Name: Speak & Listen: 5 Simple English Communication Tips
Uploaded: 2025-06-17T16:45:07.000Z
Duration: 8 min 12 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Past simple

So, I was at the store the other day, and I was checking out the bananas, and of course

Because I have this thing about bananas, if they're kind of, like, going brown a little bit, I don't like them.

So, I was standing there going through the bananas, and a lady-I'll call her a lady-comes right up beside me and kind of like...

Kind of tries to move me over and, like, muscle in on my bananas, and she was quite short.

I know that she wants to look at the same bananas that I'm looking at, but she lacked one thing.

She lacked politeness and communication to say to me, hey, hey, could you please move?

Because I would like to look at those bananas too.

So, here's where communication skills are very important, and let me tell you that these persons that I'm talking about, they speak English.

So, it's not just a, oh, I don't know how to speak English properly kind of thing.

If someone's in your way, like I'm probably in the way of the camera, you have to say, excuse me, oh, yeah, okay, I can move, or someone is in your way, don't push them, like, excuse...

Say, excuse me, or could you please move?

Trying to look at those delicious bananas down there, lady.

And I would have been like, oh, yeah, sure, I'm sorry, no problem.

But she didn't say that, so I stood there longer just because I could.

And she finally found some other bananas.

But the point is, communicate with people, because that's how you're going to make friends and not enemies in this world.

So, let's go through a couple things that I notice people do to bad communication skills.

The first one, never assume that someone doesn't want to talk to you.

Now, the word assume, this might be a new word for you.

I texted my friend, but she didn't text me back.

I don't think she wants to hang out with me anymore.

Just, you text the person, then say, hey, what's up?

I haven't heard from you in a while, are you okay?

You know, I'm not in the country, I'm travelling.

So, never assume or think that someone doesn't want to talk to you.

Everyone wants to talk to you, yeah, you're special, okay?

This is a really, really common habit that I do, too.

And you're like, whatever, Ronnie, but I do.

When you don't understand someone, so someone's talking to you, you nod or laugh nervously.

And you hope-okay?-that the person talking didn't ask a question.

So, for example, we say, yeah, those are really nice roses.

If you don't understand what someone is asking you, it's okay.

You can say to the person, like, hey, do you know what?

Sorry, Ronnie, I didn't understand what you asked me, and do you mind...

I asked you if you would like some roses.

So, you might be missing out on something very beautiful and wonderful.

So, if you don't understand something, ask the person.

Call people buddy, bro, dude, nene, when we don't know their name, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Or, okay, hate this, hate this, I really hate the happy birthday song, I hate everything about the song.

Happy birthday, nene, happy birthday, dear...

You don't know the person's name, you're at their birthday party, that's cool, but you just mumble it, mumble, it's like...

So, what you want to do is you want to ask the person, and you can ask someone else.

Let's say you're at the party and be like, hey, here, what's his name?

Oh, okay, yeah, Kevin, happy birthday, Kevin, yeah, good.

But this can be embarrassing, because maybe you don't want to directly ask the person because, I don't know, the person would be mad that you don't remember them.

Okay, okay, move out of the way, Ronnie, thank you.

Ask them their name, or, hey, what's your name again, sorry I forget, how to spell it.

This can get you into some trouble, though, because let's say the person's name is John, and you forget the name John, and you're like, how do you spell your name again?

And they're like, J-O-N, you're like, oh, yeah, but you can save yourself and go, oh, do you know what, I was thinking it was J-O-H-N, whew, save.

Excuse me, how do I actually pronounce your name?

So, I'll see a name, and I honestly don't know how to say it, because names are different from all different countries, and I'm like, I don't know how to say that name.

Not that I forget the name, but I could, and I'll be like, oh man, your name's really cool.

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Speak & Listen: 5 Simple English Communication Tips

assume

properly

technique

improve