Real British English conversation practice , Getting slim (B1–C1)

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:01]Most learners struggle to understand native speakers because they're listening for textbook English, not real speech. Let's fix that.

[00:00:13]First, you'll hear a real British English conversation that happened in my home. Then, I'll explain the natural phrases and connected speech that we used. Finally, you'll take part in that conversation yourself so you can start sounding British.

[00:00:36]Hi, I'm Steve. Let's do this.

[00:00:53]Just look at the state of me. I'm enormous.

[00:00:56]>> You look fine to me.

[00:00:59]>> Oh, you're a fine one to talk. Look at you sitting there with a biscuit.

[00:01:04]>> Hang on. You saying I'm fat?

[00:01:08]>> You could do with losing a few pounds.

[00:01:10]Yes.

[00:01:11]>> Fair enough. You do have a point, >> right? We both need to do something about it.

[00:01:19]>> What have you got in mind?

[00:01:21]>> Well, for a start, no more bickies.

[00:01:25]I can live with that.

[00:01:27]>> And we need to start getting some exercise.

[00:01:31]>> I agree, but we've tried that before.

[00:01:34]Remember the gym? We forked out a fortune and went twice >> and that was that. What about if we started going to the swimming bats?

[00:01:46]>> That's not a bad idea.

[00:01:48]There's that new leisure center in town, isn't there?

[00:01:52]>> There is. I've heard it's the business, >> but if we're going to go, it needs to be part of our regular routine. Otherwise, it'll just be the gym all over again.

[00:02:06]>> Good idea.

[00:02:08]>> Yes, we could make a point of going every Thursday after work.

[00:02:13]>> I was thinking more like Saturday or Sunday.

[00:02:17]>> Bad idea. It'll be chock a block at the weekend. You won't get near the pool.

[00:02:24]So, why Thursday?

[00:02:26]>> Well, there's nothing on the telly.

[00:02:28]It'll get us out of the house. Two birds, one stone.

[00:02:32]>> Go on then. Thursday it is. Have you got a cozy?

[00:02:37]>> I've got my holiday trunks.

[00:02:40]>> What? The ones with the palm trees on?

[00:02:43]>> Yes. They're quite snazzy. I think >> they're absolutely hideous is what they are. You need new ones.

[00:02:52]You're probably right. Do you fancy going shopping, picking up a new pair?

[00:02:58]>> Yes, why not?

[00:03:00]>> Right.

[00:03:04]I'll just finish this first.

[00:03:07]>> I thought you were giving those up.

[00:03:10]>> I am, just not this one.

[00:03:15]Now, before we get into the vocabulary, I want to tell you about something I think could genuinely help you. One thing I hear from learners all the time is that they've got nobody to actually practice speaking with. You can watch videos, study grammar, learn vocabulary, but at some point you need to have a real conversation with a real person.

[00:03:41]That's where an online language learning platform called Ialkie can help. Italki gives you personalized one-to-one lessons with nativeeaking teachers.

[00:03:54]You're not in a class with lots of other students. It's just you and the teacher, which means you get realtime feedback as you're speaking, which makes it much easier to improve your listening and speaking skills quickly.

[00:04:10]You can also choose teachers from all over the world teaching in over 150 languages. So, you're exposed to different accents and different ways of using English or any other languages.

[00:04:26]And it's flexible. There's no subscription. You simply pay per lesson, so it fits around your schedule.

[00:04:34]I booked a short session to see what it's actually like.

[00:04:41]What's the one problem that you find most of your students have when trying to learn English?

[00:04:48]>> I think um one of the main problems is accents.

[00:04:53]>> How do you go about explaining to your students how to deal with that because it is tricky.

[00:05:00]>> So they get a lot of accent listening and then they I will sit there and go through the dialects and the different meanings. That sounds marvelous. You You sound like a wonderful English teacher.

[00:05:12]If I wasn't English, I'd certainly book a lesson with you.

[00:05:15]>> Oh, thanks.

[00:05:17]>> What I liked is that it feels like a proper conversation. You're asking questions, the teacher's responding, and you're getting feedback as you go.

[00:05:28]Now, Ialkie has put together an offer for my viewers. If you want to improve your fluency and have real conversational practice, click the link in the description. Buy $10, get $5 off for your first lesson using the code sound.

[00:05:48]This is only available for the first 50 users.

[00:05:53]Right, let's get back to that conversation and look at some of the words and phrases that you might not have heard before.

[00:06:01]First, you heard Sarah say, >> "Just look at the state of me. I'm enormous."

[00:06:07]>> If you say you're in a state or look at the state of something, it means you look terrible or it's in bad condition.

[00:06:17]Sarah isn't saying she looks a bit untidy. She's saying she looks awful.

[00:06:22]Use it like this.

[00:06:26]>> Look at the state of this kitchen.

[00:06:31]Next, you heard, "Hang on, you saying I'm fat." This means, "Wait a moment or give me a second. I need to think about this." But listen to how it's said in natural speech. Hang on. The G at the end of hang doesn't stay where it is. It moves forward and joins the on. So, hang on becomes hangon.

[00:06:58]Listen again. Hang gone. And at normal speed. Hang on. You try. Hang on.

[00:07:10]You hear this all the time in natural British conversation.

[00:07:14]Next. You heard, >> "Well, for a start, no more bickies."

[00:07:20]>> Bickies is an informal word for biscuits. You hear it being used mostly in casual conversations at home, especially with children around, but adults like me use it, too.

[00:07:35]You make tea and I'll get the bigies.

[00:07:42]>> The conversation continued with, "I can live with that."

[00:07:48]This is a natural way of saying I accept that or that's fine by me. It's not enthusiastic.

[00:07:56]It just means you're okay with something even if it's not exactly what you wanted to say this naturally. Because there are two th sounds, one at the end of with and one at the start of that. You don't need to pronounce the first one. So slowly it sounds like this. with that and a normal speed with that. You try with that.

[00:08:26]Use it like this.

[00:08:29]We'll have to leave at 7.

[00:08:32]>> I can live with that.

[00:08:36]>> Back to the conversation. We forked out a fortune and went twice.

[00:08:42]To fork out means to spend money on something, usually more than you wanted to. There's always a sense that you're not really happy about it. Like this, we forked out £200 for these concert tickets.

[00:09:03]>> You heard.

[00:09:05]And that was that. This is a very natural British way of closing a story or ending a point. It means nothing more happened and it was over. Short, final, no argument. Use it like this.

[00:09:22]>> He said bye and left. That was that.

[00:09:30]>> You heard?

[00:09:32]>> I've heard it's the business. If something is the business, it's excellent, the best, better than anything you could ever find. It's very informal and very British. This YouTube channel is the business. And if you press that subscribe button, you'll be the business.

[00:09:55]Listen carefully to the next part of the conversation.

[00:10:00]But if we're going to go, it needs to be part of our regular routine. In natural fast speech, native speakers almost never say going to clearly like that.

[00:10:13]The O in it disappears and becomes a small short sound we call the schwah, the little h sound. So going to becomes going to. Listen again. Going to.

[00:10:28]We're going to go. You try. We're going to go.

[00:10:43]Using the schwah sound is one of the quickest ways that you can sound British.

[00:10:48]Next you heard there'll be choa block at the weekend.

[00:10:53]If somewhere is choa block, it's completely packed with people. No room, no space like this.

[00:11:02]>> The city was chucka block today.

[00:11:09]>> Then I said, "Well, there's nothing on the telly. It'll get us out of the house. Two birds, one stone." You might know this as the saying, "Kill two birds with one stone." Meaning you solve two problems with one action. In natural conversation, we often drop the kill and just say, "Two birds, one stone."

[00:11:33]Everyone will know exactly what you mean. In the conversation, you had swimming costumes, what you wear when you're swimming, referred to in a couple of different ways.

[00:11:46]>> Have you got a cozy?

[00:11:48]>> I've got my holiday trunks.

[00:11:51]Cozy is short for swimming costume.

[00:11:54]Trunks or swimming trunks are the shorts that men wear in the pool.

[00:12:01]When you go to the swimming pool in England, you'll hear both all the time.

[00:12:06]Speaking of trunks, you heard?

[00:12:09]Yes, they're quite snazzy. I think if something is snazzy, it's smart, stylish, bit flashy. It's always used with a slightly playful tone. You're not saying something is beautiful. You're saying it's eye-catching in a fun sort of way like this.

[00:12:32]>> That lady's jacket is snazzy.

[00:12:38]Now, let's practice saying some of those key expressions out loud using the great shadowing method so you can sound British using the rhythm of natural English before you join in with the conversation yourself.

[00:12:56]You look fine to me.

[00:13:03]You look fine to me.

[00:13:10]What have you got in mind?

[00:13:16]What have you got in mind?

[00:13:22]I can live with that.

[00:13:27]I can live with that.

[00:13:32]And that was that.

[00:13:36]And that was that.

[00:13:42]So why Thursday? Be careful with the pitch on this. So why goes up and Thursday comes down. So why Thursday?

[00:14:00]So why Thursday?

[00:14:07]They're absolutely hideous.

[00:14:13]They're absolutely hideous.

[00:14:20]Do you fancy going shopping?

[00:14:26]Do you fancy going shopping?

[00:14:31]Right, I'll just finish this first.

[00:14:38]Right, I'll just finish this first.

[00:14:45]I thought you were giving those up.

[00:14:51]I thought you were giving those up.

[00:14:59]Now it's your turn. You're going to take Sarah's part in that conversation. Your lines will appear on the screen as you need them. And for the best results, say them out loud.

[00:15:17][music] You look fine to me.

[00:15:37]Hang on. Are you saying I'm fat?

[00:15:45]Fair enough. You do have a point.

[00:15:53]What have you got in mind?

[00:16:01]I can live with that.

[00:16:07]I agree. But we've tried that before.

[00:16:10]Remember the gym?

[00:16:13]We forked out a fortune and went twice.

[00:16:24]That's not a bad idea.

[00:16:27]There's that new leisure center in town, isn't there?

[00:16:36]But if we're going to go, it needs to be part of our regular routine. Otherwise, it'll just be the gym all over again.

[00:16:48]Yes, we could make a point of going every Thursday after work.

[00:16:58]Bad idea. It'll be chock a block at the weekend. You won't get near the pool.

[00:17:07]Well, there's nothing on the telly.

[00:17:09]It'll get us out of the house. Two beds, one stone.

[00:17:19]I've got my holiday trunks.

[00:17:26]Yes, they're quite snazzy. I think you're probably right. Do you fancy going shopping, picking up a new pair?

[00:17:45]Right.

[00:17:49]I'll just finish this first.

[00:17:55]I am, just not this one.

[00:18:01]See how much your English has improved by watching this video. Give it a click and I'll see you there. Take care.