] a track people or
along44 this path45. animals walk along. [figuratively] a course
of action. >> The path to success is not
always straight.
CHAD: Cool.

MAX: So that's 2009. Now, 2010 I

started studying English, translation
actually in Cordoba. You know, by
that time my English was very basic,
and this place, this university was one
of the most demanding ones, I would
say, in Argentina.
46. keep up with someone / something:
to doing whatever it’s necessary to keep
CHAD: Ok, for English. yourself at the same pace as something
or someone. >> You need to be continually
learning to be able to keep up with the
MAX: For English, yeah. So I couldn't
industry. >> They were after the thieves in
keep up with46 my classmates. I felt a car chase but they couldn’t keep up with
they were like light-years ahead of the thieves’ modern car.
me.

CHAD: Two good expressions there.

Couldn't keep up with them?

MAX: Yeah, I felt like, you know,

imagine a race. They were like half a
18:58 19
kilometer ahead47 of me, like I was
like seeing them far off, you know,
small. And I was like running slower.
You know?
CHAD: You couldn't kind of maintain
the same speed as them. You said
they were light-years48 ahead.
MAX: Yeah, you know, light years...
This is a different kind of
measurement, you know, in space.
CHAD: Exactly, but it's a common
colloquial expression.
MAX: You say, you know, like...
CHAD: Something is more advanced.
ETHAN: A huge distance away from
you.
CHAD: Exactly. Cool. And so what
happened then?
MAX: So I guess I dropped out49
again. I fail. So, not only because I
was not doing good in school, but
also50 you know, I had other things
going on51. I had to drop out, so that's
what I did. But, I didn't take that
failure to heart52 though. I was not
like -I was like I'm not giving up just
now, you know. It was still early 2010,
you know, I had a whole year ahead of
me, and not really a purpose, so that's
when actually I started to even listen
20:04
47. ahead: in front of you. We say this to
talk about something being in front of
you physically or about the future as well.
>> There’s a road ahead of us that will
take us downtown >> We need to think
ahead before making important decisions.
48. light years
49. drop out (from school): to quit school
or university.
50. construction: not only… but also
We use this construction to add extra
information.
>> Not only is she a beautiful woman, but
also the most intelligent person I know.
>> Through English you won’t only be able
to pass a subject in school, you will also
discover a whole new world.
51. have things / a lot going on: we say
this when there are other issues or things
to be taken care of that distract you away
from your main focus. >> I can’t accept
your invitation that now. I have a lot going
on.
52. take sth to heart: to take something
like criticism or praise or something
someone tells you very seriously,
especially when you shouldn’t. >> I didn’t
mean to upset her. She really took my
comments to heart.
20
to more rap music, and you know I
felt this necessity53 to learn English
so bad54. I already loved English, I was
surely, you know, wanting55 to learn
it really bad, but you know, by that
time just I hadn't really committed to
it56, though there was this desire
though no action. I think I didn't see a
clear path, but, you know, definitely I
wanted to learn.
CHAD: Yeah, ok. Cool. And since then
have you discovered a clear path? I
mean, what happened after that?
MAX: Yeah, so after that -so, now it's
February 2011, finally. You know, one
of the reasons I failed at university in
Cordoba was because I didn't have a
big enough vocabulary, I didn't have
you know even... I had, I just had a
grasp over57, you know, the most
basic grammar points, so during 2010
I studied a lot of grammar, I would
like eat up58 anything related to
grammar, vocabulary, a lot of rap
music, vocabulary again. And
February 2011 I started university this
time in my hometown59. A little bit -
not as hard as Cordoba, so I felt all my
effort, all the effort I'd made the year
before had finally paid off60. You
know I felt I could stand out in class,
you know.
CHAD: Stand out61 means what
exactly in this case? S tand out in
class?
21:35
53. necessity: American
neh-seh-sih-dee T
54. so bad / badly: colloquial way of
saying so much. >> I want to watch them
lose so bad! >> I’m craving ice cream so
badly right now!
Softened T
55. wanting: wa-nin
NT
56. the past of a past action
Sometimes we refer to something that
happened in the past, and then sometimes
we want to narrate something that
happened even before that past action.
>> I told him (yesterday) that I had lied to
him (the day before yesterday).
This is called past perfect. It is constructed
in this way:
I (or other pronoun) + had + verb in
its past participle form.
>> I had studied English before coming to
Canada.
In this case Max says I was wanting to
learn it (past) and then but I hadn’t
committed to it. That is past before the
previously addressed past action; in other
words, past perfect.
57. grasp over: to understand something.
>> I barely had a grasp over how to change
gears when I first drove a car.
58. eat up: ee-dup American
T
59. hometown: the city or town you were
raised in.
60. pay off: if something pays off, you
can finally see the benefits of something
that caused you a lot of sacrifice. >> I’m
really glad all the effort I've been putting
into this project is finally paying off.
21
MAX: To be more noticeable than 61. stand out
others because you probably do
better62.

CHAD: You were light-years ahead of

the rest of the class.

MAX: This time, I wouldn't say light

years but a little bit you know more
prepared, more into it. And so I was 62. do better: perform better.
coming into university with a fair
63. amount of
amount of63 momentum64, you
uh-mau-nuh
know. So, one thing, one important Softened T

thing I found out is that university or 65. accountability NT

uh-cow-nuh-bih-lih-dee
college turned out to be a great
“cow” rhymes with “how”
system for accountability65. You
know, that's something that's 64. momentum
important if you're learning English.

CHAD: What do you go- what do you

mean by accountability in this case?
How are you held accountable66?

MAX: Yeah, that expression to hold

someone accountable. To be able to
see the progress you're making, you
know, someone that holds you
accountable tells you how you're
making progress. Is that right?
CHAD: Yeah.
ETHAN: I think that they're more
make sure that you're making
progress and they- if you're not
making progress then they're going
to kind of come down on67 you,
22:40
66. hold someone accountable: if
someone holds you accountable, that
person reminds you of what and when
you need to get done. >> It’d be a good
idea we held each other accountable with
our projects so that we don’t miss any more
deadlines.
67. come down on someone: to criticize
someone very strongly. >> The teacher
came down on me hard because I didn’t do
my homework.
22
they're going to say like why are you
not making progress68, why are you
not studying, why are you not
practicing which when you're learning
a language if you don't have that it
can be very hard to kind of self-
motivate69, hold yourself
accountable.
MAX: So by this time English had
taken over70 my life, you know, and I
liked that, I embraced71 that. You
know, ever since that moment I've
never stopped learning. You know,
and a formal education, you know, it
gave me I guess a lot of insight into
aspects of the language like grammar
and phonetics and I can see why a lot
of people don't get particularly too
excited about that, but I guess I was a
little bit of a special case when it
comes to that, I really liked even that.
You know, I was so into English that I
would like eat up72 anything about
English.
ETHAN: There was like a fire lit inside
of you.
MAX: Fire in the belly73.
CHAD: Yeah, you're a bit of a
grammar and pronunciation geek.
MAX: I just enjoyed it, so you know I
could see things that we take it for
granted in our languages. I studied
23:56
68. make progress: this is the collocation
we use to say we’re progressing. Be
careful not to confuse it with do progress,
which doesn’t make sense here. It’s even
more common to say to make progress
than to progress in everyday speech.
69. motivate: mo-dih-vate American
“vayt” rhymes with “late” T
70. taken over: (1) to take a position of
power. >> The new president is going to
take over the government next month (2)
if something takes over you or your life,
either good or bad, it controls you.
Something positive like a passion or
something negative like an addiction
might take over you, making you lose
control of your action or direction in life.
>> Partying and drugs took over his life.
71. embrace: (1) to hug. (2) to accept
something enthusiastically.
72. eat up: receive enthusiastically.
73. fire in the belly: If you have fire in the
belly it means you are motivated, full of
energy and more than willing to take
action and go for success in endeavors
like learning a language, a project, losing
weight, etc. It's the inner drive that makes
you achieve something difficult. Having
fire in the belly also implies that you have
grit, which is the endurance you need to
achieve challenging, long-term goals. >>
None of the candidates showed me they
have the fire in the belly that it takes to
take on this kind of job.
23
both grammar in my native language
Spanish and in English, so it opens
your mind to you know how it actually
works, the whole thing works.
CHAD: Cool. From there on?
MAX: So, from then on that's present
time, now.
CHAD: Who would have74 thought
that you went from quitting75 your
first English school to becoming Max
Power?
ETHAN: Quitting twice76.
CHAD: Quitting twice.
MAX: Yeah, twice. Yeah.
CHAD: Awesome, well, yeah. It's
great having you in the studio, we're
going to wrap up77 the conversation
topic now. Very inspiring story. It's
nice to hear about your own journey
in learning English, and how you’ve
slowly you became more inspired and
now you're the one and only78 Max
Power.
MAX: Nice sharing my experience or
my learning path with the RealLife
Radio listeners, and so yeah probably
some of you guys – And I’m talking to
the listeners, you can you know,
resonate with my story.
24:52
74. would have: wou-duhv
Shrinking
“would” is pronounced the
same as “wood” ><
75. quitting: kwih-ding American
T
76. once = one time
Though you can say one time, once is
much more common. The same applies for
twice (two times). However, if we want to
say that something happened three times,
we should say three times than thrice,
because it sounds rather outdated (old-
English). In summary, you should use:
once, twice, three times, four times… a
dozen times.
77. wrap something up: to conclude
something. >> The movie wrapped up
with them getting married. >> To wrap up
today’s lesson, we’re going to do a last drill
(exercise).
78. the one and only: we say this (often
humorously) to talk about someone very
special. This phrase is a lot of times used
to present someone (frequently a
celebrity) to a public. >> (To a crowd)
Please give it up for the one and only:
Steve!
24
CHAD: Yeah, for sure.

ETHAN: It's kind of the lesson today

is, “Never give up.”

MAX: And grit that's a nice word that,

you know, sums it up.

CHAD: All right, so let's move on to

today's question.

CHAD: Ok, for today's awesome 1. for us all: fuh-ruh-sawl Linking

question we thought we'd ask Max >>

Power. You had a very interesting
2. among vs between
question for us all1 today, you wanted Among means surrounded by more than
to answer. You've probably two people or objects. Between is
surrounded by no more (or less) than two.
experienced with learning English.
among trees
MAX: Yeah, so probably this is a
common problem among2 learners,
like when it comes to the possessive
S. You know it’s easy, you just add an
S and then -so a noun and then the
apostrophe S, and then what they
possess, so that’s how it works. between trees
However, when that noun, let's say a
name, a name that ends in S.

CHAD: Lois.

25:45 25
MAX: So, Lois, if you add an S there,
well actually in the spelling you just
add the apostrophe, right? Not the S.
CHAD: We never put two S’s like
“Lois's”.
MAX: Yeah, but the pronunciation is
/is/, so /lois-is/.
CHAD: /lois-is/.
MAX: Brother, I don't know.
CHAD: Yeah, Lois' brother, so adds
an3 extra syllable to the end of the
word, as opposed to when it doesn't
end with that, it'd be Chad + Chad's.
Ethan = Ethan's. Max...
MAX: /maks-is/.
CHAD: /maks-is/, but that doesn't end
with an S. It ends with an X.
MAX: You're right. It's an S actually [S
sound] S sound, exactly. Yeah, so I
mean in spelling you see an X, but
pronunciation it's actually, an X is
made up of4 a K5 sound, or a K, and a
S. So, it ends, technically it ends on in
an S- in an S. So, it's /mAks-is/.
CHAD: Max's Power Lessons. Max's
Power Lesson. Awesome.
26:51
pronouncing the possessive ‘s
You usually pronounce the possessive
‘s as just /s/ (rick’s dog is /riks/), but
when a word already ends in an s
sound, the possessive s is pronounced
/is/ (else’s is /el-sis/, Jesus’s brother is
/Je-suh-sis/)
3. adds an: Ad-zun Linking
>>
When an s letter is preceded by a voiced
sound, it becomes /z/. Here since /d/ is
voiced, S is not /s/ but /z/.
Sound and spelling can cause a lot of
confusion in English. The letter X is
pronounced /ks/ and since it ends in an
S sound, this rule of the possessive S
applies.
You need to also be able to distinguish
between spelling and sound in a few
other cases in English. For example,
when it comes to the use of the
articles a or an, if we say the name of
the letter X (/eks/) it actually begins
with an /e/ so we don’t say ‘a X’, we
say ‘an X.’ The same is true for the
letter S, as it is ‘an S’ and not ‘a S.’
4. made up of: consisting of.
5. K: kay
How
to
pronounce
Many confuse the name of K with the
name of Q, which is /kew/. (Q or “kew”
rhymes with “you”)
26
ETHAN: So this isn't just with 6. though at the end of a sentence
possessive though6. So it could be
We use though at the end of two
sometimes if you are making
related sentences with the meaning of
something plural, or maybe some however.
verbs in the second person so like for
>> A: I loved my vacation days in Rome!
example pass: I pass, he passes.
– B: It was really expensive, though.
>> I don’t think they can win the
CHAD: Ok, he passes in Australian / tournament – In the future, though.
(slash) maybe British English. Pass.
He passes.

MAX: Yes, so it's more of a, it's kind of

a general thing in English.

ETHAN: And then for like something

plural for example you have 1 box.
7. boxes: bawk-sis
How
to
MAX: 2 boxes7. pronounce

CHAD: 2 boxes, yeah.

MAX: But, you know, those cases are

more known, but the possessive S is
something that a lot of people miss
out on I think.

ETHAN: They get more tripped up 8. trip up on Linking

on8. trih-puh-pawn >>

CHAD: Trip up on, what does that

mean Mr. V?

ETHAN: So tripped up on something

is like something kind of tricks9 you. 9. to trick: to fool or deceive someone. >>
He tricked me into believing his lies.
Kind of confuses you.

27:48 27
CHAD: They just don't understand it, I
think also because when you spell 10. spell it: speh-lit Linking

it10, like If I want to say Lois' brother, >>

you want to write like L-O-U-I-S
apostrophe S.
ETHAN: And especially11 if you just
were learning English by reading a lot,
not actually speaking or listening as
much you might have read12 that a
lot, names ending with an S and you
see an apostrophe and not realize
that you need an extra sound at the
end.
CHAD: Exactly, Lois' brother. So that
brings us to the end of today's
podcast, and we're just about to play
you out with today's song suggested
by Fluency Circle Member, Claudia in
today's shout out, and that song is...
11. common mistake: especially vs
specially
These two words look alike but don’t
mean the same thing. Especially is
used to determine something that has
more relevance that other things:
>> He really likes doing sports,
especially basketball.
Specially comes from special and it
means with a special purpose or in a
special manner.
>> I made this dress specially for you. It
will fit you perfectly.
12. minimal pairs
read (present read (past tense)
tense)
/reed/ /red/

ETHAN: "What are you waiting

for13?"

CHAD: By?

ETHAN: Nickelback.

CHAD: So thank you so much for that

13. what are you waiting for?
Claudia, and also today's weekly wuh-duh-you way-deen-for?
challenge like Max said in today's
conversation topic that accountability 14. what did you say
wa-dju-say
can be something that can really,
what did you say14 again? 15. getting better American

geh-din-beh-der T
MAX: It helps you, you know, keep
getting better15. Better and better,

28:47 28
you know. It helps you see a path of
improvement.

CHAD: Builds a strong habit as well.

And that is why we are doing the
weekly challenge, so we really hope
guys can commit and start taking
your English a little bit more seriously.
So without further ado16, let's get 16. without further ado: without any
pumped up for today's weekly more talk or introduction. >> So, without
any further ado, let’s get on with the
challenge. show.

ETHAN: Aww yeah!

CHAD: Aww yeah!

MAX: Aww yeah!

CHAD: So today's weekly challenge 1. almighty: having a lot of power. Often

used to refer to Gods.
again has been inspired by the
almighty1 Max Power.

ETHAN: If you want to take your

English to the Max like Max Power, do
what Max Power does.

CHAD: Yep, it’s time to take it to the

Max. And what do you got for us
today Max?

29:28 29
MAX: So, this is, I mean for all those
who learn English on their own, those
who are self-taught students, they've
got to2 be creative3 when it comes
to4 learning English. I mean, you have
to, you know, keep your own
vocabulary lists5, you know, improve
your pronunciation, and how though?
So, this is a method I've used, it's
great. I think it improves your
pronunciation, it's called shadowing6.
And it's not really known by a lot of
people.
CHAD: Shadowing, ok, and really
quickly how can they do this in the
next week.
MAX: You just take a clip, whether it's
an audio or a video clip from
YouTube7, something that someone
speaks –and an English native
speaker obviously talks about
something that you probably feel
attracted to, I don't know, if it's
music, someone talking about music.
And so you take like one minute, one
minute and a half and you literally8
shadow what that person says. That is
imitate the exact same sound
pattern9, even if you want the
attitudes10 he has, you know, his
rising in the tone, when he goes
down, his emotions. Everything. You
shadow what that person says. And
that, you know, I've discovered it has
helped my pronunciation, you know,
big time.
30:45
2. got to: gaw-duh
3. creative: kree-ay-div
8. literally: lih-duh-ruh-lee American
T
9. pattern: pA-dern
10. attitude: A-dih-tood
“tood” rhymes with “food”
4. when it comes to: concerning; relating
to; in respect to. >> My mom says I’m lazy
at home, but when it comes to studying or
working, I am definitely not.
5. keep list / diary / journal: this is the
colocation we use to say we regularly
write something. >> I keep a journal in
which I write my thoughts every morning.
6. shadow
7. whether… or not
We use whether… or not to talk about a
fact that can’t be changed or that’s going
to remain the same despite prevailing
circumstances. In Chad’s sentence,
“whether they’re religious or not” what
doesn’t change is that people celebrate it
regardless of the fact.
We also use whether (homonym: same
pronunciation with different meaning) but
without the “or not”
>> Whether we win or we lose, we’re still
screwed/ in a hopeless position. (Regardless
of what happens, the outcome is going to
be the same.)
30
CHAD: So that's exactly what we
want you guys to do this week as
today's weekly challenge. Just choose
some kind of audio or video clip from
maybe YouTube or somewhere else,
maybe even TV.
11. some of you:
suh-muh-vew Linking
MAX: Maybe even some of you guys, “vew” is rhymes with “two”
like shadow some of you11. and is pronounced the >>
same as “view”

CHAD: Kind of like you guys heard

today's intro [Yeah] That was Ellis'
daughter, Ines. She was shadowing
our intro, and it's pretty good for a
three-year-old, right?

ETHAN: It's damn good12. 12. damn good: the word damn is used
here to emphasize.
CHAD: So there you go. If you guys
wanted to record yourself and send it
to us, preferably with the original
audio or video clip somehow, we'd 13. check it out Linking
love to check it out13 and we can even cheh-kih-daut >>
give you guys a feedback on how
good of a job you did and maybe give
you some tips on improvement. So
thanks a lot guys, thanks a lot Max for
being here today, helping us out like
always.

MAX: It's been really fun.

CHAD: And Mr. Vocabulary, thank

you, too for join us in the studio
today.

31:38 31
ETHAN: As always.

CHAD: As always. And as always

you'll be hearing from us next week
on RealLife Radio.

Lyrics
"What are you waiting for?"
NickelBack

What are you waiting for?

What are you waiting for?

Are you waiting on a lightening strike

Are you waiting for the perfect night
Are you waiting 'til the time is right?
What are you waiting for?
Don't you wanna learn to deal with fear?
Don't you wanna take the wheel and steer?
Don't you wait another minute here?
What are you waiting for?

What are you waiting for?

You gotta go and reach for the top

Believe in every dream that you got
You're only living once so tell me
What are you, what are you waiting for?
You know you gotta give it your all
And don't you be afraid if you fall
You're only living once so tell me
What are you, what are you waiting for?

Are you waiting for the right excuse?

Are you waiting for a sign to choose
While you're waiting it's the time you lose
What are you waiting for?
Don't you wanna spread your wings and fly?
Don't you really wanna live your life?
Don't you wanna love before you die?
What are you waiting for?

What are you waiting for?

32
 You gotta go and reach for the top
Believe in every dream that you got
You're only living once so tell me
What are you, what are you waiting for?
You know you gotta give it your all
And don't you be afraid if you fall
You're only living once so tell me
What are you, what are you waiting for?

[2x]
Tell me what you're waiting for?
Show me what you're aiming for?
What you gonna save it for?
So what you really waiting for?

Everybody's gonna make mistakes

But everybody's got a choice to make
Everybody needs a leap of faith
When are you taking yours?

What are you waiting for?

You gotta go and reach for the top

Believe in every dream that you got
You're only living once so tell me
What are you, what are you waiting for?
You know you gotta give it your all
And don't you be afraid if you fall
You're only living once so tell me
What are you, what are you waiting for?

You gotta go and reach for the top

What are you, what are you waiting for?
Believe in every dream that you got
What are you, what are you waiting for?
You know you gotta give it your all
What are you, what are you waiting for?
You're only living once so tell me
What are you, what are you waiting for?

What are you, what are you?

What are you, what are you waiting for?
What are you, what are you?
What are you, what are you waiting for?

33