Lesson 82

Social Media

Level: Intermediate

Lesson contents:

• New Vocabulary: initially, invasive, kinda, minutiae, to be connected, graduate, and a different meaning of business.
• Phrasal verbs: figure out, come up, go along, smarten up.
• Idiom: go along for the ride.
• Exressions: Have nothing to hide, can't be bothered.

Always watch the video several times without subtitles first. Train your ears! Your pronunciation will be much better if you follow this simple rule.

Problems? See general support or ask your question here.

Do you use social media such as Facebook or Twitter? Why or why not?

Lessons coming soon - this is our top priority.

Same video with Precise Subtitles

Teachers:

We meet both native and non-native speakers of English in this video. Both types of speakers make occasional grammar mistakes when speaking. There are 3 in this clip, which is a large number for a single video. For example, Joanne, # 4, says "There's too many people..."

Simple techniques are used for correcting the subtitles, while showing the mistake which we hear in the clip. We deal with this in interactive, pedagogical detail in the exercises for this video. It is surprising to note that native speakers made 2 of the 3 mistakes.

In my opinion, based simply on the habits of my old friends and a few young people I manage to interact with, this clip seems representative of the general US population at the present time. This situation will probably change quickly, as it is with all things related to social media today, and the web in general.

The last interviewee reflects my own opinion. While I enjoy Facebook, Twitter, and to a lesser extent Instagram and WhatsApp, I have already seen the lives of some young people more or less destroyed by the careless use of social media.