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  • Hi, I'm Marie.

  • Welcome to Oxford Online English!

  • In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk about your daily routine in English.

  • What do you do every day?

  • What's a typical day like for you?

  • In this class, you'll learn everything you need to talk about your daily routine, including

  • work, free time, meals, and sleep habits.

  • Before we start, we really think you should visit our website: Oxford Online English dot

  • com.

  • You can find all of our free English lessons, including videos and listening lessons.

  • You can also take online classes with one of our professional teachers.

  • Let's start by looking at how you can talk about your everyday working routine.

  • You're working freelance now, right?

  • Yeah, that's right.

  • I've been doing it for about six months now.

  • That must be nice.

  • You can work from home; you don't have to deal with bad bosses…

  • Yeah, it has its pluses, but it's not all fun and games.

  • Obviously, my work is more flexible, but I still have to be disciplined and make sure

  • I stick to a schedule.

  • So, what's your working day like?

  • I like to get an early start, so I get up at eight and I work from eight-thirty to around

  • midday.

  • Then, I take a long lunch break, maybe go to the gym or something like that.

  • Then, I do another three to four hours in the evening, so I finish at seven or eight.

  • That's quite a late finish.

  • Yeah, but it suits me.

  • I get sleepy in the afternoon, so it's not the best time to work.

  • That still sounds much nicer than working a regular job.

  • I have to get up at six-thirty, then my commute takes around an hour, so I have to leave the

  • house at half seven at the latest.

  • I'm at the office from eight-thirty till five-thirty or six, then I don't get home

  • until seven at the earliest.

  • I have to say: working at home has some disadvantages, but I don't miss commuting every day.

  • No, you shouldn't.

  • It sucks!

  • Do you work the same hours every day?

  • More or less.

  • Sometimes I stay late if there's something I need to finish, but I try to leave on time.

  • Otherwise, I don't get any time at home before I go to bed.

  • Here are some questions for you based on the dialogue:

  • What's your working day like?

  • What time do you start and finish?

  • Do you often work long hours?

  • Do you take any breaks during the day?

  • Let's see how you could answer questions like these.

  • Let's start with something easy: what time do you start and finish?

  • You could say something like: 'I start work at nine, and I finish at five.'

  • Maybe you have a more flexible schedule.

  • You might say: 'I'm a freelancer, so I work different hours every day.

  • It depends what I have to do.'

  • If you're busy, you could say things like: 'I often have to stay late at work.'

  • 'I finish at seven o'clock at the earliest.'

  • 'I can only take a short lunch break.'

  • If you have a more relaxed workday, you might say:

  • 'I take a long break in the afternoon'.

  • 'I usually finish work by five-thirty at the latest'.

  • 'I never stay late or do overtime.'

  • The phrases 'at the earliest' and 'at the latest' are useful if you want to talk

  • about extremes.

  • Otherwise, use adverbs like 'often' or 'usually'.

  • What about you?

  • What's your working day like?

  • Try to make two to three sentences talking about your working routine.

  • If you need to, you can review the dialogue to get some ideas for language you can use.

  • Pause the video and make your answer now.

  • Practise saying it out loud!

  • How was that?

  • Let's look at our next point.

  • So, what do you do in the evenings after work?

  • Honestly, most days I'm so tired when I get home that I just crash on the sofa and

  • watch TV.

  • I don't like it, but I don't have the energy to do much else.

  • I play tennis on Wednesdays, but that's it.

  • I know the feeling.

  • It's hard to motivate yourself when you've been at work all day.

  • What about you?

  • I'm the opposite.

  • I'm stuck at home all day, so when I'm free, I'm desperate to get out of the house:

  • do some exercise, talk to people…

  • I try to arrange something most evenings.

  • What kind of thing do you do?

  • Lots of stuff!

  • I've started going to a boxing class twice a week, and I also play basketball with a

  • group of friends every Thursday.

  • Then, I'll generally go out with friends for a coffee or a drink on one or two evenings,

  • too.

  • Wow!

  • You're pretty busy.

  • Yeah, but I prefer it that way.

  • I'm more active on weekends, but during the work week, there just isn't the time.

  • Here's a question: what do you do in the evenings after work?

  • Are you active?

  • Do you like going out and doing lots of different things, or do you prefer to stay at home and

  • relax?

  • If you're more active, you could say something like:

  • 'I like to get out of the house when I can.'

  • 'I try to arrange something most evenings.'

  • 'I prefer to stay busy.'

  • If you prefer staying at home, you might say: 'I don't have the energy to do much after

  • work.'

  • 'I just crash on the sofa and watch TV when I get home.'

  • 'During the work week, there just isn't the time to do much.'

  • It's also useful to say how often you do things.

  • Here, you can use adverbs like 'often', 'generally', 'sometimes' or 'occasionally.'

  • You can also use time phrases like 'once a week', 'on Wednesdays' or 'every

  • Friday.'

  • For example: 'I go out with friends once a week.'

  • 'I go to the bouldering gym on Wednesdays.'

  • 'I generally go running around the park after I get home.'

  • What about you?

  • What do you do after work?

  • If you don't work, or you have a different schedule, what do you do with your free time

  • during the day?

  • As usual, try to make two to three sentences about yourself.

  • Use the language from this section to help you.

  • Pause the video and do it now.

  • OK?

  • Let's move on.

  • So, do you cook?

  • I mean, you're at home all day, so you must have time.

  • Yeah…

  • My meal habits are all over the place, though.

  • What do you mean?

  • Sometimes I skip meals, or I eat at weird times.

  • I might eat dinner at seven-thirty, or I might not eat until eleven.

  • It depends what I'm doing, and how hungry I am.

  • That's the exact opposite of my situation.

  • I have to eat at the same time every day, because that's the only time I have free.

  • What do you do for lunch?

  • If I'm organised, I'll cook at the weekends so I can take food with me to work.

  • Otherwise, I'll buy a sandwich or something from the bakery.

  • What about in the evenings?

  • Me and my boyfriend take turns cooking.

  • Then, we generally get a takeaway on Friday evening if we're at home.

  • That's a good system.

  • It's hard to motivate yourself to cook when you live alone.

  • I try though, because I don't want to waste money on takeaways and eating out.

  • So, I'll cook a big batch of something, then freeze it and eat it for several days.

  • Here are some questions from the dialogue which you should be able to answer by the

  • end of this section: 'Do you cook?'

  • 'What do you do for lunch?'

  • 'Do you eat at the same times every day?'

  • Think about how you could answer these, but first, let's look at some more phrases you

  • heard in the dialogue.

  • Do you know what they mean?

  • 'My meal habits are all over the place.'

  • 'Sometimes I skip meals.'

  • 'I'll cook a big batch of something, then freeze it.'

  • Can you explain what these sentences mean?

  • If you say something is 'all over the place', this means that there's no pattern.

  • So, if your meal habits are all over the place, it means you don't eat regular meals at

  • regular times every day.

  • If you skip a meal, then you don't eat it.

  • If you're busy during the day, you might have to skip lunch.

  • That means you don't eat anything for lunch.

  • Finally, if you cook a big batch of something, then you cook a lot at one time.

  • You might do this if you live alone, or if you're busy, so that you can freeze the

  • extra food and eat it later.

  • What about you?

  • Do you sometimes skip meals?

  • Do you buy lunch, or cook at home and take food to work?

  • Do you ever get takeaways in the evening?

  • Make at least three sentences and talk about your cooking and eating habits.

  • Make more sentences if you can!

  • Practise by saying your sentences out loud several times, until you can produce them

  • fluently.

  • Remember that all the language you need is in the dialogue.

  • Go back and review the dialogue if you need some more ideas.