How to Introduce Yourself in English | Speak Like a Native! — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Hello.
2. 0:01And welcome back to my slow English
3. 0:06podcast. This is a place
4. 0:09where you can listen
5. 0:12to slow
6. 0:14clear English. English you can feel.
7. 0:19Not just memorize. Remember, speed this
8. 0:24video up to 1.5
9. 0:27if you want
10. 0:29a challenge.
11. 0:30Today,
12. 0:32we are learning how to introduce
13. 0:37ourselves. Now, not in a basic way.
14. 0:43Not just your name
15. 0:46or your job.
16. 0:48Today,
17. 0:49we will learn how to introduce the
18. 0:54deeper parts of ourselves.
19. 0:58If you are intermediate or advanced,
20. 1:02then this episode is for you.
21. 1:05Follow along with me.
22. 1:08Speak out [snorts] loud. Pause when you
23. 1:13need to.
24. 1:14And comment your answers.
25. 1:18I'll read them all.
26. 1:20And shout out to my top commenters on my
27. 1:24last video
28. 1:26from Uzbekistan,
29. 1:28Brazil,
30. 1:30and Bangladesh.
31. 1:32Thank you, as always, for being here.
32. 1:35Thank you for your support. So,
33. 1:38who am I? Today, I want to introduce
34. 1:43myself to you.
35. 1:45Not just my name,
36. 1:48but my story.
37. 1:52My name is Tayana Ortiz.
38. 1:56That is the name I was given, but it's
39. 2:00not the whole story. I am someone
40. 2:04who has lived between cultures,
41. 2:09between places that both feel like home.
42. 2:14I don't just want to introduce myself.
43. 2:18I want to tell you what shaped me. First
44. 2:23things first,
45. 2:24my name, Tiana,
46. 2:27means the most beautiful flower,
47. 2:31according to my parents.
48. 2:34I'm not so sure about it, but I know it
49. 2:40is of Aztec origin.
50. 2:43I was born in the United States,
51. 2:45Nebraska, and that is where my life
52. 2:49started. But, of course, a home is not
53. 2:54always permanent. When I was 8 years
54. 2:59old,
55. 3:00my dad
56. 3:01was deported
57. 3:03back to Mexico. So,
58. 3:06everything changed.
59. 3:09My life turned upside down.
60. 3:15And I think that moment
61. 3:19taught me a lot
62. 3:22about loss,
63. 3:25adaptation,
64. 3:27and resilience. It taught me how fast
65. 3:33life can change, but how strong
66. 3:38we are deep down, and how capable we are
67. 3:43of adapting to change. Now,
68. 3:47when you introduce yourself,
69. 3:50you can ask,
70. 3:52Where am I from?
71. 3:55And what formed me?
72. 3:58What experience changed you?
73. 4:02What moment made you grow up
74. 4:06faster?
75. 4:07What place in the world
76. 4:10taught you who you are?
77. 4:14Tell me about it.
78. 4:15Write it down in the comments.
79. 4:18I attended
80. 4:20a bilingual school.
81. 4:23They taught English and Spanish.
82. 4:28Not very good Spanish, but nevertheless,
83. 4:33they taught
84. 4:34me something. All the basics that I
85. 4:37would need to survive, basically.
86. 4:42My sister wasn't so lucky.
87. 4:46She didn't know any Spanish when we
88. 4:50arrived.
89. 4:52And my sister
90. 4:53entered into middle school.
91. 4:58And that's a rough year
92. 5:02to enter a new school. Now, add on the
93. 5:07pressure of not knowing your classmates'
94. 5:12language.
95. 5:14It was difficult for her. But, I feel
96. 5:18especially
97. 5:20sympathetic for my sister.
98. 5:22I was able to pick up the language
99. 5:26pretty quick.
100. 5:27Since I was 8 years old,
101. 5:31it came naturally. But, at the
102. 5:34beginning,
103. 5:36it was difficult.
104. 5:38Don't get me wrong.
105. 5:40I definitely struggled making friends
106. 5:45and relating to people at first.
107. 5:49I went through all of elementary school,
108. 5:54middle school,
109. 5:55and high school in Mexico.
110. 5:58But,
111. 6:00I did not go to university. I learned
112. 6:03through experiences.
113. 6:06Through making mistakes.
114. 6:09Through work
115. 6:11and through lots of curiosity. Curiosity
116. 6:16for the world in general.
117. 6:19I traveled a lot.
118. 6:22And I learned that education does not
119. 6:25only live in a classroom,
120. 6:29but it lives in conversations.
121. 6:33In travel.
122. 6:35In culture. In failing, but trying
123. 6:39again. In stepping out
124. 6:42of your comfort zone. Something I
125. 6:45learned to do was to be inspired
126. 6:50instead of envious. So now,
127. 6:54when I feel I'm judging someone,
128. 6:57and I know I'm envious of them, I decide
129. 7:02to feel inspired.
130. 7:05I take action
131. 7:07on what I need in my life.
132. 7:11On what my body is telling me I need
133. 7:15because I'm judging that other person.
134. 7:19Now, it's your turn.
135. 7:21What's something that you've learned
136. 7:24about yourself
137. 7:26outside
138. 7:28of the classroom?
139. 7:30How do you learn best?
140. 7:33Through structure
141. 7:35or freedom?
142. 7:37Through books or life? If you did study
143. 7:41something in school,
144. 7:43what's something it taught you about
145. 7:46yourself?
146. 7:48Not just about the subject.
147. 7:51What's something you learned about
148. 7:54yourself
149. 7:55in the classroom?
150. 7:57Let me know in the comments. I'm really
151. 8:00curious to hear your stories.
152. 8:03I work as an English teacher.
153. 8:08But that's not the full truth. What I
154. 8:12really do
155. 8:14is make people feel
156. 8:17safe.
157. 8:20Safe using their voice.
158. 8:23I help people feel less afraid.
159. 8:28Afraid of being misunderstood.
160. 8:34I hate it
161. 8:36when someone is learning a language
162. 8:39and you can see they're learning a
163. 8:42language
164. 8:44and there's always that one person who
165. 8:47acts like they can't understand what
166. 8:50you're saying.
167. 8:52Or they don't make the efforts to try to
168. 8:57understand what you're saying.
169. 9:00They'll say, "Huh?
170. 9:02What? I can't understand your accent."
171. 9:05And that's what I'm here
172. 9:08to destroy that belief
173. 9:10that maybe someone else made you think.
174. 9:16Being soft,
175. 9:19being patient,
176. 9:22being kind,
177. 9:25as we should, what you're doing is a
178. 9:28very courageous thing to even attempt.
179. 9:34And you need to feel proud of yourself.
180. 9:39I'm here to help you tune out
181. 9:43all the people who want to discourage
182. 9:47you. Teaching is not just my job. It's
183. 9:52how I connect,
184. 9:54how I listen,
185. 9:57and how I have learned so many things.
186. 10:03So many.
187. 10:04Just from teaching online. Now,
188. 10:08ask yourself,
189. 10:11what do you really do
190. 10:14beyond your title?
191. 10:18What problem do you solve?
192. 10:22What do others come to you for?
193. 10:27What kind of energy do you bring
194. 10:32to the room?
195. 10:33Don't let those discouragers get the
196. 10:36best of you.
197. 10:37Listen to me instead.
198. 10:41I speak English and Spanish,
199. 10:45and I'm learning Chinese.
200. 10:47You guys know this.
201. 10:49Language changed my life.
202. 10:53It changed how I think,
203. 10:56how I express emotion,
204. 11:00how I connect with people.
205. 11:04Every language I learn
206. 11:07teaches me
207. 11:08a new version of myself.
208. 11:11Does this happen to you yet?
209. 11:15Maybe with another language, or maybe
210. 11:18with English. Maybe the more you learn,
211. 11:23the more you'll discover your new
212. 11:26personality.
213. 11:28Because
214. 11:29>> [laughter and gasps]
215. 11:29>> I feel like I have two personalities.
216. 11:33One in English and one in Spanish,
217. 11:37for sure.
218. 11:39Your turn.
219. 11:40How has language shaped you? Which
220. 11:44language feels like home?
221. 11:47And which language feels like growth?
222. 11:51What do I love?
223. 11:55I love walking through cities,
224. 12:00biking through cities,
225. 12:04when there's no traffic,
226. 12:06with my headphones on,
227. 12:09listening to my favorite songs, stopping
228. 12:14by small shops or markets, and having
229. 12:21quiet
230. 12:23moments. I need to slow down.
231. 12:30We all need to slow down sometimes.
232. 12:36Reminds me
233. 12:38that my life doesn't need to be super
234. 12:43productive
235. 12:45to be meaningful.
236. 12:48I love traveling and learning new
237. 12:52things, not to escape, but to understand
238. 12:58more and more about myself.
239. 13:02It's so important to get to know
240. 13:05yourself.
241. 13:06Now, your turn.
242. 13:09What do you love? What activity
243. 13:13makes time
244. 13:15disappear? What brings you back to
245. 13:19yourself
246. 13:23heavy? Now,
247. 13:26take your time.
248. 13:28Reflect on each question.
249. 13:32You don't need to be perfect to start.
250. 13:36You just need to start
251. 13:39and try
252. 13:41and make mistakes. You know this.
253. 13:44Repeat.
254. 13:46Pause.
255. 13:47Think. And if you want, ask me questions
256. 13:51in the comments. But mostly
257. 13:54tell me about yourself. Let me get to
258. 13:57know you better.
259. 14:00And remember, guys,
260. 14:02never stop learning.
261. 14:06Bye.
262. 14:17>> [music]