We’re proud to present a video called Potato Chips that we made with students studying ESL and filmmaking at the New York Film Academy (NYFA).
It includes some useful slang and informal English expressions: stressed out, chill out and screw it.
The students came up with the concept for the video and they were our cast and crew. They were also a joy to work with.

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Potato Chips with ESL students from the New York Film Academy (NYFA)

We have something very special for you today.
Last month we collaborated with students from the ESL school at the New York Film Academy.
They’re studying English and filmmaking at the same time.
The students came up with a concept for a video and we shot it together at the YouTube Space.
They were our cast and crew and we’re very proud to present their story today!
You’re going to hear some informal English expressions and slang, so keep watching and we’ll talk about them on the other side.
Great, let’s roll the video.

No!
Hey, is everything OK?
Not really.
What’s going on?
I have so much to do.
Oh you’re stressed out.
Yes.
Hey, hey. Calm down. Relax.
No. I need to get to work.
No, no, no, no. You need some ‘lazy skills’.
Lazy skills?
Yes, so when you’re alone and you want to chill out. Let me teach you.
OK.
So show me how you sit on this chair. No. It should be more like this. Yeah. It’s better. You need some practice. Second step. Eat some chips.
No thanks.
Come on…
Mmm. It’s delicious. I love it.
No, but you should eat like a pig. Watch me.
It’s perfect! Now step three. OK. Let’s dance!
No, no, no, no.
Dance, dance, dance. Yes! You can. You can. Come! Here! Ah no, you should be more relaxed. Now follow me. Yeah.
Mmm. Ah. I feel so good. I’m much more relaxed.
Yeah. What we need now is a party. Let’s call some friends.
I don’t have any friends.
Don’t worry. I do.
Hi everyone. Come in.
How are you?
I’m fine.
Hi.
Hallo. Hallo. Hallo. Thank you for inviting us. We love a party!
It’s great to see you, Mao. We’ve brought some drinks and chips.
Oh thank you. So I want you all to meet my friend Sherry.
Oh, where’s Sherry?
This is a great apartment, Mao.
Thank you.
It’s a great party too. Have a chip, Sherry.
Thank you.
She is very hungry.
Hey, let’s put some music on.
That’s a great idea.
Sherry, Sherry, Sherry. It’s so embarrassing!
That’s what you taught me right? Just have fun! Come on.
Oh. Yeah. Screw it!

Ha! Wow! They were terrific, weren’t they?
Yeah, it was such fun to work with them.
Now what about the language we heard?
There were several expressions we should look at. The first one was stressed out.
Let’s hear it.

What’s going on?
I have so much to do.
Oh you’re stressed out.

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Stressed out is an adjective and it means you’re so worried and tired that you can’t relax.
We can also say stressed, with no out.
Yes, but when we’re speaking informally to our friends we often say stressed out.
If you’re stressed out you need to calm down and chill out.
Chill out. That was another one.

You need some ‘lazy skills’.
Lazy skills?
Yes, so when you’re alone and you want to chill out. Let me teach you.

Chill out is informal as well.
Yes, it means spend time relaxing, so you’re not tired or nervous.
Now what about those lazy skills? We don’t usually use that phrase.
Yes, this was a joke. The joke works because of the word skills. Skills are normally things we work at.
A skill is the ability to do something well. We have to learn and practice to develop skills.
But we don’t have to practice to be lazy. We just have to do nothing.
We don’t say lazy skills, but we do say relaxation skills. Breathing and yoga can be relaxation skills.
And they’re things we have to work at. Not like eating potato chips.
OK, one more.
Yes, this one is really informal – it’s slang.

That’s what you taught me, right? Just have fun! Come on.
Oh. Yeah. Screw it!

Screw it – it’s slang and it’s pretty rude slang.
It’s something we only say when we’re with friends – close friends.
Don’t say it to your boss.
OK, so what does it mean?
It means I’m giving up. I’m not going to try any more.
Yes, if we’ve been trying to do something and it’s not working, we can say ‘Oh screw it’, and then stop trying.
So it’s like I don’t care any more. I’m not giving any more time or thought to this.
Yeah, Screw it. I’ll stop.
But be careful who you say it to.
OK, if you’d like to see more of our videos, make sure you subscribe.
And share them with your friends so they can learn English too.
And that’s it for today
But before we stop I want to say a BIG thank you to the ESL students at the New York Film Academy.
I think they’re all going to be stars.
See you next week everyone.
Bye now.
Click here to watch more of our stories and songs
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