Hi there, this is Harry and welcome back to advanced English lessons with Harry
where I try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language.
Whether you're trying to improve your basic knowledge in English, conversational English,
or perhaps you're preparing for that job interview, whatever it is, you've come to
the right place. And in the advanced English lesson today, we're talking about a new start.
First of all, I'd like to take the opportunity to wish you a very Happy
New Year. New Year is all about New Year's resolutions, new goals, and new targets.
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Now, let's get back to our lesson for today. So a lesson about New Start, advanced English
lesson about a new start. And this is well-known and popular vocabulary and expressions related
to a new start, I'll go through them. And I'll give you some examples as we go through them.
First to clear the decks. Well, clear the decks is a shipping expression to clear the
deck of a ship is to make sure there's nothing to obstruct you. So when we want to make a new start,
we say let's clear the decks. Let's have a blank piece of paper, let's start afresh,
go to the very beginning. So if you want to make a new start at the beginning of a new year,
then you clear the decks and you're ready, get rid of all the old habits that you had,
and introduce new habits. So to clear the decks.
The second expression is to have a clean slate or a clean sheet. Or to wipe the slate clean,
you can use it in that way as well the the intention is the same. So when you have a
clear slate or a clean slate, then it's all about starting with a blank piece of paper,
a clean sheet of paper, and then start writing down your goals are your targets. A clean slate
because we used to write on slates. The old, old old fashioned schools, they used to use chalk and
write on slate. And then when you are finished writing, you would wipe it clean and start again.
So that's what we're talking about here. When we want to make a new start, we take our slate,
or we take our sheet of paper, and we make sure that it's blank, it's clean. And therefore we can
express our ideas and start again. And anytime when I have a little difficulty or a problem on
my mind, I actually do take out a clean sheet of paper and I start writing down the pros and
the cons of a particular problem. And I try to weigh it up to see what's more beneficial to go
this way or to go that way. So we have a clean slate, or a clean sheet a clean sheet of paper.
I hope you find my lesson useful. And if you do find the lesson useful and you like it, please
like the video. And also if you could subscribe to the channel, because it really really helps.
Number three, to turn over a new leaf, to turn over a new leaf. Well again,
if we look at a copy book or an exercise book, when you're finished writing on one page,
you turn over the page or turn over a new leaf and you start writing again on a fresh clean
piece of paper. So this is what it means to turn over a new leaf is to start again. So you've none
of the baggage that you brought with you from the previous year or the previous decade. You
start again and you turn over a new leaf. If somebody changes the habits of a lifetime...
So for example, if they give up smoking at the beginning of the year, their friends will say,
Ha, here he goes again. A new leaf. He's turning over a new leaf. He has given up smoking, how
many times has he done that in the last 10 years? Hopefully, this time, he will be successful. So we
turn over a new leaf at the beginning of the year to break old habits and start new habits.
Number four, a whole new ballgame. Well, this is a little bit of an American expression of a
whole new ballgame. So when we talk about football, or basketball, or baseball,
whatever the sport happens to be, when the game is over, the referee or the umpire blows the whistle,
and that's it full time. Everything is over. So then when we have another game,
it's then a whole new ballgame. So when we want to start afresh, or we want to start something new,
then it is a whole new ballgame. What happened in the previous games is largely irrelevant. We
want to start again, it's 11, against 11, five against five, whatever the team numbers are,
we're starting afresh. So when we have a whole new ballgame, then we're talking about everything
is different. What happens in the past no longer applies. So if you're giving up smoking, or you're
taking up more sport or activity, then you say, Yeah, well, this is a whole new ballgame for me,
I'm going to go to the gym twice a week. And then if I like it, and I improve my fitness,
I'll go three times a week. So this is the whole new ballgame for you to get yourself fit.
The next expression number five is nothing ventured, nothing gained. Okay. So this is
an old old expression, I think most people have heard about it. What it means is, if you don't
try something, then you you get no benefit, you might not succeed. Of course, you might not, not
everything succeeds first time. But if you don't try, you definitely won't succeed. So nothing
ventured, nothing gained. So if you want to wipe the slate clean, you want to start with a new job,
you start looking around to see what jobs are available, what jobs are suitable for you, you
might start with your CV to brush it up, clean it up, so it looks presentable, and it's up to date.
And then that's how you start the new year. So nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you don't
try, you have no chance of succeeding. If you do try, it may be difficult. There may be a few
stumbles along the way, but at least you're making progress. So nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Now remember, when you're learning English, it's really really important to practice,
practice, practice practice, you can do that with one to one lessons with
Preply. And don't forget to click on the link in the description below to
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Number six new or fresh blood. Now that sounds very grotesque but it's not really.
So when we have new blood, it gives a refreshing feeling people who have a
blood transfusion feel really great for a period of time because that new blood
is full of oxygen and they feel really, really good. So they had to cleanse the system, okay.
Or in a company, they have new blood when they hire new people. And you'll often
hear the expression, Ah, it's about time we got some new blood into this organisation,
a couple of new staff members will help to bring in new ideas. So we're not all stuck
in the past. So when we want to make a new beginning, when we want to make a new start,
fresh blood on new blood is really, really critical. So introducing new people,
new ideas is where that fresh blood or new blood comes from.
Next number seven to go back to the drawing board. Well, we have to go back to the drawing
board. It's like an architect, he has his board in front of him, and he's making his designs,
if he makes a mistake, or doesn't work, or there's some issue with it, he will go back to the drawing
board, correct the mistakes that he has made and start afresh. So when we want to have a new start,
we go back to the drawing board, see what didn't work in the previous year or past few years and
make corrections make changes make alterations, so that hopefully the new start in the new year
will help us to improve so we have to go back to the drawing board. So let's take a situation
where a company wants to launch a new product and they spend a lot of time and a lot of money and
thinking time coming up with the new plan what the product will look like how they will design it,
how they will market it and how they will launch it and then sometime coming towards the end of the
project. You realise that there's something missing that it's not really going to be as
attractive to the public as you first thoughts. So you cancel everything. You cancel the plans
and you say to the team members, Okay guys, I think we need to go back to the drawing board.
We need to start again the something we've missed this something we haven't taken into account. So
we need to look at it afresh, we need a new start. So to go back to the drawing board is
to start again, cancel the old mistakes. And let's look to see if we can improve on that.
Number eight, to be the new kid on the block, new kid on the block. Well, we all have experienced
that during our lifetimes, I'm sure we move towns, we have cities, or we move within a
city from one region to another. And when you arrive in a new area, you have to go to a new
school. And you are literally the new kid on the block. Everybody knows that you knew some people
would come up to you, to greet you. But it's difficult, it's difficult to get known. It's
difficult to get to know other people, but you have to start somewhere. So being the new kid
on the block can be interesting. But it can also be very, very challenging. And in the same way,
if you're a company that's getting into a market that's well established, and you are bringing in
some new ideas, you will be the new kid on the block and people will look to you to see
what sort of changes you are going to introduce something that would be beneficial for them to
be the new kid on the block that person with the new ideas, the literally the kid that arrives in
the area from a different district and comes to the school. So you're the new kid on the block.
Number nine to blow away the cobwebs. Well, we all know what the cobwebs are. We don't
use a room for a long time or we don't go into a particular room,
cobwebs develop or spiders webs develops in corners, around doors and around windows,
then what we if we want to use that room, we have to dust away those cobwebs so that the place looks
neat and tidy and clean. So we get the duster or the vacuum cleaner, and we clean the room. Okay,
so when we blow away the cobwebs from the old year, it means you want to start afresh
and we want to start a new we want to start and make a new start for the next year. So
let's all blow away the cobwebs of 2022. And we'll make a fresh start in 2023. New year,
new beginning fresh air open the window, blow away those cobwebs and let's start again.
And then a final expression, which is really really old expression for this time of the year
is out with the old and in with the new and well used expression people use on New Year's Eve and
New Year's Day. Yeah, yes, New Year's Eve, it's a great time to get out with the old and in with
the new and we have all of these traditions of bells ringing to announce the end of one year
and the beginning of the next tour. In Spain they have the the tradition of the 12 grapes. In other
countries, they have different traditions, but it's all based on the same premise,
Out with the old and in with the new. So if you're starting a new chapter in your life,
it could be in relationships. It could be in work, it could be in business, it could be in location,
then it's all about out with the old forget about what happened in the past. Let's look to the
future. As we all know we can't change the past, but we can certainly change
the future. So Out with the old in with the new Out with the old ideas in with the new.
Okay, so there you have 10 particular expressions all used a new vocabulary
to help you talk about a new start and you can practice those to help you understand what a
new start is all about. As always, you won't know them or you won't be able to remember
them all but try a few of them. And this time of the year. The beginning of 2023 is a great
time to experiment with your English. So let me get them to you one more time.
Number one, clear the decks. Like the ship, to clear the decks make sure everything is clean.
To have a clean slate or a clean sheet literally to write on. So you you there's nothing there from
the previous the previous year that's going to get in the way a clean slate or a clean sheet.
To turn over a new leaf in a book or an exercise book or even when you're reading to turn over a
new leaf to start again. A whole new ballgame, very American, a whole new ballgame. The referee
blows the whistle on the old game. The next time it's a new game. Everybody starts from the
same position and a whole new ballgame. And then about winning and losing, nothing ventured nothing
gained. So if you don't try you don't get if you don't try you don't win doesn't mean you will
always be successful but nothing ventured nothing gained. Number six, new or fresh blood introduce
new people to the team introduce new ideas new or fresh blood. Number seven, go back to the drawing
board like the architect you make a mistake, you go back to the drawing board and you try again.
Number eight, new kid on the block that kid who's just moved into town, the new kid on the block,
you've you're new into the game you have to be different you have to do something
different to be noticed new kid on the block. And number nine to blow away the cobwebs.
Blow away those cobwebs that everything be fresh that everything smell nicely, windows,
clean and clear, you can look out, let the fresh air in to blow away the cobwebs. And then finally,
number 10 Out with the old and in with the new a really really old expression.
But as true today as it was 100 years ago whenever it was first used Out with the
old and in with the new. Now don't forget that practice makes perfect. The more you practice,
the better you get. It's all about that practice makes perfect. Okay, this is
Harry saying goodbye. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening, and join me for the next lesson.