Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • (upbeat electronic music)

  • - Hello, this is Jack from tofluency.com,

  • along with? - Kate.

  • - And we are back with another English conversation.

  • Today, we're going to talk about goals.

  • We're going to talk about New Year's resolutions,

  • and just about what we want to achieve

  • over the next 12 months.

  • Now, if you are new here, then know that we make

  • these conversations so that you can learn real English.

  • And I'm going to leave some of the key phrases

  • in the description for you.

  • And also, go over to my website,

  • 'cause I'll give you information

  • on the type of language we use and also some information

  • on how you can get premium resources.

  • Okay, that was quite the introduction.

  • - It was, mmhmm.

  • - Now, there is a little bit of a structure

  • to this conversation. - Okay.

  • - And I've written down some questions

  • that you can ask yourself. - Uh-huh, okay.

  • - And we're going to answer those questions.

  • But also, answer the questions in the comments too.

  • - Oh, yeah, I love going through

  • and reading people's answers,

  • mmhmm. - Yeah.

  • So feel free just to take

  • any of these questions and do that.

  • And we also have finish the sentence, a task on this,

  • where, again, this is a great way to learn natural English,

  • because you're going to learn the types of phrases

  • that people use at this time of year.

  • Oh, one last thing.

  • If you want to achieve your English learning goals,

  • then get my book, Five Step Plan for English Fluency.

  • It's free to download.

  • Okay, so it's New Year's Eve. - It is!

  • - And we are recording this before our big

  • New Year's Eve party. - Mmhmm.

  • - Small party. - Small party.

  • - So let's just start with some questions.

  • - Sure. - Are you ready for this one?

  • - Yeah.

  • - What would you try if you knew you could not fail?

  • - Ooh, that's a great question.

  • I don't know any of these questions

  • ahead of time, by the way.

  • - No. - Since it's a surprise.

  • - And I haven't really thought about answers.

  • - I think that, if I knew that I wouldn't fail,

  • I would probably try something

  • that seems a little bit risky or dangerous.

  • Like, I would try hang gliding, for example.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - Because I don't often try something that seems

  • like it would be risky or dangerous, because in my mind,

  • I'm thinking about the worst case scenario.

  • And so, I would try something like an extreme sport maybe.

  • - An extreme sport? - Mmhmm.

  • - Yeah, it's a strange question in a way, isn't it?

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - Because if you try something that you can't fail,

  • then it takes away any element of the surprise outcome,

  • or it takes away the whole fact that we do fail at things.

  • - Absolutely, mmhmm.

  • - So it's an interesting question in that sense.

  • - Yeah, yeah.

  • I guess to me, anything where.

  • - Because you could choose anything.

  • - True.

  • - You could say to run for president in 2020.

  • - Mmhmm, yeah.

  • - You know, you could choose anything in there.

  • - Absolutely.

  • - What would you try if you couldn't fail?

  • Let us know below.

  • - Did you wanna answer that one too?

  • - So, again, it just takes away a bit of the fun for me,

  • 'cause I'd say, become a professional soccer manager.

  • - Yeah, absolutely.

  • - Or apply for the England soccer job, football job.

  • - Sure. - Because you can't fail.

  • - There you go.

  • - Now, what new type of exercise

  • would you like to try this year?

  • - Ooh.

  • - Or activity. - Or activity, okay.

  • - I know what your answer is.

  • - You do? - Mmhmm.

  • Paddle boarding.

  • - Yes!

  • Sorry, I didn't even know that that was my answer,

  • but that's my answer.

  • I really have wanted to try paddle boarding for a long time.

  • - You tried it!

  • - I know, but, you know, in a more,

  • I tried it briefly for a few minutes.

  • I'd like to do more of it.

  • And it's where you stand up kind of on a stable surfboard,

  • and you use a paddle to move around.

  • It was really fun.

  • I really liked the little bit that I tried.

  • But I would like to do it more and try different conditions.

  • - Mmhmm. - Mmhmm.

  • - It's become popular.

  • - Oh, yeah, it's really popular right now.

  • - Do you know what mine would be?

  • - No, tell me. - Rock climbing.

  • - Rock climbing? - Yeah.

  • - Wow, okay. - Yeah.

  • I'd just love to try it.

  • Maybe we should do these things.

  • - Yeah. (Kate laughs)

  • - If we're actually saying we want to do them.

  • - Yeah, I'd say like, now we're here.

  • We're talking to each other.

  • We're telling everybody about it.

  • We should try it and then report back.

  • - Yeah, at the end of the year.

  • - Yeah, or maybe even before then.

  • - I'm gonna ask one more question,

  • and I'm gonna give a quote that somebody gave yesterday

  • that I've been thinking about. - Sure.

  • - But last question for now is, what musical artist

  • would you like to see live in concert this year?

  • - Ooh.

  • Hmm.

  • There are so many.

  • This one's really hard.

  • - Well, you have to choose one.

  • - This is gonna be out of left field for you.

  • - Okay.

  • - But I think that Lizzo is so popular right now.

  • - Oh yeah, yeah.

  • - And I've heard she's really good live,

  • and that there's a really good atmosphere.

  • I think I would like to see Lizzo.

  • - Although she did steal that tune.

  • - You know.

  • - I actually looked it up the other day,

  • and so many people are saying the same thing.

  • - That it sounds like?

  • - What's that song called, Lizzo's song?

  • Is it Bad Boy or something?

  • - I'm not sure which one you mean.

  • - Something like that. - Yeah.

  • - But it sounds exactly like Black Beatles.

  • (Kate laughs) - Yeah, I don't mind.

  • I think that she's an interesting performer.

  • I think that she's been a little bit controversial

  • this year. - Has she?

  • She's talking about things that other artists aren't.

  • - You know she released that song in 2017.

  • - Wow.

  • - And it only became really popular this year.

  • - So she just kept going and working at it,

  • and she got there. - Yeah, and then,

  • that old song just suddenly became popular again.

  • - That's amazing.

  • - Yeah, for me, I think probably the Arctic Monkeys.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - I've seen them twice. - Mmhmm.

  • - And I'd love to see them again.

  • - Yeah. - It's been a long time.

  • - Yeah, the last time that we saw them

  • was about 10 years ago, right?

  • - No. - No?

  • - Yeah. - Yeah.

  • (both laughing)

  • - Nine years ago.

  • Well, it will be 10 years in February.

  • - Yeah. - Wow!

  • - Uh-huh. - That's incredible.

  • - Are they still touring?

  • - No, they just did a tour.

  • - Okay.

  • - So maybe they'll tour again next year.

  • I've always had this thing in my mind

  • where I just think, they're going to do a show

  • where we live, and we'll suddenly just find out

  • they're doing it, and we'll get tickets to it.

  • - I mean, stranger things.

  • - They've never come here.

  • - No?

  • Maybe we should campaign. - Yeah.

  • I mean, it's a good campaign. - Mmhmm.

  • - Okay, so, this is a really interesting thing that,

  • one of my favorite people to follow is called Eddie Hearn.

  • - Okay.

  • - Do you know who Eddie Hearn is?

  • - No, tell me.

  • - He's a boxing promoter.

  • (Kate laughs) - Okay, okay.

  • - And I've followed his career for nine years now,

  • when he started out being a boxing promoter,

  • which is a very hard business to be in.

  • - Sure.

  • - And he had no fighters in his stable.

  • And now he's grown into the biggest promoter in the world.

  • So I've seen his progress over the years.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - And he often talks about goals and motivation

  • and things like that. - Mmhmm.

  • - And he said for 2020,

  • keep it simple and make 2020 better than 2019.

  • - Okay.

  • - Like, that's his mantra at the moment,

  • is to say, instead of saying, I'm gonna this,

  • I'm gonna do all these amazing things,

  • I'm gonna completely change my life,

  • make 2020 better than 2019.

  • - Okay.

  • - What are your first thoughts on that?

  • - I think that, yeah.

  • I think it sounds kind of inspiring,

  • because a lot of times, we set goals that are too radical.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - And then we feel, you know, we feel guilty,

  • or we feel. - Stressed.

  • - Frustrated when we can't reach those goals.

  • But if we just try to make, you know,

  • keep doing what we're doing but do it better,

  • then that seems much more achievable.

  • Yeah. - Mmhmm.

  • - That's exciting. - Yeah.

  • So my thoughts on that are that,

  • if you feel like you've got a good foundation now,

  • that's good. - Mmhmm.

  • - But I also think that, there's a term here I want to use,

  • but something like reach for the star goal.

  • - Yeah.

  • So, that's an expression, right?

  • Reach for the stars,

  • and if you don't make it, at least you'll land on the moon.

  • - Yeah. (Jack laughs)

  • - Or something like that.

  • - Yeah, reach for the stars, you'll land on the moon.

  • - You'll land on the moon. - Something like that.

  • - Yeah.

  • But, I mean, I could also see how you could land on the moon

  • and then feel, you know, land on the moon,

  • in this metaphor, and then just feel

  • still kind of like you haven't achieved anything.

  • - Yeah. - Mmhmm.

  • - And we can think about this in terms of learning English.

  • So for example, a lot of people watching this,

  • they have a B1 or maybe a B2 level of English.

  • And their goal might be to say, okay, C1 in three months.

  • And that's one of those goals which is radical,

  • where you have to really just change your life

  • in order to reach it. - Mmhmm.

  • - Whereas the goal where you make it better

  • is to say, okay, I'm just gonna stay consistent

  • throughout the year. - Mmhmm.

  • - Commit the amount of time that's sustainable to doing it.

  • And then by the end of the year,

  • I'll go from B1 to B2. - Mmhmm.

  • - Which is a great thing to do.

  • So it's interesting, because you want to have

  • that motivation to do something extraordinary.

  • But at the same time, is it always possible?

  • And it depends on the person,

  • depends on their life situation.

  • So, in a way, I want to say, go for it!

  • Do something extraordinary.

  • But at the same time, stay consistent and do things.

  • I'm gonna make a video on this, actually,

  • talking about the daily commitment to something

  • for the minimal time, but if you do more, you do more.

  • - Yeah.

  • - But the goal is to just do something every day.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • Yeah, I find that it's often easier to keep going

  • or to do a little bit more once you're already there.

  • Like, for example, going to the gym.

  • If I go and I tell myself,

  • oh, I'm just gonna do an easy workout for 15 minutes,

  • often, when I'm there,

  • I feel like I can push a little bit harder,

  • and I end up doing a harder 45-minute workout, for example.

  • But if I think like, oh, I need to go to the gym,

  • do a really hard workout for 45 minutes,

  • it's a lot easier to not do that.

  • - Yeah, getting started is usually, in a lot of cases,

  • the hardest part, just to start something.

  • - Yeah.

  • - And there's a method called like, the one-page method,

  • where if you want to commit to reading more,

  • just, okay, at this time, just read one page.

  • It's all you have to do.

  • If you do more, great.

  • If you don't, don't worry about it.

  • But often, you'll read one page,

  • and that commitment isn't so difficult,

  • but once you do it, you want to read more and more.

  • - So there's two different things.

  • There's goals, and then there's habits.

  • But they're really intertwined.

  • - Yeah. - Mmhmm, they go together.

  • - 'Cause you need a goal

  • in order to create the habit, right?

  • (Kate laughs) - Right, absolutely.

  • - Because if you say, just anything, really.

  • If you wanna get fitter, then that's your goal,

  • to then create a habit of getting fitter.

  • (Kate laughs)

  • - Now we're getting all tangled up.

  • - Get the book Five Step Plan for English Fluency.

  • It goes through it step by step.

  • - Step by step, nice.

  • - Yeah.

  • And then also, a good thing

  • to think about with this is, or two things.

  • One, people talk about going through periods of sprints,

  • and then periods of walking.

  • - Okay.

  • So a sprint is when you run just as fast as you can.

  • - Intensive. - Uh-huh.

  • - So for me, let's just say you're making videos.

  • It's where I'll spend a month making videos

  • and really being intensive with it,

  • and then after that, just relaxing a little bit

  • and easing off and doing something else.

  • - Okay.

  • - And the same with, you can think about exercise,

  • where you work out intensively for two weeks,

  • you do something and push yourself,

  • but then stay consistent when you're not sprinting.

  • - Okay.

  • - You know, literally and figuratively sprinting.

  • - Mmhmm. - Yeah.

  • And then the other thing I thought about with this

  • is that there are different areas of your life too,

  • and you can focus on one intensively

  • while keeping the others ticking over.

  • Explain that.

  • (Kate laughs)

  • - That's actually not an expression that we use.

  • - Is it not?

  • (Kate laughs) - No.

  • - You know what it means?

  • - Yeah, I do, from talking to you for, you know,

  • more than a decade. - What would you say?

  • - So, to keep something ticking over

  • is just to keep it going.

  • - Keep it going.

  • - Uh-huh. - Yeah.

  • So, for example, if you wanna focus on your English,

  • but you still wanna stay fit, and you can't really give

  • that attention to both in an intensive way,

  • you can just do 15 minutes of exercise a day while you're.

  • - Working on your English.

  • - Yeah. - Okay.

  • Yeah, but make 2020 better than 2019.

  • - Yeah, if you're happy.

  • - Mmhmm, yeah. - With where you are.

  • But I also just think that radical change

  • can be incredible, you know?

  • - Yeah, I agree with both things, mmhmm.

  • - Good.

  • Okay.

  • (upbeat electronic music)

  • Oh, this is a good one.

  • You'll love this question.

  • - Uh-oh.

  • - How would you like your style to be different this year?

  • - Ooh.

  • - It's hard for you to improve your style.

  • (Kate laughs) - Thank you.

  • I think that in the next year,

  • I would like my style to be more eclectic.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - And more unique.

  • - Eclectic?

  • - So, if something is eclectic,

  • it's not the same as everyone else.

  • It's a little bit more off-beat, a little bit different.

  • - You wanna be a hipster?

  • - I mean, I would say more that I would like to feel

  • like I am comfortable,

  • but also maybe wearing things

  • that aren't the same as everyone else.

  • Maybe shopping more vintage.

  • Maybe even from my mom's closet.

  • (Kate laughs) Versus going to the mall

  • and getting the same things that everyone else has.

  • - Yeah. - Yeah.

  • Be a little bit more daring.

  • - But comfortable.

  • - I'm always comfortable. (Kate laughs)

  • - It's so important.

  • - It's so important, mmhmm.

  • - I can't buy pants that don't have stretch in them anymore.

  • - I know.

  • - I don't know how I lived wearing normal jeans.

  • - I know.

  • So, women's fashion has had spandex

  • in the fabric for a long time.

  • Our pants have been tighter, but more comfortable.

  • I think that that's just happening for men.

  • - And for women, over the last five years,

  • it's just all about leggings. - Yeah.

  • - Isn't it? - I like leggings, mmhmm.

  • - That was a good question.

  • - Yeah, how about you?

  • - I guess a little bit smarter.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - A little bit more formal,

  • which I did in the backend of the year.

  • - Yeah.

  • - And not to wear my sweatpants every day.

  • (both laughing)

  • They're so comfortable.

  • - I know, I know.

  • I have a very comfortable pair of sweatpants

  • that I wear as often as I can, mostly at home.

  • Mmhmm. (both laughing)

  • - But I also like going straight from work to the gym

  • and not having to change.

  • It's like, I just wanna be able

  • to wear the same shoes at work and at the gym.

  • If you could throw a themed party for yourself,

  • what would the theme be in 2020?

  • - Ooh.

  • - The roaring 20s, right?

  • - Yeah, the roaring 20s, mmhmm.

  • - For me, it would be a 90s dance party.

  • - Okay.

  • - Yeah, like a British 90s party.

  • - Uh-huh.

  • - So, I'd be like, throwing some Oasis in through, you know?

  • - Uh-huh. - So like, dance parties.

  • - We could make a playlist.

  • But I think that the roaring 20s

  • are just so exciting to revisit as a theme

  • because it was a time that was kind of daring,

  • when people were doing things

  • that were a little bit more extravagant.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - Or more decadent. - Decadent?

  • - Mmhmm.

  • So, that's like, more luxurious.

  • - Yeah, like treat yourself.

  • - Treat yourself, mmhmm. (both laughing)

  • - She's from Parks and Recreation.

  • I think that's a great show

  • for people learning English, right?

  • - Yeah, I think it would be a really good show.

  • I wonder if the sense of humor would translate.

  • - That's, well, that's always an issue, isn't it?

  • - Yeah.

  • - And I do find though

  • that it does more than I thought it would.

  • That's a great little structure.

  • It does more than I thought it would.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - Where a lot of people, when I ask them,

  • what shows do you like, comedies.

  • - Yeah, that's true,

  • and the better that you get at a language,

  • the easier it is to understand the humor too.

  • - And you understand the characters.

  • That's the great thing about TV shows with lots of seasons.

  • You understand the characters

  • and what that joke comes from, what place it comes from.

  • - True.

  • - What time-waster are you willing to let go of?

  • - Ooh.

  • - To let go of something

  • means to stop doing it, I guess, in this case.

  • Facebook.

  • - I'm not sure, yeah, Facebook.

  • And Instagram.

  • Not Zillow.

  • (Jack laughs) - Zillow is a property app.

  • - Yeah, it's like where people buy and sell houses.

  • You can see the real estate listings, and for some reason,

  • I have always liked to look at houses for sale.

  • But, I do spend too much time on my phone,

  • and there's actually a book that I'm interested in reading

  • that a few people have recommended to me

  • called How to Break Up with Your Phone,

  • like you're ending a relationship with your phone,

  • and I haven't read it yet,

  • but I'm interested in doing that a little bit more.

  • This is going to be strange, but I miss being bored.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - Because since we have smartphones, I'm never bored.

  • At any moment that I'm not doing something,

  • I can entertain myself. - Yeah.

  • - And I think that sometimes,

  • the greatest things that we do come out of boredom.

  • Like, in order to be really creative

  • or to start something new,

  • first you have to have that state

  • of just not really knowing what to do.

  • - Yeah.

  • I like that. - Yeah.

  • So I feel like my phone is kind of a time filler,

  • but if I didn't have it,

  • I would be doing more exciting things.

  • - Yeah, I think that's a good one to have.

  • Yeah, we recently went on a vacation

  • where there was no wifi, and it was nice, wasn't it?

  • - It's like a luxury, yeah.

  • - Although we got very excited once we got connected again.

  • - Yes. - Yeah.

  • - Another thing, which I don't know if I'm ready for,

  • I don't even wanna tell you this.

  • Maybe less chocolate?

  • - Yeah, is that a time waster?

  • I guess, well, something to give up.

  • - It's something to give up, mmhmm.

  • - Yeah, to give up, stop doing.

  • Yeah, chocolate. - To quit.

  • - Yeah. - Yeah.

  • - I like that.

  • - Save it for really special occasions.

  • - That'd be nice.

  • - I kind of eat a little bit of chocolate every day.

  • - Yeah, yeah, I like that.

  • For me, I think it is,

  • a time waster for me is not necessarily the phone,

  • but it's the checking on the phone, if that makes sense.

  • So it's to go and see if I've got any new emails,

  • to see the price of the stock market,

  • or just to update stuff, updating, swiping down.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - To update things, to see if something new has happened.

  • - Yeah.

  • - So when we were without connection for two or three days,

  • I was thinking, oh my goodness, I bet so much has happened.

  • Nothing had changed. - Yeah.

  • - Right?

  • My fantasy football scores

  • were exactly what I calculated in my head.

  • - Uh-huh.

  • - Twitter was just the same.

  • There were a few posts on Instagram, but still, it's like,

  • if I miss them, it's not the end of the world.

  • - Yeah you can catch up later.

  • - And my email, I only had about 20 emails,

  • 'cause it was over Christmas.

  • - Yeah.

  • - So it was fine.

  • - How many emails do you get a day?

  • - About 50. - That aren't spam?

  • - No.

  • - Like, people are emailing you?

  • - These people. - Yeah.

  • (both laughing)

  • - Not just random people.

  • (both laughing) Yeah.

  • So, I read every one. - Yeah.

  • - I respond to most of them. - Cool.

  • - But on my other channel,

  • I made a video on how to respond to emails quickly,

  • and I'll link to that, actually.

  • It's really useful.

  • It's like, keyboard shortcuts,

  • being able to give the same response

  • to common questions you have using text expander.

  • - Okay.

  • - Where I just put ;levelty,

  • and it expands the text into a response that I often give.

  • And then, yeah, just the keyboard shortcuts,

  • to go like, archive and open next email with one button.

  • - Wow.

  • - Reply, R, and then Control + Enter, send.

  • - Neat! - So I can batch emails.

  • - You're a machine. - I'm a ninja.

  • (Kate laughs)

  • I'm a ninja.

  • - Yes, you are.

  • (upbeat electronic music)

  • - Now, let's do a few favorite things.

  • - Okay.

  • - We'll do this quickly, quick fire round.

  • Favorite TV show of the year, 2019?

  • - Ooh, a show on Netflix called Schitts Creek.

  • - That was good. - It was good.

  • It's funny. - Yeah.

  • Yeah. - Mmhmm.

  • - I didn't really watch anything, TV shows.

  • - What about, was Game of Thrones?

  • - Yeah, but it was the last season.

  • - Yeah, you had mixed feelings.

  • But that was probably the one that you watched.

  • - That was the one I was most into, interested in.

  • Best accomplishment in 2019?

  • - Hmm.

  • - Should I go first?

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - 250,000 subscribers on this channel.

  • - Woot, woot, yeah.

  • - A quarter of a million.

  • - A quarter of a million?

  • That sounds.

  • - It sounds better, doesn't it?

  • - That does sound better, yeah.

  • - A quarter of a million subscribers.

  • Thank you for subscribing.

  • - Uh-huh. - And for you?

  • - So, I think that probably, my biggest accomplishment was

  • I worked on kind of starting a real estate business.

  • - Yeah.

  • - To remodel houses, so that took,

  • you know, I have a lot to learn, but I also feel

  • like just starting something was the right step.

  • - Yeah, something you love.

  • - Something I loved.

  • I loved it.

  • Mmhmm.

  • - Movie of the year? - Oh, gosh.

  • - Frozen II? - Frozen II.

  • (both laughing)

  • - It's the only one we've watched.

  • - Yeah, we're laughing and we're joking about it, but.

  • - Oh, what about the Secret Life of Pets 2?

  • - That was also good, mmhmm.

  • - These children movies. - Yeah.

  • - Now, what's the song that people sing on New Year's Eve?

  • - Auld Lang Syne?

  • - Yeah, it wasn't a trick question.

  • - Okay, I didn't know.

  • - Do you remember what that means, auld lang syne?

  • - Oh, I forgot.

  • - Times gone by.

  • - Oh, man, yeah. - Scottish song, Burns.

  • - I feel like, I'm feeling very nostalgic right now.

  • Like, I'm thinking a lot about the past.

  • It's kind of making me feel like sad,

  • a little bit wistful, like, wishing for the past.

  • - Yeah, sentimental. - Sentimental, mmhmm.

  • I wonder if it's also because we're not just ending a year,

  • but we're ending a decade.

  • - Yeah. - You know?

  • We'll look back, and we'll be like, these were the,

  • I don't know what we'll call them,

  • the 20-teens or something.

  • - Yeah.

  • - It was an important decade in our lives.

  • A lot changed and happened. - Oh, yeah.

  • And we'll probably release this video next decade, right?

  • - Yeah.

  • - Do you remember my joke from before?

  • - Oh my gosh, go ahead.

  • - So, I said, I'd like to predict what's gonna happen

  • next year, but I don't have 20/20 vision.

  • Now, jokes aren't really funny if you have to explain them,

  • but 20/20 vision, next year's 2020,

  • and 20/20 vision means perfect eyesight.

  • And it's true in my case, or in our cases.

  • - Yeah, we don't have perfect vision

  • or the ability to predict what will happen.

  • - Although, why don't we try?

  • What's gonna happen next year, just generally?

  • - Oh my gosh. - Give me a prediction.

  • - Okay, all right.

  • - We won't get too political.

  • - Yeah, no, I think more pop culture predictions.

  • - Yeah, or like, the zeitgeist, like, what the feel is.

  • - What the feeling of the times is.

  • Oh, this is so hard.

  • I think that honestly, our whole kind of working world

  • will keep shifting onto online platforms.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - I think that already,

  • people are learning and teaching online.

  • I think that other businesses will find ways to move online.

  • I mean, they already have.

  • I think that the process will just keep going

  • in ways that might surprise us.

  • - Yeah.

  • It both creeps, but then also, over a year,

  • you notice things are radically different.

  • - Mmhmm. - Yeah.

  • Some people have talked about,

  • I was reading somebody's post about business stuff,

  • and he was saying that voice and things like Alexa,

  • they're just going to explode to another level next year,

  • where most people are using those devices.

  • And just from a business online point of view,

  • people are searching more through their voice.

  • - Oh, wow, interesting. - And asking questions.

  • - Yeah, that's really neat.

  • And I think artificial intelligence in general

  • will come into play, things like self-driving cars.

  • - We made a video on that.

  • - Yes.

  • - They're gonna explode. - They're gonna explode.

  • That's just our prediction, but the technology is there,

  • and it keeps getting better.

  • Right now, our house is probably being vacuumed by a robot.

  • - Oh, it's the best thing I've ever bought.

  • - So good, yeah,

  • it's so good. (Kate laughs)

  • - A robot vacuum.

  • - Yeah. - Yeah.

  • I really want new products like that to come out,

  • like a laundry machine

  • that washes, dries, and folds for you.

  • - Yeah, oh, that's the easy part.

  • It's the putting away

  • that is hard. (Kate laughs)

  • (Jack sigh) - Yeah, yeah.

  • - At least for us. - Mmhmm.

  • - And, yeah, it's interesting.

  • I would say that you are more of an early adapter than I am.

  • - Yeah, I'd say so.

  • - Like, you know more about new technology.

  • You're more excited to invest in it,

  • bring it into our lives, use it.

  • I'm a little bit more conservative about that kind of stuff.

  • - Yeah.

  • - I like things to kind of be simple.

  • If there's a hard way to do something,

  • I usually wanna do it the long, hard way.

  • (Kate laughs)

  • You're like, oh, there's this technology

  • that will save you all this time and effort.

  • I'm like, I kind of wanna use the time and effort.

  • - Yeah, there's a good word that I just can't think of,

  • but you're skeptical. - Yeah.

  • - When I got the robot vacuum,

  • (Jack sighs) you know, skeptical.

  • But now, it's the best thing.

  • It's the best thing ever.

  • It was $100 on offer.

  • It's changed our lives.

  • - It cleans our house every day, mmhmm.

  • We also have animals and children.

  • - Yeah, yeah, it just gets up all the dog hair.

  • - Although. - Go on.

  • - It did.

  • (Jack groans) - Oh, right.

  • (Kate laughs)

  • Our dog didn't get outside enough one morning,

  • and it pooped on the floor.

  • - Yeah.

  • - And then our robot vacuum went off automatically.

  • It was an absolute disaster.

  • - Just like, poop everywhere.

  • - Luckily, luckily, it got jammed in that vicinity,

  • so it didn't actually go all over the house.

  • - Yeah.

  • - So it was confined to one little area.

  • But, well, cleaning the floor was one thing.

  • (Kate laughs)

  • I think it took me 45 minutes to clean that vacuum.

  • - Thank you for doing that. (Kate laughs)

  • - Yeah.

  • Well, I thought I'd got away of it,

  • 'cause you cleaned the floor,

  • and I thought, oh, good, I don't have to clean up the poop.

  • And it was one of those nights where we were so busy

  • and I had so much to do,

  • and it was nine o'clock, and I noticed it.

  • (Kate laughs)

  • I had to take all the wheels apart and unscrew things.

  • - I know. - It was horrible.

  • - Mmhmm, it was really bad.

  • But worth it.

  • - I've taken off automatic go now.

  • - Okay, so now we can kind of survey the floor,

  • make sure it's good. - Have a look, yeah.

  • - Sorry, I know that's not funny,

  • but it was a little funny. - It was a little funny.

  • I might post a picture of it on Instagram.

  • - Whoo! - If people wanna see it.

  • - Yeah, I don't know if anyone would wanna see that.

  • (Kate laughs)

  • - If you would like to see that,

  • let me know in the comments.

  • (Kate laughs)

  • So yeah, it's great,

  • but make sure that your floor is not too dirty.

  • - But it also creates unanticipated challenges.

  • - Yeah. - Mmhmm.

  • - How long have we been going for?

  • - I don't know. - Can't tell.

  • - Well, should we just do a couple more quick fire?

  • - Sure, mmhmm.

  • - I want to gain, complete the sentence.

  • - Weight.

  • - I want to lose.

  • (both laughing)

  • - Okay, no, I wanna gain more,

  • oh my gosh.

  • It's awkward to use. - It's a weird verb, isn't it?

  • - Yeah.

  • - That's why I introduced it, in a way,

  • because you would say gain weight.

  • That's what you said there.

  • - But you would say earn money.

  • - Earn money, make friends.

  • - You would say make friends.

  • - These are collocations.

  • - Yeah.

  • So, words I'd use with gain.

  • You can gain experience.

  • - Yeah! - I wanna gain experience in.

  • - Real estate?

  • - Yeah, real estate, writing, photography, mmhmm.

  • - I want to repeat.

  • - Ooh.

  • - That's a tough one again, isn't it?

  • - Yeah, that's a tough one too.

  • Second grade?

  • (both laughing)

  • 'Cause it's another one.

  • - Yeah, I'm working in a second grade classroom right now.

  • I wanna repeat, you can't really repeat vacations.

  • - No, this is a gray thing.

  • 'Cause you say I want to go on vacation again.

  • We want to go to Spain again. - Again.

  • I want to repeat.

  • - You don't have to answer. - Okay, sorry.

  • - I want to, no, I need more.

  • - Sleep.

  • (Jack laughs)

  • - We made a conversation lesson on sleep.

  • - It's gotten a lot better since then.

  • We're getting much, much better sleep.

  • But I feel like I could always use an extra hour.

  • - Yeah. - Yeah.

  • - I need more help. - Mmhmm.

  • - Around with cleaning, with my business.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - And we'll talk a little bit about plans in a second.

  • - I was about to say I need more chocolate, but that.

  • - No, that's I want to lose.

  • - You can't lose chocolate. (Kate laughs)

  • - I need to say that.

  • - Oh, I need to say that.

  • - These are strange, aren't they?

  • - That my friends are really important to me,

  • and I need to say that the people that I care about

  • are important to me and I love them more.

  • - Good. - Mmhmm.

  • - Now, 2020, what's your overall theme for the year?

  • And if you want me to go first.

  • - Yeah, go first, 'cause you've had a.

  • - 'Cause I've thought about this.

  • - You've thought about it, mmhmm.

  • - So, my theme for next year is to delegate more.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - Now, this year, the second part,

  • I've hired a couple of people to help with To Fluency.

  • So, I have a video editor and two writers,

  • two content writers. - Neat.

  • - Yeah, or just like admin stuff.

  • - Yeah.

  • - But I want someone to help me with emails next year,

  • and then I want to delegate

  • more stuff around the house to people, if we can.

  • - Mmhmm, yeah. - Yeah.

  • And then also, just to get ahead.

  • It's always been my goal,

  • and I got ahead for a while, and I'm still ahead.

  • But it just means to make videos in advance,

  • to create lessons in advance.

  • - Yeah.

  • - So, going back to that theme of sprinting,

  • doing something intensive for a while

  • and then, you know, letting go of it.

  • - Nice.

  • - Yeah.

  • And what about you?

  • - So, mine is a little bit more abstract.

  • I think that my, how did we phrase it, the theme?

  • My theme for the year is gonna be wonder.

  • I would like to just have a lot of curiosity about things.

  • I think that I'm interested in a lot of things,

  • but I don't pursue them, and I want to be curious

  • and find out more, ask more questions,

  • and hopefully just really like, immerse myself,

  • really get into things that I think

  • are just interesting and fascinating, you know?

  • - I love that. - Just to be open to things.

  • - That is my theme as well.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - And delegating is gonna help do that.

  • (Kate laughs) - Yeah.

  • The practical things are gonna help you pursue that, yeah.

  • - Yeah, 'cause just before Christmas,

  • I was looking at the world map, and I just tested myself.

  • We were doing it together, weren't we?

  • - Yeah, yeah, we were quizzing each other.

  • It was kind of dorky.

  • - Yeah, like, to name all the states in the USA,

  • or to name, in your case, counties in the UK.

  • - Oh, yeah, I don't know them very well.

  • They're hard. - They're really hard.

  • - They all end in -ich, like Norwich.

  • - That's a city. - Yeah.

  • - But what do they all end in?

  • - Shire.

  • - Shire, they were all -shires.

  • Lancashire, Cheshire, Berkshire.

  • - Made a lesson on how to pronounce those.

  • - The shires?

  • - Yeah, "shire."

  • (both laughing)

  • But I found myself like, just going through the process

  • of learning where every country is in the world.

  • And I can do it.

  • I can name every country in the world.

  • - Cool.

  • - On a map, and then every state in the US.

  • And this is the kind of stuff I used to do, I used to love.

  • I could remember a pack of cards shuffled.

  • I trained myself to do it.

  • And I love doing stuff like that.

  • So it's about creating the space and time

  • in order to do that guilt-free.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - Because we can constantly be doing stuff.

  • - Yeah.

  • - For family, house, and work.

  • - Uh-huh.

  • - But to try and find that space

  • just to do stuff you wanna do.

  • Like just go take a hike.

  • - Yeah.

  • - That sounds. - No, I know.

  • (both laughing)

  • - Like, take a hike. - Take a hike is an expression

  • that means get out of here. - Get outta here.

  • Take a hike. - Take a hike.

  • (both laughing) - Not that way.

  • But yeah, take a hike, go explore nature.

  • I would like to take a class or two,

  • because it's such a wonderful thing to go into a class

  • or an experience or even an online course,

  • and you can just see how much you can learn and get exposed

  • to new things that you wouldn't have thought of.

  • Somebody has created this experience and this knowledge

  • that you can just consume.

  • - Yeah. - Yeah.

  • I wanna take like, a cooking class.

  • I wanna take writing classes, photography classes.

  • - That would be cool. - Yeah.

  • - So there we go.

  • Let's see how well we do by the end of the year.

  • - Mmhmm.

  • - Yeah, we'll end it there.

  • So, again, if you've enjoyed this,

  • then please like and share it.

  • Kate's question. - Ooh.

  • I mean, the obvious one.

  • - Yeah? - Yeah!

  • What are your New Year's goals or resolutions?

  • - Yeah, what are your,

  • and if you're watching this in July,

  • what are your goals right now?

  • - Yeah. - What are you working on?

  • What kind of things do you like to do?

  • - Yeah.

  • - And then yeah, head over to the website, tofluency.com.

  • I'll leave a link in the description,

  • and go check out the notes on this lesson,

  • and also, how to get premium resources.

  • All right, thank you for watching.

  • - Happy New Year. - Happy New Year.

  • Bye-bye for now.

  • - Or anytime. - Just happy, happen anytime.

  • - Happy anytime. - Bye-bye.

  • (upbeat electronic music)

(upbeat electronic music)

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it