Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase TO CLAM UP and the word BASICALLYIn this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to clam up. Now, this simply means to stop talking, and it's usually used to talk about when a conversation just stops because someone's mentioned something or brought up a topic that no one wants to talk about. Maybe they started talking about politics, and everyone just clams up because they don't want to talk about politics. Maybe they start talking about some other uncomfortable topic, and everyone will clam up because they don't want to talk about it. So, it simply means to stop talking. It simply means a situation where people are having a conversation, and then someone says something, and then everyone else stops talking, they clam up.WANT FREE ENGLISH LESSONS? GO TO YOUTUBE AND SEARCH, "BOB THE CANADIAN"If you enjoy these lessons please consider supporting me at: http://www.patreon.com/bobthecanadianThe other phrase I wanted to teach you today is actually just a word, and it's the word basically. Mark Cooper requested that I talk about a couple of words, the first one is basically. Basically just means the the simple things you need for something to exist, or for something to happen. I'm not describing this very well, so let me get back to the basics. If you wanna make bread, basically you need flour, water, yeast, and salt. If you want to be healthy, basically you just need to go for a walk every day, eat healthy food, and relax a little bit. There's probably other things you can do, but those are the simple ingredients or the simple things you need to do. When we say basically, we're basically just saying the only things you need. For me, basically, if I wanna make an English lesson, I need a piece of paper, a camera, and a good idea, and I'm ready to go.Anyways, to review, to clam up simply means to stop talking. Sometimes when they arrest someone, the police bring him into the police station, and the person will clam up when they start asking questions about the crime that was committed, and the word basically is simply used basically to talk about the simple things you need for something to exist. In order to grow flowers, basically you need dirt, seeds, and some sunshine and some rain.But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video. I hope it didn't fall outta my pocket. Here it is. This is from Vítor. Mr. Bob is such a nice teacher. Thank you. Do your children know how to swim? And my response, yes. All of our children have had swimming lessons, and we often swim at a local park and at a relative's house. So yes, all of my children have had swimming lessons, and they do know how to swim, so that's really, really cool.Hey, a couple of things I wanted to talk about today, I need to keep an eye on the time here. One is people have noticed that I've been wearing more t-shirts lately. Yes, it's summer. In the summer, I wear more t-shirts. I have a little bit of a relaxed approach to the day. Instead of wearing a nice shirt with buttons and a collar like I do when I go teach every day, I relax a bit, so I tend to wear a few more t-shirts. They say Champion, it's the brand name. It doesn't mean I think I'm the champion.Support the show