Native Expressions 7

🎯 Goal: Master Speaking & Listening with Authentic YouTube Videos!
💡 3-Step Learning Process

Summary ➔ Grasp the core content of the video.
Listen & Repeat! ➔ Listen and repeat natural native expressions. (🔊 Click the sentence for audio)
Original Video ➔ Loop the learned segment to train your ears!

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Summary

Hey there, language lovers! Welcome back. I am so excited you are here today because we are going to dive into a super funny scene from a famous comedy show! Specifically, we are looking at a hilarious episode where a guy starts his new job as a university professor.

Before we jump in, let me tell you how today’s video works. First, I’ll tell you the whole story in very easy English so you can understand exactly what’s going on. After that, we will practice some awesome real-life expressions together with a “listen and repeat” session. And hey, make sure to watch the original video in the final section to practice your listening. Are you ready? Let’s jump right in!

Alright, so here is the story. A new professor is getting ready for his very first university lecture, and he is incredibly nervous. He decides to practice his speech in front of his roommates. But as he reads his notes about boring science topics like “sediment flow rates,” his friends are completely falling asleep! One of them jokes that he looks so serious, she thought he was looking at something much more exciting. The other tells him he needs to open with a joke because nobody wants a boring professor. But he refuses. He says a university is not a comedy club!

Well, later on, his friend asks him how the lecture went. He proudly says it went great, and he didn’t need any jokes to be successful. He thinks he proved everyone wrong! But then, his friends actually go to visit his classroom, and they discover a shocking secret.

When the professor stands up in front of his students, he is so nervous that a fake British accent suddenly comes out of his mouth! He is speaking like a British gentleman to sound smart, even though he is actually a local guy from New York! His friends are shocked and start teasing him from the back of the room. The professor begs them to be quiet and says he is trying to “phase the accent out”—meaning he wants to slowly stop using it so the students won’t notice.

But it’s too late. During the next class, the accent keeps changing, and a student finally asks, “What’s happening to your accent?” The professor realizes the game is up. He confesses to the whole room that he isn’t English, he was just nervous and wanted to make a good first impression because he really wants a permanent job at the university.

Just when he asks the students for a second chance, his ex-girlfriend suddenly bursts into the classroom screaming! She found out some shocking news about their relationship and yells, “What the hell is wrong with you? I could just kill you!” Right in front of all his students! Talk about the worst first day ever, right?

It’s such a funny story! Now that you know exactly what happened, let’s practice speaking like the characters. We are going to do a “listen and repeat” practice. This means I will say a useful phrase from the video, and you just need to listen carefully and speak it out loud exactly the way I do. It’s the best way to get your English sounding natural!

Let’s jump right into the practice part!

Listen & Repeat!

Click on a word or sentence to listen to the audio, then repeat it out loud.

Native Expressions Ep.7 | 1 – 10

concerning

: about. relating to or regarding a specific topic.
The professor practiced a speech concerning a difficult science topic in front of his roommates.

subcategorize

: divide. to split a main group into smaller parts.
The science speech was boring because the speaker chose to subcategorize the main topic into too many parts.

stare

: look. to watch someone or something for a long time without moving your eyes.
The girl joked that her friend would stare at the paperwork only if it had something exciting on it.

open with

: start. to begin a speech, show, or performance with a specific action.
His friend advised him to open with a joke so the university students would not fall asleep.

hold the phone

: wait. an expression used to tell someone to stop talking or waiting because of something surprising.
The roommate said, “hold the phone,” when she wanted to interrupt the silly conversation about the university.

supportive

: helpful. giving encouragement or approval to someone.
The friends apologized for not being more supportive during his preparation for the university presentation.

let the material speak for itself

: show quality naturally. to allow the quality of something to be obvious without needing extra explanation or style.
The man believed he could just let the material speak for itself instead of trying to be funny or exciting.

startling

: surprising. very shocking, unexpected, or alarming.
The professor thought the science lab results would be a startling discovery for the class.

consternation

: worry. a feeling of anxiety, shock, or confusion caused by something unexpected.
The speaker expected the students to feel great consternation when learning about the wrong rock classification.

come out

: appear. to happen or be produced suddenly and naturally.
The teacher was so nervous in front of the classroom that a strange voice just happened to come out.

Native Expressions Ep.7 | 11 – 16

have a moment

: have time. to have a short period of time available to talk or do something.
Another professor asked the new teacher if he could have a moment to talk about the presentation.

phase out

: remove slowly. to stop using something gradually over a period of time.
The speaker tried to phase out the fake way of talking so the university students would not notice.

come again

: repeat. a spoken phrase used to ask someone to repeat what they just said because you did not hear or understand it.
When a student asked about the sudden change in speech, the teacher said, “come again?” to stall for time.

nonsense

: foolishness. words, ideas, or behavior that are silly or have no meaning.
The professor tried to pretend he did not understand the student’s question by calling it total nonsense.

screw up

: fail. to make a serious mistake or spoil something completely.
He admitted to the classroom that he managed to screw up his very first presentation because of his nerves.

permanent

: lasting. continuing or existing for a long time or forever without changing.
The main reason he wanted to make a great impression was to get a permanent job at the school.

Original Video

Press play to automatically loop the segment (0:00 – 4:57) you just studied. Just relax and focus on listening.