Become Fluent in English with This Quick Tip

In today’s short and sweet episode, I give you tips on how to sound more fluent. You will learn different ways of asking this simple question: Where Are You Going? I also share a tip on how to correctly use the word LISTEN. Enjoy :)

Transcript

Hey amigos, you are listening to the English Made Simple Podcast, this is episode number 91, numero noventa y uno.

Yo yo, wassup mah hommies, how’s it going? how’s it hanging?

Welcome to the short and sweet episode of the English Made Simple show – My name is Milena from www.englishmadesimple.net and I’m ok, hanging in there, you know doing well, doing oki doki. I hope you too are doing well yourselves!

Well, well, aren’t you lucky, this is your second dose of English this week. How cool is that?
Hope you enjoy today’s show, it will be jam packed full of goodies, full of tips!

So, Milena, tell us what was that introduction about? What did you say in the beginning?

Well that’s a good question. Excellent question.
What did I say? I said: Yo yo, wassup mah hommies – It is an informal greeting, it is slang, ok? It means, Well hello there my friends. Oh well, that’s my best explanation of it …. Only use this type of a greeting when you are with your friends, not with your co-workers or your colleagues. Because that would be completely bizarre if you come in to the office talking like that! It is slang that’s why. You wouldn’t use this type of a greeting around the office. Ok? Just remember that!

So that’s out of the way, let’s begin. Shall we?

Today I will teach you about different ways of asking one simple question: Where are you going?
Donde vas? Knowing different ways of asking this question will make you sound extremely fluent.

And I will also take this opportunity to quickly remind you about how to correctly use the word Listen. This will be pretty useful when you are writing or speaking in English, be it for exams or for work or school and so on.

So, I will share this at the end of today’s episode and I will need you to listen carefully, I need you to be ALL EARS now. Ok?

To be all ears means to listen to something attentively, to give it your full attention. It is an English expression or a saying, if you will. Yes, I am all ears. I am all ears, Milena! I am listening. I am listening to you Milena.

So where are you going? Let’s beging!

Where are you going? We always use this in the Present Continuous form with –ing at the end of the verb.

And now I would like to share different ways of asking this question. Please allow me to enlighten you! Dejáme illuminarte!

Where are you going? Can be asked in the following manner:

Where are you off to?
Where are you headed?
Whereabouts are you going?

All these, there options can be used interchangeably.

When I am being inquisitive about my husband’s whereabouts and want to find out where he is going: I would always use the question: Where are you off to? It’s just so quick and easy to use. It almost doesn’t require too much effort to even say it. I use it more than the other options: Where are you going? Or Where are you headed? It’s so much easier to say, isn’t it…. where are you off to?
This way of asking the question is very common with native speakers. If you start using this, you will sound more fluent.

Cool! So?

Where are you headed? It’s one way of asking: where are you going? Where are you headed? It implies in which direction are you going? Which way is your head facing – your cabeza, head – towards which destination is it facing haha well that’s my simple explanation of it. I hope it made sense, I tried to help you picture this question, if you will! Where are you headed?

And the last option I gave you was, Whereabouts are you going? – well this one is also very common with native speakers. Whereabouts is spelt as one word – yes whereabouts is ONE WORD. It is an adverb but it can also be a noun. According to weon inteligente or the online dictionary: When used as a noun WHEREABOUTS means the place where someone or something is.

For example: We don’t know John’s whereabouts. In other words we don’t know where John is, we don’t know John’s location. We don’t know his location.
I even used it previously just now, I said: when I am being inquisitive of my husband’s whereabouts, when I want to find out where he is going…. Yup, I would just say: where are you off to?

Cool bananas!Right!

So, where are you off to? I am off to the library. I am off to the gym. I am off to the supermarket.
That’s the way to answer that question.

And now, your homework amigos. I want you to use this phrase next time you want to ask someone where they are going. Just ask them: Where are you off to?

So let me ask you now, where are you off to this weekend? Where are you going this weekend?

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

And the time has come. We are approaching the end of the show. But before we end today’s show, let me give you a quick reminder, I am going to refresh your memory about one word LISTEN. The T is silent, I don’t want to hear LISTEN, it’s Li’sn.

We have learnt about this word before in episode #20 called Difference between Listen and Hear. I suggest you go back to number #20 and check it out. I am 100% sure you will learn something new in that episode, it’s full of valuable information.

My advice to you amigos is the every time you use the verb LISTEN always make sure that you add the word TO after it.
For example: You are listening to the English Made Simple show.

Listen to the next episode of the English Made Simple show for some more tips and tricks to help you improve your English.

And finally, you have been listening to the Short and Sweet segment of the English Made Simple show, you’ve been hanging out with Milena. It’s been a pleasure as always. Until next time muchachos y muchachas, hasta la proxima.