English listening and conversation practice.
Lesson three my daily routine.
This is Alex and this is Ellie.
They recently got to know each
other, listen to their short conversation.
As Alex asks Ellie about her daily routine, focus
on the highlighted words and phrases used in context.
Later I will explain their
meanings with more example sentences.
This conversation will give you good listening practice
and help you understand the native English accent.
Let's begin.
Ellie, what time do you usually wake up?
I am up by six on weekdays and
on weekends I stay in bed until nine.
Wow, that's too early for me.
I'm not out of the bed until ten.
I am a morning person, you know.
What time do you leave for work?
I finish my breakfast around nine
and then immediately leave for work.
And how do you get to work?
I usually drive to work, but
sometimes I take the Metro.
Is your sleep too busy?
I work for a software company.
I am mostly snowed under.
My day starts as soon as I get to my desk.
What time do you generally have lunch?
There's no fixed time.
Anywhere between one to 02:00 p.m..
Do you take any coffee breaks?
Yes, I need them every 2 hours.
Elsa will be one screwball.
So, do you leave the office around five? Not really.
Depends on the project at hand.
Usually I take off around 630 and reach home at 730.
Oh, it takes an hour to travel back?
Yes, the evening traffic is bumper to bumper.
So you must be cooking after that.
No, first I take my dog for a walk.
I usually have salad and soup in the evening.
What's next?
I either read a book, binge on YouTube, check
my Instagram and other messages, iron my clothes for
the next day and catch on some news.
I usually hit the sack around ten. I see.
Quite a taxing day.
Yes, but weekends are fun.
I was about to ask you that.
I wish I could tell you about my
weekends, but I need to be somewhere.
Maybe next time? Sure thing. Next time. Bye.
Talk to you soon.
Bye, Ellie.
I hope you enjoyed the conversation and learned
how to talk about a daily routine.
Now let's take a closer look at some of
the key words and phrases used in this conversation.
Number one is your slate too busy?
In this phrase, the word slate
is used in replacement of schedule.
Alex is asking Ellie if her daily
schedule is very busy at work.
Here are some more examples.
I am sorry I can't meet you on Wednesday.
My slate is full.
Number two snowed under.
When it snows heavily, what happens?
Everything gets covered with snow.
It's a figurative way of saying I am extremely busy.
You can replace very busy with snowed under.
For example, my new job is quite challenging.
I am snowed under right from
the first week of joining up.
Next screwball.
It's an English slang word and means a person
who behaves in a strange and funny way.
In this conversation, Ellie says that she needs
a coffee break every 2 hours, else she
would be one screwball, meaning she won't be
able to focus and start behaving strangely.
She looks like a coffee addict to me.
What do you think?
Let me know in the comments.
Here's an example sentence I don't
know what's wrong with Ryan.
He's talking like one screwball, four take off.
I am sure you know what it means to
leave the ground and is usually associated with aeroplanes.
But in this context it's used to mean
Ellie leaves the office for the day.
Take off is a phrasal verb
and could also mean to succeed.
For example, our new marketing campaign will certainly
take off and earn good sales figures.
Next up, bumper to bumper.
I love this phrase.
I often use it in my conversations.
It's an English idiom and means there's a lot of
traffic, as if the car bumpers are touching each other.
I don't see reaching home on time.
There's an accident on the highway and
the traffic is bumper to bumper.
You can also use chocolate block.
It's a British slang and can also be
used when a room is full of people,
meaning it's packed with people to binge on.
When you binge on something, you
watch something one after the other.
Usually a video series or episodes.
For example, my weekend is all set.
I'm going to Binge on season two of
all my favorite web shows catch on.
Catch on is a phrasal verb and means to
get yourself updated with the latest news or information.
It could also mean becoming
popular or understand something.
It's a multiple meaning phrasal verb.
For example, the new song is catching on Instagram.
I am sure it's going to go viral.
I did not catch on to what the boss wanted
to actually say, meaning you failed to understand something.
Why don't you write one sentence in the
comments below using the phrasal verb Catch on.
It will help you remember better.
Next up, taxing.
Taxing means very tired, some more exhausting.
Something that's quite hectic.
My everyday travel to work is quite taxing.
I almost spend 2 hours one way to hit the sack.
It's an English idiom which means to go to bed.
He was so tired that he
hit the sack without eating anything.
And the last key phrase from this
conversation is I need to be somewhere.
It's a better way to say I
am getting late, I must leave now.
For example, I would have loved to help
you, but I need to be somewhere.
I am sorry.
Those were eight key words
and phrases from today's conversation.
Now listen to the conversation one more time and see
how those phrases were used in real time speaking.
Ellie, what time do you usually wake up?
I am up by six on weekdays and
on weekends I stay in bed until nine.
Wow, that's too early for me.
I'm not out of the bed until ten.
I am a morning person, you know.
What time do you leave for work?
I finish my breakfast around nine
and then immediately leave for work.
And how do you get to work?
I usually drive to work, but
sometimes I take the Metro.
Is your sleep too busy?
I work for a software company.
I am mostly snowed under.
My day starts as soon as I get to my desk.
What time do you generally have lunch?
There's no fixed time.
Anywhere between one to 02:00 p.m..
Do you take any coffee breaks?
Yes, I need them every 2 hours,
else that will be one screwball.
So do you leave the office around five? Not really.
Depends on the project at hand.
Usually I take off around 630 and reach home at 730.
Oh, it takes an hour to travel back?
Yes, the evening traffic is bumper to bumper.
So you must be cooking after that.
No, first I take my dog for a walk.
I usually have salad and soup in the evening.
What's next?
I either read a book, binge on YouTube, check
my Instagram and other messages, iron my clothes for
the next day and catch on some news.
I usually hit the sack around ten. I see.
Quite a taxing day.
Yes, but weekends are fun.
I was about to ask you that.
I wish I could tell you about my
weekends, but I need to be somewhere.
Maybe next time? Sure thing. Next time. Bye.
Talk to you soon.
Bye, Ellie.
That's all for today.
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I will see you soon. Until then.
As I always say, keep
learning, keep practicing English.