*BONUS* Why Textbook English Isn’t Enough – And What to Do About It

Today's special bonus episode is a bit different. I tell you all about a trend I've noticed with students after teaching for over 12+ years AND how to fix it. You'll also get a mini lesson in how to use a popular English expression. 

In this bonus, I also invite you to be apart of something special for the 8 weeks. 

For more information about my course Real Life English: From Classroom to Conversation, click  >> HERE <<

Enrollment is only open for 4 days, so don't miss out. 

To contact me, you can also send an email to: gabby@englishwithgabby.com 

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Transcript

[00:00:00] On today's episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast, I have a little something different, a short bonus episode where I wanna talk about something I've seen again and again in my 12 plus years of teaching English to international students. Let's get started.

Hey there. Welcome to the Real Life English with Gabby podcast. I'm your host Gabby, your fun and friendly English teacher from the one and only New York City. My goal is to teach you phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang that will help you speak English confidently and understand real American conversations.

Are you ready to improve your English skills? Let's jump right in.

Hey, hey, hey. Greetings from New York City. Welcome to all of the first time listeners, and to all of my usual listeners. Welcome back to the show.

[00:01:00] As I mentioned today is a little bonus episode and I'm excited to talk about something that I want you to be a part of. So let me ask you something. Have you ever felt confident in your grammar but then completely lost in a real conversation with native speakers? Maybe you've studied English for years. But when it comes to TV shows and movies or casual conversations or small talk, you suddenly feel like, wait, what did they just say? If you answered yes, that's because textbook English isn't real life English. For example. Textbooks teach you. How are you. But in real life, you hear, what's up? How's it going? Sup? It's a different language. That's where today's mini [00:02:00] lesson comes in, and it's also why I created this podcast in the first place. 

After teaching English for so long and meeting students from all around the world, the similar pattern was that students would be in class, they could do worksheets and do well on tests, but then they would go outside. And had no idea what to say in real conversations.

 Let me give you an example of what I mean Students would talk to Americans and an American would say, for example, I've been in meetings all day and barely had time for lunch. I am wiped. Or I'm wiped out and the student would be confused because in school they learned that wipe is something totally different.

Wipe is to clean something by rubbing it. [00:03:00] For example, she wiped the table with a cloth or to remove something completely. The hard drive was wiped clean. So hearing someone say that they were wiped would be a little bit confusing because they didn't learn slang in their class.

 Because they didn't learn slang, they didn't realize that one of the most common uses for the word wipe is to mean that you are extremely tired and exhausted. Let me give you an example.

After flying for 12 hours. I'm totally wiped. I'm sorry I can't hang out. I'm wiped out. I just finished a 90 minute class at the gym. My kids didn't nap today, and we're full of energy, so I'm totally wiped.

You see, Americans use this all the time to express that [00:04:00] they're exhausted, very tired, worn out from doing too much, and even to express that we have no energy left and we use this commonly. Notice that instead of saying I'm very tired because I studied all night, it's more natural for Americans to say I'm totally wiped. I pulled an all-nighter here. We have two very informal expressions that Americans use that students don't often learn in a classroom setting. This is the kind of language that native speakers use all the time, but most learners don't get a chance to learn or practice 

So I decided to create this podcast because I wanted to achieve two things at once.

I wanted to give students authentic listening practice, but I also wanted to teach them something that would [00:05:00] help them right away in the real world. So I created the podcast, and after 500,000 downloads, I've seen that it's a need that people have who are trying to learn English. And so last year I decided to go a little bit deeper than what the podcast has to offer.

I decided to create a new course called Real Life English, from Classroom to Conversation. I wanted to have live classes with students and I wanted to teach them real life English with a community where they could meet students from all over the world. And we did just that. My first cohort of students had a blast. That means had a really good time. We really, really got to know each other, became friends and they were able to speak with [00:06:00] confidence and speak naturally in English. And guess what the next group is about to begin this weekend. 

 And so I've opened up enrollment to real life English from classroom to conversation, and I'm inviting you to be a part of it.

If this is something that you're interested in, click the link in the episode description because I recorded a video that has all of the information you need, and you can get all of the information, details and even see what the community is going to be like.

 here's what you'll get inside the course. Firstly, you're getting over 650 real life vocabulary words, phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang. That's three to four video lessons per week, along with PDFs and study guides, audio practice activities. But what makes my course [00:07:00] different than most other courses is that there are live classes every week that you can attend. and 

 the coolest thing is a private community on circle where you can interact, ask questions, and speak English every single day, and you can meet students from all over the world and make new friends.

And the course was created with the busy person in mind. So whatever your schedule looks like, you'll be able to fit the course into your busy schedule. 

The course also comes with a bonus called English through Media. It is a mini course where I teach you English using TV shows, movies, and celebrity interviews. So if you're looking for a course that bridges the gap between what you learn and how you actually use English, this is it. The doors are now open, but only for a few days.

Enrollment closes Friday [00:08:00] night, May 9th.

If you're ready to speak with more confidence, understand fast conversations, and feel like you finally belong in the English speaking world, come join me.

Again, click the link in the episode description, or if you have questions, send me an email at gabby@englishwithgabby.com. Thanks for being here. Hopefully I'll see you in the course, and for the rest of you, I'll see you for the next episode.

Well, that's a wrap for today's episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe for more weekly adventures in English learning. Also, I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a review.

Thanks so much for tuning in.