Monday Mailbag (Listener Questions)

You are listening to the 22nd episode of season two of English with Dane. Hit it. Thank you, Michelle, for the question. I'm good. Next question. No, just kidding. At first, I thought I wasn't going to include this question because it's a bit open-ended, but then I reconsidered because we're going through some strange times at the moment, some unprecedented times. And this question is actually more important than we realize, I think.

It's important to check up on people, good phrasal verb there, to check up, and see how they're doing. With all this social distancing going on, I think it's important to remember that it's really physical distancing that we should be practicing and not social distancing, right? We can still talk to people, check in and see how they are, and at the same time evaluate how we're doing too. Call that friend or family member you're thinking of and have a quick chat.

To answer Michelle's question more thoroughly or more in-depth, I've actually been really good. I've been staying busy, I've been eating well, exercising, and staying creative. I think that last point, right, the staying creative, is really important. So I'm going to talk a little bit more about it. I think creativity plays a very important role in our lives in general. But now that we are confined to our homes, it's more important than ever before.

Doing something creative, whether it's drawing, writing, making music, trying new recipes, or whatever you like to do is a very effective tool not only to distract ourselves, but to keep ourselves motivated and hungry. I don't mean hungry as in, oh, I need food, but hungry in terms of motivation.

It's important to have personal projects that you can work on throughout a lo largo de your day, week, month, etc., not just because it prevents boredom, aburrimiento, but because it helps us think in different ways. I read a quote about creativity that I think is great. It said, the creative adult is the child who survived. I think this explains what I mean in a better way.

I don't know about you, but I find myself thinking that children are very lucky because they live in their own world and they aren't worried about a lot of the stuff that worries adults. Children know how to ignore the outside world and focus on theirs in a way that I think we lose as we get older.

We all know children have incredible imaginations and they think super differently, and we just kind of say, ah, kids, they're so innocent, so unique, they live in their own worlds, such great imaginations, etc. But what happens as we get older? I think we close off, noseramos, and we become more restrained. It's almost like the world has affected us in a way that doesn't let us see things like we did when we were younger.

I think doing creative things helps us to access that part of our brains, that part of our personalities again. Creative things help us reconnect with who we used to be. So yeah, do something creative. Even if you think it's terrible, even if you think you aren't creative or whatever you are telling yourself, just go. All right, next question. This one says, plan for studying English during quarantine.

I think the first thing we have to take into account, tomar en cuenta, is what is actually different now that we're quarantined? Well, we can't go to class. Okay. Is that it? Because it kind of feels like that's it. Now, I know it's not that simple. I know a lot of people's lives have changed drastically. And they have kids at home all day, maybe they lost their jobs, health problems, of course. In that regard, things are very different.

But I mean in terms of learning English, what has really changed for you? If you didn't go to class before, then nothing has really changed. If you didn't try to speak English with people before, what has really changed now? I think it's important to understand that learning a second language or a third language and practicing it really has to do, Tienikabit, more with your state of mind, right? Your motivation, your effort, etc. How badly do you want to learn English?

There are free podcasts, free online courses. I'm sure you have Netflix or HBO or Amazon Prime. So that means there are TV shows, movies, etc., waiting to be watched. There are free books online, there are grammar guides, blogs, etc. All of those resources you had available before are still there. So I don't think learning English at home really changes much. What needs to change is your attitude in a way. Now is the time to practice. Now is the time to learn, right?

Expose yourself to the language as much as possible, and there's no way you don't improve. It might be slower or faster, but there will be improvement, I promise. Okay, next one says, Can you share some phrasal verbs with pass? Great question. Let's take a quick look at a few. Number one, to pass up or to pass something up. To pass up means to not take advantage of an opportunity.

Let's say maybe you're talking to a friend who has a new job opportunity in a different country, but he or she is feeling insecure about it. You can say something like, hey, you can't pass up this opportunity. Number two, to pass out. This means to lose consciousness, okay, to faint. This mayarse in Spanish. Example, I saw someone pass out on the train the other day, so we called for help. We use to pass out as well when someone drinks too much alcohol and they lose consciousness.

We say he drank so much, he passed out in the taxi on the way home. One more, to pass away. This is a polite way of saying to die. We usually say he passed away last year instead of he died last year. Well, at least when you want to have some tact, unpo de tact. You wouldn't say, hey, I heard your grandma died. You would say something like, I heard your grandma passed away, right? I'm really sorry to hear that. Died sounds a bit too direct in that scenario.

So a quick recap to pass up means to not take advantage of an opportunity, to pass out means to lose consciousness, this mayarse, and to pass away means to die, but in a more polite way. Thank you for your question. Let's do a few more. This next one says, if you could travel in time, where would you go? I guess maybe it should say when do you go? Or what year? I don't know. That's a tough question. It makes me want to ask, how long do I have to go for?

Do I just travel back in time and then stay there? Is it only for a few hours? The answers to these questions all change my answer, I think. It would be interesting to go to the future though, maybe a thousand years from now, just to see what's going on, to see what the world looks like, to see what technology we have, what cities look like. Maybe there are people on other planets, who knows? I think it would definitely be into the future, though.

If I were to go back in time, see fuera volver, if I were to go back in time, I don't know. I feel like the typical answer is to go back and prevent something from happening, like killing Hitler or stopping the JFK assassination, like that James Franco TV show. But if I were trying to do something more interesting, maybe, I don't know, go back and see some cool ancient empire stuff, like walk around in ancient Egypt for a day. How far can I go back? I don't know.

These open-ended questions are too much for me. I'm going to end up thinking about this all day. Another easy answer is maybe to go back and just win the lottery, like when the Euromillones was like 200 million euros or something. I don't know. But that's also a boring answer, right? Maybe go back to November and like burn down the market where the coronavirus started. I don't know. It's getting a little bit dark now, so next question. What is the most annoying thing about being a teacher?

Great question. I think the most annoying thing about being a teacher is when people expect incredible results quickly. Dealing with impatient students, maybe. Students sometimes expect some miracle method or a tip that is going to solve their problems. And in reality, you have to earn every bit. It's annoying to dedicate a lot of time to a student and then see that they don't do any work on their own.

They don't practice when they have free time, etc. Maybe working on things in class and then again next class, and then suddenly it's like we never practiced it. Teachers, I think, play a vital role or an essential role in learning, of course. And it's our job to teach, right? To make you understand, make sure you improve, but at the same time, it's time away from class where a lot of the learning happens too. Think about it like going to the gym.

Going to the gym twice or three times a week is a good thing. But if you don't eat well, if you don't rest, if you don't develop, si no desarrollas, healthy habits, even though you're going to the gym, you won't see that much progress, right? If you are already making the effort to pay for classes or going to the gym or whatever, you have to make sure that your time off or your free time is also contributing to your goal.

You can't have a class once a week and then think you're going to improve tremendously. You need to put in the time. And there's no substitute. So if anyone is selling you a miracle course or a miracle method, be skeptical. There's no substitute for time spent doing something. Okay, last one before we go. This one says, What music do you like and what instruments do you play? Thanks for the question. What music do I like? I go through phases, I think.

Right now I like jazzy, hip-hop, soul stuff, I would say. It has changed over the years, that's true. And honestly, if I say a specific genre, genero, I feel like I'm lying to you a little bit. I used to think it was cool to only listen to one type of music, and I used to think that listening to all types of music was silly and unoriginal, but now I think the exact opposite.

I've been listening to Tom Mish, K Tranada, Jordan Rakai, Anderson Pack, Mac Miller, and others recently, if you want specific names. In terms of what instruments I like to play, I mostly play the guitar. I've played the drums in the past, and I also have a bass guitar, right? But I don't play it that much. I'll put up a picture of my guitars on Instagram so you guys can check them out. I like to write songs and make beats, bases, and just jamming with people too.

I think learning an instrument is really important because it makes you think differently. And it's never too late, by the way. I have friends that have picked up, can empesal the guitar later in life and they're very good now. Maybe it takes a little bit longer to improve, sure, but you can still do it as long as you dedicate the time to it. If I could choose, si pudiera elijed, one instrument to be really, really good at, I think I would choose the drums.

There's something about the drums and rhythm in general that feels different to everything else, and I think I really enjoy that. Alright, that's it for this Monday mailbag edition of English with Dane. Again, thank you for the questions. I'm sorry I didn't get to all of them, but we'll do another one of these soon. Follow me at English with Dane on Instagram for more content, and don't forget to subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show.

And remember, the best way to support English with Dane is to share it with friends, colleagues, family, or anyone you think would enjoy it. All right, talk soon. Bye bye.