A coffee that is far too sweet. A dinner that takes an hour to cook. These two everyday problems give you clear reasons to use English: to say that there is more of something than you need, and to say that you need to find a solution.
In a week in my life vlog, Sydney Serena tells everyday stories in conversational English. This lesson uses two short passages to move from listening and understanding the situation to recalling a phrase and talking about your own life. Tap the video image to open the listening player, or tap a timestamp on a note to return to that passage.
Understand the situation before reading every word
At 1:06–1:33, Sydney describes Liz’s idea: Sydney’s coffee was too sweet, and Liz had not ordered a drink yet. They added coffee without sweetener and combined the two to balance the taste. Sydney is retelling what happened during their coffee outing.
At 6:54–7:01, Sydney is talking about how much time cooking takes. She wants to find a quicker way to do it and has also made a portion for tomorrow.
On your first listen, just ask: What is the problem, and what does the speaker want to do about it? Understanding the main idea gives you a starting point for listening again to the English phrase. The transcript excerpts come from YouTube, with Vietnamese and Japanese translations by Memi. Timestamps are rounded to seconds, and a caption boundary may fall in the middle of an idea.
Too much: when there is more than you need
In the coffee story, listen for way too much vanilla. Too much means that the amount exceeds what is suitable, while way makes that meaning stronger. The situation tells you that “suitable” means a taste the person drinking it enjoys.
Compare This drink is too sweet with There is too much sugar in this drink. The first sentence describes taste using too + adjective. The second describes an amount using too much + uncountable noun. In other situations, you can use too much salt, too much time or too much noise.
You taste the soup and notice that the cook added more salt than it needs.
There is __________ salt in the soup.
Show the answer and usage
More than is suitable for the situation.
There is too much salt in the soup.
Salt is an uncountable noun, so use too much. To describe the taste instead, you can also say The soup is too salty.
Mix them together: remember the action and the things involved
Listen again at 1:15–1:33 and notice what them refers to. Here, it means the two portions of coffee. If you only save the isolated verb mix, you lose the connection that makes the sentence meaningful.
Keep a note of the problem, the things involved and the action: one coffee is too sweet; there is another coffee without sweetener; the two are combined. Then change the ingredients in a new example to milk and cocoa. You keep the action but change what is being mixed.
The vlog includes hesitations and interruptions. Listen to the lines at 1:15, 1:22 and 1:26 together. You do not need to copy every hesitation to use the main phrase.
The milk and cocoa are in the cup. Ask the other person to combine the two ingredients.
Put the milk and cocoa in a cup, then __________.
Show the answer and usage
Combine the things being discussed.
Put the milk and cocoa in a cup, then mix them together.
Them stands for milk and cocoa. Remembering the things involved helps you understand the whole phrase instead of only recording the isolated verb mix.
Figure out: from a printer example to a real problem
If you have read the guide to remembering vocabulary from YouTube, you have practised figure out when learning to use a printer. At 6:54 in this vlog, the phrase appears as Sydney talks about cooking time.
Both situations involve thinking about how to do something or solve a problem. Sydney has not given a specific solution in this line, so do not assume that she has already found a trick for cooking faster.
To name what you need to find a way to do, use figure out how to + an action. Memi wrote the sentence on the card below to practise that idea. It expresses a problem similar to the one in the video; it is not a direct quote.
Making dinner always takes you a long time. You want to find a way to finish sooner.
I need to __________ how to cook dinner faster.
Show the answer and usage
Find a way to do something or solve a problem by thinking about it.
I need to figure out how to cook dinner faster.
Use the base form figure out after need to. How to cook dinner faster names what you need to find a way to do. This is a new practice sentence, not a direct quote from the vlog.
Save the situation, then talk about your own life
A reusable note can be short: keep the video title, timestamp, situation and one sentence you practise making. For the passage at 6:54, the idea to recall is: “Cooking dinner takes too long. I need to find a way to do it faster.”
Open figure out in Gotcha to check its meaning and examples, then practise there directly. To hear the vlog situation again, use 6:54 in the notes or review. You can also open this lesson on the Video page to listen and practise there.
When the video pauses at the end of a passage, briefly describe the problem and response without looking at the translation. Then replace one detail with something from your life: food that is too salty, two ingredients to combine, or something you need to find a way to do.
The review below brings together all three phrases, practice sentences and situation notes. Try filling in each blank before revealing the answer. If you cannot remember, listen to the original passage, read the explanation and return for another try later.
Review what you learned
Hide the answers and recall each phrase from its situation. Each card keeps its meaning, example and note.
You taste the soup and notice that the cook added more salt than it needs.
There is __________ salt in the soup.
Show the answer and usage
More than is suitable for the situation.
There is too much salt in the soup.
Salt is an uncountable noun, so use too much. To describe the taste instead, you can also say The soup is too salty.
Sydney says her coffee was too sweet because there was too much vanilla in it. The expression describes a specific problem with the drink.
too much + uncountable noun
The milk and cocoa are in the cup. Ask the other person to combine the two ingredients.
Put the milk and cocoa in a cup, then __________.
Show the answer and usage
Combine the things being discussed.
Put the milk and cocoa in a cup, then mix them together.
Them stands for milk and cocoa. Remembering the things involved helps you understand the whole phrase instead of only recording the isolated verb mix.
Them refers to the two portions of coffee. Liz chooses coffee without sweetener so they can combine it with Sydney’s overly sweet drink.
mix + things + together
Making dinner always takes you a long time. You want to find a way to finish sooner.
I need to __________ how to cook dinner faster.
Show the answer and usage
Find a way to do something or solve a problem by thinking about it.
I need to figure out how to cook dinner faster.
Use the base form figure out after need to. How to cook dinner faster names what you need to find a way to do. This is a new practice sentence, not a direct quote from the vlog.
Sydney has just said that cooking dinner took an hour. She needs another approach because she cannot keep spending that much time on it.
need to figure out how to + action
You recalled every phrase. Say a sentence about your own day, then come back later.