A vector can be broken down into X and Y components.
If you are driving 20m/s at 30° North of East (or above the X axis if you like), you are driving BOTH North and East at the same time.

In this drawing, the green line is the velocity vector for a car.
The red lines represent the North component (Vy) and the East component (Vx).
What is the NORTH speed?
We want the length of Vy, which is the line opposite from the 30 degree angle.
sinq = opp/hyp
sin30 = Vy/20
Vy = 20sin30 = 10m/s

YOU should try to use the cos function to verify that the Vx value would be 17.3m/s.
Log into lecture online, go into the chapter on 2D motion, and solve two problems: "resolve a vector" and "horizontal component"