to SELL

Welcome to season 7 of FYI. This season instead of tackling topics we’ll discover the most common verbs in the English language! Are you SOLD on learning English? Don’t SELL yourself short on this week’s episode of FYI!

Transcript

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welcome to season 7 of FYI this season instead of tackling topics we'll discover the most common verbs in the English language are you sold on learning English don't sell yourself short on this week's episode of FYI welcome to for your info English you got[Music][Applause][Music] it hello hello hello welcome FYI welcome to another exciting edition of FYI folks I hope you are sold on learning English that means I hope you are convinced and that's just one of the many meanings of the verb cell that we're going to look at today I'm sure you're familiar with this word you've probably seen it before in fact I've heard a common mistake a lot of people call commercialis as you say in Spanish it's a false friend because in English a commercial is a TV commercial it's an advertisement on TV and uncial a person who sells things well that would be a Salesman a saleswoman or a salesperson or my favorite one a sales rep which comes from representative so let's start off with playing with the word as we always do we're going to look at many different meanings of the words and I like to think of words as ideas because if you think of a word is like you know black and white on a page there it is that's all there is to it and that's not true words can be played with a perfect example everybody I know knows the word boss he it right okay well how would you say Mand well that would be to boss around and how would you say m bossy if we just add a why so that's what I mean when I when I say play with words get to know the words and when you get to know the words they won't be strangers they won't be unknown people that you have never met think of words as people get to know them get to know them well and make friends with them and that's what we're doing in this in season seven of FYI because for the first six seasons we took a look at a lot of different topics from Walt Disney to weddings to hair and bees and well everything under the sun and I decided for season season 7 we're going to take a look at the most common verbs out there so make sure you listen to them we've already taken a look at get take have and we've got many more verbs to look at and also another um another thing I gave you in the intro of today's show was to sell yourself short which is an idiomatic expression think about it BTO Poco right it means you don't sell yourself well and I think that's such an important thing in life doesn't matter what business you're in doesn't matter what you do for a living I think you know you've got to sell yourself you got to know how to sell yourself okay and and I don't even like it I don't like I'm I teach English I don't like it personally but you know I can't stress The Importance of Being a good salesperson of knowing how to sell yourself it's what you're doing in a job interview it's what you're doing when you met your significant other your wife or your husband you know you were selling yourself you weren't saying oh well I get diarrhea the runs once a month because well I've got stomach problem no you're pointing out the positive things I know did you like my example just making sure you guys are paying attention so don't sell yourself short and folks if you want to learn more idiomatic expressions also we're going to take a look at uh as well as idiomatic Expressions phrasal verbs we're going to take a look at the verb sell in pop culture that's in music and movies and then at the end of the bonus episode I will put you to the test so folks if you want to get that bonus episode all you have to do is go over to patreon.com Alberto Alonso there are over 250 of us we don't say we are 250 it's espan we would say there are more than 250 of us so thank you to my students who are learning with me every day on patreon.com Alberto Alonso you can join for free and if you join for free you just get early access to this podcast and also other posts but obviously the more involved you are well the more you're going to get right so the people in our Interstellar level they get that's our highest level they get a bonus episode every week okay then they get a PDF document that goes with it where they can follow along and they also get they get a video podcast so hello if you're watching this right now because this is recorded live so hello to all of you Interstellar students watching the vodcast but also they get a monthly master class and a weekly review class so that's a lot of classes every month with me and I want to send a shout out right now to all my patrons especially my Interstellar students Garmin lenina Issa bako David Jose Maria and Edgard and if you want to find out more about joining that Community you can go to patreon/ Alberto Alonso as I said you can join for free no strings attached and see what am I doing right now I'm selling right I'm selling an idea I'm selling my community to you right what am I doing every time I sit in front of this microphone okay I'm teaching you English but I'm selling myself so don't underestimate the power of selling yourself and not selling yourself short as we just looked at so let's take a look at this it's an irregular verb sell sold sold and remember guys if you want to make this a listening exercise great sit back relax and enjoy it whatever you're doing but if you want to make this a speaking exercise do it do it I you know I even there are many points in the show where I say to you listen repeat this let's say it so every and any time you can repeat something aloud do it with me all right so every day I sell myself yesterday your turn yesterday I sold myself and lately lately I've sold myself always Contracting right or if we put it in third person lately he's sold himself okay and that's how I want you to practice irregular verbs my students know that very well every day I go to the bank yesterday I went to the bank lately I've gone to the bank so the verb sell means to exchange something for money exchange inter right it can also mean to persuade someone of the value of merits that's selling yourself of something or to offer something for sale okay so those that's I mean that's a a general definition of it let's look at the different uses and let's look at it in context because I think that's the really important part here the first one is basic Commerce Commerce Comercio trade it's another word to say it you probably know it from the World Trade Center right the World Trade Center U the Twin Towers in New York City right well Intero it's a good see a word that was right in front of your face right so it means to give or have hand over to give over or to hand over in right something in exchange for money let's take a look at the example she decided to sell her car because she needed the money she decided to decided to goes together she decided to listen she decided to sell her car say it with me she decided to sell her car because she needed the money right there's a natural pause so ask me the question why did she decide to I can't even say it why did she decide to sell her car why did she why did she goes together why did she decide to decide to not to sell her car that's where gonna comes from going to I'm going to going to going to so that that's that a there that's that same a she decided to she decided to sell her car because she needed the money why did she decide to sell her car well she decided to sell her car because she needed the money all right persuasion this is a good phrasal verb I like to teach I like to teach teach them together to talk somebody into something is to convince them to do something to talk some somebody out of something is to convince them not to do it patrons take a you know make notes those PDF documents obviously have examples but uh as you know in every episode we'll highlight other Expressions we'll look at a lot of other things as well so take notes as well as saying these different expressions and structures allowed so persuasion persuasion you make sense right persuad I think you say we say to persuade so to persuade someone of the merits or value of something he managed to no again it's not two he managed to he managed to sell his idea to the board his I don't I'm not saying that so he managed to sell his idea to the board the board is like a committee right the the the the big fish loses gordos and they approved the project I want to hear that V they approved V it's got to vibrate in English right this is a very delicious Berry this is a very delicious Berry V you can hear it if you put your ear against the speaker or wherever you're listening you'll feel the vibration approved approved so ask me that question the answer is he managed to sell his idea to the board B did he did he we've looked at that a million times here it's not did he it's Diddy like the the rapper P Diddy did he manage to sell his idea to the board yeah he managed to sell his idea to the board did you get it[Applause] right and did they approve the project yeah they approved it and there there's two things I want to look at there project the pronunciation of project right and then they approved it what happened to the D there it goes with the it did they approve it yes they approved it and if you that's I want you to pay attention to that stuff that's why I always say repeat what I'm saying aloud because well later you might not remember how I said it so do it do it three or four times they approved it they approved it she approved it approved it is the pronunciation and project no Pro think of ah PR project j j j project project and if you put them together one of the most mispronounced words project manager I've heard people say project manager project manager okay the the next usage is making available this is a great word to teach that V and that b making available say it with me Ava available available making available for purchase and that's another word I've heard mispronounced a lot it's not purchase I know Chase isid right from the Paw Patrol it's a great name but when it's part of a word here like it is in purchase think of p as peer and the the other one is chis purchase okay and is called the purchasing department it's usually used when you're buying something big we're going to purchase a house it's a regular verb and it ends with the t- sound they purchased they purchased a house okay and so to make available for purchase to offer goods or services for sale okay goods and services that's what most companies offer and this store sells organic products that's our example this store notice what I did this the s from this and the s from store go together this store not it's not this a store it's this store sells organic products no products products say it with me this store the Bruce Springsteen Bruce Bruce Springstein and this store right this store this store sells organic products ask me go ahead turn it into a question does this store sell organic products does this store sell organic products all right the next one's a phrasal verb but we'll take a look at more phrasal verbs in the bonus episode but to sell out I'm sure you've probably heard it you might have even seen the sign now to sell out means literally that there's none left right uh you've seen it sold out because remember it comes from the adjective so if they sell out then the tickets are sold out a but the verb is to sell out and we also use it as a noun the perfect example as a lot of people say I I'll use it with a example so you can hear it in all its different um in all its different things such as a noun a verb so some people have accused Metallica of selling out they said when they cut their hair they became sellouts I don't think they sold out so see I've just used it in all its three incarnations talking about a group talking about a real situation which I think is important too if you person personalize things if you can think of an example then it makes sense when you're saying it so to sell out literally to not have any tickets left right to not have any uh to run out of but also to betray your principles to betray no betay to betray your principles for personal gain okay and that's what they said Metallica sold out it's like selling your soul a bit right so let's take a look at the example some people believe he sold out Soul doubt so I just said to sell your soul some people believe he sold out sold out that he sold out when he started working for that company okay ask me do you think do you do you think he sold out oh yeah he's a sellout sustantivo all right the next one is to be sold on something to be sold on something and this means to be convinced of the value of something so let's look at the the example I've given you I'm sold on the idea of going on a vacation to the mountains I'm sold on it it means I'm convinced it means you talked me into it I can te teach you a funny way of saying when somebody offers you something and you you you think okay sure this is this is great how could I say no and an expression we use in English is um okay if you twist my arm right if you see my four thus if you twist my arm so if you're sold on it you're convinced right the person who uh is trying to convince you the person who is trying to talk you into it that person drives a hard bargain and I wanted to teach this expression here to drive a hard bargain I'm sure we've looked at it and if we haven't it's a great expression to know it means that this person is a really good negotiator so Alberto I know I asked you three times and you said no I'm going to ask you one more time please please please come with me to the party please please come on I I'll be your all right I'm not really sold on it to use this but since you drive a hard bargain super I'll go with you but that party is full of sellouts Bend bidos so a lot of times we use this as I say allowed in the negative I'm not really sold on the idea right right he said he wasn't sold on it how would you ask me in a question is are you sold on it what about are you sold on going on vacation so if you notice we use the gerand so that's a this is another reason why it's good to have the PDF documents because if you have the PDF documents then you're going to have the examples in front of you but then as I always say come up with your own examples you know the perfect one I use to to teach this and you should do this right now if you haven't done this uh a lot of people a lot of my students say I am very good in this and how would we say that Domino loo I'm good at right to be good at not good in good at now for house I'm not I'm not saying good space at I'm saying good at good at so how do you practice this well first write it down make a list things that you do well and things you don't do well and then practice them aloud right and you can practice it with a question too so here we go this is how I recommend you practice this so so it comes out perfectly CU once you've said something a hundred times you can't say it wrong you know how to say it so uh here I'll I'll I'll I'll play both sides of the conversation and guys feel free to do this people who talk to themselves are not crazy they're either uh thinking aloud or they're learning another language right so Alberto are you good at snowboarding well not anymore I used to be good at snowboarding good at good at good at but almost good at are you good at teaching well my students say I'm good at teaching good at good at okay good at um Alberto are you good at singing I don't think I'm very good at singing so I'm good at versus I'm not good at make a list and then say that list aloud and that's also a good exercise to take a look at your strengths your strengths and your weaknesses which we usually talk about and your strengths what should you do with your strengths exploit them and your weaknesses well be aware of them con be aware of them and if you want to if you have time and if you have the inclination and the energy you can work on them so they aren't they may still be your weaknesses but uh at least they won't stop you no not so my Amigos let's take a look at some synonyms now some synonyms this is always great too because this is a chance to look at other verbs other examples of words that you may or may not know and here you've got to come up with your own examples the first one is to Market well if you're marketing something you're selling it right we always talk about marketing I know you use that word in Spanish right you say depart marketing do you remember how to sayas ah we looked at it before did you say purchasing department did you pronounce it correctly did you say purchase nice[Applause] job so to Market to Market the next one is to trade we looked at this one as well the World Trade Center they talk about the Traders right with the the United States uh well New York specifically was a trading post right it was the Dutch had a trading post the commero the interio I think they were trading for Bel if I'm not mistaken so again if we play with the word a person who does it is a Trader right also a trade is a profession teaching is my trade so as I said here we won't just look at synonyms but we'll look at other words with other meanings Hawk I know you know it if you were a skateboarder I used to be good at skateboarding Tony Hawk it's Al right it's a hawk uh a really cool bird but also to Hawk something is to sell it and if you've ever been to Singapore you might know the Hawker centers these are these markets where they're selling everything right and you know those Shades those sunglasses Hawkers look it also reminds me of an idiomatic expression when you got to keep an eye on somebody you say I don't trust him at all you got to watch him like a hawk watch him like a hawk the next one is pedal pedal and this is a homophone for p right on a bike too but to Pedal something it reminds me more of um like Street vendors right what are you pedaling no uh so you know these kind of door-to-door salesmen or these these people who are literally selling things on the streets they are pedlers so pedaling Hawking those I think more of street terms more than marketing or trading trading I think of Wall Street right somebody who is a a stock broker another way of saying a stock broker is a Trader right a Wall Street Trader so uh as always always folks playing with words cuz that word is a very rich word as we've seen the next word is auction I'll never forget this one my first auction 200 250,000 200 sold sold bendido there you go sold to the man in the blue shirt there you go an auction the verb is to auction off we're auctioning off a t-shirt for the Christmas party this year here okay M Anda to auction it's a regular verb it's auctioned and let's take a look at some antonyms for the verb to sell the first antonym we've got is by by now let's pronounce the past tense there I just want to test you here every day I buy stocks Aus every day I buy stocks yesterday I bought did you say B nope bought ought you ought to know that sound because it's caught bought thought fought you need to make that sound a lot in the past tense so yesterday I bought stocks lately lately I've bought stocks the next one purchase let's put it in the past tense uh I'll ask you just to practice CU we looked at the pronunciation did you purchase it it yes I purchased it I purchased right that T at the end goes with it I purchased it yeah yeah hey just telling you how it sounds folks don't shoot the messenger did you purchase it yeah I purchased it purchased it whoa difficult one what about acquire did you acquire it right did you acquire it yeah I acquired it is that's did you acquire it yeah I acquired it I acquired it okay I hope you're practicing aloud and an acquisition we talk about mergers and Acquisitions there's that word acquire right acquisition engl okay the next one obtain he obtained did you obtain it yes I I obtained it Obed I obtained it and a very formal one did you procure it yes I procured it did you say it correctly did you pronounce all these different structures with me well then wonderful job Amigos that's it for today I sure hope you guys will join us in the bonus episode of this week's FYI[Music]