Can you prove it?

Shhhh, It’s ok…

Deep breath, and relax.

We will get through this like a breeze.

Hello everyone! this is English Airs, a podcast that will give you effortless accuracy in English, and I am Parya, remember? The English teacher based in Tokyo? Welcome back! I hope you have had some practice with the last episode, and now it’s time for more!

In the previous episode, we looked at when to use “will” and “going to” for events in the future. This time, we are going to talk about using them for predictions.

Let me ask you a question: What do you think of the population of the earth five years later?

And here is another question: look at the sky. Can you predict the weather today?

Did you know where to use “will” and where to use “going to”? If it was difficult to decide, this episode is for you!

So why should you sometimes use “will” and sometimes “going to” to express an opinion about the future? Because the question is “Can you prove it?”.

How do you decide if you need to take your umbrella when you are leaving the house? Maybe you look at the sky. If the sun is out, maybe with only a few white, fluffy clouds, you know it’s not going to rain. If you see dark heavy clouds, you take your umbrella because it’s probably going to rain. See? You have a reason for your opinion! You can say: look at those clouds! it is going to rain! The weather app on your phone is also acceptable!

Why don’t we play a little game? Look around. Are there any people? People on TV are acceptable, too. Look at their clothes, look at what they are doing now. Is that girl taking her earphones out? Maybe she is going to listen to some music. Is that reporter stopping someone on the street? Maybe he is going to ask them a question.

I will wait while you give me some answers.

Moving on, let’s think about the population of the earth again. What do you think? Do you have any data? Have you done any research? If not, you can’t prove your opinion, can you? It’s just something you believe will happen in the future.

Here is another example: Have you ever been to a fortune-teller? They tell you “You will receive a letter soon!” or “You will have five children!”, or “You’ll meet a tall, dark stranger!”. These are not certain like your birthday, and they have no proof. It’s just their belief. 

It’s your turn now to play the fortune-teller! Look into your crystal ball and tell me the future you see. I will pause after each question so that you can answer, as always, with complete sentences and out loud if you can. If you need more time, pause the podcast so that you can give a good answer! Here we go:

• Will cars fly one day?
  
• Will people be able to travel to space as tourists?
  
• What new technology will there be in the future?
  
• How long will it take for us to have global peace?
  
• What jobs will disappear ten years from now?
  
• What new jobs will there be at that time?

Well done everyone! You see? it’s easy. If you sit at an exam, look at the questions, and they are easy, you can say “I am going to pass!” If they are very hard, you can say “I am going to fail!”. But let’s hope that doesn’t happen!

Are you a positive person? If yes, you probably think “Everything will be ok!” most of the time.

If you are not so positive, your thoughts might be a bit scary, so just tell me about them in your comments! It will be our secret!

Ok, so, how can we practice this? For “going to” I want you to do one of these two things every day:

1. If you go out, look at people and answer these questions:
   “What is that person going to do? Why do you think so?”
2. If you don’t, when you are watching a video on Instagram or Youtube or something, pause at a random minute, and answer this question:
   “what is going to happen next? Why do you think so? “

And for practicing predicting with “will”, when you are going to sleep, do a little daydreaming. Be positive if you want to actually sleep without nightmares! And think of things that will happen or things that you will do! Don’t try to be realistic, just have fun imagining a perfect future.

That was all for this episode. If you visit my website English Airs, you can find the transcript of this episode, and you will see Yoda (from Star Wars) and Joey, Chandler, and Ross (from Friends)! explaining all this to you. And this week on my Instagram, there will be some questions about the future. Answering them will be a great practice while you are just scrolling. 

As before, listen to this episode a few times if you want to make the most of it. Answering differently every time will be like talking to someone in English, right?

I will be very happy if you leave a comment and/or ask questions. You can do that on my website, English Airs, or wherever you get your podcast. I will try to answer all questions, and if it’s a big one, I will make a whole new episode about it! Also, it will be really nice of you if you introduce this podcast to your friends! I wish to reach as many people as I can, with your help. 

Hey, by the way, do you think we will be able to teleport one day? I really, really hope so!

Parya out!