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  • Hello and welcome everyone. This is Minoo at Anglo-Link.

  • First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who have posted comments and questions

  • on YouTube and Facebook for me. I really appreciate them.

  • Today I have chosen a few of the questions you have posted on Facebook.

  • I'm going to start answering some of the general questions about learning English.

  • And then I'll move onto answering some of the specific questions about language usage.

  • I'd like to start by answering a question from Kurniawan. I hope I'm pronouncing your name correctly.

  • You say: "What is the best way to master English well

  • and how to increase vocabulary."

  • It's a very good question.

  • As I have said in many of my previous videos,

  • One of the best ways of improving your English and your vocabulary range is through listening.

  • And that is listening to authentic material.

  • Thanks to the Internet, these days you have access to YouTube clips,

  • to TV, radio, DVDs...

  • And the best way to expand your vocabulary is by just listening and watching.

  • I would suggest you choose relatively easy clips or programmes or films,

  • whose subjects really interest you,

  • things that you like, and just listen to them again and again.

  • Sometimes, you can even listen in the background,

  • Because even if your mind is busy working on something

  • your ears are free and they can continue to pick-up vocabulary and expressions.

  • Now, the best thing about learning and expanding your vocabulary through listening

  • is that you're learning the correct pronunciation at the same time,

  • which brings me to the next three questions that I have chosen.

  • I will read the questions to you.

  • Francis says: "I can write good English, but it's hard for me to have a good pronunciation."

  • Zeenat says: "I want to learn to improve my English accent."

  • And Rasha says: "How can I hear English well, it is very difficult."

  • As I have just explained,

  • if you have started learning English by reading and writing, you have missed the very important element of pronunciation.

  • Unfortunately, in English, what you see and write

  • is not necessarily what you hear and say.

  • So, in order to have a good pronunciation and listening skills from the beginning,

  • you need to start with listening, not reading or writing.

  • Listening and speaking. Just listen,

  • pick-up some phrases, some expressions that you like and repeat them.

  • Just the same way that you learnt your mother tongue.

  • What did you do? You just listened to your parents, the people around you.

  • you just copied what they said.

  • And that is the most natural and effective way of learning to communicate in a language.

  • Now, if your purpose of improving your English is to take an exam,

  • It's of course a little different.

  • For example, let's look at the question from Ayman,

  • who says: "Could you talk about IELTS test and how to improve our skills in its four parts?"

  • Obviously you need to improve your listening, speaking, reading and writing by doing these.

  • But when it comes to an exam, you do need to use specifically prepared materials.

  • And for all exams: IELTS, FCE, TOEFL, TOEIC

  • there are very good preparation materials available on the market.

  • And you can also go to the websites. For example ielts.org

  • gives you a lot of information about the test itself, the different skills that are required.

  • And how to prepare for them, so use these materials.

  • If you take the practice tests that are available in these specific materials,

  • and you find that there is one area, let's say for example speaking,

  • that challenges you more than the other areas,

  • I would recommend that you just take a few one-to-one lessons with a tutor

  • and focus on that particular area.

  • And that will help you pass the exam with a better score.

  • Right, I'm going to finish answering the general questions

  • by answering Khaled's question, which is quite interesting.

  • He says: "Is it true that if I start to learn English after the age of 18?

  • I will not have the same language as native speakers. Even if I try to change my accent, I can't do that. Because it's too late?"

  • Well, the answer to this questions for me is that

  • speaking a language is like learning any other skill.

  • It's like learning to play an instrument. It's like learning to play a sport,

  • or learning to paint. It's a skill, it's not a theory.

  • So if you are really really motivated,

  • and you put in all the time and the effort that is required, you can learn any skill at any age.

  • Ok, it's true that the younger you are the easier and quicker it is to learn a skill.

  • But it's true that with the right level of motivation. If you really really want to do something,

  • given the right tools and the right teacher,

  • and if you're prepared to put in the time and the effort, you can learn anything at any age.

  • So if you're motivated, give it a go! I'm sure you will succeed.

  • Right then, moving on now to some specific language questions...

  • The first one I have chosen is from Mihaela.

  • She says: "I've learnt that after 'when' you are not allowed to use the future tense.

  • Since in my language I can use the future tense after this word, I would like to know if you have an explanation for this rule and, of course,

  • I would like to have a list of other words that don't permit the future tense after them. Thanks."

  • Right. Very good question Mehaela.

  • There's a very simple rule.

  • Like 'when' you cannot use the future tense after any expression of time.

  • That's the rule. So after 'when', 'as soon as', 'after', 'before', 'until' etc...

  • So, if you have a time expression in your sentence, don't use the 'will' future after it.

  • Just use the Present Simple Tense.

  • Ok, I hope I've answered that question for Mehaela. Moving on to Maria Laura's question,

  • who says: "Hi! could you tell me the difference between the following expressions:

  • Something was sent vs something has been sent."

  • Here we are talking about the difference between two tenses,

  • the Past Simple and the Present Perfect.

  • Although your examples are in the passive voice, the conceptual difference is exactly the same.

  • The Past Simple Tense: "Something was sent".

  • refers to an action that was completed at a specific time in the past.

  • For example: "Something was sent yesterday".

  • Whereas your other sentence: "Something has been sent" is in the Present Perfect Tense,

  • and it refers to a completed action in the past, but without specifying when exactly.

  • "Something has been sent", "Something has already been sent", we don't know when.

  • Right then. Moving on to our next question, which is from Samia.

  • Samia says: "Hi. My question is which tense goes with the expression every once in a while or once in a while?

  • Is it the Present Simple Tense or the Past Tense or something else?"

  • Well, this expression 'once in a while' or 'every once in a while'

  • refers to something that happens regularly. It's a habit.

  • So, you can either use the Tense that's for a habit in the present,

  • or an expression that's for a habit in the past.

  • If we're talking in the present, it would be the Present Simple Tense.

  • For example: "I go swimming once in a while."

  • If you're referring to a habit in the past, then you can use either the expression 'used to' or the Modal 'would'.

  • For example: "When I was younger, I used to go swimming once in a while."

  • Or: "I would go swimming once in a while."

  • Right. The next question is from Arunprasad.

  • Who says: "My dentist always keeps ... me to clean my teeth. I hate that."

  • And in brackets we have the verb 'tell' - "I know it is 'telling' but what is the rule? (Always means habit, Present Simple)"

  • You're right! That's why the tense is 'keeps' (Present Simple).

  • The point here is what to put after 'keep'.

  • Is it 'keeps to tell', 'keeps tell' or 'keeps telling'?

  • In other words, infinitive, infinitive with 'to', without 'to' or the gerund?

  • The answer is that after the verb 'keep' you must always use the gerund form.

  • So. 'Keep going', 'Keep dancing' and in this case 'keep telling'.

  • And the final question is from Reshad.

  • Who says: "I have a very essential question. I don't know how I can ask. Can you lend me money, nearly $1000?"

  • Very good question Rashad. And it's very important that you use the right Modal Verb,

  • because if you say, to whoever you are going to ask this question to,

  • "can you lend me money".

  • They will probably say "Yes I can. But I won't ;)".

  • If you are going to make a polite request,

  • the correct Modal to use is not 'can', it's 'could'.

  • So. You could try saying to someone: "Could you lend me some money?"

  • Or: "Could you possibly lend me some money?"

  • Or: "Is there any way you could lend me some money?"

  • Good luck with that one!

  • Right then! Once again, thank you very much for all your questions.

  • If you have more questions for me that I will be able to answer in our next video,

  • you can post them in the comment section below or on our Facebook page.

  • That's all for this video. I hope you've enjoyed it.

  • If you've found it useful, please remember to click the 'like' button and don't forget to subscribe to our channel.

  • Thank you for watching. I look forward to seeing you in our next video. Bye now!

Hello and welcome everyone. This is Minoo at Anglo-Link.

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