Lesson 15: New Year's Resolutions
Topic of the week: Christmas and the New Year
Wednesday
TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR
This means “In what way did you celebrate / How did you celebrate?”.
We had a big party on the rooftop to ring in the new year.
TO KICK A HABIT
To stop a habit, to quit doing something you often do.
I can’t seem to kick my habit of eating candy every day.
TO TURN OVER A NEW LEAF
To start again with a new attitude or perspective.
I’ve wasted my life playing too many video games. It’s time to turn over a new leaf and get a new hobby!
TO BITE OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW
To accept too many tasks and responsibilities, more than one can handle.
I think she’s biting off more than she can chew by taking three jobs and studying full time!
TO START FROM SCRATCH
To start from the very beginning, with nothing. We often say this when we want to start a new project or task with the basic, raw materials.
We built this house from scratch. We used brick and stone and did it with our own hands.
TO GET THE BALL ROLLING
To begin a process. To start taking action.
I felt so much better once we got the ball rolling on the project and everything was happening.
Vocabulary & speaking task
Let's practise using new idioms in our speech.
1. How are you planning to ring in the New Year 2020?
2. Would you like to kick any habits? Do you think it will be difficult to kick for you?
3. Do you turn over a new leaf every New Year? Did it bring big changes?
4. Have you ever bitten off more than you could chew? When was a time that you did this?
5. Tell me something that you started from scratch.
6. What do you need to get the ball rolling on? (What project or task do you need to start doing?)
Record your voice message and send it @EnglishTutorialBot before Saturday 9 p.m. (UTC +3). Your voice message should be around 1.5-2 minutes long.
Looking forward to your homework,