Episode 0340

Hello everyone and welcome to English Pod.

My name is Marco.

That's right. So we are starting a new year. Why don't we just jump right into this dialogue? Let's see what's going on and we'll be back in a bit.

Do you have a New Year's resolution?

Yeah, I know what you mean. That's why this year I am keeping things more simple. Maybe like getting together with friends I haven't seen in a long time or doing some volunteering work.

All right, so we've prepared a couple of different words for you on Language Takeaway.

Language Takeaway.

Right, the first uh, the first word we have is actually a phrase. We have this phrase brand new, something is a brand new thing.

That's right. We say that we are starting a brand new year and that's just another way of saying completely new.

So, I want a brand new bicycle, means I want a new bicycle from the store, not one from the garage.

That's right. So it's something completely new, never been used.

So a clean slate. Now, this is an interesting phrase because you might not know what a slate is, but basically it means that you start from the very beginning. So there's no history, there's no, nothing that you have to worry about. You start completely new. That's a clean slate.

That's right. So just imagine you're in class and you have uh the whiteboard or the chalkboard and you just erase everything and then you start again. That's kind of what it means to have a clean slate, a new start.

Exactly. And so we have a clean slate, we need to talk about what we will do with the clean slate. And so one person asks the other, do you have any New Year's resolutions?

That's right. So this is uh one of the most popular things during the New Year's is people make a New Year's resolution.

So a resolution is something that you have decided you will do. Uh I have many resolutions, I will learn to play the piano this year. So in the New Year I will do this thing.

That's right. So it's basically like a promise, something that you promise yourself that you will do uh in the New Year. So as you say, maybe start playing the piano.

That's right. So we call that a resolution or if we want to be specific, we call it a New Year's resolution.

Now at the very end of the dialogue, we heard another phrase, this is quite strange. Um, they want to kiss at midnight and the one person says, well, we can't break tradition.

That's right, to break a tradition or to break tradition. And that basically means to uh not do something that we usually do.

All right, so you can follow tradition, that means that you do the same thing maybe every year. Um, but if you break tradition, that means you don't do what you are expected to do. Um, so remember that verb is to break. Break tradition.

That's right.

All right, so let's review this vocab. Let's listen to the dialogue again.

Do you have a New Year's resolution?

Yeah, I know what you mean. That's why this year I am keeping things more simple. Maybe like getting together with friends I haven't seen in a long time or doing some volunteering work.

All right, so let's take a look at those phrases now on Fluency Builder.

Fluency Builder.

So there's a phrase in here that I use all the time. We heard uh, we heard about this resolution to go to the gym more often.

And uh the person said, you know, I, I never really go to the gym. And the other said, you know, I know what you mean.

Yeah, that's right. She says, yeah, I know what you mean.

And uh so basically we use this when you agree with the person, you understand what they are saying.

Yeah, it's almost like saying I had the same experience.

So maybe I also belong to a gym and I never go to that gym, just like you. So it means I know what you mean. I have the same problem.

That's right. So you can just agree with someone, completely agree with someone by saying, yeah, I know what you mean or I know what you mean.

I know what you mean.

All right, so well this year we want to keep things a little bit more simple and we said, well maybe like getting together with friends I haven't seen in a long time.

All right, so think about this, to get together with friends.

Lots of words there, but uh you can see friends, but to get together means to be social with, to hang out with, to do things together, but it's not very specific, it's a nice way to say just to to be with your friends.

That's right. So maybe you are going with your friends out, maybe shopping, maybe to the movies. So you say, yeah, I'm gonna get together with my friends later on this afternoon.

All right, so um, we can get together with friends as a resolution, that's something we want to do in the near future, but for now we're going to get together and watch the ball drop in Times Square. That's the New Year's plan.

That's right.

So it may it may seem strange, it's not actually a phrasal verb or a colloquial phrase. Uh there is actually a ball that uh goes down as the countdown begins to midnight and once it completely disappears, then you know, you celebrate the New Year.

So you actually see this big round ball coming down in Time Square.

Yeah, it's a way to count down to the New Year. So people often say 10, 9, 8, 7. So they countdown and the ball will drop and that means it's the New Year. So this is something that we refer to, something we talk about when we want to discuss the New Year. So we'll watch the ball drop together. It's a, it's an event.

That's right.

Okay, so a lot of great stuff there, why don't we listen to the dialogue one last time?

Do you have a New Year's resolution?

Yeah, I know what you mean. That's why this year I am keeping things more simple. Maybe like getting together with friends I haven't seen in a long time or doing some volunteering work.

All right, so talking about New Year's, everyone makes New Year's resolutions and people get together to watch the ball drop in Times Square. Now this is more of an American thing.

Um, do you have you ever experienced anything different for New Year's, uh some other type of tradition because also here, they kiss at midnight.

That's right. Well, that's a pretty standard American tradition. People will get together and they'll have the TV on, they'll have a party or they'll be with friends. And they will maybe watch some fireworks or watch the TV as the ball drops.

So I've done both, I've gone out because sometimes you go outside, it's very cold, but you go to a bridge or a park or somewhere public where the city government or the state will have some kind of special fireworks display. So then everyone will watch the fireworks or watch a big TV screen and then when it's midnight, when it's the New Year, then everyone will kiss.

So everyone uh will kiss maybe, I mean is it uh like just between couples or whoever's available, you kiss whoever's there.

So this is for good luck. For good luck in the New Year.

So if you don't kiss someone then you're kind of breaking the tradition. And it's unlucky.

An interesting way of celebrating New Year's, this is as we said in the United States, watching the ball drop, kissing someone at midnight. So we are really curious to know how you celebrate your New Year's in your country because maybe you have similar traditions or very different things.

That's right. And I know some places like Italy even have special foods you are supposed to eat to bring wealth and prosperity in the New Year.

So let us know. Our website is englishpod.com.

The English audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

12 AM.

Midnight.

Completely new.

Brand new.

To bring to its goal or conclusion.

Accomplish.

A person who performs a service willingly and without pay.

Volunteer.

Special way of doing things that is accepted by a majority.

Tradition.

A formal document stating the wishes of someone.

Resolution.

First of January.

New Year.

Let's try that faster.

A person who performs a service willingly and without pay.

Volunteer.

A formal document stating the wishes of someone.

Resolution.

Special way of doing things that is accepted by a majority.

Tradition.

Completely new.

Brand new.

To bring to its goal or conclusion.

Accomplish.

First of January.

New Year.

12 AM.

Midnight.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Resolution.

My resolution is to quit smoking.

Resolution.

I always fail my resolutions. This time will be different.

Resolution.

I have a hard resolution this year, not eating chocolate.

Volunteer.

I want to volunteer overseas. I believe I will learn a lot.

Volunteer.

I think everyone should volunteer once in a while.

Volunteer.

You should give back to your community by volunteering.

New Year.

New Year.

New Year.

Every New Year, I make a resolution.

Accomplish.

I'm going to try and accomplish this homework today.

Accomplish.

Accomplish.

Tradition.

Tradition.

Tradition.

I think we should have a tradition of taking holidays when it rains.