Walk ‘n’ Talk Essentials #16 – Learning English with yoga

Welcome to another episode of Walk ‘n’ Talk! Let’s listen to two native speakers today, a yoga teacher and her student. To practise yoga, you learn a series of “postures”, where you put your body into different positions. Have you done yoga before? Enjoy this lesson by Kally, teacher from Fluency Academy!

The Dialogue:‍

A: So guys, let’s start our yoga class. First, take a deep breath.
B: Oh, my back hurts!
A: That’s because you don’t keep a good posture.
B: And my neck is so stiff!
A: Just relax. Now let’s stretch our arms.
B: Alright.
A: Hold your stomach in. Now try to reach your feet. Nice and slow.
B: I guess I’m too old for that.
A: How old are you?
B: I’m 25!

‍Expand your Vocabulary:‍

‍I guess
This is the same as saying “I suppose” and it’s used when saying something that is probably true. You say “I guess” or “I suppose” to show that you are slightly uncertain about what you are saying. Here are some examples:

I’m tired, so I guess I’ll stay home tonight.
I guess I’ll never be able to explain.
I guess they must be feeling a little stressed out.

‍To stretch
Stretching is a form of physical exercise. It’s the act of releasing tension from the muscles, joints, ligaments, and tendons, in order to improve the elasticity and achieve a comfortable muscle tone. Check out some examples:

Yoga is a combination of controlled breathing and muscle stretching.
I tried to stretch down to touch my toes.
She always begins her workout with a good stretch.

‍How old are you?
When you want to know a person’s age, or even the age of something, you can start your question with “how old”, and remember that age is a description, so the “to be” verb will be part of the question. Check out these different examples, starting with the question from the dialogue:

How old are you? I’m 25 years old.
How old is she? She is 12.
How old are they?

We hope this content was helpful and that you enjoyed the episode! Don’t forget that you can listen to it as many times as you want and that the more you practice, the more confident you will feel. Namaste!