oh hey there i'm emma from um
english it's the start of a new year
i've got new hair and i'm really excited
about all of the new english lessons
that i have in store for you and what i
want most for you this year is that this
is the year where you start to feel more
confident and more natural when you
speak english
like you can finally be yourself in
english i'll be here all year to help
you and we're kicking off with some
speaking practice so you're going to
practice speaking with me right now
out loud okay
we're going to work on your
pronunciation
connected speech
your tone and facial expressions to help
you be more expressive in english
we're going to be talking about goals
and intentions for the year ahead
and there's lots of useful phrases and
expressions you'll get to hear them
being used naturally and in context
by the way what are your goals or your
plans for the year ahead
let me know down in the comments
[Music]
if you want to go and grab the pdf
download that i've created for you it's
got the script that we're going to use
through this whole lesson so you can
practice easily at home
and you'll also have all of the really
natural expressions the phrases that are
helpful to talk about this topic if
you're already on the english mailing
list then don't worry i've already sent
this to you it's in your inbox go check
it we are using the imitation technique
today and that's going to help you to
develop your speaking
and your listening skills both of them
are really important if you want to
speak clearly and be understood the
focus is on natural pronunciation word
stress connected speech
and tone that's going to help you to be
more expressive if you've done one of my
imitation lessons before you probably
already know how this works it's pretty
simple once you know it so if you've
done it before jump straight ahead to
this time step and you can start
practicing right now if this is your
first time then i'll explain the three
simple steps you need to follow really
quickly the first one is you'll just
need to listen to me you can read the
words on screen it's just to get a feel
for the story
step two is where things get interesting
you'll listen to the same story again
but there'll be a pause
after each clause or sentence and you'll
get to repeat after me and the last step
is where you'll shadow me you'll be
speaking at the same time as me now
pronunciation is important here but it's
not the only thing that we're focusing
on i also want you to pay attention to
my facial expressions my body language
all of these things are part of
confident and effective communication
all things that you can work on with me
through this video to help you feel and
to sound more relaxed when you speak
step one
just listen first
throughout my 20s i regularly made new
year's resolutions i was obsessed
but i hardly ever kept them for longer
than a few weeks i'd reach the end of
january and feel disappointed
or annoyed that i'd let my bad habits
creep back in
i'd say to myself
wow
you didn't even last a month
and then year after year i'd get more
and more disappointed with myself and
eventually i just stopped making
resolutions it seemed pointless but i
think that's a shame i love the optimism
and the hope that a new year brings
it's a fresh start a clean slate
so
i've been listening to podcasts and
talking to my friends about their plans
and their goals for the year ahead
and i've decided to try a new strategy
this year
instead of setting goals and setting
intentions for myself and there's an
important difference between the two
instead of focusing on the end point the
result
i'm going to focus on the behaviors that
i need to adopt to get there
so
for example
one intention i have for myself this
year is to take better care of myself
physically mentally and spiritually
now the old me would say
okay
what do i need to do to make this happen
ah
i know i'll set a goal to meditate for
10 minutes every morning
and i'll always take sundays off so that
i have some time for myself
but these goals really just set me up
for failure if i accidentally sleep in
or i skip a morning meditation
i suddenly feel like i've failed
instead i can use my intentions to help
make good decisions that are going to
lead me towards the outcome i want
like
would someone who's taking care of
themselves say yes to a late night
meeting just because it was more
convenient for the other person in their
time zone
probably not
i'm hoping that being intentional with
the decisions that i make can help me to
take better care of myself this year
okay you've listened to the story now
it's your turn to speak so you're going
to follow along with me repeat what i
say after me
there's going to be a little pause where
you can imitate exactly what i say
when you're listening pay attention to
word stress to the tone and to the
pronunciation the way that words link
and connect together try to practice try
to copy those
step two
listen
and imitate
throughout my twenties i regularly made
new year's resolutions
i was obsessed
but i hardly ever kept them for longer
than a few weeks
i'd reach the end of january and feel
disappointed
or annoyed that i'd let my bad habits
creep back in
i'd say to myself
wow
you didn't even last a month
and then year after year i'd get more
and more disappointed with myself and
eventually
i just stopped making resolutions it
seemed pointless
but i think that's a shame
i love the optimism and the hope that a
new year brings
it's a fresh start a clean slate
so
i've been listening to podcasts
and talking to my friends about their
plans and their goals for the year ahead
and i've decided to try a new strategy
this year
instead of setting goals and setting
intentions for myself
and there's an important difference
between the two
instead of focusing on the end point the
result
i'm going to focus on the behaviors that
i need to adopt to get there
so
for example
one intention i have for myself this
year is to take better care of myself
physically mentally and spiritually
now the old me would say
okay
what do i need to do to make this happen
ah
i know i'll set a goal to meditate for
10 minutes every morning
and i'll always take sundays off so that
i have some time for myself
but these goals really just set me up
for failure
if i accidentally sleep in or i skip a
morning meditation
i suddenly feel like i've failed
instead i can use my intentions to help
make good decisions
that are going to lead me towards the
outcome i want
like
would someone who's taking care of
themselves
say yes to a late night meeting just
because it was more convenient for the
other person in their time zone
probably not
i'm hoping that being intentional with
the decisions that i make
can help me to take better care of
myself this year
step three is a little more challenging
but i think you're ready for it
if you want to you can head back to step
two and do it over again if you want do
it again and again until you feel
comfortable do it as many times as you
like no one's gonna know
so in step three
we are shadowing okay you're gonna
listen but you're also gonna speak at
the same time as me you may get a little
bit tongue-tied
that's okay don't worry shadowing me is
the best way to copy the rhythm
and the tone that i'm using which is
really really important in english
step three shadow me
throughout my twenties i regularly made
new year's resolutions i was obsessed
but i hardly ever kept them for longer
than a few weeks i'd reach the end of
january and feel disappointed
or annoyed that i'd let my bad habits
creep back in
i'd say to myself
wow
you didn't even last a month
and then year after year i'd get more
and more disappointed with myself and
eventually i just stopped making
resolutions it seemed pointless but i
think that's a shame i love the optimism
and the hope that a new year brings
it's a fresh start a clean slate
so
i've been listening to podcasts and
talking to my friends about their plans
and their goals for the year ahead
and i've decided to try a new strategy
this year
instead of setting goals i'm setting
intentions for myself and there's an
important difference between the two
instead of focusing on the end point the
result
i'm going to focus on the behaviors that
i need to adopt to get there
so
for example
one intention i have for myself this
year is to take better care of myself
physically mentally and spiritually
now the old me would say
okay
what do i need to do to make this happen
ah
i know i'll set a goal to meditate for
10 minutes every morning
and i'll always take sundays off so that
i have some time for myself
but these goals really just set me up
for failure if i accidentally sleep in
or i skip a morning meditation
i suddenly feel like i've failed instead
i can use my intentions to help make
good decisions that are going to lead me
towards the outcome i want
like
would someone who's taking care of
themselves say yes to a late night
meeting just because it was more
convenient for the other person in their
time zone
probably not
i'm hoping that being intentional with
the decisions that i make can help me to
take better care of myself this year
hey you did it awesome work now you get
to speak about your new year's
intentions with clarity and with
confidence don't forget that you can
grab the pdf download that i made you
it's got the script to make it easy to
practice at home you can also save this
video just so that you can redo it
replay it a few more times again and
again see if you can play around with
some of the ideas that i shared through
this lesson and make it your own add
your own goals and plans for the future
the more that you practice
the better you'll get
and you've got every opportunity right
now at this time of year to practice
talking about this topic so make sure
you do and you can keep practicing your
natural expression and your
pronunciation with me right here in this
lesson it's all about connected speech
i'll see you in that lesson have a
wonderful year ahead i can't wait to
share all of the lessons i've got in
store for you i'll see you again soon