English Addict 25 : LIVE Lesson - Wednesday 8th January 2020 - fat chance / thin ice / slim pickings

hmm everyone take a deep breath everyone breathe in

everyone say Oh mr. Duncan we are so pleased that you are here we are so

pleased to see you once again and I must be honest with you I am pleased to be

here as well hello everyone welcome to another

English addict live stream from the United Kingdom

I'm not going to fool you or trick you in any way but I did have one or two

technical problems a few seconds ago did you notice I bet you didn't but I did

have a big problem then I thought everything was going to go very wrong

anyway it doesn't matter because we are here hi everybody this is mr. Duncan in

England if you don't believe me look there's my name on the screen in front

of you right now how are you today are you okay I hope so

are you happy are you really really happy I hope so I know things are a

little bit grim at the moment I was reading the news this morning lots of

things going on most of them negative it would appear however I've been busy in

the garden would you like to see what I've been doing this morning

it's looking pretty good actually so this is what I'm building at the moment

in my back garden it's my new nuclear fallout shelter so there it is I've been

in the garden digging all morning and I must admit it's coming along rather

nicely so what do you think of my nuclear fallout shelter isn't it nice

it's quite nice really isn't it it looks it looks like there is plenty of room so

if anyone wants to use my nuclear fallout shelter for all of that horrible

radiation when it falls out of the sky

you are free to join me and we can have lots of fun as the world comes to an end

however I have a feeling it's not going to happen

can I just tell you something way back in the 1950s during a period of time

when the USA and Russia were not getting along there was a threat of world war

there was a threat of a nuclear war in fact and it never happened and then in

the 1980s the same thing happened we were all worried about nuclear war in

the world coming to at the end of its existence however it didn't happen it

really didn't happen nothing happened and here we are once again with everyone

believing that World War 3 is about to happen but I don't think it will so

don't worry everyone relax calm down I was only joking because

unfortunately British humour sometimes can be very hard to understand so quite

often British humour can be a little dark and maybe slightly sarcastic so don't

worry I'm an English man and British humour can sometimes be hard to

understand anyway it's great to see you here we are

now halfway through the week and we are a few days in fact eight days into a

brand new year yes today is Wednesday

so what can you say what can you say really what can you say lots of things

going on around the world right now for example in Puerto Rico they are

recovering from a huge earthquake in Venezuela they have just sworn in their

new leader after they had to break into the government buildings in Indonesia

serious floods have caused all sorts of havoc and destruction over the past

three days in Australia do I need to tell you what is happening in Australia

at the moment in Australia lots of wildfires and on the west side of

Australia they are currently suffering from heavy rain in Argentina apparently

that the smoke from the Australian fires has actually made its way all the way to

Argentina which i think is around 10,000 kilometres away so in Argentina at the

moment they are suffering from the smoke caused by the fires that are occurring

in Australia meanwhile in Spain a socialist government has just been

elected in Iran I don't know where to start with Iran because there are so

many terrible things happening there at the moment and of course I think you

know what this is all about need i say more so here we go anyway

even though the world is completely going barmy at the moment

people doing all sorts of strange and let's be honest not very nice things as

well as all the natural disasters taking place here

yeah on YouTube everything is okay and I hope you are having a super-duper day as

well of course you can catch me on YouTube when am I on when all you want

mr. Duncan can you please tell us I am on every Sunday Wednesday and Friday

2:00 p.m. UK time that is when you can find me on YouTube and I have some news

about my new website I am in at the moment

constructing a new website things on YouTube are changing many people seem to

think that YouTube will be changing for the worst not the better so we will have

to wait and see what happens there however I am at the moment constructing

a new website I am putting it all together it is hard work

it is not an easy thing to do I'm doing it all by myself just like everything

else I always do it on my own thank you very much for joining me today how many

people are here we have quite a few people here already on the live chat

nice to see you of course the big question is who was first on today's

live chat let's have a look shall we it looks like now on my list here in

front of me it looks as if grace grace chin was first on today's live chat so

thank you very much grace for joining me and guess what you are first on today's

live chat

I must be honest with you I didn't sleep very well last night not because of all

the troubles in the world but because mr. Steve is away at the moment he's not

here so I find it very strange last night being in the house all alone I

couldn't sleep and then eventually I got off to sleep but then before I knew what

was happening morning had arrived so I'm feeling a little bit tired today I'm

going to be honest with you however the good news is Steve will be back later

today and hopefully next Sunday if I can persuade Steve to appear next Sunday I

hope he will be here with us on the livestream as well so I'm feeling

slightly tired today lots of things were going through my brain lots of thoughts

first of all when is the right time to stop doing what you are doing maybe it

is something you do for a living maybe it is your job maybe it is a hobby maybe

it is a sport that you take part in something you enjoy doing when is the

right time to stop doing it and by that I mean retire so when is the right time

to do that should we just carry on forever and ever

until we drop and the reason why I'm mentioning this is not because of my my

feeling today because I'm very tired but in fact last night I was watching Larry

King on Russia today there he is so there he is Larry King he is a chat

show host he has been around for a very long time I think over 60 years he's

been working on on tell vision as a chat show host and also as a

journalist but I couldn't help noticing last night he looked dreadful he looked

really unwell and I know he's had some health problems recently I think he had

a serious heart operation and also I think he had his cataracts done as well

so Larry King he's not a young guy but he still does the thing that he's been

doing for years he's been doing it for a very long time in fact much longer than

I've been alive in fact so when is the right time to

quit because all I kept thinking last night

as I was watching Larry King on his show because he looked so ill he looked

dreadful all I kept thinking was Larry take a rest have a holiday stop doing it

it looks as if it's killing him but is that a good thing

maybe he enjoys it so much he doesn't want to stop I suppose maybe in the

future I might think about stopping this so maybe if I become too old or too ill

I might stop doing this however I might continue until I drop to the ground and

disappear forever so so what do you think when is the right time to stop

should you stop should you quit your job some people work until they literally

drop however some people also have the dream of retiring earlier they they they

want to have lots of freedom to do the things they want to do so what do you

think when is the right time to stop when is the right time to retire we

often think of retirement in fact last week Steve was talking about retiring

because as we all know Steve is not a young guy he isn't as old as Larry King

so he's at the same age as Larry King however Steve is pushing it he's getting

on in years so Steve was talking about retiring last week we don't know when

it's going to happen but he was talking about it but what about me do you think

I should retire when should I retire should I carry on doing this forever and

ever until I disappear what do you think oh hello lots of people on the live chat

can I say hello to Guadalupe hello also to boo back ah hello

watching in Senegal nice to see you here today

Thank You mr. Duncan for being here Thank You Sudhir thank you also to

f-body also zero or Siro thank you very much for joining me today

Kristina apparently they have found 180 fire bugs in Australia I'm not sure

about that I haven't seen the latest news from Australia because lots of

other things have been making the headlines here in the UK I'm sure you

don't need me to tell you what they are hello Sudhir it is always good to listen

to your useful things and there are many things to be learnt in your live stream

thank you very much thank you very much Christina says Larry King is very old

and also a great journalist as well I agree with you I quite like watching

I do enjoy watching Larry King so at the moment he presents a chat show which is

being shown on Russia today one of the many channels that I enjoy watching

hello sweetness so that's why I could figure up from your eyes because you

have those big dark circles under your eyes mr. Duncan Thank You sweetness can

I just say I always have these circles under my

eyes they are always there because my eyes are very hollow so if you look

closely if you ever meet me in real life you will notice straight away that my

eyes are very deep in my skill and that's the reason why there are shadows

by my eyes so can I just reassure you that this is not ill health this is just

shadows caused by my very deep eyes but thank you for drawing attention to it

it's very kind of you a lot of people used to comment on my eyes when I was

young before I started wearing glasses people used to comment on my big eyes so

the only reason why my eyes seemed small is because I'm wearing glasses but if I

take my glasses off then my eyes become very large so that's the reason why

anyway enough about my eyes I'm sure we have more important things to talk about

today we are looking at idioms and phrases to do with shapes and sizes so

the shape of things the size of things words and expressions connected to

shapes and sizes things that are connected to that here in the UK the

weather is lovely for those who are wondering let's have a look outside oh

look at that in the distance that is the view outside the window right now you

can see it's a little bit misty a little murky

fortunately it's not raining but apparently later today the weather is

going to become very bad we have strong winds and heavy rain

coming our way later today so I must be honest I'm not looking forward to that

I'm not looking forward to it at all

meanwhile on the live chat we are talking about retiring

would you like to retire from your job some people don't like their job some

people can't wait to retire however other people enjoy their job so much

that they just want to keep doing it forever and ever

hello Einstein Circle hello to you I love your name by the way

the subjects today shapes and sizes phrases idioms to do with those things

also we will be playing a little game the game is called is it force forced or

forcing so that is today's special game that I will be playing a little bit

later on a little word game to keep you occupied

today so it's Wednesday we are halfway through the week we are just over one

week into 2020 it's the future so we are now in the future Wow

it's like something from a science fiction novel isn't it it really is

everyone has to retire ultimately thank you Cydia well I suppose so we all have

to retire at some point as we get older maybe you are involved in a job that

means you have to do a lot of physical work so as you get older maybe you can't

do your job anymore because you become physically unable to do it

so yes you are right I suppose Maria I'd like to retire but I can't so it sounds

to me as if Maria is desperate or maybe wanting to retire but at the moment she

can't have you retired so maybe you are

watching this and you have already retired

perhaps Louie Mendez Louie Mendez is here because I know that Louie has

already retired did you receive my email mr. Duncan thank you Christina can I

just be honest with you I have hundreds of emails and I'm trying to get through

them now because of Christmas in the new year I did receive a lot of messages a

lot of good nice positive messages lots of greetings for the new year so I am

slowly working through all my emails I have a lot to look at vina are you

planning any vacation this year well I would like to have a little break from

doing this however because of many changes that are

happening here on YouTube this year I probably won't have a vacation at least

for the first half of 2020 so I might have to wait for quite a while before I

do that my eyes are also deep in my skull mr. Duncan says Belarusian hello

Belarusian nice to see you I have seen on the news I've seen that you are now

being affected by the smoke from the wildfires in Australia hello to Metro

hello also to Guadalupe hello Guadalupe mr. Duncan you can use castor oil to

reduce your circles well these aren't circles these are shadows I I didn't

realize that my eyes would be the topic of today's livestream to be honest I

don't mind but yes my eyes are very deep so here you see there is a shadow so

this isn't my skin this is actually the shadow caused by my deep eyes I can't

pull my eyes out unfortunately it is the shape of my

skull I'm sorry about that I do apologize if my eyes are

distracting you they normally do I was stopped I have stopped teaching since

last year and now I am a farmer and I feel very happy says Ali Mohammed well

can I let you in on a little secret this is something I've mentioned before

I have always wanted to be a farmhand so when we talk about a farmhand it is a

person who works on a farm helping the farmer run the farm maybe doing some

some feeding for the animals so maybe you have to go and feed the animals or

take care of them so I've always quite fancied I've always wanted to do some

farming I don't know why but Louie Mendez is retired yes

hello Louis I am yes I am yes I am retired says Lewis and des how do you

feel about it Louis are you enjoying your time in retirement some people

think it's a good idea others try to avoid it from my point of view I'm not

sure I really don't know I'm not sure what my feeling is as far as retiring is

concerned especially now because I found something I enjoy doing so I really love

doing this to be honest I can't imagine a time when I won't be here on YouTube I

can't imagine it unless of course I disappear altogether from existence

hello also Alamgir hello also to beat trees mr. Duncan you are very young to

retire please continue with us well I will continue for as long as I can

however who knows in this world who knows what lies ahead

of each and every one of us who knows so I will do this for as long as I can I

don't have any plans to retire just yet however I have a feeling that Steve is

thinking of it but not straight away hello Celia Jordi you are wonderful mr.

Duncan thank you very much that's very kind of you to say also T s is here

hello T s watching in Indonesia and I was rather sad and disturbed to see the

images of the flooding that is taking place at the moment in Indonesia

Anoop we should make a whatsapp group for learning English many people have

done this in the past but the problem is once you start a whatsapp group you will

get lots of people interested at first but slowly they will all fade away they

will stop joining in so that's the reason why I've never done that I've

never had a whatsapp group because it first when you first start it everyone

is excited they want to join your whatsapp group but over time people will

become disinterested they will disappear and go somewhere else because there is

so much choice on the internet so many things to see and do I don't want phone

numbers or personal details on the live chat please hello JC Jordi mr. Duncan

thank you very much for teaching us it is awesome an awesome initiative oh

thank you very much so the initiative is your personal thought or idea something

that you decide that you want to do you use your own initiative to come up with

a plan or an idea something that you decide that you want to do and pursue it

is your own initiative Abdel Azim is watching in

Sudan hello to Sudan nice to see you here today live on YouTube it's great to

be here I must admit for those who want to get

in touch by the way I know a lot of people want to follow me on Facebook I

do have a Facebook page and also an email address don't forget you can also

send your donations as well to help my work continue forever and ever

it is strange I agree yes ts is right it is very strange and slightly ironic that

in Indonesia they are having a lot of rain

however in Australia certainly in the eastern part or the southeast of

Australia they are suffering terrible droughts so it is very strange that some

parts of the world are having a lot of rain however other parts are having too

much sunshine very strange but then there you go that's the weather hello

Anu I am from India and we speak Hindi but I want to have a good command of

English well you are in the right place if you are starting to learn English can

I first of all say that if you want to actually enjoy this livestream you can

actually press the button that I'm pointing to now so press C on your

keyboard you can actually press C on your keyboard for captions so if you

press that button you will actually get live captions can you believe it it's

true I'm not joking you can actually get live captions if you press C on your

keyboard hello also to Noemi I can only read my

chat I am upset Noemi if you are having difficulty following the live chat can I

just suggest that you refresh your page so sometimes the live chat doesn't work

straight away so my advice is to refresh your page okay so that's my advice for

you if you have money then you can retire I suppose so

that is the biggest problem here in the UK we have a system that's been running

for many many years and what you normally do is you put a

certain amount of money into a pension now there are different types of

pensions so a pension is something that you use after you retire so during your

working life you will pay your pension and then after you retire you will

receive your pension so there are two types of pension there is a government

pension which you pay as you would pay your tax and then when you retire you

receive a minimum amount however you can also have a private pension where you

pay money to a certain company and then when you retire you will get your

pension and quite often the private company will invest your money in stocks

and shares so the better the stocks and shares perform the more money you will

have when you retire so that is something a lot of people do including

mr. Steve in fact mr. Steve is a bit of a wheeler-dealer

with his his stocks and shares so a lot of mr. Steve's pension has gone into

that so hopefully when mr. Steve retires he will be able to have a pension

let's hope or else I will be sleeping in the local town park Lewis mr. Duncan

when we love our work it's hard to stop the first months were good but after

that period you start feeling a bit depressed that's why I became a live

English addict great now I think this is one of the biggest complaints when

people retire from their jobs so when they finish work quite often they don't

have any plan so you always have to make sure you have some sort of plan before

you retire I think that's the fair thing to say I think that's a that's a very

fair comment so before you you decide whether or not

to retire you must have some sort of plan in place what are you going to do

after you retire so you might find that you have too much spare time and maybe

you become bored so I suppose that is one of the problems with the retiring so

when you retire you might have nothing to do so before you retire I think you

should make sure that you have some sort of plan

Jamelia hello Jamelia I haven't seen you for a while where have you been so we

are talking today about shapes and sizes you might not believe it but there are

many phrases many idioms and expressions connected with shapes and sizes so when

we talk about shapes and sizes we are talking about the appearance of

something and how large it is so when we talk about size and shape you can have

something that is small but it can still be a certain shape so you can have a

small circle or a large circle so the size of the shape can vary even if the

shape remains the same here is an expression we use connected directly

with the word shape shape up you must shape up improve yourself or maybe you

should get fitter you should do more exercise so if you shape up it means you

improve maybe yourself or maybe your performance so perhaps at work you are

not doing very well in your job maybe your boss will tell you that you need to

shape up you need to improve your work and also if we tell someone to

shape up it can mean to get fit so you can shape up to get fit you can shape up

to improve your performance you might also need to get in shape if you get in

shape it means that you get yourself fit and healthy so get in shape maybe you

start doing exercise maybe you begin doing something every day to improve

your health we can say that you are trying to get in shape or we can

sometimes say get into shape but quite often we will say get in shape it means

to get well and fit so perhaps especially after Christmas and the new

year it is very tempting to eat too much food we will often make a new year's

resolution to get in shape I want to improve my health and fitness the reason

why you do that is because you are feeling out of shape if you are feeling

out of shape it means you are not feeling healthy or fit so you are

actually out of shape maybe you are unable to walk very far without becoming

breathless

I'm sorry I can't walk any further I'm out of shape

so to be out of shape means to be unhealthy you feel unwell you feel unfit

maybe you are overweight you are out of shape you are unhealthy

hello Simona that the right time to retire is subjective

yes so each person has their own idea about when they should retire so I think

that's a fair point very fair I think so thanks a lot

hi Lee Kwang says I'm trying to get in shape with my health before the Lunar

New Year arrives when is it when is the new Lunar New Year so when does the

Lunar New Year start and what is the zodiac sign this year I think last year

was it horse last year but I'm not sure what it is this year because I haven't

checked so yes I suppose getting into shape after or before the holiday is a

good idea when will you retire have you already

retired I'm sorry to leave the lesson says Silvia but I have to buy some food

at the store and I'm going to watch this lesson this evening so see you later

Silvia there are lots of things to talk about today

III haven't even started I haven't even started lots of other things to talk

about so I will see you later Silvia catch you later hello also to CNM

hello sinem nice to see you back on the live chat lovely to see you here

hello also 2f Suleiman hi teacher hi Suleiman nice to see you here

here's another interesting phrase connected to shape to take shape so if

something takes shape or if if we express something to take shape it means

something is working or happening as we planned so maybe you are you are

building something maybe you are designing something maybe you are

creating something so if we say that that thing is taking shape it means it

is coming together everything is going as planned it is taking shape to take

shape we can say that something takes shape it

means it is coming along it is being created successfully everything is

working out as you planned it is starting to take shape maybe you are

constructing a building and in the early stages you can't really tell what the

building will look like but as you start to construct the building suddenly it

takes shape it takes shape it means you can see that it is now being built it

looks like it will be successful so that's what that mean talking of actual

shapes which we will be doing in a moment

Netra says to take shape is to show improvement yes if something is taking

shape it means it is improving the thing is going how you want it to it is really

beginning to take shape

mr. Duncan I have a suggestion to improve our interaction between us the

students and you says Pedro hello Pedro Belmont Pedro Belmont Pedro is here

today Thank You Pedro I can't wait to hear your suggestion I get lots of

people giving ideas about my lessons some people say mr. Duncan you must do

lots of grammar lessons the only problem is grammar can be a little boring come

full-circle so now we are talking about phrase is connected with shape come full

circle so if something comes full circle it means you end up back where you

started maybe an event will come full circle so

you start off there and you go all around and you end up back where you

started maybe a conversation can go full circle or come full circle so if it

comes full circle it means you are talking about the thing that you started

the conversation with it would appear that today's conversation has gone full

circle we have come back to the topic that we started with you go full circle

or you come full circle to square up with someone I like this one this is an

expression that we use when we give money to someone to whom we owe the

money so if you owe money to someone you give them the money that you owe them

you square up with someone so if you square up with a person it means you

give them the thing that you owe them the thing that you have to give them you

square up quite often involving money mm-hmm hello also to Helena hello Helena

nice to see you here today what is the weather like in Leone today I'm

wondering as well because I know across southern Europe there are lots of storms

heading across and also here as well later today we are going to have lots of

storms here in the UK as well hello Irene

come on Irene joining my lesson twist the truth so you might say twist twist

can be a shape so the shape of something we can say that it is twisted something

that is twisted twisted twist the truth so if you twist the truth it means you

change the truth to appear like something else so you change the truth

so you take something that is a fact or true and you change it to suit yourself

you twist the truth let's face it these days we are living in a world where many

people often twist the truth they do my CERN has to return from Delhi and I

start to panic about the flights says Palmyra I suppose so if you heard the

news this morning from Iran a terrible plane crash took place lots of people

now worried about flying across that particular area so if you are about to

fly I suppose it depends where you are going to I would imagine I suppose it

depends where you are going hello sweetness twist the truth yes if

you twist the truth it means you change the reality something that is true and

real hello to Guadalupe who says I like listening practice to introduce new

vocabulary to know idioms to understand English better you can make a list of

new words well this is one way of improving your English especially if you

watch the live stream with captions so you can actually have captions on the

live stream so if you see the words on the screen and you don't understand them

you can always write them down I always suggest that if you are watching one of

my video lessons or my live stream always have a piece of paper and a pen

write things down it is a very useful thing Jamelia says has mr. steve resumed

his work he has in fact he's away at the moment he's not even here so at the

moment Steve is far away doing other things with his job so Steve is not here

however he will return later and also hopefully if we can tempt him with some

lovely food he will be with us on Sunday as well mr. Duncan you are our son three

times a week thank you very much for that that's very kind of you to say we

are talking about phrases and idioms connected to shape and size oh this is

interesting bend over backwards for someone if you

bend over backwards for someone well first of all bending backwards is not

easy to do it's a very uncomfortable thing so when we say that we bend over

back quits for someone it means we are

putting ourselves to a lot of trouble and difficulty to do something for

another person so if you bend over backwards for someone it means you are

doing something that is causing you to sacrifice part of your life you are

doing something that is putting you out so maybe you have to take care of

someone maybe you promise one of your friends

that whatever happens in the future you will always bend over backwards for them

it means you will do anything for that person however difficult it might be you

are willing to bend over backwards for someone you will do anything for that

person hello also to Anna also Cristina I

always write the things that are in your lessons great idea it can help you to

remember words also if you don't understand the word you can always look

it up on the internet or in your dictionary Abdel Azim says after

changing a couple of jobs in the past three years I have come full circle

because I'm now back with my first company job so it sounds as if you have

come full circle with your career you started off in one place then you went

around to other places but now you are back where you started you have come

full circle I think that's a good way of using that in life

quite often we will do the same thing again and again sometimes it feels as if

you go around in circles so if you keep doing the same thing or maybe you make

the same steak again and again we can say that

you go around you are going around in circles you keep making the same

mistakes or you keep repeating the same habits

you can't break the habits you keep doing the same things again and again

you are going around in circles you keep repeating the same things again and

again mr. Duncan you have some idea how I can find a native English speaker to

talk with says Victoire well Victor I'll be honest with you sometimes it isn't

easy to find a native English speaker I suppose it depends where you are in the

world in some countries there are few native English speakers

whereas in other countries there might be lots or many so I suppose it depends

where you are Cory says it's very sunny where I am and I am enjoying the good

weather well you are very lucky because it's murky and dull here at the moment

in the UK here it is outside at the moment so that is the live view from my

studio window right now

let's forget all about the negative things in the world let's have a smile a

little laugh maybe who knows I will try my best to cheer up slim pickings Oh

so again we are talking about shape slim something that is not very wide or very

large normally in width something is slim slim pickings means

there is not much for you to take there is not much on offer maybe there are

just a few things that you can actually take we say it is slim pickings there is

very little for me to take or very few things to choose from slim pickings so

when we talk about pickings quite often it means the the things that have been

stolen or something that you have that you have obtained or something that is

on offer so maybe just a few things are on offer

pickings so the pickings are the things that

remain after all of the good stuff has gone slim pickings there is very little

choice there is no real selection unfortunately it is very slim pickings

Thank You Irene Thank You Carl oh hello carne Alessa nice to see you

here

hello to Cory hello also to Wong hello Wong where are

you watching at the moment nice to see you here as well a lot of people here on

the live chat don't forget if you like what you are watching please like and

subscribe there it is can you please give me a big happy

thumbs-up under the live chat or under the live stream so under here can you

please give me a big like and then if you like it YouTube will also like it

and if you want to watch me every week then you can you can subscribe to my

youtube channel and you can follow me on a regular basis because I are here three

times a week live can you believe it past Alice says I feel totally free to

do whatever I want since I became retired you are very

lucky and the most or the strangest thing since then is that the time is

never enough that's interesting very interesting can someone please explain

why it seems as if there is less time now I've retired asks Paschalis or

Paschalis I'm not sure one of my theories and this is just what I think I

think maybe as you get older time seems to go by much quickly or quicker should

I say so time seems to go by very quickly as you get older so maybe that's

the reason why I don't know I suppose it depends how old you are

hello higher education hello higher education nice to see you back and thank

you very much for your like thanks a lot uun new when says hi teacher I am

watching you in Vietnam we are looking at words and phrases connected to shapes

and size here's another one fat chance fat chance

have you ever heard of this this is a great expression if you have a

that chance of doing something it means you have little chance or no chance so

if we say that someone has a fat chance of doing something it means that they

have little or no chance of doing it so maybe I might plan to retire next year

so maybe I want to retire next year but suddenly I discover that I don't have

enough money I can say that there is a fat chance of me retiring next year fat

chance it means no chance or little chance so

it probably won't happen unfortunately there is a fat chance or a fat chance of

something happening fat chance you often hear this in British English

in fact Eleanor Eleanor makes a very good point on the live chat there are

slim pickings of good single men here oh very interesting so Eleanor is saying

that there are very few good decent men where she lives I say so slim pickings

slim pickings of good honest single men that means there aren't many there

aren't many maybe because all the good men have been taken so quite often if a

man is honest or good kind decent he will have lots of ladies after him so

quite often all the good men will be gone so there will be slim pickings

unfortunately

Allen gear says thank you very much Allen gear I'm not sure what that is

about what you were talking about I think one or two people are talking

about the news events at the moment because lots of things have been going

on around the world just this list here you can see at the moment these

countries they all have something going on at the moment so porto rico has well

they are at the moment recovering from the recent earthquake venezuela has

their new government which has just been sworn in indonesia had the floods

australia has the fires argentina has the smoke from the australia fires spain

has a new government socialist government Iran well I think we know

what's happening in Iran at the moment in fact there are many things going on

there and also the USA who took some very controversial action this week some

people think it wasn't a good idea thank you very much Jamelia like and subscribe

our magical words mr. duncan you have to say them as much as you can to help your

channel grow okay I will say it again please like and please subscribe as well

thank you pat chew hello Pat - nice to see you here as well

Andrea also ISO ISO 900 - says the US versus Iran

well that would appear to be the case at the moment a lot of very dramatic things

happening in the world some people seem to think that things are going to get

worse whilst other people are being very cautious they are not saying anything

that will cause panic or worry some more words and phrases connected

with shape and size to be on thin ice some people might say that you've it

some people might say that the United States is on thin ice

I'm not saying that not at the moment anyway to be on thin ice

I have no opinion by the way about what is happening to be on thin ice means to

be in danger of something terrible happening so if you're you are doing

something dangerous if you are doing something risky if you are in danger of

something bad happening we can say that you are on thin ice to be on thin ice

you are in danger something bad might happen to you

you are on thin ice hello Pat Joe hello also to pal mirror mr. Duncan do not

forget you are leaving this month am i leaving this month I don't think so I'm

not leaving this month Thank You Pat Joe Pacho sends thoughts to Australia

because of the bush fires well in fact it's not bush fires it's it's forest

fires so every year in Australia during the very hot season so at the moment

it's summer in Australia so quite Norman they will have bush fires but this year

it's forest fires which is more serious very serious hello to Christina to be on

thin ice you are in a dangerous or risky situation I think so

here's another one when things go wrong when things go badly maybe you have a

plan for something and it doesn't go the way you wanted it to we can say that

it's we're go pear-shaped so if something goes

pear-shaped it means it goes wrong it doesn't turn out the way you wanted it

to it goes badly so go pear-shaped you might say that maybe a plan that you had

for the future suddenly you can't do it anymore

we can say that it has gone pear-shaped unfortunately to go pear shape is to go

wrong it has gone wrong thank you olena is here hello Lina my cousin's sister

with her husband lives in a little town not far from Sydney I

hope she is all right says Lina me too I send my best wishes to you and your

family I hope they are doing okay over there in Australia mr. Duncan have you

ever thought of doing vlogs about your daily life and daily routine in your

youtube channel well I used to write a blog many years ago when I was in China

I used to write ma about my experiences in China so I have done it in the past

however I'm not sure I don't know if people will be interested in my normal

life really would you really be interested to find out what happens in

my life normally I'm not sure about that you see oh I see Palmyra I understand

you now of course you are talking about the United Kingdom leaving the European

Union but I'm not leaving I'm not going anywhere I will still be here

whatever happens so whatever happens whether we leave Europe or whether we

don't although now we definitely are I will still be here so I'm not going

anywhere I will always be here with you for as long as I can

Alamgir yes a lot of things are happening at the moment in the Middle

East especially Iran and also Iraq lots of things are going on in the world you

might describe it as an ongoing situation it is something that has not

been resolved whatever that means and whatever happens

some people are odd some people are very strange including me by the way a lot of

people think I'm very weird and unusual and they might be right

a square-shape in a round hole of course we can also say a square peg in a round

hole so a square peg in a round hole something that does not fit in so when

we say a square shape in a round hole we are saying that that thing does not fit

in or maybe it doesn't belong anywhere so in my life I have I've always felt

that I have been a square shape in a round hole I never really fit in

anywhere even in my childhood I always felt like an outsider I I always felt as

if I didn't really belong anywhere so I have always felt like a square shape in

a round hole a person who feels odd or removed from everything else so I've

always felt like that to be honest I don't know why I don't know why maybe

it's my character who knows you are the odd one out says netra yes that's right

if you are the odd one out if you are unusual or different from other people

we can say that you are a square peg in a round hole you are the odd one

out Palmeiro says thanks mr. Duncan for teaching us what would we do without you

I don't know I suppose you would go and watch someone else because there's so

many people now on YouTube teaching English not just me but thousands of

people but don't forget I'm the one that started it way back in 2006 hmm I'm not

joking either Jane Matthew says hello mr. Duncan I am from India could you

please give me what what do you want me to give you hi Lee Kwang you should make

some vlogs about the UK and your life that's a good idea

I don't know you see I'm not sure if people would be interested I don't feel

as if my life is interesting to be honest sometimes in my live streams I

will show you something that I think is interesting but I think my daily life to

be honest might not be that might not be very interesting to anyone and then it

says you are the best teacher thank you very much and also Helena says the same

thing as well Anna and Alamgir are talking about the events that are taking

place at the moment in Iran a lot of serious things going on in the world at

the moment some people are being very pessimistic about the outcome

pessimistic if you are pessimistic it means you always look on the dark

side or the bleak side you always focus on the negative things you are

pessimistic oh look here's another word and another phrase containing a word

relating to shapes and sizes stay on the eight and narrow if you stay on the

straight and narrow it means you are a good person you behave well you treat

other people well you have a good character you always do the right thing

you have an honorable character you are on the straight and narrow however

sometimes people will go off for straight and narrow they will do

something that they shouldn't they will do something naughty or illegal so what

you will have to do you will have to try and stay on the straight and narrow so

if we say that you stay on the straight and narrow

it means you stay as a good person you keep your behavior in an agreeable way

so people will like you and you won't end up in jail

very nice Noemi says I am a square shape in a round hole but I am happy me too so

I know that I don't really belong anywhere in life I don't have a group of

people that I can fit into so maybe a group of people a circle of friends that

I can just be part of I can't really do that I always feel slightly odd slightly

outside everything that people are doing but it isn't a good it isn't a bad thing

some people think it is a bad thing but I think it's a good thing because it

means you are an individual you are doing your own thing you are following

your own path so I think so

finally this is the final word and phrase square meal if you have a square

meal it means you have a full healthy dinner or meal so a meal that is good

for you a meal that has lots of nutrition lots of vegetables lots of

things that can help your body function 100% is a square meal so a meal that

will fill you a meal that will give you lots of nutrition we can describe as a

square meal so every day you must have three square meals you must have a good

breakfast a good lunch and also a good filling evening dinner square meals

things that you eat that are good for you to be honest I used to watch another

online teacher but another makes me bored after a certain time but not you

your lessons are the only ones that I regularly watch Thank You TS I I do

appreciate that I know things on YouTube over the past few months have been very

strange sometimes YouTube will not tell you when I'm on sometimes there are many

difficulties on this site that's all I can say a wholesome meal something that

will provide lots of nutrition can be described as a square meal square meal

something that will give you a lot of nutrition I will be going soon before

that I have a little game that I want to play I call this game force forced all

forcing so I'm going to show you some sentences and I want you to tell me

which of you have to use which one will you use

there they are

they are almost too big to go on the screen force forced forcing so I'm going

to show you some sentences the first sentence and you will see that there is

a word missing and what you have to do is tell me what the word is that is

missing here it is right now oh he is being something to leave his home he is

being something to leave his home as you can see there is there is a space there

is a missing word so what is the missing word is it force forced all forcing of

course the word force means to give someone no choice you push you are

aggressive to someone in your behavior or in an action you are giving someone

no choice he is being something to leave his home but what is it he is being

okay I want to give you a chance to write the answer you see so I'm giving

you a few moments there because of the 30 31 second delay is it force forced or

forcing he is being to leave his home

the answer is he is being forced he is being forced to leave his home so this

means that it is happening now but it hid it is also happening in the past so

something that has been happening and is still happening he is being forced from

his house so from that sentence we know that this has been going on and it is

still going on he is being forced to leave his home so now you get the idea

of the game forced he is being forced to leave his home here's another one they

are going to something him to leave his home they are going to something him to

leave his home but which one is it is it

is it forcing is it force or is it forced which one is it I will show you

the question they are going to something him to leave his home but what is the

missing word a lot of people are putting an answer on the screen yes Oh quite a

few have got it right well done yes they are

going to force him to leave his home so something that will happen but hasn't

happened yet so it will be something that is happening when it is done or

when they start doing it they are going to force him to leave his home they are

going to force him to leave his home they are going to make him they will

give him no choice force force pressure they are going to create a situation

where he has no choice they will force him to leave his home finally before I

go they are something him to leave his home they are something him to leave his

home

they are something him is it force

forcing or forced I will show again they are something him to leave his home but

what is it what are they doing well then one or two people putting the right

answer on the screen oh well then can I give you a thumbs up

can I say I like your answers they are something him to leave his home the

answer is they are

for singing they are forcing him so they are doing the thing so this is an active

action it is actually happening they are forcing him to leave his home and there

is the sentence they are forcing him to leave his home so this is happening now

that is the thing that is happening in the present time it is now happening

they are forcing him they are giving him no choice as an action that is now

taking place or is in the process of happening so it is a present continuous

it is something that we use to say that it is happening right now

hello also to pachu Thank You Noemi Rosa Ali thank you also Erick for your lovely

answers Maria pachu TS and I'm glad you enjoy these exercises so sometimes I

will have some little fun games to help you remember or to learn new ways of

using English anna says my connection is slow I can see your answers before mr.

Duncan asked the question what a pity I don't even know how that's possible

how can you see the answers before the question are you watching my livestream

backwards maybe you are watching it in Reverse

maybe time is going backwards where you are I don't know anyway that's it it's

almost time to go as the Sun begins to set outside my window let's have one

last look outside yes there it is you can already see it is getting dark

outside the Sun is preparing to go down in the next hour it will get dark

however the good news is and some good news the days the days are

starting to get longer yes yes spring is on the way although sadly we still have

to wait for a few more weeks sweetness you are amazing mr. Duncan and I am

really addicted to your live streams and I really appreciate and respect and take

my hat off in front of you thank you so much thank you very much sweetness

that's very kind of you thank you very much

Irene Pat you don't forget I will say it again

subscribe which you are watching right now all you have to do is click the

button that looks like this and if you want to subscribe don't forget you can

click Subscribe and also the other thing don't forget to activate your

notifications so you will never miss any of my live streams or any of my new

video lessons so don't forget to Like and subscribe that's it

almost time to go bye bye mr. Duncan bye Luis by highly Kwang I will leave you

with one thought I am NOT going to retire just yet we have been talking

about retiring so I can promise you at least at the moment I have no no plan to

retire definitely not spring is definitely on

the way thank you osmond Thank You Cory and a Coby Christina I will see you well

you know when I'm coming on next the next time you will see me is Friday so I

am with you on Friday 2 p.m. UK time every week Sunday

Wednesday Friday 2 p.m. UK time so I will see you

on Friday thanks for your company I hope you've

enjoyed this I'm back with you on Friday this is mr. Duncan in the birthplace of

English that is of course England saying thanks for watching wherever you are in

the world please stay safe stay happy and I'll see you all again soon

and of course until the next time we meet here on the Internet

ta ta for now 8-)