I’ll Help You Speak Like a Native: My Work Trip Vlog for Perfect English Pronunciation!

In this video you’ll come along with me on a work trip and learn how to have perfect English pronunciation. I’ll help you sound like a native speaker by using real-life examples to teach you vocabulary and native-sounding pronunciation.

Video Transcript:

Let’s study real English conversation from a work trip where my  colleague Tom and I went to a YouTube workshop and meetup in Salt Lake City, Utah. We also did some sightseeing when the events were over. Tom and I had the best day ever meeting other YouTubers and even got to see a nighttime drone show that honestly was kind of cool. Though I will say the altitude got to me.

I am feeling a little bit of altitude I think. Yeah, my workout was rough, so I I don’t think I can walk very far.

Altitude is what we call the height of something above sea level. The higher you go, the less oxygen in the air, and that really affects some people, and they get something called altitude sickness. This happens to me a lot when I visit my parents in the mountains of Colorado. Here, we were in Salt Lake City where the elevation is 1300 meters above sea level. Elevation and altitude are synonyms, meaning words with the same or similar meaning. Where I’m from in Philadelphia, the average elevation is 340 meters, so that added elevation gives me altitude sickness like headaches and fatigue. So, I couldn’t walk to lunch.

So let’s look at—

Getting an Uber?

I’m like, I’m almost I almost can’t think. Yeah, let’s get an Uber.

Okay. I’m concerned about the not being able to think thing.

It’s It’ll work out. But yeah, so we’ll go we’ll go to the same place, but we’ll take a car.

It’s like a 25-minute walk, right?

34-minute walk.

Okay. We’re taking a car for sure.

While we wait for the car to arrive, we discuss the weather the next day, the day we fly out.

Okay. So, what about tomorrow?

So, it is supposed to be thunderstorms from 9AM to 4PM.

Oh.

And we fly at 11 something.

I didn’t check that.

So, it’s, and it’s like a 90% chance of rain.

Ah, that sucks.

We might get pushed.

That would suck.

It sounds like if we get pushed, we might get pushed to like the next day.

That would suck. This is a common, casual, and a little bit of a slangy way to say that would not be good. That sucks. That would suck. I also use the phrase get pushed. Here, I’m talking about if our flight can’t go out on time and is delayed. It might be delayed several hours, but if the weather is bad, it could get delayed until the next day.

It sounds like if we get pushed, we might get pushed to like the next day.

Oh, yeah. I didn’t think about that.

No, I bet they can get us out, but not direct. That’s going to be my hope.

If you’re flying somewhere and it’s not direct, that means there will be one or more stops at another airport. This is called a layover. And usually, you have to change planes. Whenever possible, I always choose a direct flight.

Yeah. I didn’t think about that.

No, I bet they can get us out, but not direct. That’s going to be my hope.

Oh, interesting.

But um—

Yeah, and maybe there will be like windows because thunderstorms are often like patchy.

Right?

Windows. Tom doesn’t mean an actual physical window like in a building, he means a spot in time in the day when it’s not raining.

Window can refer to a range of time. For example, “What’s the pickup window for your kids school? It’s 3 to 3:15.”

Yeah, and maybe there will be like windows.

He also said patchy. If the storm is patchy, that means it’s not stormy the whole day, but off and on. There will be windows of storms, periods of time where there are storms, but also periods of time where there are no storms.

No, I bet they can get us out, but not direct. That’s going to be my hope.

Oh, interesting.

But um—

Yeah. And maybe there will be like windows because thunderstorms are often like patchy.

Yeah, right? Okay. So, the flight’s at like 11:45, 11:47.

Yes.

Tom and I were on the same flight back home. Here we’re discussing when to leave for the airport the next morning.

Are you okay with getting there at 10:30 or is that too tight for you?

Too tight. This means not enough time to do something.

Are you okay with getting there at 10:30 or is that too tight for you?

I don’t know this airport.

I don’t either.

Let’s say 10:15?

10:15. Okay. So, we’ll leave here at 10:00?

Okay.

Or 5 till.

Okay. 5, that’s great.

Okay. 5 till, 9:55.

Okay.

Okay.

Did you hear how many times we said K as we negotiated the timing?

Short for Okay. Agreeing with someone.

10:15. Okay. So, we’ll leave here at 10:00?

Okay.

Or 5 till.

Okay. 5, that great.

Okay. 5 till. 9:55.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay. I like to push it. Tom likes to be there with plenty of time. Time to spare, as they say.

I like to push it, which means I leave as little time as possible. Tom is the opposite, and he likes to leave in plenty of time. Notice I dropped the T in plenty. This is a common pronunciation of t after n.

Tom likes to be there with plenty of time. Time to spare, as they say.

Plenty of time, time to spare. Notice the to reduction.

Time to—

Make it quick and lower in pitch. Attached to time. Time to, time to spare. In plenty, we dropped the T. In to, we change the T to a flap T. Or here, it sounds kind of like a D. Duh. Time to. It’s really common to change the pronunciation of T to have smoother speech in American English.

Tom likes to be there with plenty of time. Time to spare, as they say.

You know, I consider the airport a chance to sit and read a magazine maybe or just like collect your thoughts. It’s a nice time for yourself as opposed to a time to panic.

Collect your thoughts. This is a phrase that we use in English to mean get control of your thoughts or feelings or emotions after something very surprising happens or very shocking. For example, let’s say your employee comes in and says that they’re quitting and you don’t know what to respond. You did not expect this. You might say, “Wow, okay. Please give me a moment to collect my thoughts.” But here, Tom simply means to have quiet time to oneself, maybe to reflect on something that’s happening in his life. Basically, just think, good old thinking time. You see, I’d rather do all that self time at home.

Ah, yes. But you can’t because I can’t because at home, you’re worried about like what’s going to happen on the way. Like will there be a traffic jam? Will there be a detour? Do I have to get around something?

A traffic jam. A detour. Basically, anything that could make your drive to the airport unexpectedly longer.

Because at home you’re worried about like what’s going to happen on the way. Like will there be a traffic jam? Will there be a detour? Do I have to get around something?

Okay. What kind of traveler are you? Do you like to push it like me, or do you like to leave plenty of time like Tom when heading to the airport or train station? Let me know in the comments.

There’s going to be something happening at the airport that demands that I slow down.

Have you ever missed a flight?

Never.

I have once. And for me, the amount of times I’ve flown, it is such a fair trade to miss once. I mean, the hours saved at airports.

That’s fair. That’s fair.

I just used the phrase ‘fair trade.’ What does this mean? In this context, it means I accept what I had to pay for what I get. That seems worth it to me. So, yes, I missed a flight once. That was bad. But all of the other times I’ve gotten to the airport with enough time to make my flight, and I wasn’t sitting there for hours and hours waiting for my flight. So, to me, that’s a fair trade. I’d rather miss one flight every 10 years and not go extra early to the airport than go extra early to the airport all the time and never miss a flight. To me, missing one flight, that’s a fair trade for what I get, which is more time at home.

After we went out to lunch and after the event, we decided to do some sightseeing. We went to Antelope Island State Park in the Great Salt Lake for a sunset tour. It was a small tour with a friendly guide who picked us up at our hotel. On the ride to the park, the tour guide had everyone introduce themselves to the rest of the group.

Oh, okay. Hi everybody. I’m Tom. Um, and I am here from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Uh, in town with my friend Rachel here who is, has a camera because she runs a YouTube channel. Um, and so we were here for a YouTube conference uh at a YouTuber’s space who works in the area.

The tour guide asked every person to say where they’re from, why they were in Salt Lake City, and their go-to karaoke song. If you’re ever forced to sing karaoke, what song do you choose?

My karaoke song is Billy Joel’s Piano Man.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

That’s a good one.

Great, great choice.

Thank you.

Okay. I’m Rachel from Philly, and my go-to karaoke song used to be uh, the Queen of the Nights Arya from the Magic Flute.

But I can’t hit a high F anymore. So now, it is um O Mio Babbino Caro from Gianni Schicchi by Puccini.

Wow. These are classic hits on karaoke.

Did you know I used to be an opera singer? Yep. It’s how I learned to listen to different voices to discover the music of American English.

We made it to the island and drove around looking for wildlife. You want to take a peek?

Yeah, sure.

Take a peek. Have a look. Check it out. All ways to say see.

Beautiful bird on the left. I don’t know if folks, there. Wait, we’re going to back up real quick.

Is it close to the road or—

Yeah, right on the road. Hopefully I don’t spook him.

With the beeping.

She said spook him. This is a common reduction, dropping the h in him and attaching it to the word before. To spook an animal is to scare him, startle him, cause him to run off. Spook. Spook him.

Spook him.

We also saw a pronghorn.

Are you getting eaten alive?

I know. Are you?

Did you get that? What was that? The pronghorn crossing.

I did. Are you getting bitten?

Oh, yeah.

Tom said, “Eaten alive.” An expression we can use when the mosquitoes or other biting insects are bad.

Pull your sleeves down.

Great call. But it’s actually the top of my hand.

Oh, well then do this.

Oh my gosh. Really?

Yeah. Really?

We also saw some bison. We saw just this one at first, but ended up seeing a lot, including babies. It was pretty cool to see this. Then we got to the trail head of the short hike we would do, and we even saw a faint rainbow. The tour guide pointed out different features of the landscape. It was sunset, so the sun was really low, and everything around just looked stunning. It was a short hike to the end of the trail and the wind was really blowing, so I didn’t get any good audio up here, but I did enjoy just a few minutes in nature.

Now, let’s review all the vocabulary and pronunciation we studied by watching all the clips straight through.

I am feeling a little bit of altitude. I think my workout was rough, so I don’t think I can walk very far.

Okay, so what about tomorrow? So, it is supposed to be thunderstorms from 9AM to 4PM.

Oh.

And we fly at 11 something.

I didn’t check that.

So, and it’s like a 90% chance of rain. Well, thunderstorms.

Ah, that sucks.

We might get pushed.

That would suck. It sounds like if we get pushed, we might get pushed to like the next day.

Oh, yeah. I didn’t think about that.

No, I bet they can get us out, but not direct. That’s going to be my hope.

Oh, interesting.

But um, Yeah.

And maybe there will be like windows because thunderstorms are often like patchy.

Right? Okay. So, the flight’s at like 11:45. 11:47?

Yes.

Are you okay with getting there at 10:30 or is that too tight for you?

I don’t know this airport.

I don’t either.

Let’s say 10:15.

10:15. Okay. So, we’ll leave here at 10?

Okay. Or 5 till?

Okay. 5 is Great.

Okay. 5 till. 9:55.

Okay.

Okay.

I like to push it. Tom likes to be there with plenty of time. Time to spare, as they say.

You know, I consider the airport a chance to sit and read a magazine maybe or just like collect your thoughts. It’s a nice time for yourself as opposed to a time to panic.

And see, I’d rather do all that self-time at home.

Ah, yes. But you can’t because I can’t because at home you’re worried about like what’s going to happen on the way like will there be a traffic jam? Will there be a detour? Do I have to get around something? Is there going to be something happening at the airport that demands that I slow down?

Have you ever missed a flight?

Never.

I have once. And for me, for the amount of times I’ve flown, it is such a fair trade to miss once. I mean, the hours saved at airports.

That’s fair. That’s fair.

You want to take a peek?

Yeah, sure.

Beautiful bird on the left. I don’t know if folks here. Wait, we’re going to back up real quick.

Is it close to the road or—

Yeah, right on the road. Hopefully I don’t spook him.

With the beeping.

Are you getting eaten alive?

I know. Are you?

Did you get that? What was that? The pronghorn crossing.

I did.

Are you getting bitten?

Oh, yeah.

Thank you so much for studying with me I absolutely love being your English teacher. Keep your learning going now with this video and don’t forget to subscribe with notifications on so you never miss another lesson. That’s it and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.