AEE 2597: As Long As You Listen Today, You'll Build this Skill in English

This is an All-Ears English Podcast episode 2597. As long as you listen today, you'll build this English skill. Welcome to the All-Ears English Podcast. Downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection. With your American hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York Radio Girl, coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA. To get real-time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All-Ears English app for iOS and Android. Start your seven-day free trial at allyoursenglish.com, board/app. In this third part of our three-part series, get the most complex ways to state that something is conditional based on something else happening. Listen in today to learn more. Who are you in your native language? Confident, funny, opinionated? Now, who are you in English? If you feel smaller, quieter, or less expressive, that's not because you're bad at English. It's because fluency is tied to identity. When you're unsure, you hold back. And when you hold back, people don't see the real you. You don't need perfect grammar. You need clarity about what is holding you back. In just two minutes, you can discover your English level and what's slowing your progress for free. Go to allyoursenglish.com/fluencyscore. That's allyoursenglish.com/fluencyscore. Hey there, Michelle. How's it going today? Hey, everything is good over here, Lindsay. I am so excited for today's episode because we are concluding a series, three part series. And it's going to be really interesting this one. Yeah, it started with my adventure on the Spanish steps in Rome, Italy, right? Always a good place to start an adventure. And what did we do in parts one and two? So what was 2576 all about, Michelle? Yeah, so 2576 was Lindsay's language adventure on the Spanish steps. And it is basically this idea came about from your experience on the Spanish steps where a policeman told you that he said it's not possible, right? Right. To sit down, right? To sit on the steps. Right. And we talked about better ways to-- more natural ways, I'll say, to tell somebody that they can't do with something. Exactly. And then part two of the series was over on business English, right, Michelle, that was business English, 546, how to give permission in English. So this series is all about whether something is possible, how to make it possible. And then today, Michelle, what is part three? What are we getting into for our listeners today? So this is a little bit, I guess, kind of a little bit of a combo. So in this final part, we are going to talk about how to say something can happen. Something is OK to do, but there are conditions, right? Meaning it's not just a simple yes or no. There's something that has to happen in order for something to be OK. This is where we get into higher level English. Oh, yeah. For our listeners. Right. Yeah, B2C1 level. This is where we get into those more complex sentences, which we need on Isles to score seven or higher. So this is going to be so good for our listeners today. Yeah, because it's not always just, yes, you can do this. No, you can't do this, right? There's sometimes there's more information that you need to get across. So we're going to help you do that today. But before we do that, we want to say a huge thank you to our reviewers. Yeah, huge thank you today to Sam from Canada, who left us a beautiful review and said fantastic. Well, thank you, Sam. Somaya Mohamedi. Thank you so much from Finland and Atta Abdel-Lase from Iran on February 8. Huge thank you to these amazing reviewers, guys. These are our dedicated reviewers who took the time to go and leave us a review. So go ahead and do that. And you may get your name announced on the show, right? Michelle, we love to announce the names of the people that take the time to rate and review us. Definitely. Yes, please do so if you haven't already. It really means a lot to us. Yes. So, yes. All right. So again, this is about these conditions, right? So for example, a parent may tell their child, they can go to a party if they've done their homework. Or they can have-- I mean, I feel like this is my whole life is just saying, you can do this when you did this. So you could have dessert if you eat your dinner is what my parents used to say to me. Yeah, you can. Yeah, exactly. Like always just trying to-- that's actually one of the techniques you know I always hear about. Oh, you can say instead of saying, no, you can't do something. Say you can when you do something else, right? There's that, you know, after you get dressed, you can do whatever. So, but this is just a really important skill. Because like we said, it's not always just a simple yes or no. There's this gray area. And we need to be able to express this. So today we're going to go over small phrases that will help you complete saying something maybe allowed, right? We don't know. That's exactly. And, yo, this goes beyond just like making little deals with your kid, right? I mean, right. Oh, yeah. So many of our listeners have kids. I just realized that. So many of our listeners have families. And they are making these little deals every morning to get their kid out of the house and to onto school or day care, right? But this also is used at the workplace for sure. Oh, yeah. And a lot of these expressions are there really a little more formal sounding. So, yeah. So probably-- We're going to give you a lot. Yeah. So we're going to go over these small phrases that will help you. And, you know, actually in our examples, we're going to use some of the ones that we-- some phrases that we taught on the other episode. So look out for that. Make sure you listen to those other episodes. So, right. Let's dive into it. All right. What's the first one, Lindsay? OK, this one, Devley, is forb all. I probably would not-- For the kid. For the family, not for the kids. They'll be like, what? What are you talking about? Yeah. So the phrase is provided that. So you were allowed to use the party room provided that you have it completely cleaned after you're done. This, I could see more in the workplace, Michelle. Right? Oh, yeah, absolutely. Or she's allowed to use my office for work provided that she brings her license to sign in at security. So again, you're imagining somebody, the friend of yours needs to borrow your office. She has some work to do. But you just need to let her know. You can come, but you've got to bring your license, right? Exactly. And then we go into something a little bit more simple, which is if or only if. And then there's the if and only if. The famous if and only if. But we maybe we get to this later. That's a good one. That is true. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. What would be some examples, Michelle? Yeah. So that works on our end only if we get confirmation 48 hours before. Yeah. Or you're welcome to use my car if you have it back before 3 p.m. Maybe something you'd say to a teenager, right? Yes. Yes. Yep. Exactly. So again, these are, you can do these things, but there are conditions. Yes. There are. And this is how life works, right? Usually this is how life works. Subject two is another one. This is one that I see written a lot. Yes. Yes. Sign or something. Right. So feel free to use the kitchen, but it's subject to availability. You have to check the chart. Mm-hmm. So maybe you want to have a lunch meeting at work. And you know, you have to actually sign up to reserve the spot. Yeah. Yeah. It would be another or you can borrow my iPad subject to finishing your project. So I wanted to bring this up because that's how you would use it. But that's, yeah, that one's a little formal. I think I've never said that. I've never said that. Yes. Yes. Exactly. So Liglinzi pointed out, you know, this is a lot written or very formal. Yeah. So I would save it for those situations. Exactly. Okay. And then with approval would be the next one. You can adopt a dog with approval of the adoption agency. Right. Yeah. So did you have to go through a big approval process? We had to. Yeah, we had to submit like a profile because I had never had a dog. My partner had had a dog as a child. So we had to kind of describe our experience with dogs and puppies a little bit and describe like our home situation. But he was, you know, he was part of a litter and they're like, okay, you want him or not? Like, if we're trying to have him for sure. I wanted to mount the door for baby. Well, you're giving him a very good home. Or you're welcome to come to our house with approval from your parents. So maybe, you know, it is a dear kids' friends. And you are, I mean, sometimes parents do talk in a slightly more formal way. Mm-hmm. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, some parents do. They just address their kids. You know what it makes me think of? Maricle on 34th Street. You know how there was that whole thing where they had, well, there was a whole narrative with Santa Claus and they have their whole thing with Santa, but they're very formal the way they talk to their daughter. - It's been so long. - Yeah. If you watched again, that's kind of what we're getting at. - Some pictures. - Ard is more formal. That's just the way they speak to their kids, right? - Yeah. - You can use that printer with supervisor approval. - Okay. - Good. And then we'll do one more. So this is also a little, you know, this is a little more neutral, not formal, not informal, as long as. So feel free to bring your friend to my party as long as she follows the dress code. - Yeah, or you can drive the company cart as long as you fill it up before you come back. - Yeah, as long as. - I'd say that one is the most common for me as long. - Yeah, I totally agree. You're gonna hear this one everywhere. This one rolls off the tongue. I mean, I think if is also of course huge, subject to with approval, those are the more formal ones, maybe written, but as long as you're gonna hear that all the time. - Yeah, this will work for your social life, your family life, your work life. Basically, you're gonna apply this everywhere in your life, right? - Right, right, right, everywhere. - Yeah, which one do you think is best for connection, Michelle? - Excuse me, yes. I do think it's as long as just because, I think that's the most universal one. You can certainly use that at work. You can use it outside of work. So I would say that that's gonna make people feel like the most comfortable, not like you're bossing them around, but sometimes you do need these more, intense expressions. Oh, provided that, I didn't say that one too, yeah. - Ooh, provided that. - Yeah, provided that too. - Yeah, so as long as, I don't know, that's what I think. Any other thoughts about that, Lindsay? - Yeah, I just think the more formal, we get the more distance we are trying to place between us and who we're speaking to. And there might be a time for that at work, or if you're instituting a policy, for example, if you work in HR, we've talked about this before, if you send out an email to your whole company, you do wanna create a little bit of formality, a little distance, right, about that new policy. But when we're sending in front of someone, trying to build a connection, going for the more basic ones, like as long as, or if is really good. - Okay, agree. - Yes, definitely. - All right, let's do a role play. So we're not gonna use all of these, but we're gonna use a nice chunk. So in this role play, I am trying to get you to let me borrow your car. - Oh boy. - All right, what friends? - Okay. - Okay. - Here we go. - It would be so helpful if you would let me use it for the weekend. I mean, you can use it as long as you fill it up after. I can do that. And provided that you pay attention to all the traffic laws, I know how you like to drive. I haven't gotten a ticket in years. And when I get my car back from the shop, you can always use it if you do me this favor. - Okay, okay. Thank you. - I know how you drive, Michelle, you get stopped from going too slow. - Going too slow. - Yeah, exactly. (laughing) I was like, in that too, I'm like, oh yeah. So we used a few of the good ones here, like as long as I said, you can use it as long as you fill it up after. What do we mean, fill it up? Like fill it up with the marshmallows? - Okay, yeah. - No, okay. - That'll be a problem. Yeah, I guess. And then use that and provided that you pay attention to all the traffic laws. Now here, it's kind of in a jockey way, you're kind of, you're taking on a parent, like a parental role. - A little bit. - A little bit. - Yeah, yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah. I know how you like to drive. So you're joking around in a way. - I'm, yeah, I'm joking around and showing ownership of the car, right? That kind of thing. And then you said, I haven't gotten a ticket in years. - Okay. - All right. Well, we're making deals now, Michelle. - Yeah, exactly. And I also wanted to point out that what you said earlier, if and only if, right? - Yeah. - What do we think about that? Any thoughts to how wide we would say that? - That was a little bonus for today. I think that one's just emphatic. I think you might hear that. Used in families, I guess, or I don't know if you're just trying to be a little more dramatic when you're speaking to-- - A little more dramatic. The conditions matter even more. Maybe you had trouble with this in the past. Like you can go to the movies if and only if you actually clean your room this time, right? - Exactly. You're just having more fun. I think you're just being more dramatic, having more fun. The stakes are higher and that's just another option for our listeners for today. - Yeah. - Okay. - Yeah. - Good. - Absolutely. - This series has been a lot of fun, guys. Make sure you go check out the other episodes so that you can get the whole picture of all that we've talked about. But yeah, Lindsay, any other takeaways before we head off the mic? - Well, I just, I'm glad we covered this, you know, things being possible, what's possible, how to give permission, and the conditions today because life is complex, right? Life is full of these complexities. It's not always just, it's okay to sit here or it's not okay to sit here. - Right, it's okay to sit here under what conditions, right? And so that's what we got into. We escalated the complexity in this series for our listeners. So I love that. I love that. - Yeah, excellent. - All right, Lindsay, well, if you're ready, we'll get off the mic. - Let's do it. - If and only if. - If and only if you're ready. I'm ready. All right, Michelle, I'll see you next time. - All right, bye, bye guys. - Bye. (upbeat music) - Thanks for listening to All Ears English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two-minute quiz, go to allhearsenglish.com/fluencyscore. And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time. (upbeat music)