Basic English Lesson: How to Talk about Yourself

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• published: 09 Apr 2016
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So you want to meet other students and start practicing your English? You are going to need to learn how to talk about yourself. In this lesson, you will learn easy English sentences that will let you talk about yourself confidently. I will teach you how to make basic sentences in the first person. "I am", "I like", "I don't like", and "My name is" are some examples of how to begin a sentence when describing yourself to someone you have just met. I'll teach you what to say and how to say it. Watch this lesson, and then practice these basic sentences to perfect your beginner conversation skills. QUIZ: http://www.engvid.com/basic-english-lesson-how-to-talk-about-yourself/ TRANSCRIPT Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this beginner lesson on how to talk about yourself. So, like I mentioned, this is a great lesson for beginner students who want to build their confidence in English, and you can do this by learning some of the most common sentences you make when discussing yourself to other people. So, this includes things like giving a greeting, mentioning your name, your age, your nationality, your origin, your profession, your location or where you live, your likes, and your dislikes. So, in this video, I will talk about myself; and in the second part of the video, I am going to introduce one of my special friends, and talk about them. So, to begin, for a greeting, you can just say: "Hi!", "Hello!", or "Hey!" depending on how formal or informal you want to be. So, after, you know, introducing yourself to someone and saying: "Hi!", "Hello!" they will probably ask what your name is, or you can volunteer your name; give your name. So, I would say: "Hey! I'm Alex." Just like I do at the beginning of all of my videos. Or I can say: "My name is Alex." And this is another way to, obviously, mention your name; what you are called. Next, I would mention my age. So, I can talk about how old I am. And in English, we say: "I am", and then you list your age. Personally, I am 34 years old. If this is true, not true, I don't know; up to you to decide. In some languages, you say: "I have" plus your age. In English, use the verb "to be". "I am 34 years old.", "He is 26 years old.", "She is 37 years old." Okay? Make sure you use the verb "to be" for your age. Next: "I am Polish-Canadian." This is my nationality. So, you can say: "I am Brazilian.", "I am American.", "I am Columbian.", "I am Croatian." You know, whatever your nationality is. "I was born in Poland." This is my origin, so the place where my Mom gave birth to me. So, you can say: "I was born in", maybe your country or a different country. So, I have a friend who is Portuguese, lives in Canada, but he was born in France. It's weird, but, you know, it can happen. Next, my profession. "I am a teacher." It's very important when you talk about your profession in English to use an article before the profession. So, here, you see: "I am a teacher." Not: "I am teacher.", "I am a teacher.", "I am an engineer.", "He is a professor of psychology." Okay? Always, always, always mention an article with your profession. Next, my location. Where do I live? "I live in Montreal, Quebec." Okay? And you can say: "Hey! I live in Bogotá." Or: "I live in Rio de Janeiro." Or: "I live in Caracas, Venezuela." It's possible, too. Next: "I like reading, photography, and yoga." These are my likes. So, what do you like? You can say: "I like books. I like movies. I like..." I don't know. Painting, maybe. And finally: "I don't like high places." You can also say "heights". So, in general, I don't like heights. I feel very nervous when I go to Toronto, Ontario and I go to the top of the CN Tower, and look down. They have a glass floor. I can't step on the glass floor for very long, because I feel very nervous, very anxious. I don't like high places. Now, if you think that this is something that is easy, that's okay. Even if you're an intermediate or advanced student, using sentences like these can still help you to build your confidence and to improve your pronunciation. Specifically, when you say these things, you're supposed to be focusing on making them fluent and quick. So, now, I'm going to ask you some questions, and I want you to answer-okay?-with your own personal information. For example, I will ask: What's your name? And you will say: "My name is", hmm. You're talking to your computer screen, you're talking to me. Look around. Is anyone watching you? Are you in a computer lab? Are you at home? Are you on the bus? If you're on the bus, maybe don't do this exercise, but if you're in a safe place where people will not look at your... At you weird, come, do this exercise with me. So, let me ask you and you answer clearly, quickly, confidently. What's your name? How old are you? What's your nationality? Where are you from? What do you do? Where do you live? What do you like? What don't you like?