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MASTER ENGLISH CONVERSATION 2.0 - Milestones - Phrase Builder
Well, Happy New Year. Welcome to 2016, and welcome to this month’s Phrase Builder lesson. If you’ve been
with us for a while, I hope you’re excited to begin the New Year, and the same goes for you if you’re just
starting with us as well. We have a lot of great things that we’re going to cover this year, uh, and I’m excited
to begin this first lesson set with my mom. So, we’ll actually be, ah, meeting her, uh, if you’re new to the
program, and if you’ve been with us for a while you’ll probably remember her from the previous lesson set,
uh, where we were talking about the legalization of various drugs, that kind of thing. So, this will be a very
different conversation, and with a lot more, uh, kind of casual and conversational vocabulary. My mom is a
very intelligent person, and always has some interesting things to say, but she knows how to keep things
casual and conversational.

So, in this Phrase Builder lesson we’ll be talking about the shorter words and, uh, phrases, as well as longer
expressions from the conversation. And then, in the Fluency Corner lesson, since we’re talking about
milestones and, uh, you know, talking about time, things like that, we’ll talk about time expressions, as well
as cover a lot of great phrasal verbs, and a few other phrases from the conversation. Well, if you’re excited
to begin 2016 on the right foot, this is a great expression, to do something, to start on the right foot, then I
hope you’re ready to begin. Let’s get started.

Our first word for this month is technical. Technical. When you talk about something being technical, this
is like a regular machine that has lots of moving parts, like a watch could be technical, or a, like a, a missile
device could be technical, any kind of machine like that. But, when you’re talking about, uh, something
being complicated, you can also describe that as being technical as well.

So, let’s say someone is asking you a question about how something works. You say, oh, how does, you
know, how can you become president in the United States, or something like that. So, how do you become
president of the United States? Well, it’s a bit technical. There’s a lot of things that you have to do for that, you
know, that kind of thing. So, technical, in that sense, it just means it’s complicated, or there are many moving
pieces, just like a machine. So, you can describe something, again, being a physical machine that’s technical,
or something that has a lot of complicated processes, or a lot of difficult explanations. Technical. Technical.

Next, another great but also kind of advanced word is lobby. Lobby. Now, I’m not talking about the lobby
of the hotel or something like that, the first kind of ground floor, like the lobby of a hotel, or the lobby of
a department store, something like that. This is the verb, to lobby. Now, to lobby for something means to
argue for something and to continue to ask for things like that. Now, usually little kids, you know, they don’t
realize it but they are lobbying for toys and, you know, things like that all the time. Mommy, mommy, please
get me this. I’ll be a good boy or girl if you get me this thing. So, they are lobbying for that thing. Now, this is
the same thing that you see with lobbies, and this is, again, not, not that physical lobby but the lobby of the
kind of people that you see in government.

So, let’s say, like, I’m living in Japan right now and there’s a Japanese lobby that’s in the American
government. So, they’re trying to, you know, try to convince the politicians in America, hey, you should, you
know, do things that are more helpful to Japan. And corporations do the same thing. Hey, you should do
things that are more helpful to the banking sector, or to, you know, some other thing, the technology sector,
or the dairy, like the agriculture sector, that kind of thing. So, to lobby, again, it just means to ask for things

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and to continue to push for something like that. To lobby for something. So, the people who are lobbyists,
these are the actual people that do the lobbying. So, the people in government that are lobbyists. So, if you
say I am a lobby, or I am a, excuse me, a lobbyist, that means I am a person that’s asking the government for
things. To lobby. To lobby for something.

Next, two ‘P’ words that are not really related, but they come up in the conversation around the same time.
The first one is pension, and this just means the government money that you’re getting back after you retire.
So, usually people that are working, they put money into a pension system or a pension scheme, depending
on what you want to call it. I think it’s, uh, more in the British English you’ll, you’ll hear it be called a pension
scheme, and in America it’s a pension system, but it’s the same thing. It just means a pool of money that the
government has that they can collect from people as they work to make sure people save, and then they
give money back to people when they retire.

Now, the system doesn’t always work, and, you know, really, you need to have a lot more people working
than retiring. And now, we’ve got the opposite problem. So, a lot of, uh, corporations and also, uh, the
governments as well around the world are concerned about how they’re going to pay for the pensions of
people. Anyway, uh, just the pronunciation of this word, you’ve probably heard it before, but I thought it
would be a good idea to cover it again. Pension. Pension. Pension.

The other ‘P’ word is perpetuate. Perpetuate. To perpetuate is just a more advanced way of saying that
you keep something going. To continue something. So, we can have, you know, if music is always playing,
we have music perpetually being played. Perpetual. So, to perpetuate, this is the verb, to continue to do
something. So, by making children and your children are making children, and etcetera, etcetera, on down
the line, this is to perpetuate your line. So, your lineage, or the, uh, like, your family, your bloodline, that kind
of thing. So, by having a daughter I am perpetuating my family name. Perpetuate. Perpetuate.

Next, a rather simple word. Quick. Quick. Now, I usually describe my daughter as quick, or I describe
somebody as quick just to mean that they’re smart. And, it’s a more casual and conversational, as well as
native way of expressing this. It’s easy to say that somebody is smart, but when you’re saying that someone
is quick, specifically, you’re saying that they’re intelligent. But what it really means is that they’re very quick
with taking information and using it quickly. Or, if they hear something, they can respond very quickly with
something intelligent. So, if you’re very quick with words, it just means, you know, maybe a friend of yours
says something, and you’re very quick to respond with something else that’s very interesting, or impressive,
or funny, or something like that.

So, you can usually describe people that know a lot of information as very smart, or even brilliant. So, smart
is kind of here and brilliant is, you know, higher up here. These are like famous scientists and philosophers
and thinkers, these are brilliant people up here. But to be quick just means anybody in the average
conversation, or, you know, up to brilliant people as well that are able to think and respond quickly. Quick.
Quick. I like to think my daughter is very quick, but really she just says um and oh and ooh. She doesn’t really
speak very much. I think she’s quick, though. Quick.

Next, startled. Startled. To be startled by something, like this, I’m startled! I hear maybe a, I’m, I’m at home

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alone and I’m watching a scary movie and I hear something like… like a creaking door or something. I’m
slightly scared, and I move quickly. I’m startled by that thing. Or, maybe a deer is walking in the woods, and
it hears something, and it stops moving. It’s startled. To be startled by something. So, it just means you hear
a loud noise, or you notice something, and it, it raises your attention. And, you start to get maybe a little bit
nervous, or a little bit worried about something. You’re starting to pay closer attention to what’s happening
around you. To be startled. Startled.

Next, disconcerting. Disconcerting. Disconcerting. Listen carefully to how this blends. Disconcerting.
Ding. To be having a disconcerting feeling or feeling disconcerted just means that you’re worried about
something, or you’re nervous about something, or you have kind of a weird feeling about something, where
you don’t really know if you feel good or bad about something, but something feels strange to you. But this
is a more, uh, actually a much more advanced way of talking about just feeling, having a weird feeling about
something.

Like, maybe you go on a date with someone, and you meet them, and, you know, they maybe give you
kind of a weird impression, or you’re kind of nervous about that person. You can feel disconcerted, or it can
feel disconcerting. Just to mean that you’re feeling a little bit nervous or maybe something is feeling a little
bit odd. Disconcerting. Disconcerting. It can feel a little bit disconcerting when you’re meeting someone
that maybe has three eyes, and, you know, they’re kind of doing a little bit weird, something like that.
Disconcerting.

Next, another advanced word. Colloquial. Colloquial. Colloquial. Colloquial just means average and ordinary
and every day. And this is, uh, specifically used for language. So, as we teach in these conversation lessons,
sometimes we have more advanced words and sometimes we have more colloquial ones. And a colloquial
one, a colloquial one just means a, an, uh, an informal expression.

So, as an example, you could say, um, maybe to tell someone to leave, you could tell them to buzz off. So,
just like a bee, like mmm. To buzz off. This is a very common phrasal verb, to tell someone to leave. Buzz off.
Buzz off. So, to leave, asking someone please leave, this is the formal English, but to buzz off is the colloquial
expression. It’s just another word for informal. Colloquial. Colloquial.

Our next word, interact. Interact. Interact. As I’m always saying, I always want you to practice your prefixes
and suffixes. These are the pieces of words that appear at the beginning and the end. I like to use the
example of bicycle. It’s a very common one. So, bi meaning two, and cycle meaning wheel. So, a bicycle,
the pronunciation changes a little bit but the spelling is still there. Bicycle means two wheels. So, we have a
machine with two wheels.

Now, when we’re looking at a word like interact, so inter means to come together, or to go inside, or to
connect like that, and act just means to move. So, we’re moving around, so we have interact, something
coming together. So, when you interact with someone, just like I am interacting with you right now.
Even though I am not physically sitting next to you, we can interact by talking, like if this was a Skype
conversation. So, we’re talking that way. We’re interacting. We’re communicating. It just means to work

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together, or to act together. To interact. Interact.

Next, instinct. Instinct. Instinct. When you talk about having an instinct for something, it just means a natural
habit that you have for that thing. So, animals, we talk about, you know, animals having a natural instinct to
do something where maybe they don’t go to school to learn how to do something, but they actually have an
instinct. Uh, like a basic animal that’s not raised by its mother or father, something like that.

So, humans, you know, we don’t have a natural instinct in, you know, to do lots of things, like to get a job
at a bank. Nobody has the natural instinct to do that. That’s a thing we do, a cultural thing that we learn
and we have to teach that to something. But, maybe we have a natural instinct to teach, or we have a
natural instinct to try to speak with each other. So, not everyone can read, but a lot of people can speak.
Pretty much everybody can speak some kind of language. So, we have a natural instinct, a desire to want
to communicate, but, you know, some things like learning how to read, those are things that we have to be
taught. Instinct. Instinct.

And, very quickly, the next word. Slob. Slob. This is a casual and conversational way of saying that someone
is messy. So, my mom was describing my two sisters as slobs because they have messy rooms. Now, this is
kind of a rude thing to say, but, you know, when you’re talking about friends or family it’s okay. Or, when
you’re talking about yourself, you could say, well, I’m kind of a slob. I’m kind of a slob. It just means I’m a, I’m
a messy person. So, I am not a slob. I really like to have a very clean environment. And, as my mom will be
describing in the conversation when you’ll see that. You’ll listen for this word, slob. Slob. And it’s just, again,
talking about someone that feels messy or, you know, their things are disorganized. Slob. Slob.

And, the last word we’ll give you for this short, quick section here, this first part of the Phrase Builder lesson is
not a different word, you probably know this word already, remember. Remember. So, the word is remember.
But, the reason I want to cover this is because you’ll hear it in the conversation, and conversations in
general, as just member. Member. Now, member by itself is an actual word, so member like the member of a
committee, like, you are a member of Master English Conversation. It just means a part of a group. But often,
we’ll take a word like remember and we shorten it to sound more casual and conversational, and actually to
express ourselves more quickly in conversations.

So, when we’re talking about “Hey, member the time we went to…?” Member the time we went to that pizza
store and did something like that. Member? Member? So, again, when you’re listening for this you’ll hear just
member by itself, and you can use this, uh, as, of course, when you’re using it in context, people understand,
uh, when you’re talking about member something or asking someone, hey, member, member to take out
the trash tomorrow. Member to take out the trash tomorrow. You can say remember to take out the trash
tomorrow, but, again, when you’re just being casual and quick, member to take out the trash tomorrow.
Member to take out the trash tomorrow. Member to go to work tomorrow. Member we have a meeting
tomorrow. Member we have a meeting tomorrow. Member. Member.

And now, let’s get into our longer phrases and expressions for this month. The first one is the big attraction.
The big attraction. Now, to attract something means to pull it towards you. And when you talk about a
movie, uh, or a big show like the circus is in town, something like that, that is to attract a whole bunch of
people. So, we call that an attraction. So, the big attraction or the main attraction just means whatever the
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main show of something is. So, a movie theater, you know, many years ago they would have, like, maybe two
or three short movies or something, but then they would have the main attraction. So, that’s the main movie
that people are going to see. But they would put maybe a few movies, uh, before that.

And, the same thing with the circus. So, you would have, you know, a few smaller acts, but the main
attraction is, like, the lion tamer comes out with a whip and, hey, he’s talking to the lions and things like
that. In the conversation, you’ll hear my mom talk about the main attraction of her visit coming to see me is
my daughter. So, you know, my daughter is the main thing she’s coming to see, the main person, the main
attraction, but I am also, you know, fun to meet as well. So, then, when you’re seeing this in the conversation
just remember when she’s talking about, ah, but the main attraction…So, I came here to see you, Drew, she’s
talking, and then she says, but the main attraction is, you know, being able to see my granddaughter. The
main attraction. The main attraction.

Next, in poor health. In poor health. Now, in conversations you’ll often hear people using things where they
don’t want to be direct and harsh about something, especially when someone has a problem or a disability,
or they’re feeling very sick, or something like that. So, if you have a regular sickness like a cold or a flue you
can say, oh, I’m sick, or yes, my father is sick right now. But, if someone has had, you know, a sickness for a
long time or they’re getting older, and they can’t move their body and use their body as well as they used to,
then we would talk about someone being in poor health.

So, in a conversation you would say, “Oh, how is your father?” or if you’re describing your mother or
something like that, they’re getting older, and again, they can’t move around and function as well as they
used to. You can say, ah, my father’s in poor health. In poor health. It’s just a better, kind of nicer and softer
way of describing a problem, but you don’t want to say it in a direct way. Like, oh, like my father’s like really
doing badly and things like that. You would say, ah, he’s in poor health. In poor health.

Next, you can’t win ‘em all. You can’t win ‘em all. Now, this is how you’ll hear the expression used in
conversations, but we’ll go back and say the whole thing more slowly. You can’t win them all. You can’t win
them all. This is one of those fantastic phrases of this whole lesson set. This is one of those phrases you
should really remember, really master. Of course, I want you to remember all of them and to use all of them,
but this one in particular is something that will come up often in conversations, so you’ll get to use it a lot.
You can’t win them all just means that nobody wins all the time.

So, right now, uh, in American professional basketball, or American professional basketball, we have a team
called the Golden State Warriors. And, maybe this, uh, actually, it depends when this video comes out,
maybe, uh, they have lost a game, but they have won like 20, 22 straight games in a row. So, 22 straight
games, and, you know, people are watching them, and this has like never happened before in basketball
where a team has started and gone that many games. Now, actually, I think the Los Angeles Lakers have a
record of maybe 33 games, something like that, or 33 continuous or consecutive wins, but the Golden State
Warriors are doing something that no team has done before where they’re starting the season without
having lost a game. So, maybe they will win, you know, every game, maybe they won’t, but it wouldn’t be
surprising if they lost a game because you can’t win ‘em all. You can’t win ‘em all.

So, to win something you can have a physical game like the basketball example, or you can have an
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argument where maybe you have, like, a really smart person that says a lot of smart things, but then one
time they say something stupid. So, that’s kinda like me. I say, you know, a few smart things, and then
sometimes I say something that’s really stupid. Hey, you can’t win ‘em all. You can’t always say something
intelligent. You can’t always win the basketball game. You can’t always win every court case if you’re a lawyer,
that kind of thing. So, you can’t win ‘em all.

So, uh, another example would maybe I, I wanted to have, uh, like, a daughter that was, you know, had, like,
blonde hair and, uh, purple eyes and, you know, green something, whatever. So, I’ve got maybe like five
things out of six. So, I wanted her to have, like, this, this, this and this, but, you know, she didn’t have this one.
Well, you know, I’m pretty happy. She got these things over here. But, you can’t win ‘em all. You can’t win ‘em
all. Remember that when you’re saying this as one expression you should remember it as one expression.
That way, you can blend the sounds of your words together. You can’t win ‘em all. So, instead of them you
say ‘em. You can’t win ‘em all. You can’t win ‘em all. And you can use this just as an expression by itself, so any
time you’re in a situation where maybe a whole bunch of good things happen but one not so good thing
happens. You can’t win ‘em all. You can’t win ‘em all.

Next, you’ll hear me talking about molding a personality. To mold a personality. Now, when we have a
newborn baby, they’re, you know, each baby has its own personality. But, you know, hopefully you can, as a
teacher or parent you can kind of shape them. And, you know, maybe you won’t be able to physically shape
them so much, but you can mentally shape how they behave by treating them well or treating them badly,
or teaching them certain things, or teaching them certain rules or principles, that kind of thing. And just
like you take, uh, clay and you squish it together and move it to form different shapes, you can also mold
someone’s personality. Or, mold a person in whatever image you want to make. So, just like a sculpture made
out of clay, you can mold someone’s personality, personality. To mold someone’s personality.

Next, you’ll hear, to take the excitement out of something, or to take the fun out of something, or to take the
danger out of something. This is a really great phrase where you can combine lots of different, or, I guess,
insert lots of different words, depending on what mood you’re talking about. In the conversation, you’ll hear
my mom talking about years ago when people didn’t know the sex of the baby before it was born. So, you
didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl, or, you know, how the baby looked, that kind of thing.

So, now you can take an ultrasound, or a sonogram, or, you know, things where you can see a picture of the
baby, and you can even tell whether it’s a boy or a girl. So, I wanted to know, my wife wanted to know if it
was a boy or a girl. You know, we just like to be prepared, uh, and know what’s happening. So, you know, we
kind of took the excitement out of, you know, the baby being born, and, like, oh, so, you know, now we have
a boy or a girl, and you know it like right when the baby is born. So, we took the excitement, or we took the,
you know, the fun out of knowing if it’s a boy or a girl, kind of thing.

Now, you can use this in many different situations. An example may be like you’re having a party or
something like that, or you’re playing a game, and, you know, somebody tries to make it much easier by,
like, telling you the rules or telling you the secret to something before you actually do it. And that takes
the challenge out of something. Or, it takes the fun out of doing something. So, any of these things, like, if
you’re, you know, if I’m fighting, like, a lion but the lion can’t actually move, I’m taking the danger out of the
situation. I’m taking the danger out of the situation.
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Next, another great, more advanced and educated way of saying, what’s your opinion, or what do you think,
you can say in your estimation. To estimate just means to kind of guess at something. Maybe you have a
whole bunch of money in your hand, and you don’t know exactly how much you have, so I can say, well, I
estimate having about $50 in, you know, coins in my hands, something like that. So, I don’t know for sure,
but I’m estimating. So, in your estimation, what do you think of something like that? It just means what’s
your opinion of that thing, what do you think about it, but a bit more elegant and educational or educated
way of saying that. What’s your estimation? Or, in your estimation what do you think about something.
So, we could rate, you know, like a sports player, or we could talk about how, like, companies are doing,
something like that. We don’t know for sure, but in your estimation, what do you think about something.
What do you think about this company versus that company? In your estimation.

Next, to say something struck you. When something strikes you, so struck is the past tense, when something
strikes you, just like if you’re sitting here and something physically hits you like that, it struck me. This
just means that you got an idea. Either, you know, a sudden flash of insight where you’re thinking about
something, ah, it struck me that, something, something. So, it struck me the other day that, you know, I really
need to study more, and I need to work harder, and something else like that.

So, whatever the thing is, whatever the idea is, you can say, kind of the textbook version would be I had an
idea that…something. Or, I had an idea about something. Or, you can say in a more native and casual…
excuse me, I’m, I’m fumbling with my words a lot today. I don’t know what that is. Maybe it’s early over here.
But, uh, again, you can talk about having something striking you, and you can say it struck me today, or it
struck me the other day, so a previous day. It struck me the other day that I need to start learning how to
cook. It struck me. It struck me. It struck me.

Next, to be convinced. To be convinced about something. When you can say I believe something, this is
great but still kind of textbook version of I’m convinced or I’m not convinced. So, if someone says, you know,
this is a good idea, we should try this. Maybe you’re at a company meeting and one person says, “Hey, I have
a great idea. We should start selling, you know, hotdogs at the company picnic,” or something like that. And
the other person says, “Well, I’m not convinced.” So, it just means I, I don’t think that’s such a great idea. I’m
not convinced about that idea or the idea is not convincing to me. So, again, we’re, we’re, they’re basically
different levels of the language, but they’re all saying basically the same thing. So, I don’t believe something,
or I don’t think it’s a good idea, or I’m not convinced. I’m not convinced. So, depending on the situation
you’re in, you know, like if someone says, “Oh, like do you think this is a good idea?” you can say, “Oh, I’m not
convinced.” Or, you can just say, “Eh, I don’t really think it’s a good idea.” Or “It’s not convincing to me.” I’m not
convinced. Or, I am convinced it’s a good idea. I am convinced. I am convinced.

And, the last of the words and expressions for this month is to chitchat. To chitchat. Listen carefully to how
this blends. Chitchat. Chitchat. Chitchat. So, I don’t say chitchat, I say chitchat. Chitchat. Chitchat. To chitchat
just means to have an informal conversation. How’s the weather? How’s your family? Oh, I saw some local
news, it was very interesting, something like that. You’re not really talking about anything important. And,
maybe, like, while you’re at work and you’re working on a project, and you’re talking to your friend, oh, like I
saw you bought a new car or something. You’re just chitchatting about something. It’s just informal talk. To
chitchat.

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Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this lesson. There are lots of things where you can go back and review, so review,
review, review, review. So, that way when you get into the conversation, when you see that in the Master
Class video lesson, you’ll see all of these things appear, and it will seem, oh, you understand all of these
things because you’re prepared to hear them. I hope you’ve enjoyed the lesson, and I look forward to seeing
you in the Fluency Corner lesson coming up next. Bye bye.

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