Transcript of AE 1160 - Expression: Have a Knack for Something

G'day, you mob, and welcome to Aussie English! I am your host, Pete. And my objective here is to teach you guys the English spoken Down Under. So whether you want to sound like a fair dinkum Aussie, or you just want to understand what the flippin' hell we're on about when we're having a yarn, you've come to the right place. So sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy Aussie English. Let's go!

G'day, you mob! How's it going? Welcome to this episode of Aussie English, the number one place for anyone and everyone wanting to learn Australian English and get a fair dinkum dose, a significant amount, of Australian culture, news, history, current affairs, all that jazz. If you are trying to learn Australian English and you want to adapt to life in Australia, this is the place for you. So, welcome!

If it is your first time, sit back, relax, grab a cuppa, as the intro said and enjoy the episode. And if you are a return listener, a repeat offender, someone who has come back multiple times, it is good to have you back with me. So guys, I hope you're having a great week. My voice is slowly getting back, coming back, returning. I had some kind of cold, as I've probably told you multiple times now, but I don't ever pass up an opportunity to complain about my life at the moment with all these sicknesses. So yeah, bear with me.

But yeah, the voice is coming back. So I'm pumped up, I'm happy, I'm excited, I'm chuffed. I am, yeah. Ecstatic that I can finally talk again and continue to record some of these episodes because it was a little while between drinks. It's a good expression for you guys, 'to go a while between drinks' means to go a while between doing a specific thing. Right? So, maybe you haven't caught up with a friend for a long time. When you catch up with them again, you could say, "Man, it's been a while between drinks", right?

So like the last time you caught up with them, however long ago that was, maybe years, that was the first drink, or the last drink that you had with them, whether or not you were actually drinking. And then the next time you catch up with them, that's the most recent drink, right? So the time between drinks was when you weren't catching up. It was a long time.

So anyway, I am 30 minutes away from going to get my kids from day-care. They've had a good day there. By the looks of it. They always have this little application that we can see, photos and other information uploaded on, to keep track of them at day-care, which is kind of cool. So we get to see them playing around and running amok. But yeah, I'm about to go and pick them up.

Anyway, let's get into today's episode, guys, and I need to tell you before we get started. As always, if you would like to get access to the transcripts for this episode, as well as over a thousand other episodes that we have transcribed and uploaded the PDFs for on the podcast, you can do so at www.aussieenglish.com.au/podcast

If you are working on your English at the moment, you're working on your listening comprehension skills, your vocab, you're wanting to learn obviously expressions and collocations and phrasal verbs, and everything like that. You know, maybe your grammar as well. Then reading and listening at the same time is essential. And that is the main impetus. The main reason, the main objective, that I created the Premium Podcast Membership where you could get the transcript so you can read and listen, you can highlight notes, you can write down things, you can print them out, you can do whatever you want, and then you can listen at the same time. Okay, so www.aussieenglish.com.au/podcast

Okay, let's get into today's question. This one comes from Sarah who asks, "What's the difference between the phrase 'at the end' and the phrase 'in the end'?" That's a good one. So obviously we're using a preposition here, but that's the difference between the two: 'at' and 'in'. At the end. In the end. So 'at the end of something', 'at the end' refers to a location or time that is the finish of something, the end of that thing.

So 'at the end of the movie', everyone lived happily ever after. At the end, they were all happy. 'He ran along the pier and jumped off at the end into the water.' So, it refers to a location or a time at the finish of something.

When we say 'in the end', this is a collocation that means 'eventually' or 'on reflection'. So, 'I wanted to become a teacher, but in the end, (ultimately), (eventually), (on reflection), I decided it was too hard.'.

"I wanted to become a teacher, but in the end I decided it was too hard."

"She drove to the beach to go swimming, but it was raining. So 'in the end,' (eventually), (ultimately), she just drove home."

And you'll probably know this and I probably can't sing very well, but I'll try. You'll know the song in the end by Lincoln Park, right? I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn't even matter. So it's like ultimately, eventually, it doesn't even matter, right? In the end, it doesn't even matter. That was a horrible rendition of that beautiful song. So yeah, forgive me, guys, but my voice still isn't 100%. I can't sing well enough yet.

Okay, so shame aside. Let's move on. Slap the bird and let's get into today's joke. Okay, so today's joke is: How many Aussies does it take to screw in a light bulb?

So these are common jokes in English. We have these kind of like 'screw in a light bulb' jokes where it'll be how many x, how many blank, does it take to screw in a light bulb?

How many Aussies, Australians, does it take to screw in a light bulb? You ready? Three. One to hold the bulb, and two to turn the ladder. You get it?

So these jokes usually are showing how blank x, whatever the joke is about, is stupid or dumb, right? So that's typically the objective of the jokes. And the joke here is that 'how many Aussies does it take to screw in a light bulb?' It takes three because there's one that's actually screwing the light bulb in, or holding the light bulb, and there's two at the bottom of the ladder who are twisting the ladder in order to cause that rotation to get the light bulb in there. Right. So there you go.

Anyway, these are common jokes. You'll hear these all the time. I hope you enjoy this one. And I hope you can tell some Australians this joke. Hopefully they get it, hopefully they enjoy it.

Okay, so let's move on to the expression today, which is 'to have a knack for something'. As usual, let's go through and define the different words in this phrase before we talk about the expression itself and give you some examples of how to use it.

So 'to have something', you'll know this verb right, 'to have something' = to possess something.

'a' - this is the indefinite article, a non-specific and unspecific thing, right? "There's 'a' dog in the street." It's just a single dog, but it's not specific. So it's not someone's dog. It's not 'the' dog. It's not 'your' dog, 'his' dog, 'my' dog. It's just 'a' dog. We don't know whose it is. It's just, it's not important. It's just 'a' dog.

I have 'a' cold, right? I don't know which one. It's not important which one. I just have 'a' cold.

'A knack'. If you have 'a knack', I shouldn't actually define it yet. I'll try not to. But 'a knack' is an acquired or natural skill at doing something. So I've almost given it away now. A knack. So "He has 'a knack' for learning languages."

In these examples, I think, unfortunately, the noun 'a knack' is only ever going to be used in this expression. So I kind of couldn't really give you examples sentences without using it, right? So, "He has a knack for learning languages." It's a tendency to do something. "He has 'a knack' for showing up late to class."

And 'for' is a preposition. Here, meaning 'have the purpose of', "to have a knack 'for' something".

So, 'to have a knack for something'. I'm sure you know what it means now? To have a talent for something, to have a natural ability for something, to have a tendency to do something. Okay?

And I looked up the origin and it comes from late middle English, originally denoting a clever or deceitful trick, probably related to the obsolete 'knack', meaning 'sharp blow' or 'sound of imitative origin'.

And apparently it's from potentially Dutch, when 'knack' meant 'crack' or 'snap'. So yeah. Interesting.

Anyway, let's go through some uses of the phrase 'to have a knack for something'.

So, I learnt French and Mandarin Chinese at high school and just really loved languages. Unfortunately, I stopped Mandarin Chinese in, I think Year 10, because it was extremely difficult, as a lot of Chinese migrants, children, in Australia. So children who'd grown up here, but whose parents were Chinese originally, were doing that language as a class at school. Which meant, you know, kind of wasn't really fair. They were already pretty fluent, if not completely fluent in the language, but decided to study it at school as well.

You know, it'd be like me going to France, going to high school, and then studying English as a subject. You'd be like, 'Really? Really? Are you going to do this as a language?' Like, you are Australian, you speak this language already. So anyway, I gave up Chinese, unfortunately, but I kept going with French, because I felt like I had 'a knack for it'. I understood it. I was good at it. I was skilled at learning the language. I liked it, I enjoyed it, and I scored pretty well in it in Year 12. In fact, it was my best subject, so "I had a knack for French."

Example number two. Imagine you're a kid who's always getting into trouble with your teachers at school and maybe even the authorities outside of school, right? The cops. So you fell in with the wrong crowd as a kid. You were hanging around with the wrong kids, you know, some dodgy kids who got you into a bit of trouble. Because you'd copy them, you know, you'd be hanging out with them, doing what they're doing. They get into trouble. And as a result, so would you.

So for some reason, the other kids always decided, you know, to get you in trouble, to leave you in all of the, I don't know. What would you say there, all the mess, all the problems. So maybe they're doing graffiti at school and they run off. But you're the one who gets caught by the teachers and you get detention. So ultimately, "You've got a knack for getting into trouble." "In the end, 'you've got a knack for' getting yourself into bad situations."

You're always in trouble. You're always causing problems. You're running amok. You're hanging out with the wrong crowd. With some dodgy kids, you have got a knack for getting into trouble.

Example number three. So, you start a new hobby like me. At the moment, you know, I'm getting into houseplants, growing house plants. I've got a pretty nice little monstera collection, that's a genus of plant. So I've started buying a bunch of these different kinds of plants, growing them inside, propagating them to make new plants.

And at the moment, knock on wood, I haven't killed anything yet. I haven't killed anything yet. "I seem 'to have a knack for' growing plants." I seem to have a green thumb. I seem to be good at it. Maybe I have a talent for caring for the plants. I haven't killed any yet. Knock on wood, you know. Wish me luck. Hopefully I haven't jinxed it. "I seem 'to have a knack for' taking care of plants."

So there you go, guys. That is the expression. To have a knack for something. It means to have a talent for something, to have a natural ability for something, or to have a tendency to do something.

So as usual, let's go through a little pronunciation exercise. This is where you can listen and repeat after me. In order to work on your English pronunciation skills, try and mimic me exactly, if you're working on an Aussie accent. And if not, that's cool too. Just make sure to read out the sentences after me in the accent that you're working on. Okay. Use it as a prompt to work on your preferred accent. Could be American English, could be South African English, New Zealand English, whatever it is.

Okay, you're ready? Let's go. To to have to have a. To have a knack. To have a knack for. To have a knack for something. To have a knack for something. To have a knack for something. To have a knack for something. To have a knack for something.

I have a knack for learning languages. You have a knack for learning languages. She has a knack for learning languages. He has a knack for learning languages. We have a knack for learning languages. They have a knack for learning languages. It has a knack for learning languages. Great job, guys.

Now, there's some pretty cool stuff happening here with reductions. So using the schwa vowel sound in the place of other vowels, and you'll notice this in the phrase 'to have a knack for something'. Which words do you hear being reduced and being given the schwa sound? 'To have a knack for something.' 'To', 'have', 'a', 'knack', 'for', 'something'. All right. So, 'to', 'a', and 'for', all get reduced and speed up the sentence. Make it sound a lot more natural when you say 'to have a knack for something' instead of 'to have a knack for something'. Does that make sense?

So this often happens with things like prepositions 'to' and 'for', /tə/ and /fə/ and articles like 'a' or 'an', becoming /ə/ or /ən/, okay? So, '/tə/ have /ə/', '/tə/ have /ə/ knack /fə/', '/tə/ have /ə/ knack /fə/ something'. 'To have a knack for something.'.

Remember, if you want to learn more about Australian pronunciation and sound much more Australian when speaking English, check out my Australian pronunciation course. Just go to www.aussieenglish.com.au/apc

Inside you will learn how to use the International Phonetic Alphabet to study pronunciation on your own and improve your pronunciation yourself. You will then go through detailed lessons, teaching you all of the different vowel sounds and consonant sounds, in Australian English. And then lastly, in the final section, there are 25 Advanced Lessons, teaching you things like The Australian R, the different pronunciations of X, the Syllabic L and N.

Okay, so I've had hundreds of students go through this course, and they've been getting incredible results, reducing their accent, sounding much more Australian and speaking confidently. So go check it out www.aussieenglish.com.au/apc

So lastly guys, this is the little exercise where I play a clip from a movie or a TV show, and your goal is to sit down with a pen and paper and try and write down what you hear. Okay. So today's clip comes from the famous Pixar animation film called Finding Nemo. It featured loads of Aussie characters because it was set on the Great Barrier Reef, and the excerpt reads "After his son gets abducted from the Great Barrier Reef and is dispatched to Sydney, Merlin, a meek clownfish, enlists the help of a forgetful fish and embarks on a journey to bring his son home." So I think it's really cool. It was filmed along the coast here, and in Port Phillip Bay near where I live, so it's definitely worth a watch.

So the rules of the game, I'm going to play the clip for you twice. And your goal is to listen and write down what you hear being said. Remember to check the answer! Download today's worksheet which is free, or if you're a Premium Podcast Member, you will be able to read the transcript and the answer will obviously be transcribed in there for you. Okay, so you're ready to go. Here's the first playthrough.

Food! Except stinkin' dolphins. Dolphins! Yeah! They think they're so cute. Oh, look at me. I'm a flippin' little dolphin. Let me flip for you. I know, it's something!

Awesome job. Awesome job. How did you go? Did you get all of it? Time for the second play through.

Food! Except stinkin' dolphins. Dolphins! Yeah! They think they're so cute. Oh, look at me. I'm a flippin' little dolphin. Let me flip for you. I know, it's something!

Awesome. Well, that's it for me today, guys. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm so glad that my voice held up throughout this entire episode. I didn't even need to take a drink of water. How good is that? How good is that? We are almost back to 100%, Pete.

Anyway, thanks again, guys. It means the world to me that I'm back here doing more. And I, yeah, I look forward to pumping out more content for you in the near future. I really appreciate your support and love and I will chat to you soon. See you later.