PART l: Use these 20 VERBS to be more CONCISE in English! It's not always about speaking faster...
Hi everyone, I'm Arnel! And in today's lesson I'm going to give you 20 verbs you can use to be
concise. First of all, what does concise mean? Concise is a great adjective, it means what
you say or what you write, is short and clear. You don't use a lot of unnecessary words. For example:
Paula's emails are always so long.
She can tell us what we need to know without all of the unnecessary details and words.
She can be more concise. I know a lot of students want to speak faster in English.
Speak faster, speak faster. You don't always need to speak faster. Sometimes you can just be
concise. So concise is an adjective, but today's lesson is going to be 20 verbs - bonus adjective.
Are the verbs in today's lesson formal or informal? The verbs in today's lesson
you can use when you're speaking, and in your writing. They're absolutely
fine. 20. That's a lot, here's what's going to happen.
After four verbs I have a mini Gap fill for you, so you can practice what you learned,
and then you can listen and check your answers. At the end of this lesson can you let me know how you
did on the Gap fills? Did you get 20 correct out of 20? That would be really impressive!
Or maybe just 10 out of 20? That's okay too. And at the very end of this lesson, I have
20 discussion questions you can use to practice. Answer these questions with a friend, a classmate,
a speaking partner. Let's start, number one: Every morning I need to make the ice melt off of my car.
I need to defrost my car. Defrost. And in this lesson when you see the circles above the words,
the circles represent the word stress. So we say defrost, defrost. Not
D Frost. And the first example I give you is correct. The verb can just help you be more
concise. There's that adjective again, you'll probably be sick and tired of me saying concise
throughout this lesson. I have to defrost the fish before I can cook them. I think
we need to defrost our freezer, look at it! Two: I always really want something sweet after dinner.
I always crave, crave. When we crave something we really want something.
We're normally speaking about food and drinks, but people can also crave attention.
Pregnant women often crave a specific food during their pregnancies. When I was pregnant with my son,
I craved Brie. I wanted it every day. I like Brie but when I was pregnant, I craved Bree.
Children who misbehave often just crave attention.
Three: Did Karine get the message?
I emailed her last night. I'm not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure she read it.
I assume. Assume, assume. I assume she read it. When we assume something we strongly
believe something is true, but we don't have any evidence, or we just don't care about the evidence.
We can't assume Taylor is lying, we need to speak to him first.
I don't like it when people assume they are busier than me, they don't know what's going on in my life.
Four: I spent the weekend with my parents and we looked through a lot of old photo albums.
It was nice to think and talk about all of the great experiences we had in the past.
It was nice to reminisce, reminisce. When we reminisce, or reminisce about something, we're
thinking about nice memories from the past, like in your childhood. You know you're just kind of...
Sometimes I reminisce about all the fun things I did as a teenager. Every year on their anniversary
they like to sit by the fireplace and reminisce about the day they first met. So romantic. Well
okay! Four verbs done. Are you ready for gap fill number one? Do you have a pen and paper ready?
You can see a mini conversation here. Complete each gap with one of the verbs. You don't need to change
the words, they are already in the correct forms. Pause the video to complete this conversation.
Now listen and check to see if you are correct. Hey, remember that snowy weekend at the cabin
last year? Of course I do! I still crave those marshmallows we roasted in the fireplace. We
needed that fireplace. Remember it was so cold that we even had to defrost the water that was left on
the kitchen counter? Yeah, I might try and book that cabin again. Do you think it'll still be available?
I assume you mean the same time as last year? In December? Yeah, well it's November. I'm sure
it's already been booked. You're right, I just love reminiscing about that place...
the marshmallows. Gosh, you never stop talking about the marshmallows.
Five: Can we please have our meeting half an hour earlier than scheduled?
If this makes things difficult for you, we can always reschedule for another day.
If this inconveniences you, inconvenience, inconvenience.
If something inconveniences something, it makes it difficult for that person.
The weather inconvenienced thousands of Christmas travelers.
We'll do our website maintenance at midnight, so we don't inconvenience anyone. Six:
My back still really hurts but the doctor gave me some medicine to help make the pain better.
To relieve the pain, relieve, relieve. When something relieves something,
it makes something negative, less negative. We're usually talking about pain or stress.
A hot bath after a long day at work can really help to relieve stress and tension.
The doctor prescribed medication to relieve the patient's persistent pain.
What did you do over the weekend? What did you do often sound like: what'd you do,
what'd you do. What'd you do over the weekend? I bought a new dresser and I spent hours
putting the pieces together to build it. I spent hours assembling it. Assemble, assemble. When we
assemble something, we put lots of pieces together. Like a piece of furniture, or maybe a toy. You might
need to assemble a toy. Pieces can come together, or people can assemble. People can come together.
Cars are assembled on an assembly line. And an assembly line is what you see in
the picture. Many people working together to assemble something.
Students assemble in the gym once a week to hear the school's announcements.
I went to a museum which had these beautiful marble floors. But my shoes made so much noise
that I had to walk on my toes, so I wouldn't make any noise.
Tip toe, tip toe. That's a really cute little verb. Tiptoe.
When we tiptoe we walk on our toes, so we don't make any noise.
The students tiptoed out of the classroom. when the teacher was busy helping someone else.
My sister makes me tiptoe around her sleeping cat. I mean, who's more important?
Four more verbs, done. Let's do another gap fill. Pause the video to put the verbs into the spaces.
Now listen and check your answers! We need this camping trip. It'll help to relieve the stress
from the past three months. Did you remember to pack the lantern? Of course I remembered. Well on
our last camping trip you forgot the lantern, so we had to assemble our tent in the dark.
It wasn't so bad. I had to tiptoe it everywhere because I didn't want to step on any bugs, and we
accidentally put our tent too close to another tent. They didn't seem too happy about that.
I don't want to inconvenience anyone again this year.
Your story sounds really interesting. Can you give me more details and information? Can you elaborate?
Elaborate. When we elaborate we give someone more details, more information. And remember at
the start of the lesson I spoke about being concise? When we're concise, the adjective, we
don't use unnecessary words. But when we elaborate we want more details, we want more information.
For example, in your IELTS speaking exam, you don't want to give one word answers.
You want to elaborate. Or, elaborate on your answer.
You're quitting? Can you elaborate?
Number 10, and I'm on the other side!
My new job is really tough. I can't deal with the stress of having to do so many things. I can't cope.
When we cope, we are able to handle stress and pressure. And when we can't cope, we
cannot handle that stress and pressure. It wasn't easy to cope with my parents divorce,
I was only a teenager. Jane coped with a heavy workload by prioritizing tasks and
staying organized. You can see we can say cope - stop. Or cope, with something.
We want our hotel guests to be satisfied, we can change things to make them happy.
We can accommodate them. Accommodate, accommodate.
When we accommodate someone we make changes to make them happy. We give them what they need.
The theater try to accommodate wheelchair users by providing a designated seating area and
ramps. Restaurant: We are happy to accommodate our vegetarian guests, we can make a new menu for them.
Carrie didn't feel confident about her presentation. I gave her lots of reasons why
she should be confident. I reassured her. Reassure, reassure. When we reassure someone we tell them
things to make them feel comfortable, to make them feel confident. Usually because they're nervous.
The doctor reassured the patient that the operation would be painless and successful.
After the Storm, the parents reassured their children that they were safe.
Pause the video, you know what to do!
Hey, I heard you're going through a tough time at work. Can you elaborate on what's been happening?
Thanks for asking. It's been quite hectic with the increased workload but my manager's
been really supportive. She's accommodated my need for flexible hours which has helped me
cope with the added stress. That's great to hear. Supportive leadership can make a big difference.
I'm here to listen if you ever need to talk more about it. Just remember
you're doing an amazing job, and I'm here to reassure you that things will get better.
13: It's so cold. I'm shaking quickly and uncontrollably. I'm shivering.
Shiver, shiver. When we shiver, we shake quickly and we can't control it because we are scared or cold.
Even though he had a thick blanket, he still shivered in the chilly room.
We can deal with this problem quickly and effectively, we can tackle this problem. Tackle,
tackle. When we tackle a problem we don't wait, we don't procrastinate, we try to find a solution
quickly. Tackle can also be a physical verb like in this video here. The red player is tackling the
blue player. Imagine the blue player was the problem, the red player tackles this problem.
She needed to tackle her fear of public speaking by practicing in front of a small group first.
I should tackle my math homework before I get too tired.
The little girl hugged her doll for a long time because she loves it.
She cuddled her doll. Cuddle, cuddle. When we cuddle someone or something, we hug it
for a long period. It's a way of showing affection.
After a long day at work I love to cuddle my dog on the couch. We cuddled in bed and watched a movie.
I think I explained everything. Is there anything extra someone wants to say that I didn't say?
Is there anything someone wants to add? Add,
when we add something, we provide something extra that wasn't there before.
To improve her essay, she needed to add a few more examples to support her argument.
You might want to add some salt the soup, is pretty plain.
Pause the video. You know what to do!
Now listen and check. Doctor, my son has been having trouble sleeping. He often wakes up shivering and
screaming in the middle of the night. I see, uh it's not uncommon for children to experience
nightmares or night terrors. One way to tackle this is to create a comforting bedtime routine.
You can add a calming story or cuddle for 10 minutes before bedtime to make him feel more
comfortable. I already do those things. Is there anything else you can suggest? It's important
to make sure their sleep environment is comfortable and free from distractions.
Try not to let him have any screen time before bed. Right, I'll give that a try. Thank you doctor.
I went to my friend's house to make her feel better because she was sad.
To console her. Console, console. When we console someone, we make someone feel better because they
are sad. We often give them sympathy and word stress is really important. The verb is console,
you console someone. Don't confuse this with a game's console, like an Xbox. A games console.
That is the device you use to play games. So word stress is really important.
He tried to console his disappointed son by promising him to take him to an amusement park.
Nobody could console Abby after the death of her father, she was inconsolable.
Inconsolable. Inconsolable is the adjective, and
when someone's inconsolable, you can't console them. Their grief is too deep.
18: We're almost done. There's a job opening in the restaurant I work at. I know you're looking for a
job. What things do I need to do in this job? What does this job involve? Involve, involve.
When something involves something, this means it's part of it. You need to do this part.
Well the job involves taking orders, clearing tables, and answering the phone.
Joining the hiking group involves regular outdoor excursions and adventure activities.
Luke's house is amazing. Yeah, he didn't buy it himself. After his dad died he received it,
he inherited it. Inherit, inherit. When we inherit something, we receive something after a family
member dies. Like a house or money. Rebecca was surprised to learn that she inherited the family
home. Helena inherited her father's height and her mother's green eyes. So you can see in the second
example, we don't just inherit something after someone dies, we can also inherit genetic traits.
20, last one. My boss really trusts me, we're pretty close actually. She often tells me
about her personal problems, innermost feelings and secrets. She confides in me. Confide, confide. When we
confide in someone, we tell that person really personal things because we trust that person.
He confided in a therapist about the anxiety he had been experiencing at work.
The child finally confided in a teacher about being bullied at school.
Listen and check. I recently had to speak to a lawyer about some family matters. Oh that
sounds incredibly stressful. No, uh my lawyer has worked for my family for years. I can confide in
him about anything. So what's going on? It involves a large amount of money I recently inherited from
my aunt. Sweet! It sounds nice, but now I have dozens of people asking me for money. Inheritances can be
really messy, lots of jealousy involved. One of my cousins was screaming and crying because she
wasn't included in my aunt's will. I'm sure she was really upset. You'd only console her by offering
some of the money. 20 verbs, done. How did you do on the gap fills? Let me know in the comments, I
would love to hear from you! 20 out of 20? 17 out of 20? 8 out of 20? And I also have the discussion
questions I told you about earlier. Of course I'll enlarge these you. Use these questions to practice
what you learned. Speak with a friend, speak with a classmate. Or you can even answer a couple of
questions in the comments below. Thank you so much for watching, I'll see you next time. Bye!!!