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051 - Little Changes - Big Results

Hello there. Kevin here, with another episode of the Feel Good English podcast, the only English podcast that is focused on helping people around the world become more powerful English speakers and more powerful people.

Today is a TED Tuesday lesson, and I’m going to talk about a talk called “How to Tie Your Shoes” by Terry Moore, and he’s going to talk about a very simple idea he had once about him not tying his shoes correctly for most of his life. It’s a great little Ted Talk, and you know? I really love this short little TED Talks. They are so easy to consume and fun, and interesting and you can get the transcript and download the audio to the TED Talk; it is so great for English learning. So, I will talk about the talk. A little bit, I will talk about the vocabulary, the expressions he uses that might be new to you, and also the main idea from the talk. If you want a transcript to my episode of the Feel Good English podcast, go to

feelgoodenglish.com/member, and you will easily see how you can become a member of Feel Good English and get transcripts. And without further delay, let’s get into the lesson.

Terry: I’m used to thinking of the TED audience as a wonderful Little Changes = Big

Results “How to Tie

your Shoes” - Ted

Tuesdays

LISTEN HERE

collection of some of the most effective, intelligent, intellectual, savvy, worldly, and innovative people in the world, and I think that’s true.

Kevin: So in the beginning, he talks about the audience being intelligent, intellectual, savvy, worldly, and innovative. Intellectual, intelligent. I think you know that. Savvy, S-A-V-V-Y. If somebody is savvy. It means they understand things well. They are knowledgeable, especially in a modern way. They know how to use modern technology and modern things to use them to their benefit. If you are a tech savvy, it means you know how to use technology well.

Terry: However, I also have reasons to believe that many, if not most of you, are actually tying your shoes incorrectly. I know that seems ludicrous, and believe me, I live the same sad life until about three years ago.

Kevin: Ludicrous. If something is ludicrous, it’s hard to believe. It’s ridiculous. Something is ludicrous, is unreasonable, ridiculous. So the fact that he’s telling us we’re tying our shoes incorrectly seems ridiculous.

Terry: Now, up until that moment, I would have thought that by the age of fifty, one of life’s skills that I really nailed was tying my shoes, but not so. Let me demonstrate.

Kevin: And then, he talks about a life skill that he thought he had really nailed. That’s a cool expression, if you nail something. Nail, NA-I-L, is something you put into the wall. If you are going to put a picture on the wall, or if you’re going to connect pieces of wood together, you use a nail and a piece of metal, and you use a hammer and a nail, and you hammer the nail into the wall or into the wood. If you nail something, if you nail a skill, let’s say you nail a presentation, or you nail a test, that means you do it very well. You do it excellently. So, yesterday, you had a test and “Oh! I nailed that English test.” It means you did very well.

Terry: There’s a strong form and the weak form of this knot, and we were taught to tie the weak form. And here’s how to tell.

Kevin: And then, he’s talking a lot about “knot.” This word “knot” might be new for you. Knot, K-N-O-T. A knot is when you two pieces of string or thread, and you tie them together. And a knot is what holds them together. So, you tie your shoes in a knot, and they don’t come apart. If you’re on a boat, sailing a boat, you need to tie a lot of knots so the sail stays firm, and stays where it needs to be. So he’s talking about the difference between the weak form of the knot and the strong form of the knot.

Terry: This is a stronger knot. They will come untight less off, and it will let you down less, and not only that, it looks better.

Kevin: Expression, to let you down less. To let you down is to disappoint you. So the correct technique of tying your shoes with the stronger form of the knot: your laces, which keep your shoes together, will let you down less. They will disappoint you less. They won’t come untied. And do you know what a bow is, B-O-W. A bow is simply when you tie something, and it goes into a circle, like in your shoe. You tie your shoes into a bow, B-O-W. Sometimes, women or girls or girls in their hair. They will put a bow, which is a piece of fabric that’s tied up in a bow: just to add some decoration to their hair. Or if you are wrapping a present, like a Christmas present or a birthday present. You will take some ribbon, which is a material that you use for decoration, and you will tie it in a bow. There’s a children’s song here in the U.S., maybe you’ve heard it. Talking about a dog, it goes “’Til your ears hang low, can you tie them in a bow?” Isn’t that a lovely voice I have? Anyway…

Terry: In keeping with today’s theme, I’d like to point out and something you already know.

Kevin: To point out is to call attention to. Keeping with today’s theme, I’d like to point out… I like to call attention to. Simple. So you’re having a meeting with colleagues at business, and you say “Okay, guys. I’d like to point out something we haven’t talked about yet. We need to point out this problem. We need to call attention to this problem. We need to focus on this problem.” Got it?

Terry: Sometimes, a small advantage, some place in life, can yield tremendous results someplace else.

Kevin: And so, here, in the end of the talk, he says Sometimes, a small advantage, some place in life, can yield tremendous results someplace else. To yield is to produce. Yield, Y-I-E-L-D. To yield tremendous results. Making the little change on how to tie your shoe can bring tremendous results , meaning your shoes, which you wear every day, will stay on better.

And so, taking this lesson, what small change might you be able to make in your English learning today, that could bring big results? A small little change, maybe choosing a specific word that you’re learning and using that one word for the next couple of days, whenever you can find somebody to speak to, or write it down, or go online, maybe a phrasal verb. Use one phrasal verb today and tomorrow and bring that into your own English, or maybe you need to start practicing more, so maybe you need to make one minute of listening to English your priority. That’s a small change that can bring big results. Anything else that can bring big results? Maybe there’s other areas of your life, where you can make small little changes.

If you go to my website, feelgoodenglish.com, you will find this episode and leave your comment there and let us know what small change you can make.

Thanks for listening to the Feel Good English podcast, another fun TED Talk. Basic ways of training your ear listening every day and implementing and integrating English into your day is very powerful.

These small little actions, relating it to what we’ve been talking about today, can bring big changes in your English, so don’t think you have to make huge changes. Start small. Got it?

And here is a joke for you. This is connecting drugs and shoes. So, if you don’t get it, if you don’t understand the joke, go over to the website and you will see the explanation there. And here’s the joke: So I bought shoes from a drug dealer. I don’t know what he laced them with, but I’ve been tripping all day.

I imagine, you probably don’t get that joke so go over to feelgoodenglish.com, find this episode, number 51 and learn some English jokes.

Thanks for listening, guys. Looking forward to the next lesson. I will talk to you soon.