Teach Me for practical listening advice.
Grammar for information about ‘So’ phrases.
Examples for examples of the grammar.
Test Me to test your understanding
Comment if you have a question
If you are interested in Sonal’s services or simply have questions about migrating to Portugal, why not get in touch with her?
Are you having diffculty understanding the conversation? English comes in lots of fabulous shapes and sizes, and if you are having difficulty understanding an English Accent, there are things you can do to make your life easier.
When you are not familiar with an accent, it can be quite shocking. Sonal is speaking English with an Indian accent. Indian English Speakers tend to speak very quickly and “talk to think” meaning that you should expect longer sentences and multiple detailed examples which all share a common topic.
If you are trying to focus on every single word, you will have a lot of problems.
Instead, keep the main topic or ‘context’ in mind. In this conversation, we are talking about moving to Portugal, so focus on things related to this topic. You can make your life even easier by making things simple and thinking in terms of Who, What, Where, When and Why.
For example: Who is Sonal working with? What is moving to Portugal like? Why are people moving to Portugal?
When you focus on finding simple answers, you will find you can focus on the conversation, follow the main points of the discussion and you will understand more.
When we don’t immediately understand something, it is easy to throw our hands up in the air and give up. But listening in English is a skill and it can be improved with practice. Sonal is speaking English and you will know most of the words she is using. The words may not sound the way you are used to hearing them and they may be coming at you much faster, but the meanings are the same. Also, the grammar is the same and follows the same logic.
By actively listening, you are listening for answers and trying to find keywords or phrases to help you understand. Don’t give up.
There are lots of ways we can use ‘So’ but the most important two are for making an example or talking about a result. ‘So’ is a conjunction, which means it links two sentences together. When we link two sentences with ‘so’ it means that there is a direct connection between the two.
For example: “Portugal’s immigration policies are more lenient, so, when people want to move to Europe, Portugal is an easier option than Germany or Spain.”
Here, we are using ‘so’ to give an example which explains the previous statement. If you aren’t sure what lenient means, the ‘so’ phrase will give you a good idea.
Do you know what lenient means from the example?
Lenient means a rule or judgement is softer, easier or less severe than it could be.
The really nice thing about ‘so’ statements is that in natural English we can look at the ‘so’ statement on its own and it gives us a clear explanation. For example: “So, when people want to move to Europe, Portugal is easier” works on its own as a sentence and is easy to understand.
We also use ‘So’ to make a conclusion. For example:
“Because I come from India and it’s a struggle for me to stay in Europe, it’s either through investment or recruitment or through sponsorship that I could do that, so I found a way out that means I am not reliant on sponsorship or recruitment if that falls or goes away, so I did find that way and now I help people migrate to Portugal.”
Whilst it would be nice to understand absolutely everything and know all the details of how we got here, in real life, you don’t have the opportunity to rewind the conversation or have a fabulous English teacher write it out for you.
If you are having difficulty following the conversation, actively listen for the ‘So’ and you will hear the main conclusion. This means that at the very least, you will be able to ask more questions or have a basic idea of the situation we are in now.
Take a look at these ‘So’ phrases that Sonal uses as a conclusion for each question in the video.
Read the ‘So’ phrase, select the indicated time in the video and then see if what she is saying makes more sense.
[01:54] So, I am now helping people from all over the world.
[02:38] So, in the instance of employment, you don’t need a sponsorship to stay here..
[03:11] So, things in that sense are very much easier and simplified in Portugal.
[04:57] So there are different kinds of visas that people are not aware of.
[06:15] So, it’s a mixed crowd, but with every client, it’s a different story.
[07:00] So it is really challenging when a family comes because I have to do everything for them.
[09:20] So I just want to tell people, when you are leaving your country don’t forget the big picture.
What do you think of the video?
Would you consider moving to another country?
Sign in to leave your answers below or ask us a question and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
You’ll need to sign in to take the test or comment.
It’s free and you get access to all the quizzes on the site, feedback on your English and invitations to online events.
Select the Teach Me button for practical listening advice.
Select the Grammar button for more information about ‘So’ phrases.
Select the Examples button for demonstrations of the grammar.
Select the Test Me button to test your understanding of this video
Select the Comment button If you have a question or want to share your thoughts about the video.
If you are interested in Sonal’s services or simply have questions about migrating to Portugal, why not get in touch with her?
Are you having diffculty understanding the conversation? English comes in lots of fabulous shapes and sizes, and if you are having difficulty understanding an English Accent, there are things you can do to make your life easier.
When you are not familiar with an accent, it can be quite shocking. Sonal is speaking English with an Indian accent. Indian English Speakers tend to speak very quickly and “talk to think” meaning that you should expect longer sentences and multiple detailed examples which all share a common topic.
If you are trying to focus on every single word, you will have a lot of problems.
Instead, keep the main topic or ‘context’ in mind. In this conversation, we are talking about moving to Portugal, so focus on things related to this topic. You can make your life even easier by making things simple and thinking in terms of Who, What, Where, When and Why.
For example: Who is Sonal working with? What is moving to Portugal like? Why are people moving to Portugal?
When you focus on finding simple answers, you will find you can focus on the conversation, follow the main points of the discussion and you will understand more.
When we don’t immediately understand something, it is easy to throw our hands up in the air and give up. But listening in English is a skill and it can be improved with practice. Sonal is speaking English and you will know most of the words she is using. The words may not sound the way you are used to hearing them and they may be coming at you much faster, but the meanings are the same. Also, the grammar is the same and follows the same logic.
By actively listening, you are listening for answers and trying to find keywords or phrases to help you understand. Don’t give up.
There are lots of ways we can use ‘So’ but the most important two are for making an example or talking about a result. ‘So’ is a conjunction, which means it links two sentences together. When we link two sentences with ‘so’ it means that there is a direct connection between the two.
For example: “Portugal’s immigration policies are more lenient, so, when people want to move to Europe, Portugal is an easier option than Germany or Spain.”
Here, we are using ‘so’ to give an example which explains the previous statement. If you aren’t sure what lenient means, the ‘so’ phrase will give you a good idea.
Do you know what lenient means from the example?
Lenient means a rule or judgement is softer, easier or less severe than it could be.
The really nice thing about ‘so’ statements is that in natural English we can look at the ‘so’ statement on its own and it gives us a clear explanation. For example: “So, when people want to move to Europe, Portugal is easier” works on its own as a sentence and is easy to understand.
We also use ‘So’ to make a conclusion. For example:
“Because I come from India and it’s a struggle for me to stay in Europe, it’s either through investment or recruitment or through sponsorship that I could do that, so I found a way out that means I am not reliant on sponsorship or recruitment if that falls or goes away, so I did find that way and now I help people migrate to Portugal.”
Whilst it would be nice to understand absolutely everything and know all the details of how we got here, in real life, you don’t have the opportunity to rewind the conversation or have a fabulous English teacher write it out for you.
If you are having difficulty following the conversation, actively listen for the ‘So’ and you will hear the main conclusion. This means that at the very least, you will be able to ask more questions or have a basic idea of the situation we are in now.
Take a look at these ‘So’ phrases that Sonal uses as a conclusion for each question in the video.
Read the ‘So’ phrase, select the indicated time in the video and then see if what she is saying makes more sense.
[01:54] So, I am now helping people from all over the world.
[02:38] So, in the instance of employment, you don’t need a sponsorship to stay here..
[03:11] So, things in that sense are very much easier and simplified in Portugal.
[04:57] So there are different kinds of visas that people are not aware of.
[06:15] So, it’s a mixed crowd, but with every client, it’s a different story.
[07:00] So it is really challenging when a family comes because I have to do everything for them.
[09:20] So I just want to tell people, when you are leaving your country don’t forget the big picture.
What do you think of the video?
Would you consider moving to another country?
Sign in to leave your answers below or ask us a question and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
You’ll need to sign in to take the test or comment.
It’s free and you get access to all the quizzes on the site, feedback on your English and invitations to online events.
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