A: So, did I tell you about my New Year’s resolution? I’ve decided to go on a diet. B: And you’re going to completely transform your eating habits, right? A: Exactly! I’m going to cut out all that junk I eat; no more chips, no more soda, no more fried food. B: I’ve heard this one before. A: But this time I’m going to stick to it. I really mean it! Trust me, Carol, I’m going to be a new man in one year’s time! B: Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. A: Thanks, honey, that was a great meal. I’m stuffed. Do we have any chips left?
M: Hello everyone and welcome to EnglishPod! Happy New Year! My name is Marco. E: And I’m Erica. M: Happy New Year! E: Happy New Year, Marco! M: It’s December thirty-first and we are on New Year’s Eve. E: That’s right and since it’s New Year’s Eve, we’re talking about New Year’s resolutions. M: Right, in many places it’s very common to make a promise for the New Year. E: Yeah. M: Something that you will change. E: A promise to yourself. M: To yourself. E: To change something. M: And that’s what our dialogue is about today, so, why don’t we take a look at our “vocabulary preview” for this lesson? Voice: Vocabulary preview. M: Okay, on vocabulary preview today we only have one word. E: Eating habits. M: Eating habits. E: Eating habits. M: So, what are eating habits? E: The regular way you eat. M: Right. E: So, if you eat healthy or if you eat lots of unhealthy food. M: Or even maybe what time you eat, right? If you eat everyday at certain time. E: Yeah. M: Eating habits. E: Okay. M: So, we’re ready to listen to our dialogue today and it’s gonna be a little bit fast, but don’t worry about it. E: We’ll come back and explain all of the key vocabulary after. DIALOGUE, FIRST TIME E: So, Marco, do you think this guy will be successful in changing his eating habits? M: Hehe. Well, I guess he’ll never change, but this gives us a great opportunity to look at some great vocabulary in this lesson in “language takeaway”. Voice: Language takeaway. M: Our first word on language takeaway is junk. E: Junk. M: Junk. E: Junk. M: So, junk comes from junk food. E: Exactly. M: Unhealthy food. E: Yeah, fries, chips. M: Hamburgers. E: Yeah. M: All that junk. E: All that junk. M: Hehe. Okay, our second word for language takeaway – transform. E: Transform. M: Transform. E: Meaning… M: To change. E: Yep. M: Change. E: Uhu, so, this guy is going to transform his eating habits. M: He’s going to change his eating habits. E: Yeah, our third word is… M: Stuffed. E: Stuffed. M: Stuffed. E: I’m stuffed. M: So, we have some great examples on how we can use staffed and you’ll get the meaning from it. Voice: Example one. A: Come on! Have one more piece of cake. B: Oh, I can’t. I’m stuffed. Voice: Example two. C: Oh, I ate way too much! I’m stuffed! M: Okay, I’m stuffed. E: The feeling you get if you eat too much food. M: Right, I’m full. E: Yeah. M: Alright, so, these are some great words that you can use talking about food… E: And eating habits. M: And eating habits. Ah, and now we can listen to our dialogue a second time and this time like always it’s gonna be slow. DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (slow) E: There’s a lot of great language in this dialogue, isn’t there? M: Yeah, a lot of great language that we can take a look at with our “fluency builder”. Voice: Fluency builder. E: The first phrase we have for you is… M: Stick to it. E: Stick to it. M: Stick to it. E: Yes, we’ve got some examples of how this phrase is used, so, let’s listen. Voice: Example one. A: Quitting smoking is so hard. B: Stick to it! It’s good for you! Voice: Example two. C: I can’t solve this math problem! D: Stick to it! I’m sure you’ll get it! M: So, stick to it, right? E: Basically means keep doing it. M: Right. Even though English learning can be hard… E: You should stick to it. M: Stick to it. E: Yeah. M: Exactly. Okay, let’s look at our second phrase for fluency builder – I mean it. E: Mean it. M: Mean it. Well, this is a great way of saying… E: I’m serious. M: I’m serious. E: Yeah. M: I mean it. E: I’m not joking. M: I’m not joking. E: Uhu. M: Right. E: Yeah. And our final phrase in fluency builder… M: Cut out. E: Cut out. M: Cut out. E: Again, we’ve got some examples of this phrase as native speakers use it, let’s listen. Voice: Example one. A: You have to cut out the salt from your diet. No more chips, no more French fries, no more popcorn. Voice: Example two. B: It’s time for me to focus on my work. I’m going to cut out everything else from my life! M: Okay, so, cut out means… E: To remove. M: Completely remove. E: Take it away. M: Take it away. E: Yeah. M: Okay, some great language, some great phrases in our dialogue today. So, why don’t we listen to it a third time? And we’ll come back in a little bit. DIALOGUE, THIRD TIME M: Okay, so, New Year’s resolutions are really common and popular thing in North America. E: It’s tradition to make a promise to yourself on New Year’s and stick to it throughout the whole year. M: Right, but the funny thing is that very few people actually stick to their New Year’s resolution. E: That’s true. M: The most common ones are I’m gonna quit smoking. E: Yeah. M: That never happens. E: No. M: I’m gonna go on a diet. E: Like this guy. M: Hehe. I’m gonna quit drinking. E: Aha. M: That almost never happens either. On New Year’s Eve you’re still drinking. E: I mean it’s… it’s a bad time, oh, come on! M: Hehe. And another really common one is I’m going to join a gym. E: That’s why gym membership sales are so high in January. M: Right, everyone joins a gym in January, but by… E: Come February… M: Yeah, and very few people in a gym. E: Yeah, so, Marco, do you have a New Year’s rev… resolution for this year? M: Yes, I have a New Year’s resolution and I resolve to continue bringing everyone some great lessons. E: Oh, that’s… that’s so good. M: And I think I can stick to that one. E: Yes, well, I… I do hope that you do stick to that one, Marco. M: We will, we will, but today we’re out of time. So, please go to our website and leave all your questions and comments… E: At englishpod.com. M: And, uh, we’ll see you there, but until then it’s… E: Good bye! M: Bye!