Kevin Warsh spoke — what did we learn? With Torsten Slok

Hi. Welcome to the three English experts. I'm Dave. I'm Rebecca. And I am Birgit. And welcome to this episode. Three English experts is your English podcast to help you speak better English and create a positive and happy mindset for your English learning journey. Hi everyone. Welcome back to this episode. Today we're talking about characteristics. So we're going to talk about some adjectives, some words to describe people. We've tried to choose some words that maybe not everybody thinks of straight away, slightly more advanced vocabulary that we know. We all know some of our clients struggle with. It's always good to have these words. For example, if you have to describe your team, maybe your manager and you have to do appraisals, you have to review the performance of your team and how people work. So they are quite useful with that. I'm going to hand over to Dave and he's going to go through a few tricky ones or ones that you might not always think of. Yes, hello everyone. Thank you, Rebecca. These are some of the phrases I've known to down. I often have to put in my chat for my participants in my groups. So the first one is actually a nice one down to earth. If somebody is down to earth, that they are very sort of nice people. The opposite for this one would be maybe arrogant. So a person who is realistic and not arrogant is down to earth. In actual fact, if you wanted to translate it into German, it's quite easy because it's one of those you kind of can translate. Correct me if I'm wrong, Birgit, it would be broad and stendig, right? Yes, yeah. Hello everybody. Yeah, very good. Thank you. I've got one right. Excellent. The next one is easy going. So somebody who is easy going, we can also say it's quite relaxed and a better version of easy going, the even more easy going than easy going is what we call laid back. So often they talk about the Australians as being a very laid back people because they're so relaxed and chilled. Another word that often I write in the chat is the word approachable, which means that you can easily go up to somebody, talk to them, ask them questions about something. So as particularly here, it might be something you could talk about your boss, your manager, that your boss or manager is very approachable, meaning you could go up and talk to them. And you don't feel that this person would be arrogance, but is down to earth and easy to talk to. Another one would be likable. I think that word speaks for itself, but often people don't always think about the word likable could be the word that they need in this context, of course. So somebody who is likable, you can like them easily, very, very simple. Next one would be reliable. So if somebody is reliable, they do, as they said, they would do. So if they say something that they will do for you, for example, to help you out, and you know that you can then count on them, you can rely on them. So that's where the word reliable comes from, from the word to rely on somebody, the verb, and that person then is reliable. And two more honest, I'm sure you've heard the word before, honestly, or something like, to be honest, but then the person who is being honest is an honest person. Here there is a strange negative form, though. Here we don't say unhonest, inhonest, we actually say dishonest, but Virgato mentioned a little bit more about that later on today. And last but not least, decisive. So somebody who can decide, take decisions, make decisions is considered a very decisive. So somebody, maybe a characterist that you want of your manager, somebody who doesn't think too long about making a decision, but they make the decision relatively quickly, then these people are called decisive. Okay, that's my list. So big it over to you. What do you have for us? Thank you, Dave. And hello, everybody. So there were quite a few words that describe yourself, Dave, I thought. Don't you think? Well, can you think? Decisive is not one of them. Would not have been the one that came first on my head. Likeable? What about likable? Reliable? Easygoing. Easygoing. So like quite a few of them. I'm also speechless. Speechless. That's the word, speechless. I'll pay you later, Virgato. Okay, but that was positive, wasn't it? Absolutely. Thank you. I appreciate that very much. Okay. So the ones I have brought in today are also similar approach like Dave. The ones I need to mention to my clients, they can't think of easily. They don't come to the mind easily to learn sometimes. My first one is faithful. You are a faithful person if you don't cheat on anybody. What is cheating? Maybe that's even a word I need to explain. So if you are having an affair with somebody outside your marriage, you are cheating on your partner. So you would be not faithful. If you're faithful, you don't do that. Toy. Another one, not easy to think of, is resentful. So if somebody says something to you and you can't manage to forget that, you always remember when you see the person, you are a resentful person, not ragged, something. Another one that doesn't need as much explanation as talkative, a talkative person, obviously talking like a parrot, talking a lot. I'm sure everybody knows somebody like that. Hard working also doesn't need a lot of explanation, hard working, that's what companies are looking for, people who are focused and hard working. Dave, you want to say something, yeah? Often it's also interesting to have other words, synonyms for the same word. So here, maybe one that you often see in appraisals, if you're talking about your manager, about how you work. Of course, you want to be known as hard working, and the other word, more formal word that you may hear in this context is diligent. Somebody who works hard is also diligent. It's a bit more formal, but you may hear that in that context. Very good. Thank you. Yes. And the next one on my list would be patient to be able to wait for things. And the opposite, I will talk about later, as David said, is not unpatient, but impatient. I am impatient. If you can't wait a lot, you want everything now and very fast. And the last one, very last one on my list today is modest. Modest people are people who don't ask for much. They don't need much. They can live with very little or un very little money. And I don't think we have many of these around. Modest, everybody seems to be wanting a lot today. It's not only about your money, it's also about you don't need recognition. So it can be like, he's modest. Maybe he's a millionaire, but he's really modest. So he doesn't tell people that he has money, he doesn't drive a flashy car. So despite having millions, he's modest. So it's not only about, yeah, you're right. He lives in a modest way as he doesn't spend a lot of money or material things, but it can also be like an attitude rather than a money aspect. In a way, kind of matches with down to earth, doesn't it? I mean, you could say. Oh, very much. Modest, modest. Not needing a lot of attention. Yeah, that's a good expression. Yeah, description. Yeah, thank you. Over to Rebecca now. She's got something interesting. Yep. So mine are actually false friends. We did have an episode about false friends. A false friend is a word that you think you know because it's very similar to a word in your own language. And they exist in all different languages, not only in English and German. And people often use them because they think, Oh, I know that word. It's the same as the German word. And then actually it isn't. Actually, that's in a typical one. Actual and actually are not the same thing. I didn't plan to do that. But yes, okay. So go back to characters. So brave is my first one. Brave people do know, like brave heart, courageous, but of course, is the German word Prave, which is not the same. Prave is kind of well behaved. He said to your dog, Prave Hund, well behaved, well done, but he's not necessarily brave as in courageous. Yeah. And when we refer to little children, we say, good, he's a good boy or good girl. Exactly. Yeah, good boy. I would say to Polo, my dog, you're a good boy. Good boy. And he knows that. But the opposite is naughty. He's naughty. On the naughty chair. Yeah. And there's another word that's maybe there in that context is for kids, they often call them Rebecca or know this from the north of England. I think it's a noughtening. word rascal rascal rascal rascal rascal rascal rascal I don't want to show you this on television a little rascals oh really yeah that was yeah I don't know yeah anyway probably it's not a little rascal he's a good boy okay he's not very brave actually he's afraid of big dogs when he's a good boy courageous okay the next one is very often mixed up so sensible and sensitive so sensible in German would be sensitive if someone's very empfindlish and maybe emotional I'll get upset quite easily say she's quite sensitive sensitive person sensible would be practical somebody who makes sensible decisions that's a sensible decision not risky someone who doesn't take big risks you say yes she's a sensible child for example I trust her because she's very sensible she wouldn't take risks and do the wrong thing I know from myself it takes quite a long time to get them because you can come back and fall back on this confusion but we have and the ruck stores of course sensitive skin I think that's helpful yeah I always say that as well with people know that they know sensitive skin so that helps that it's not sensible skin you don't have sensible skin that would be a bit strange so you have a you're a sensible person or you make a sensible decision sensitive person or for example like bigger said sensitive skin and my other one doesn't have anything sensible skin or what does that mean I'm having visions of a sensible skin I don't sensible skin it so it doesn't take risk it's it never gets some burnt it's yeah my next one comes back to what Dave was talking about the word likable so it's simpire dish this is the classic German word that always comes up and people don't know how to translate it and they often say sympathetic which is not the same thing so simpire dish it's also in Spanish it's sympathetic or it's the same isn't it it means friendly likable sympathetic is someone who has sympathy so I don't know you've got three kids and you have to leave work early to take care of them and your boss is very sympathetic he says oh don't worry I understand there's like someone who's understanding they understand your situation is sympathetic it's nothing to do with this I mean I cause that makes them likable perhaps but it's a often mixed up translation sympathy of course is also like if someone dies you would send a card saying with sympathy you know mid-lied by-lied so it has other meanings yeah and the last one I'm going to talk about we've talked about this before self conscious and self-confident also often mixed up because of the word provost in German conscious so people think oh self-pervost subconscious but of course self-conscious is a negative thing is that you're afraid you don't want people to look at you you're embarrassed or I feel really self-conscious when I do a presentation everyone's looking at me and I don't like it so it's not a positive thing so if you want to say in the positive version would be self-confident so I feel I'm a very self-confident speaker for example I have a lot of positive energy and I'm not afraid to stand in front of people I'm self-confident so self-conscious self-confident sensible sensitive brave courageous and sympathetic but not sympathetic likable down to earth approachable like Dave said so that's my list super very good very useful phrases but we haven't found word to describe Rebecca maybe well she's shrinking talkative you said that I said I am mad I'm very talkative I talk too much yeah very good easy coming of course and humorous and we haven't had humorous yes I do my best the golden nuggets okay the golden nugget for today is to do with these characteristics descriptions and it's about when we talk about the opposite and often it is just like the translation that comes to your head immediately the un unsensible maybe something sometimes it's un is unfriendly unreliable unhelpful unkind but not always be aware of this there are other prefixes that are important we mentioned some before like in patient so we have in patient it's not unpatient it wouldn't be uncedulated one for one and it can be in like in decisive unensied and I can't decide you can't translate that to undecisive and that's the trap here our golden nugget tip is really to be aware of this take a look at it another one is your irresponsible irrational or irregular something like that be aware of this and take a look and don't think automatically it's got to be like the germ translation that's the tip here and another one they've mentioned earlier about the honest person it can be an honest or a dishonest person another one is a loyal person somebody backing you or a disloyal person and some of these words you might not have even not have heard so yeah that's our tip take a look or we can add a list I don't know whether we will do that and yeah become aware of this. Thank you Birgit next time everyone will have been on holiday and we want to tell our story about the holiday so that's what we're going to have a look at storytelling holidays linked with a bit of grammar the past continuous so a little bit there for everyone a bit of storytelling a bit of holiday vocab but at the same time a bit of grammar or the past continuous so see you in the next one see you then bye bye bye hi and now here comes the information of my new book which i published in july it's available on amazon anywhere in the world so worldwide it's in english the title is speak clear correct confident english master the five core english tenses and speak with confidence it's got 77 pages and on those pages you'll find everything important about the five tenses and yes hopefully this will help you gain confidence quickly and hopefully i can reach out to many listeners out there who cannot understand German because my former books were all written in German so now for the first time i've sent out a published an english book so i'd appreciate it if you take a look it's got a blue cover speak clear correct confident english from me as your target Kazimirski okay thank you so much for pressing late today if you enjoy our podcast please share with your friends your family or your co-workers or you can also support us by giving us a thumbs up for a star rating or a review on whatever podcast platform you are using to listen to us for questions and comments you can also head over to our website threeenglishexperts.com thank you so much for listening we really appreciate your support have a great day and see you next time