Original subtitles

today we're learning english with ted

talks

one characteristic emerged as a

significant predictor of success

and it wasn't social intelligence it

wasn't good looks

physical health

and it wasn't iq it was grit

grit is passion and perseverance for

very long term goals

grit is having stamina

grit is sticking with your future

day in day out not just for the week

not just for the month

but for years

and working really hard to make that

future a reality

grit is living life like it's a marathon

not a sprint

[Music]

an important part of being a successful

language learner is having the right

mindset and ted talks can help you with

that if you've never heard of ted talks

they are fun interesting and as you saw

in the preview often inspiring speeches

by professionals they are also a great

way of improving your listening skills

and vocabulary

in today's lesson we'll look at three

examples of ted talks that can help

develop your mindset to advance your

english

but before we get started if this is

your first time here welcome

each week we help millions of learners

like you understand fast speaking

english without getting lost without

missing the jokes and without needing

subtitles

so join our community of over 5 million

learners by hitting the subscribe button

and bell down below so you never miss

out on any of our new lessons

[Music]

one of the first and most important

steps to being a successful english

speaker is understanding why you're

learning english in the first place in

this popular ted talk author and

inspirational speaker simon sinek

explains the power of knowing your why

by why i mean what's your purpose what's

your cause what's your belief

why does your organization exist

why do you get out of bed in the morning

and why should anyone care

well as a result the way we think the

way we act the way we communicate is

from the outside in it's obvious we go

from the clearest thing to the fuzziest

thing

let me give you an example i use apple

because they're easy to understand and

everybody gets it

if apple were like everyone else

a marketing message from them might

sound like this

we make great computers

they're beautifully designed simple to

use and user friendly

want to buy one

but it's uninspiring here's how apple

actually communicates

everything we do

we believe

in challenging the status quo we believe

in thinking differently

the way we challenge the status quo is

by making our products beautifully

designed simple to use and user friendly

we just happen to make great computers

want to buy one

totally different right you're ready to

buy a computer from me

[Music]

why does your organization exist

why do you get out of bed in the morning

although simon sinek uses apple as an

example this applies to individuals as

well when we understand why we do

anything our purpose becomes clear and

we can more easily work towards it here

when we talk about what gets you out of

bed in the morning it means what is your

purpose and motivation in life

what motivates you to go to work each

day an expression that sounds similar

but has a totally different meaning is

to wake up on the right or wrong side of

the bed which is used for saying that

someone is in a good or bad mood for

example he seems very grumpy today it

seems he woke up on the wrong side of

the bed so what's something you do every

morning without fail

oh unfortunately i checked my phone same

here yeah what gets you out of bed

my dog noon cute we go from the clearest

thing to the fuzziest thing in this

context when we refer to an idea or

concept as fuzzy we mean that it is

still unclear or undeveloped as you

haven't yet given it enough thought for

example he wants to start his own

business but his business plan is still

a bit fuzzy

which of these pictures also represents

the meaning of fuzzy

the slippers and rabbit are fuzzy

because they are covered with short soft

fur and in english we call this fuzzy

the display screen is fuzzy because the

image is not clear making it difficult

to see

ew oh ew

gross

idiot

stupid little fuzzy yellow creature

oh look at me i'm so cute i'm a little

chick who's disgusting

do you want to be able to watch

absolutely any movie or tv series

without needing subtitles if

understanding the jokes culture and

every word is important to you then our

free three-part masterclass is just what

you need to speak english more naturally

and confidently

simply sign up now by clicking up here

or down in the description below

they're beautifully designed simple to

use and user friendly this is a word

that you might hear related to software

and technology you can use the word

user-friendly to describe something that

is simple or easy for people to use or

learn

my new computer came with windows 7.

windows 7 is much more user-friendly

than windows vista

i don't like that

everything we do

we believe

in challenging the status quo

the word status quo is a latin phrase

that is still used today mostly in

formal or academic situations however

it's perfectly normal to use it in

everyday conversations

we use it to mean the present situation

or the way things usually are lewis said

i'm not allowed to prioritize your work

anymore you think i'm taking orders from

lewis now

consider things status quo yeah well

they aren't

they are as far as you and i are

concerned we just happen to make great

computers

we use the phrase happen to plus verb to

say that something happened by chance or

without preparation for example he

happens to be best friends with his

boss's daughter hi

hi isaac isaac hi

you know we haven't actually met your

dog

yes i suppose i am a dog

but isaac see i i happen to have a

girlfriend oh fry that rachel chick from

the coffee place yeah that's the one we

just happen to make great computers

want to buy one

notice how simon uses connected speech

here instead of asking want to buy one

the words one and two flow into each

other so the t sound at the end of want

and at the beginning of two are silent

so all we hear is wanna together this

sounds like wanna buy one

to buy one

[Music]

the next step is to accept the fact that

mistakes and vulnerability are part of

learning a new language

in this powerful ted talk renee brown

talks about the power of vulnerability

almost simply put the power of embracing

possible mistakes and failure the one

thing that keeps us out of connection is

our fear that we're not worthy of

connection

i

took all of the interviews where i saw

worthiness where i saw people living

that way and just looked at those

what they had in common was a sense of

courage

and so these folks had very simply the

courage to be imperfect

they had the compassion

to be kind to themselves first and then

to others the other thing that they had

in common

they fully embraced vulnerability

they talked about the willingness

to say i love you first

the willingness

to do something where there are no

guarantees

the one thing that keeps us out of

connection is our fear that we're not

worthy of connection the word worthy has

several meanings in this context it

means that someone deserves respect

admiration or support

you must be so proud to have him as your

brother

well truth be told he does bring me a

lot of joy

thank you for telling me this charlie

you're welcome

just promise me you won't embarrass him

by bringing it up oh not a word

i just hope i can be worthy of him

as a suffix at the end of a word it can

also mean suitable or deserving for

example road plus the suffix worthy

makes road worthy which means that

something usually a vehicle is suitable

to be used on the road trust plus the

suffix worthy makes trustworthy which

means that someone can be trusted for

example

he is a very trustworthy employee

what they had in common was a sense of

courage

and so these folks had very simply the

courage to be imperfect

we say that people have something in

common when they share similar interests

or characteristics

he obviously went crazy

obviously lost his mind

well i didn't lose my mind

okay janice and i have a lot in common

we've we've both been divorced we we

both have kids the word folks can be

used in different ways

we use it to refer to people in general

for example folks need to realize that

global warming is a reality we use it to

refer to people of a particular group

that area is very popular amongst rich

folks

folks also refers to your parents

i'm going home over thanksgiving to see

my folks you can say folks if you want

to speak in a friendly way to people you

don't know for example

well folks thanks for watching channel 5

news

they had the compassion

to be kind to themselves first and then

to others compassion is a positive word

that refers to a strong feeling of

sympathy and sadness for the suffering

or bad luck of others and wish to help

them the other thing that they had in

common

they fully embraced vulnerability

in this situation embrace is a synonym

for accepting something

well i think it's great that you're

going on a date you know i mean it

sounds healthy i mean you have needs

embrace your womanhood

however to embrace can also mean to hold

someone tightly with both arms to

express love

liking or sympathy or when greeting or

leaving someone for example the boy

embraced his mother to show his

gratitude they talked about the

willingness

to say i love you first

the noun willingness means that the

person is ready and voluntarily wants to

do something you could also change the

sentence structure slightly by using the

adjective willing

so instead of they talked about the

willingness to say i love you first you

could say they talked about being

willing to say i love you first as they

have the same meaning

thank you all for assembling at such

short notice

and i want to thank you

for your willingness to serve

[Music]

one of the main reasons many learners

study english is that it is a global

language in order to truly become a

global citizen we need to be open to

understanding the world from different

perspectives in this ted talk chimamanda

ngozi adichie explains why this is

important

years later i thought about this when i

left nigeria to go to university in the

united states i was 19.

my american roommate was shocked by me

she asked where i had learned to speak

english so well and was confused when i

said that nigeria happened to have

english as its official language

she asked if she could listen to what

she called my tribal music

i was consequently very disappointed

when i produced my tape of mariah carey

my roommate had a single story of africa

a single story of catastrophe

in this single story there was no

possibility of africans being similar to

her in any way no possibility of

feelings more complex than pity no

possibility of a connection as human

equals

so that is how to create a single story

show a people

as one thing as only one thing over and

over again and that is what they become

[Music]

she asked if she could listen to what

she called my tribal music

here tribal music refers to the music

created by indigenous people of a

particular area who belong to a specific

tribe it is music that is special and

symbolic of the culture

i was consequently very disappointed

when i produced my tape of mariah carey

the word consequently is often used in

writing and means the same as therefore

or as a result of something last year

you bet me that you could steal my medal

of valor and you did consequently i was

forced to do your paperwork for a week

and to say words i thought i'd never

have to say i was consequently very

disappointed when i produced my tape of

mariah carey when she refers to her tape

she means a cassette tape which is a

flat rectangular object used for playing

and recording audio

cassette tapes were popular in the 1980s

and 90s

for dinner music i thought we could

listen to that tape that you made me oh

the mixtape

this is quite humorous because she's

saying that the music that is symbolic

of her culture or tribe is from

international superstar mariah carey

my roommate had a single story of africa

the word single means one so when she

talks about a single story she means

that her roommate only understood one

part of the story or she only had

limited information about africa and

this became how she viewed the entire

continent we use the word catastrophe to

refer to a bad situation or an event

that causes very great trouble or

destruction

show a people

as one thing when we talk about a people

it might sound incorrect but in fact it

refers to a nation a tribe a community

that is regarded as a single unit

so that brings this lesson to an end but

before you go let's do a quick quiz to

see how much you've learned but it's

uninspiring here's how apple actually

communicates

everything we do

we believe

in challenging the status quo we believe

in thinking differently

the way we challenge the status quo is

by making our products beautifully

designed simple to use and user friendly

we just happen to make great computers

want to buy one

totally different right you're ready to

buy a computer from me

what is the opposite of status quo

unusual

regular

atypical

[Music]

they had the compassion

to be kind to themselves first and then

to others the other thing that they had

in common

they fully embraced vulnerability

they talked about the willingness

to say i love you first

the willingness to

do something where there are no

guarantees

which of these pictures shows the verb

embrace

[Music]

[Music]

years later i thought about this when i

left nigeria to go to university in the

united states i was 19.

my american roommate was shocked by me

she asked where i had learned to speak

english so well and was confused when i

said that nigeria happened to have

english as its official language

she asked if she could listen to what

she called my tribal music

i was consequently very disappointed

when i produced my tape of mariah carey

which of these means the same as

consequently

vulnerability

why

therefore

if you enjoyed this lesson then be sure

to check out this one we recently did on

phrasal verbs

hey real lifers so i just got to work

and i was about to start my tasks when i

realized i haven't signed in yet so to

sign in means to insert a username and

password in order to gain access to a

device such as your computer or your

phone

you could also use the word login

so sign in and log in have the same

meaning

now that i've organized my tasks i'm

going to start working on an urgent

project that my boss assigned to me