AEE 2359: How to Connect Ideas and People in English

Summary

All Ears English Podcast - Episode AEE 2359: How to Connect Ideas and People in English

Release Date: February 18, 2025

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Introduction to the Episode

In Episode 2359 of the All Ears English Podcast, hosts Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan delve into the essential skill of connecting ideas and people in English. Aimed at intermediate to advanced ESL learners, this episode emphasizes the importance of fluent communication by focusing on connection rather than perfection. The hosts, hailing from Colorado and New York City, guide listeners through practical expressions and strategies to enhance conversational flow and coherence.

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The Importance of Connecting Ideas in English

Michelle Kaplan opens the discussion by highlighting a key skill in mastering English: articulating how ideas connect together to ensure clearer understanding and the ability to connect people by identifying commonalities.

“A key skill in English is articulating how ideas connect together so that you will be better understood and being able to connect people to others by showing what they have in common.”
— Michelle Kaplan [00:59]

This foundational skill not only aids in personal conversations but is also crucial in professional and academic settings, enabling learners to express thoughts more coherently and engage more effectively with others.

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Expressions for Connecting Ideas

The core of the episode focuses on various expressions that facilitate the connection of ideas. Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan introduce and explain several transitional phrases, providing clarity on their usage and nuances.

1. In a Similar Vein

   The primary expression discussed is "in a similar vein," which means in a similar way or similarly. It is often used to draw comparisons or highlight related points.

   “We are not making up this English. We are listening to our friends. We are taking notes at parties.”
   — Lindsay McMahon [05:21]

2. In the Same Vein

   A slight variation of the primary expression, "in the same vein," serves the same purpose and is frequently used interchangeably.

   “In the same vein. I actually hear 'in the same vein' more often.”
   — Lindsay McMahon [06:41]

3. On a Similar Note

   This phrase is used to transition smoothly to a related topic or idea, often following a previous statement.

   “On a similar note, my birthday next week. So maybe we can plan for that.”
   — Lindsay McMahon [11:19]

4. Similarly

   "Similarly" functions as a concise way to indicate that the following statement is alike in some manner to the preceding one.

   “Similarly, my brother is really into basketball. Similarly, I love football.”
   — Lindsay McMahon [12:35]

5. Along the Same Lines

   This expression is used to maintain the continuity of thought, indicating that the next point aligns with the previous one.

   “Along the same lines, we should ask Hal when is good for him.”
   — Lindsay McMahon [12:55]

6. In the Same Way

   A more conversational expression that serves to relate ideas in a manner that feels natural in everyday dialogue.

   “Similarly, we should pull back on our grocery bills. In the same way is a very conversational one.”
   — Michelle Kaplan [13:15]

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Practical Examples and Usage

To illustrate the practical application of these expressions, the hosts provide clear examples demonstrating how each phrase can be seamlessly integrated into conversations and writing.

“Rebecca's family is very active. She loves riding horses. And in a similar vein, her brother is an avid runner.”
— Lindsay McMahon [07:30]

These examples emphasize the importance of smooth transitions in making English sound coherent and connected, enhancing both spoken and written communication.

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Role Play Demonstration

To reinforce the learning, Lindsay and Michelle engage in a role-play scenario where they act as classmates working on a project. This practical demonstration showcases the use of transitional expressions in real-life contexts.

“We can see from these results that our research is definitely valid. In a similar vein, we also got back a lot of really helpful surveys.”
— Michelle Kaplan [15:10]

Through this exercise, listeners can observe how these expressions aid in building logical connections between ideas, making conversations more fluid and meaningful.

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Conclusion and Takeaways

In wrapping up the episode, the hosts reiterate the significance of mastering connection skills to elevate one's English proficiency to the next level. They emphasize that understanding and utilizing these transitional phrases not only improve language fluency but also enhance social interactions by making conversations more engaging and cohesive.

“When you get to a certain level of English you can use certain expressions. They are so functional and just help with that flow, that natural flow.”
— Michelle Kaplan [17:42]

This focus on connection over perfection aligns with the podcast’s overarching philosophy, encouraging learners to prioritize meaningful communication.

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Notable Quotes

• Michelle Kaplan on key English skills:

  “A key skill in English is articulating how ideas connect together so that you will be better understood and being able to connect people to others by showing what they have in common.”
  [00:59]

• Lindsay McMahon on the usage of expressions:

  “In a similar vein is my favorite. What about you?”
  [13:16]

• Michelle Kaplan on the functionality of expressions:

  “It is an expression that can do that. So that's. It's very functional in that way.”
  [14:30]

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Final Thoughts

Episode 2359 of the All Ears English Podcast serves as an invaluable resource for ESL learners aiming to enhance their ability to connect ideas and engage others effectively in English. Through detailed explanations, practical examples, and interactive demonstrations, Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan equip listeners with the tools necessary to achieve fluency and confidence in their English communication skills.

Transcript

[A]

This is an All Ears English podcast. Episode 23:59 how to Connect Ideas and people in English welcome to the All Ears English podcast downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection with your American hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl coming to you from Colorado and New York City, usa. To get real time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the Allears English app for iOS and Android. Start your seven day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward/app.

[B]

A key skill in English is articulating how ideas connect together so that you will be better understood and being able to connect people to others by showing what they have in common. Listen in today to find out. How.

[A]

Do you tend to freeze up in English conversations if you're at the intermediate B1 fluency level? We now have a study plan to get you to the B2 level and tons of ways to practice speaking with our community and our teachers. But this week we have a special offer on B1 fluency which does expire on February 23rd at midnight. You can get our complete B1 online fluency course plus a special bonus course and you will save $50 off the normal price. Go to allearsenglish.com save on B1. That's allearsenglish.com S A V O, N letter B number one. See you there. Hello, Michelle. How are you doing today?

[B]

I'm good, Lindsay. How are you?

[A]

I'm feeling all right. I'm feeling all right. You have a question for me today?

[B]

I do. Lindsay, who do you know in your life who is most similar to you?

[A]

Oh my gosh. Probably my parents. Actually, my par. It's so scary. You know, we always think, oh, we don't want to be like our parents. But then when you get become an adult and you look at your parents, you're like, yep, I got this from you and this from you. And I'm like a mix of both of them. It's so funny. What about you, Michelle? Anyone that you're really similar to? Any friends or siblings or parents?

[B]

I definitely, I. I would agree with you. I would say my parents especially. I mean, my mom and I look alike, but that's. That's different. But we, we have. I think I have h. I have my dad's extrovertedness, if that's a word. My, my dad loves to talk. He could talk forever. He loves People, you know, my mom is more introverted, but then there are other, like, there are other quirks that I get from my mom.

[A]

Oh, wow. I love that. I love that. Why are we talking about this, Michelle, today?

[B]

Well, because we are going to be talking about an expression used to say things are very similar. I'm excited about this episode. Yeah. And I mean, I, I've, you know, met a couple new friends recently. You know, always meeting people, and it's always exciting to meet someone who you realize, you know, you have a lot in common with or maybe they're similar to you in some ways. Or even now with my kids, I am finding, oh, I think that's me. I think that's Dan.

[A]

You know, that's so funny.

[B]

Like, my son is starting to become a night owl and I'm like, oh, no, that's me.

[A]

Interesting. That must be so fun to watch that happen and kind of point that out. That is so cool.

[B]

Yeah, that is. That's pretty cool. So, yeah, we're gonna talk about this expression today. But before we do that, Lindsay, we had some amazing reviews recently.

[A]

Yeah, really good reviews. We got a really lovely review. Lily from South Korea, it was a five star review. And Apple podcast on January 19th. So thank you to Lily and thank you to Xian Zhang on January 16th, as well as Freddie George on January 15th and Ferubia on January 10th. Guys, if you want us to read your review, if you want to get your name announced on the show, go over to wherever you're listening, whether you're in the app or the Android app or the iOS app or Apple Podcast, and write a review for us. All right. We want to know what you think about the show. Love it.

[B]

Definitely. Thank you so much, guys. And yes, please write us. We want more. I want to hear what you guys think.

[A]

Yes, we want to know what you think. I love it. So good.

[B]

All right, all right. So, yeah, I mean, this is a connection building expression, I think, and it's used to comment on things that are similar. And this came. We had a recent episode where this kind of came up naturally and we said, ah, we got to write that one down. So we're gonna go for it today.

[A]

So what exactly is the exact expression that we're getting into for our listeners today, Michelle?

[B]

We are doing in a similar vein. Yeah.

[A]

And I guess I do use this because it came up naturally and that's how. That's a good bar. A good sense of whether we're, you know, are we making up this English? Are we going to Textbooks. No.

[B]

Right.

[A]

We are listening to our friends. We are taking notes at parties. Michelle, you have your little notebook that you put in your front pocket. I know. Yeah, right, exactly.

[B]

Yeah. But to me, this is very professional sounding. It's, it's, it's. What is the word we use? Oh, it's buttoned up. It's a little buttoned up.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, I would say so, too. It's a little bit astute, little smart sounding. I agree.

[B]

Yes, yes. So let's talk about this today. This is going to be really helpful for our, our English here. Okay, so, so what does it mean, though?

[A]

Well, it means in a similar way or in the same way or similarly. Right?

[B]

Yes, right, right, right, exactly. So. And it doesn't have to just be in a similar vein. Right. You can also say in the same vein.

[A]

Yes, both are good options. In a similar vein. In the same vein. I actually hear in the same vein more often. And when it comes to spelling this, Michelle, unless our listeners have the, you know, unless they're listening in the app with the premium membership, they may not see the, the trans. So how do you spell vain?

[B]

Yeah, it's, it is actually V, E, I, N. Yeah.

[A]

So that's the same vein as if you look at your hand and you see the blood running through your veins. Right?

[B]

Yeah, yeah. So that's, that's interesting. I wonder, I wonder why.

[A]

Well, I mean, maybe, maybe that's what it came from. From this idea of like your veins are running. Like they're, they're like freeways kind of running through your body.

[B]

Look at them.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[B]

Yeah, maybe so for similar. Right. This, if you say similar vein, it's. They're nearly alike, but not quite right. It's often used to show a comparison, I would say. And you may hear this more so as a transition statement after the first point is made. So let's, let's do some examples to clear that up. Lindsay, you want to read the first one?

[A]

Yeah. And I, I think the transition is so key here for making your English sound coherent and smooth and connected. Right. So here's an examp. Rebecca's family is very active. She loves riding horses. And in a similar vein, her brother is an avid runner. Yeah. So that makes sense. Right. You need something to connect to ideas. She loves riding horses and her brother is a runner. So both those things are active. Right, Right, right, right, right.

[B]

Here's one with in the same vein. So I like to travel to countries in the same vein as Paris. Lots of history and lots of good Food.

[A]

Yeah. And I hear it used a little less in that way. But that's a creative way to use it, right?

[B]

Yeah, I would agree. I would say the first way is more common. That's why to me, I know we, I hear in the same vein, but I, I don't know when I, when I think of it, I think of in a similar vein for some reason.

[A]

Here's another example. We need to spend less on eating dinners out. In a similar vein, we should pull back on our grocery bills. So you're saying basically in the same way or for the same reason in the same line of thinking is basically what you're saying here, right, Michelle?

[B]

Yes, exactly.

[A]

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[B]

Well, to me it shows that you're putting some thought into something. You're. You're thinking about what you have to say. Also a signal, right? We. We always talk about letting the listener in on what you're actually trying to say. So it just it to. To me it kind of has those two functions. You're. You're showing this awareness and that you've planned right? You like, like you've thought of what you're saying. It just sounds to me like you've put some thought into things.

[A]

Yeah. And I think it's also a good signpost if we're worried that people may not understand us because of our accent. If you are using high level transition vocabulary like this, this gives them another chance. Right. So when they hear that, they think, okay, I know what's happening. They're making a comparison and the similar thing is coming next. It's gonna help. It's just. Just makes everything a bit more coherent.

[B]

Yes, exactly, exactly. So, but let's talk about. There are some other ways to express a similar idea. Okay, so let's get into it. So the first one is on a similar note, Right. Instead of a vein, we're talking about a note.

[A]

Okay. I love it. So, for example, on a similar note, my birthday next week. So maybe we can plan for that. And so we have to assume here with this example, we've been saying something. What have we been saying before? Again, it's a transition. So what?

[B]

Yeah. So potentially we've been talking about plans for the next week, something that's coming up.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And so I'm saying, well, reminder, my birthday is next week. Lindsay, I actually here's a question. Do you like to. Do you broadcast when it's your birthday, remind people? Yeah. Do you have like, oh, birthday month?

[A]

Sometimes. Yeah, I'll try to squeeze out more of a birthday week or a birthday month or, you know, when it comes to like it's two weeks after my birthday and I'm talking with someone. What movie should we go to? Well, it's my birthday month, so I could really choose. Yeah. Another one here is similarly. Now that is a mouthful, Michelle. Similarly. Similarly. Some kind of gymnastics there with your tongue to be able to say that. But similarly, my brother is really into basketball. Similarly, I love football, but not quite as much as he loves basketball. So what are the things that you're. What is the transition? What is the link here?

[B]

Well, sports.

[A]

Sports. Yeah, exactly. Your brother likes basketball and you like football. So you're trying to bridge between what your brother likes and what you like.

[B]

Exactly. Or the last one is along the same lines. Yes. So let's take a look at the calendar along the same lines. We should ask Hal when is good for him.

[A]

Okay, nice, Hal. Well, we'll see what Hal's schedule is like then.

[B]

I'm always trying to think of these, create more creative names, Lindsay.

[A]

I know, I love that. I love that. Which is your favorite, Michelle? Which of these do you like the best? I Mean, which do you tend to use the most?

[B]

You know what? I think I want to add in one.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Love that. I would say in the same way. Yeah, in the same way is a. Also a very conversational one. Like, oh, in the same way we should.

[A]

Yeah, I like that. It's more conversational, for sure. It doesn't sound quite as formal as in the same vein, but it's conversational. It's connected. Right, right.

[B]

But. But I would say, as far as the ones that we. We taught earlier, I would say in a similar vein is my favorite. What about you?

[A]

I like. Along the same lines. Along the same lines. I feel like I use that a lot. Yeah, I don't know. It's just personal preference, you know?

[B]

Of course.

[A]

Good to be able to use them all. And again, we've already talked about why this is important. You're showing that you're thinking on that deeper level. You're showing, I think it really important socially to show that how you connect to the world or how. Or actually, more importantly, when you're at a party, you want to pull someone into the connection, into the conversation. Maybe they're on the outside, someone's already talking about something. You might use this transition to pull in this other person and say, oh, in a similar vein, I know that Mary likes to, you know, skateboard.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Random examples. You might need these tools to kind of smooth things over socially and. And be that connector. Right.

[B]

I like that idea. It's like when you think of, you know, you're making a bed and there's that wrinkled part, and you're kind of smoothing it over. Right. It is an expression that can do that. So that's. It's very functional in that way.

[A]

It's functional. So I don't want to just pass over this. We want to make sure we know. And some people are brilliant at this socially. But you still, even if you have that social skill, you're always thinking, how do I pull this person in? What's the connection between this person and this person? You still need language to do it. Yeah, for sure.

[B]

For sure. All right, well, should we use a few of these in a role play?

[A]

Yeah, let's do it. So here we are, classmates, and we are working on a project. All right, here we go.

[B]

All right. So we can see from these results that our research is definitely valid. In a similar vein, we also got back a lot of really helpful surveys.

[A]

Yeah, we're really in a good spot. On a similar note, maybe we should start one big spreadsheet to Analyze everything.

[B]

Oh, good idea. These results are along the same line. So I think our thesis will be proven.

[A]

That's so exciting. Wow, we're so confident in our research here. We are.

[B]

We are. We've. We've worked hard.

[A]

Oh, that's funny. All right, so we use. Again, this is a situation where you may not hear quite as many of these same functions at the same time right after each other. Right. In a line like this. But here's the first one we said. You said we can see from these results that our research is valid. In a similar vein, we also got back a lot of really helpful search surveys. So connecting the idea that we believe our research is valid and we got useful surveys.

[B]

Okay. And then you said, yeah, we are really in a good spot. On a similar note, maybe we should start one big spreadsheet to analyze everything. So I'm connecting. Well, you're connecting that we're in a good spot. And also, let's take it one step further and we can use this for extra help.

[A]

Good. Yes. And. And then you said, good idea. These results are along the same lines, so. Along the same lines as what?

[B]

As.

[A]

So basically our results line up is what we're saying.

[B]

Exactly right. Exactly. Our results line up. So I think because of that, that shows that what we're working toward is going to be proven.

[A]

Nice. I feel like generally when you present your research to the. Your colleagues, it's probably a lot tougher than that.

[B]

People.

[A]

I don't know how it works for research scientists. I don't know to what extent. Extent. That's actually an interesting question. To what extent do your colleagues poke at your work? Or meaning not poke at it, but like challenge your work and question your work? I know when people do the PhD defense, that definitely is challenging. And there you sit in a room with all these professors and I'm sure a lot of our listeners have gone through this incredibly stressful questioning your work. So I wonder what it's like for scientists. Yeah, yeah, Period journals, things like that. But that's for another day. Michelle, what's another episode that we think is connected to this?

[B]

Well, speaking of people doing their PhDs, this episode definitely listen to this one. It's episode 2354 and it was called Is Everyone Smart?

[A]

That is a thought provoking title. So definitely going over there and check out 23:54. What's our takeaway for today?

[B]

I like the idea of smoothing things over. When you get to a certain level of English you can use certain. You realize not everything is just content and functional. It's, it's more just about connecting ideas and having things start to really flow together. And to me that is really going to bring you up to that next level knowing these kinds of things that maybe they're not the, the most fun expressions. Right. Maybe it's, it's. But they're so functional and just help with that flow, that natural flow.

[A]

Yeah, it reminds me a lot of our C1 course because in that course we really do we talk about connection skills and this kind of is one of them. It's using language to again, how do we introduce someone into a group of people? How do we make sure people understand. Understand us and what we're about to say or how two ideas connect? This is huge. Michelle.

[B]

Exactly. All right, well, I'm so glad we talked about this today. And in a similar vein, I guess it's time to go.

[A]

I guess it is, Michelle. Well, I'll see you next time. Have a good one. All right. All right, you too.

[B]

Bye.

[A]

Thanks for listening. To all ears. English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our 2 minute quiz, go to allearsenglish.com fluencyscore and if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.