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Vanessa: Hi.
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I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
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Dan: And I'm Dan.
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Vanessa: Are you ready to improve your vocabulary A to Z?
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Dan: I am.
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Vanessa: Let's do it.
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In today's special vocabulary lesson, I'm here with my husband, Dan, and we're going
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to be talking about one important vocabulary word for each letter of the alphabet, A to
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Z, 26 new words.
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All of these words have a theme.
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Dan: Yes, you can use them to describe your English-learning journey.
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Vanessa: Yes, but you can also use them in other situations.
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So, for each of these words, I'm going to give an example that you can use to talk about
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your English journey, and Dan's going to give an example about something else, another topic.
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Dan: Something personal.
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Vanessa: Yeah, we don't know yet.
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Dan: But not too personal.
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Vanessa: We'll see.
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Feel free to check out the description for a timestamp for each of these words, so that
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you can go back and study them later.
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I hope that you'll be able to really remember them by reviewing them again and again.
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Are you ready to get started?
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Dan: Yes.
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Vanessa: Let's go.
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A, apprehension: A fearful expectation of something.
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I feel some apprehension when I speak English with a native English speaker or in front
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of other people in a crowd.
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What about you?
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When do you feel apprehensive?
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Dan: Well, I used to feel apprehensive giving speeches, but now I've gotten over that a
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little bit.
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But when I was in college, I wrote on the calendar D-Day.
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This day is coming, and it's going to be terrible, and I was so scared.
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I was so apprehensive, but now, I've gotten over it.
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Vanessa: Yeah, I remember that speech.
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You actually did a great job.
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So, your nervousness really didn't lead to a bad conclusion.
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Dan: Maybe it even helped me.
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Vanessa: Yeah, you felt apprehensive.
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All right, let's go to the next one.
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B, bittersweet: A good feeling with a bit of sadness.
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When I studied abroad in Texas, it was bittersweet to leave my host family because I had some
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really great memories with them, but I was also looking forward to see my family back
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home.
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What about you?
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Are you going to feel bittersweet anytime soon?
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Dan: Actually, we will feel bittersweet because we are leaving this house and moving to a
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new house.
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So, it's bitter because we have a lot of good memories here and that's sad, but it's sweet
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because we're going to a new house.
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It's bittersweet.
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Vanessa: Yes.
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C, complacent: Comfortable with no desire to change or improve.
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I don't want to be complacent about my English level.
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I always want to be improving.
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What about you?
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What do you do when you feel complacent?
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Dan: Well, I usually try something new, and this word, it actually sounds like it could
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be positive, but really it's a negative thing.
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You're comfortable, and you should change.
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When I feel complacent, I try something new like when I was not exercising in the past,
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I decided to play hockey.
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So, I joined a league, and I played hockey on a team, and I got lots of exercise.
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Vanessa: Yeah, you didn't want it to be too complacent.
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Dan: D, diligent: Being committed to a task.
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I know that I need to be diligent if I want to remember all of these vocabulary words.
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I should study them every day.
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Do you know anyone who's diligent?
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Vanessa: Yes, I do.
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Dan: Vanessa is very diligent.
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Every single day, she works on the fearless fluency club, the YouTube channel.
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She's always learning new things in English.
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She is diligent.
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Vanessa: Thank you.
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E, expend: To use up money or energy.
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Sometimes, I expend all my energy worrying about making a mistake, and then I don't actually
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speak.
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What about you?
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How do you feel at the end of the day?
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Dan: Well, lately, I certainly feel expended at the end of the day because we have a toddler,
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so he's running around all day.
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We're chasing him all day, and when he goes to sleep at night, we feel expended.
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We're done.
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We have to lie down.
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Vanessa: We have expended all our energy taking care of him, and we just want to relax.
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F, feasible: To be possible.
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Is it feasible to be a fluent English speaker?
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Yes, it is.
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Is it feasible for you to be an NHL player?
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Dan: No, it is not.
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It is not feasible for me to play in the NHL because I haven't practiced enough to play
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professional hockey.
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I'm just an amateur.
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Vanessa: G, gist: The main idea.
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I'd like to understand everything in English TV shows and movies, but right now I'm struggling
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to understand the gist of what they're saying.
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It's really tough.
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What about for you?
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What happened before we filmed this lesson?
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Dan: Well, Vanessa described this video to me, and she showed me a script, and she started
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going over everything, and I said, "It's okay.
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I get the gist."
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So, I know the main idea, I get it, and I can do it now.
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Vanessa: Yes, and you're doing great.
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Dan: Thank you.
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Vanessa: H, hiatus: A gap or break in an event.
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I studied English in high school, and after that, I took a long hiatus for 30 years.
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Dan: Wow.
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Vanessa: What about for you?
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What's something that goes on hiatus?
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Dan: A lot of times TV shows will go on hiatus, so they'll shoot a season.
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There'll be season one, and you're waiting for season two, but they're on hiatus, so
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you have to wait.
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I remember the show, Rick and Morty.
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There was season one that...
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This is not popular with her, but I like Rick and Morty.
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There was season one, and then they went on hiatus, and Everybody was waiting for season
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two, and it finally came out.
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Vanessa: Maybe a couple months later.
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Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative), it was longer than...
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I think it was like a year or two.
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Vanessa: Oh, okay.
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That's a long hiatus.
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I, insatiable: Can't be satisfied.
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I have an insatiable desire to learn English.
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My desire to learn English is insatiable.
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Dan: Yes, and meanwhile, I have an insatiable desire to eat Pizza.
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I love pizza, so bring me pizza, please.
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Vanessa: J, jaded: Cynical or worn out due to past experience.
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I feel so jaded about English classes.
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I've joined so many of them, and nothing's worked for me.
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What about you?
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Do you feel jaded about anything?
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Dan: Yes, I often feel jaded about politics because every single year, you see somebody
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running, and they say the same thing, and you just get tired of it.
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Nowadays, too, you have a social media, so you're reading people's posts, and this side's
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angry, and that side's angry.
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Nothing gets solved.
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I'm very jaded about it.
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Vanessa: You're cynical because you've got this past experience built up, so you feel
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jaded about politics.
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Maybe you feel the same way too, or maybe you don't.
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K, knack: Something that's easy for you.
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I thought I didn't have a knack for languages, but with Vanessa, it's easy.
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What about you?
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Do you have a knack for anything?
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Dan: Some people might say, "I have a knack for playing the piano."
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I can hear a song, usually something easy, maybe a Beatles song, and then I can spend
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a few hours and learn it on the piano.
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I'll just teach myself.
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Vanessa: Yeah, sometimes it even takes a couple minutes.
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Dan: Yeah, if it's Mary Had a Little Lamb.
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So, I have a knack for playing the piano.
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Vanessa: L, lull: A short period of calm or a break.
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I started watching English lessons on YouTube.
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But then when I went on vacation, there was a lull in my English learning.
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What about for you?
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Was there ever a lull in your life?
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Dan: Oh yeah, there have been lulls in my life.
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For example, every Christmas, there is a lull in my healthy eating.
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There is just too much good food around, and my mom, she puts out chocolate.
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So, I walk through the door, and I just grab a piece of chocolate when I enter the house,
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so I'm not eating healthily during Christmas.
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There's a lull in my healthy eating.
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Vanessa: M, modest: Humble.
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He says that his English isn't good, but he's just being modest.
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It's actually pretty great.
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Dan: Yeah, we actually knew a guy who was the opposite of modest.
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He would say things like, "When I was at the gym the other day, I looked at my muscles,
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and I saw the sweat on my arm, and my arms looked really great."
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Vanessa: That's not modest.
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Dan: Yeah, he wasn't very modest, but it was funny.
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Vanessa: N, nuance: A subtle difference in meaning.
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Sometimes phrasal verbs have slight nuances that are important to know.
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For example, find out or figure out.
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If you want to learn more about these two phrasal verbs, you can check out my video
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about it up here.
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What about for you?
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Was there ever a time when you needed to learn some nuances?
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Dan: Yes.
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When you travel to a different country, you'll probably find some cultural nuances.
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So, something in their culture is just a little bit different, and you don't notice it right
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away.
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When we lived in South Korea, there were a lot of cultural nuances.
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They wouldn't speak as directly to you.
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They would be a little more subtle.
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They would say things indirectly, and you had to figure out exactly what it meant.
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Vanessa: Yeah, so it was important for us to be sensitive and aware of these cultural
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nuances, so that we could get along with other people and understand each other.
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O, obsolete: No longer used, rare.
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Vanessa teaches me real conversational English, things that are not obsolete, things that
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are really used in real life.
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What's something that's obsolete in your life?
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Dan: Well, I used to have an iPod, and I would listen to that thing every single day, but
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now it's obsolete.
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Apple doesn't even make an iPod anymore.
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They make iPhones.
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So, just a dedicated music player is obsolete.
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Vanessa: Sure.
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I want to let you know that I got this idea to go through the alphabet with English vocabulary
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from Jacob, from EnglishTVLive.com.
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He has a podcast, and on different episodes, he's talking about five vocabulary words for
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each letter of the alphabet.
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So, it's much more intensive than what we're doing today, five words, and he interviewed
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me for the letter, O.
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We talked about obsolete, oblivious, ominous, omit, opportunistic, these five words.
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So, if you'd like to check out Jacob's podcast, and especially the episode that we made together
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about the letter O, check out the link in the description so that you can learn more
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English.
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P, pragmatic: Practical, useful.
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I try to be pragmatic about what I study in English.
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Is it useful?
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Is it important?
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What about you?
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Are you generally a pragmatic spender when it comes to money?
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Dan: Yeah.
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When it comes to money, I think I'm generally pragmatic, but I am less pragmatic than Vanessa.
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She only buys things she needs, but I'll look around, and I'll get the nicer things in life.
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I'll spend a little bit more money, but not too much.
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Vanessa: Sure, I think you appreciate beauty in a way that maybe I don't always appreciate.
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Dan: Sure.
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Vanessa: So, I'm very pragmatic sure, and you're generally pretty pragmatic when it
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comes to spending.
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Dan: I'm pretty pragmatic.
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Vanessa: Q, quench: To satisfy a thirst or desire.
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My desire to learn English is unquenchable.
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I will never be complacent.
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Dan: Yes, and we typically use this word for your thirst, right?
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On a hot summer day, a cold beer will really quench your thirst.
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Vanessa: R, rash: Acting without much thought.
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When my boss told me that I needed to give a presentation in English, I immediately quit
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my job.
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Okay, I admit that was a little rash.
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Dan: Just a little rash, yeah.
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Some people said that we made a rash decision when we got married at 22 years old, which
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is a little bit young in this country, maybe a little bit.
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Yeah, some people thought it was rash, but we knew we were right for each other, and
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we'd been dating five years, so we knew it wasn't rash.
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Vanessa: S, sheer: Complete only.
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It was sheer luck that I found Vanessa's YouTube channel because it has helped my life so much.
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I hope that's true for you.
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Dan: Hey, it was also sheer luck for me to meet Vanessa because I lived eight hours away
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from Vanessa, but we went to the same college, and on the first day we just happened to sit
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next to each other.