Too Early For Christmas? / English Addict LIVE CHAT and Learning / Sunday 12th December 2021

Here we are again on a lovely day if you like rain

if you are into rain if you love getting  wet then today is the perfect day for you

here we go then yes we are back together

it is english addict live from the  birthplace of the english language

which just happens to be england

hmm excuse me a moment i'm just taking care of  my skin i'm putting some product onto my skin  

so please excuse me for a moment i  have to take care of my skin nowadays  

i have to have my beauty products to keep myself  looking wonderful and young forever and ever  

hmm isn't that lovely i know what you're  thinking you're thinking mr duncan  

you shouldn't put makeup and moisturizer on your  face you are you are a man men don't do that  

well i have to argue with that particular opinion  to be honest because nowadays lots of men are into  

moisturizer and makeup you will be amazed how many  people and how many men in particular spend their  

morning making themselves look beautiful so that's  what i'm doing at the moment and there is nothing  

wrong with it what do you think do you think  it's wrong for men to use makeup on their face  

i think it is i think it's wonderful i think it's  really cool if you can do that if you can afford  

to buy some of these cosmetics then i don't  think there's anything actually wrong with it  

so that oh that looks so much better doesn't  that look lovely i look like a supermodel  

i think i will go on to instagram right now  and post some lovely pictures of myself pouting

do you like that i think it's lovely isn't that  nice what do you think do you think it's wrong for  

men to wear makeup to use cosmetics it is quite  normal these days there are many products that are  

designed for men not for ladies  because for many years women  

have had their choice of cosmetics and  makeup things to make them look beautiful  

gorgeous and dare i say sexy so what do  you think do you think it's right for men  

to wear makeup maybe a little bit of foundation  on their faces maybe a little bit of rouge to add  

some blush maybe a man who has very pale skin  maybe he would like to have a little bit of color  

in his face so that is something to think about  at the start of today's live stream i'm starting  

to regret doing this i've just suddenly realized  that i've covered my face in lots of moisturizer  

shall i just leave it there okay i will just leave  it there for now i will get rid of it later on but  

i think it's good i think it's okay these days i  think it's acceptable for men to look after their  

skin not only their face but also their body as  well the rest of their body men i think sometimes  

men worry more about their beauty and  their appearance than women i think so  

the only difference is of course men don't want  to admit to doing that they don't want to say  

oh yeah yeah i love putting makeup on my face  in the morning it makes me feel more confident  

as a man you never hear men say that however there  are lots of products advertised on television  

for men beauty products so maybe something  to to keep your skin soft and youthful

what do you think do you think  it's a good thing or a bad thing  

i'm going to remove this from  my face i will try to anyway

oh that's better it has a very strange smell  this particular product mr steve gave this to me  

i think he was trying to tell me  

in a very subtle way that my skin  needs a little bit of moisturizing

i'm not sure if that's better is that  better or worse i think that's worse oh dear

well this is what i'm going to  look like for the next two hours  

so i hope you don't mind hi everybody this  is mr duncan in england how are you today  

are you okay i hope so are you feeling  happy today i'm happy for two reasons one

mr steve is not here so i have some lovely peace  and quiet there is no mr steve today he has gone  

performing he is singing in an afternoon concert  for some some i was going to say the paying public

people actually pay to watch mr steve sing can  you believe that i suppose i i can believe it  

because he's a very good singer but at least  i am happy that mr steve is out of my way  

for a little while because he can be quite  annoying sometimes to be around the other  

reason why i'm happy is because my cold my fever  has finally gone it has taken me such a long time  

to actually get rid and push out this horrible  stinky cold that i've had it's affected the whole  

of my body not only my nose in my throat  but also my my joints my body everything  

was aching i felt tired all the time but i am  pleased to say that i feel much better today  

thank you for asking and my throat isn't too bad  either you might notice that my voice has returned  

to its usual lovely self which i'm also very  pleased about as well hello everybody for those  

wondering who i am maybe you are thinking who is  that weirdo who is that strange man staring at me  

through my internet connection well my name is  duncan i talk about the english language i love  

english i do i like it ever such a lot i'm hoping  one day they will change the law that will allow  

everyone to marry their favourite language i think  so imagine a beautiful ceremony as i walk down the  

with the alphabet and every  single word that exists very nice  

so that's what i do i love english i've been doing  this for a very long time i won't tell you how  

long because you won't believe me if i tell you  how long i've been doing this for on youtube you  

won't believe me you will say mr duncan you are  you are a liar you are telling fibs if you tell a  

fib fib if you tell a fib it means you are telling  a lie you are being dishonest about something  

so that's what i do that is the introduction  over with yes we have made it to the end of  

another week and also we are almost halfway  through december which means only one thing oh  

yes i think you know what i'm talking about  yes we have made it all the way to sunday

you may have noticed

you may have noticed that i'm in a good mood today  i'm feeling rather chirpy like a little bird that  

has just caught the biggest worm in the garden  that's how chirpy i feel today and i hope you do  

as well nice to see you back i hope you are  also enjoying my new lessons i am remaking  

some of my old lessons i'm also going to produce  some new lessons about some different subjects as  

well so all of that happening this month and  also into 2022 as well because the new year  

is only a couple of weeks away two weeks from now  we will be looking forward to another year of fun  

and excitement are you excited about the new year  i bet you can't wait because i i can't wait i'm so  

excited so what about men should men wear makeup  on their faces should they well i think it's all  

right angela hello angela angela says for men it  is also good for the skin yes of course men have  

to take care of their skin as as much as women so  all ages all genders whatever it is yes i think so

marawi says mr duncan your face has  pigmentation i do have a little bit of colour  

in my face the one thing about my skin if i  go into the sun i will go brown very easily  

because of my my ancestors you see they were  more over towards the the i would say the east  

europe that way so people would would would have  more more pigment in their skin so if i stay out  

in the sun even for just a short time my skin will  go darker and i will get lots of little freckles  

on my face but as a child i always had trouble  and difficulty looking after my skin my skin  

would often have problems i used to get all sorts  of problems with my skin especially on my hands  

and also on on my face sometimes i would get  terrible terrible rash a terrible rash so when  

we talk about rash we are talking about something  that appears on your skin and quite often it will  

make your skin painful and itchy and red and it's  awful so i used to suffer from from terrible skin  

conditions when i was younger but fortunately as  i grew up my skin became more more under control  

however i do sometimes still have problems  with my skin sometimes it is a little bit dry  

sometimes i get some flaky skin around my ears

and other parts which i won't mention  so it's very good very good to keep keep  

care or take care of your skin i think it is  a good thing whether you are a man or a woman  

however i'm not just talking about moisturizer  i'm not just talking about those sorts of products  

i'm also talking about actual makeup  men are now starting to put foundation  

on their face to hide all of the marks to make  themselves look much more dare i say attractive  

i think people are more self-aware these  days because of the pressure that is put  

on them especially young people i really  do feel sorry for anyone who is in their  

teenage years because there must be a lot  of pressure these days to to look attractive  

because of social media so i would say that  there is probably more pressure on young people  

nowadays to look attractive and that goes for all  of the genders whether male female and all the  

things in between i think there is more pressure  than there used to be hello to the live chat oh i  

wonder who was first on today's live chat shall  we have a look shall we shall we shall we okay

why not oh hello vitas vitesse very  nice to see you here today you are first  

once again you are the champion of champions  you have the fastest finger in the west

who remembers the macarena do you  remember the macarena it was a dance

the macarena who remembers that  who remembers the birdie dance

who remembers that the birdie dance

no one

suddenly i feel like the oldest person  here unfortunately hello to vitas yes  

you are first here today congratulations well  done a big i suppose i should give you a big  

thumbs up as well well done we also have  tomek mega monica we also have luis mendes

is here today ricardo pushkar sandra  gonzalez hello to you as well monica zazika

rosa is here can we have a little bit of  happiness today now i know last week on the live  

chat things were getting a little bit heated  so today can we all be lovely and friendly  

and kind and peaceful to each other  

because we are approaching the season of good will  and we all know what that means that means that

christmas is just around the corner

are you ready for christmas

well are you are you ready for christmas time a  lot of people at the moment have already started

celebrating christmas they've already bought  their presents a lot of people are already  

exchanging their gifts and we are still  many many days away from christmas  

so a lot of people now have their  trees and their lights on the house  

and many people already are visiting their friends  and relatives because they can't wait they can't  

wait for christmas to come but i suppose my  question is is it too early for christmas  

now at this time of year many people will start  making preparations they will start to prepare for  

christmas as it slowly approaches and i know a lot  of people don't celebrate christmas there are many  

people here in the uk and around the world who do  not celebrate christmas but i still think it is  

a fun time of year i mean i i wouldn't describe  myself as religious but i i really do enjoy  

christmas any excuse any excuse to be happy  cheerful and full of joy any excuse we don't have  

to make an excuse we don't have to have a reason  but sometimes it is good to have a good reason  

to be happy and celebrate and be joyous why  not after all there is enough doom and gloom  

in the world at the moment we could do i think  we need a little bit of happiness i really do

oh a lot of people appear to  be remembering the birdie dance  

yes so i remember that one that  was around in the very early 1980s

i remember it i remember when that  song actually came into the charts  

for the first time and then everyone was doing it

the birdie dance and then there was the macarena  

that was much later i think that was in  in the 1990s the macarena oh mackarena oh

okay

do we have any dances nowadays  that people do i don't think there  

are we should have a new dance there  should be a new dance that everyone does

maybe in 2022 we can come up with a new dance  that everyone can join in with vitas says what  

about the ducklings dance was was that what  it was called now i think around the world  

that that particular dance had lots of different  names so we called it the birdie dance here in the  

uk in fact if i think the song originally was was  european i think maybe it was from i want to say  

norway i don't know why but i  think the birdie song originated  

in europe and then slowly because lots of people  enjoyed listening to the music and dancing  

i think the the whole thing spread around the  world but yes it was way back in the early 1980s  

that people were doing the birdie dance  such a long time ago i know i know  

hello to flower hello flower espoire nice to see  you today hello monica hello claudia claudia says  

i have already put up my christmas tree in my  office and also another one in my father's house  

a lot of people are getting excited  especially this year because if you  

remember many people last year were unable  to see their friends and relatives because of

you know what you know what i'm talking about  

i know what i'm talking about we all know what  i'm talking about but this year there are a lot  

of people now who are trying to see their friends  and relatives earlier before christmas so there  

are some people who are actually celebrating  christmas a little bit earlier than usual  

just in case because they are not sure about what  is going to happen you see because the rules keep  

changing here in the uk and here in england the  rules keep changing so i think a lot of people are

preparing to celebrate christmas  a little bit earlier than usual  

oh hello tomek oh tomek says that i look dishy

thank you i need that lift today  and i'm not talking about a facelift  

i'm talking about my spirits you see the feeling  so when someone says something nice to you  

oh you look nice today oh i like your new dress oh  is that a new hairdo it's very nice sometimes it's  

nice to receive a compliment because it lifts you  up it makes you feel better about yourself i think  

so so thank you for that it would appear that lots  of people think that men can wear makeup cosmetics  

maybe a little bit of face moisturizer to make  your face soft and smooth like a baby's bottom  

not that i've touched many babies bottoms i will  be honest with you i normally stay very far away  

from the bottom part of a baby because it does  tend to produce lots of things that are quite  

unpleasant to say the least oh mr duncan if i'm  not mistaken the birdie dance was started in spain  

i think you might be right i think you are  right yes i think the birdie dance the little  

birdie song from the 1980s i think it did start in  spain i think you might be right there that feels  

that feels right i think you are correct you are  spot on i think you have hit the nail on the head  

well done so christmas is on its way is it too  early well i don't know but one thing we might  

be doing over the next few days if you  haven't already done it people will start  

putting up their christmas lights would you  like to see me putting up my christmas lights  

you would okay then let's take a look

this month is proving to be a busy one for  me i have been doing all sorts of things  

today i'm on the roof of my house fixing some  festive lights to the railings above my garage  

have you noticed how important lights  are during festivals and celebrations  

even the word light can have a significant meaning  

we can see the light this means that we have had a  revelation if a person suddenly changes their mind  

about something or they have a great idea we can  say that they have seen the light something that  

was unclear before can now be seen vividly and can  be understood well that person has seen the light

these are called fairy lights they  are tiny lights that glow and twinkle  

fairy lights are often hung on christmas trees  

they create a magical atmosphere with their  gentle glow some fairy lights flash or blink  

some are white while others are multi-coloured  the name fairy lights dates back to the late 1800s  

and became popular after they were used as  a stage prop in the opera ailanthy written  

by the composers gilbert and sullivan for the  opera small electric lights were placed on the  

actors who were playing fairies the name fairy  lights stuck and is still used to this very day  

did you know that originally candles were used as  decorations that does not sound very safe to me

i have to be honest i am a little bit late  putting up my christmas lights this year  

due to being very busy with my english lessons  and also because of my stinking horrible cold

i feel great today i just want to keep moving  

i want to keep moving around  come on everyone let's do this

i don't know what's happening today i have so  much energy today i i feel like i'm full of beans

i know that later on i will feel tired but at  the moment i feel very very lively indeed and  

i hope you do as well some interesting questions  coming through are you married mr duncan are you  

married the answer to that question is  no which is why i look so happy and young  

i think maybe that could be the reason hello  angela talking about songs that have dances  

like the birdie song and the macarena  

i like the ketchup song it is the song sung  by three girls it was a hit before macarena i  

don't remember the ketchup song i'm going to be  honest i don't remember it i remember the twist

my parents used to dance to the twist  in the 1950s come on let's twist again  

like we did last summer oh let's  twist again twisting time is here  

so there there is another dance that goes with  the song the twist can you think of any others  

i don't think there are many to be  honest i don't think there are many  

perhaps you could have the jitterbug the jitterbug  the jitterbug who remembers the jitter pug i have  

a feeling you won't remember it because i think  it was around in the 1920s 1930s the jitterbug

this is the jitterbug you sort of you sort  of move your legs and your hips and you do  

this with your hands the jitterbug let's  all do the jitterbug let's all jitterbug

i don't know what's wrong with me today i think  i'm extra happy because mr steve is not here and i  

can stretch my arms i don't have to worry about mr  steve stepping on my feet and all of those things  

i don't have to worry about mr steve  saying things that upset other people  

as well is it too early to celebrate christmas  i'm just wondering because i've noticed  

around the town in which i live lots of people  already are starting to put their trees up  

and they are starting to get  in the christmas festive mood

christmas is coming

and mr duncan is getting fat

at least i will be over the christmas period  i am planning to eat lots and lots of rubbish  

i'm going to eat chocolate biscuits all the  things that i could not eat during this year  

because i've been losing weight and trying to get  myself fit and healthy not only through my looks  

but also what's inside under the skeleton and  the skin and the muscle i want all of that  

to be nice as well so christmas is just around a  corner but is it too early apparently some of you  

have already started to put your tree up and show  your lights and you are getting into the festive  

season already and i think the same thing is  happening here in england lots of people are  

really excited this year because christmas  is on the way and of course last year  

unfortunately we we couldn't spend  time with our friends and relatives  

because of you know what you know what i know  what we all know what that thing that am sick  

and tired of listening to and hearing about to be  honest hello to the live chat nice to see so many  

people here today on a rainy day we've had a lot  of rain today even though it is really warm it  

is around 16 degrees celsius 16 celsius today it  feels really warm outside it does not feel like  

winter to be honest with you it does not hello  also to laura hello laura nice to see you here  

as well for those asking about mr steve he's not  here today because he is performing in a concert  

a christmas concert lots of people at this time  of year like to go and watch performers singing  

christmas songs maybe a christmas story maybe they  are acting on the stage so fortunately this year  

people are allowed to go and see performances so  that's what mr steve is doing at this very moment  

right now mr steve is standing on a stage in  wolverhampton performing to lots of happy people  

everyone excited because christmas is on the  way so that's what mr steve is doing for those  

asking about my mother thank you very much for  that i haven't been able to go to see my mother  

because well first of all i've  been ill i've had a horrible cold  

and i don't want to give my mother my cold because  she's she's not as young as she used to be you see  

so for those asking about my mother i am going to  see my mother next week i'm going to visit my mum  

next week so hopefully i will get to say hello to  her next week maybe monday or tuesday next week  

hopefully hello to oh hello to lilia  hello lilia it seems like a very long time  

since you were here last hello to you as well  nice to see you back also so it would appear that  

a lot of people are already in the christmas mood  things that people do at this time of year include  

putting up their christmas lights but also a lot  of people enjoy putting up their christmas tree  

would you like to see me putting up my christmas  tree you would okay let's do it right now

this is pete jaffinch and this  is lady willington both of them  

sitting comfortably in the corner of my living  room but i'm afraid you're going to have to move  

out because something is going to  be placed there i'm ever so sorry

today i am going to put my christmas tree  up my christmas tree does not come complete  

the christmas tree comes in three sections this  is the bottom section so before i can decorate it  

i must construct the tree i have to put the  tree together first the tree has to be assembled  

this is the bottom part of the  tree it is the base of the tree

so that's the middle section in place  all that remains now is the top section

so there it is my lovely christmas tree  it's a very tall tree and it took me a  

long time to set up its total height is  seven feet that's even taller than me

yeah

super duper christmas tree

you're a super duper christmas tree oh yes you  

are so green and so lush so nice to see  you are the world's best christmas tree

this particular christmas tree is very realistic

it is very true to life from far  away it looks like a real tree

the putting up of a tree at christmas stems  from the old pagan ritual of tree worshipping  

some people believed that trees were alive others  considered the tree as sacred and divine in some  

cultures a tree is planted after the birth of a  child so as to help it grow strong and healthy  

the practice of bringing a tree into the house at  christmas became popular over two centuries ago  

it first began in germany and  slowly moved to other places  

here in britain we have been decorating  our homes with a tree at christmas  

for around 200 years originally these trees were  decorated with candles and later other things were  

hung on it so as to add more colour these days we  place many different things on our christmas trees  

we can take a look at some of  these things now if you like

when decorating a christmas tree you normally  begin with the lights as they are the most awkward  

things to arrange i have gone for multi-coloured  lights putting christmas tree lights up can be a  

little laborious you need to slowly move around  the tree and while doing so you position the  

lights on the tree some people start from the  bottom while others prefer to do it from the top  

i normally begin at the bottom so i know exactly  where the wire for the lights will trail from  

to the wall socket so i start at the bottom of  the tree and slowly work my way up this action  

is called hanging or stringing you are hanging the  lights on the tree you are stringing the lights up  

these particular lights are low energy ones in  fact almost all of the lights i'm using inside  

and outside use very little electricity this  shiny material is called tinsel it is very  

eye-catching it really gets your attention tinsel  adds that all-important sparkle to the tree it  

complements the lights by shimmering and sparkling  tinsel is a very important part of the tree décor  

you can also put tinsel in other places  too i always like to put some around my  

tv quite often the tinsel around the edge is more  interesting than what is happening on the screen  

if someone asks me what i watched on  tv last night i reply my lovely tinsel

so that's the tinsel on the tree  i only have one thing to say next  

balls yes balls you cannot decorate your  tree without some nice shiny balls or  

as they are more traditionally known baubles a  bauble is a glass decoration normally associated  

with christmas trees these days most baubles  are made of plastic so they do not break as  

easily as the old-fashioned glass ones i have  quite a selection of christmas baubles here

the focal point of any christmas tree is the top  normally on the top of a christmas tree you will  

put a fairy or a star i have decided to go for a  nice golden star the star can of course be used  

as a religious symbol it is a powerful emblem i  see the star as a symbol of hope and longevity  

stars always look so bright and cheerful a  clear starry night really is a wonderful sight  

twinkle twinkle little star  how i wonder what you are

some people might say that underneath the  christmas tree is the most important place  

because that is where the presence and the gifts  can be found after santa has been on christmas eve  

who is santa he is of course father christmas  or santa claus to give him his full name

there are other things that you can put  on your christmas tree to brighten it up  

these are imitation holly leaves with real  pine cones dusted with paint to look like snow  

they add a lovely winter look to the tree this  little robin has found a nice comfortable spot  

to perch on so that is my trio decorated  and the lights are ready to be switched on

isn't that lovely i think that  christmas tree looks amazing by the way  

i suppose i should tell you  also that was way back in 2013

during my first year living here in  much wenlock and that's the reason why  

the house looks slightly different  all of that now has changed a lot  

since 2013. in fact we are coming up  to nine years can you believe it almost  

nine years i have been living here i i really  don't believe it in fact i i refuse to believe it

we are busy today

it is a busy day here in my studio coming to  you live now from england the birthplace of the  

english language this is where it all started the  english language was started right here in england  

oh very interesting in a few moments we are  looking at some idioms phrases connected to  

the human body the human body is the most amazing  thing i don't know about you but i love my body i  

like the fact that most of it not all of it  i like the fact that most of my body works

some some parts don't work as well as they  used to but at least they still work they  

haven't fallen off yet what no no i'm not talking  about that i'm talking about my nose in my ears  

and my fingers and my feet and my legs nothing  else that's you with your dirty disgusting mind  

how dare you pushkar has sent a very nice message  about christmas time hi mr duncan in my childhood  

i wore santa claus costume i would dress up as  santa claus this is something that happens if you  

go to a shopping center or maybe a certain place  where people are gathering you might find someone  

dressed up they are wearing the father  christmas costume and that's what pushkar did  

in my childhood i wore the santa claus costume  and i would go to church saying hello to santa

did you say hello to santa  whilst you were dressed up  

as santa claus because that  must have been quite confusing  

imagine the children think of the children  going there and then they see two santa claus

maybe they think oh oh they've  started cloning father christmas  

which is very useful really because  then doing his work will be much  

easier i think so so thank you pushkar for that a  nice little a nice little memory there thank you  

very much by the way you are welcome to get in  touch on the live chat it is open for everyone

we have a lovely message from if i can find it  it's now vanished just one moment i feel like mr  

steve because this is what mr steve does sometimes  he he loses the messages and that's what's  

happened to me i've lost them now oh here we go

says i used to live in wolverhampton it was  my alma mater i would go to college there  

and it is a lovely place i hope mr steve likes  it well can i just tell you that we used to live  

in wolverhampton so before we moved here to much  wenlock we used to live in wolverhampton and yes  

it's a big place a big city big university a very  famous well-known university in fact in this area  

there are lots of universities around the midlands  area so in well you have birmingham of course  

birmingham university very well known and  also you have wolverhampton university  

staffordshire as well which is where i was  born originally staffordshire has its own  

university as well so there are many universities  around this area and i hope you enjoyed your time  

in wolverhampton as well everyone is talking  about food today i've noticed one thing  

one thing about the live chat quite  often the conversation will turn to food  

have you noticed that a lot of people like talking  about food i have to say my skin i can feel  

i can feel the difference if you remember at the  start of today's live stream i actually put some  

moisturizer on my face and it does feel better  it feels lovely so i might do that every sunday  

before i come on i will put some some moisturizer  on my face to make me look alive and fresh  

let's be honest quite often on sunday sundays  are not the best day of the week to be lively and  

fresh most people prefer to do the opposite they  would rather sit and do nothing or stay in bed  

so i have to look fresh and lively just for  you don't forget on tuesday there will be a new  

english lesson video there will be one on tuesday  definitely hello marcia marcy is going now because  

i am having lunch with my mother thank you very  much mr duncan thank you marcia that's kind of you  

thank you also for your lovely little photograph  that you have in your icon your little icon  

next to your messages so it's very nice to put  a face to a name and i hope you have a good time  

with your mother as well hello also to mohsen  who says is santa claus the same as papa noel  

i think you you will find it is the same it's  just it's it's a very different translation  

so we often use the word noel when we are  talking about christmas so we we might say happy  

noel or happy christmas so of course papa noel  translates to father christmas i hope that  

helps you hello vitas remember christmas isn't  about how big the tree is or what's under it  

but who is around it i like that that is a  very good thought for the day that might be  

today's thought for sunday a new feature that  i'm going to start so it doesn't matter how  

big your tree is or what is underneath it the  important thing is who is around it and by that  

we mean your friends and relatives i think that's  a great thought for the day thank you very much

lovely we are looking at some words and phrases  connected to the body there are many idioms  

connected to parts of your body what is your  favourite part of your body i have to be honest  

i like this is going to sound strange  

but i quite like my lips i've always  been rather rather sort of enamoured  

by my lips i don't know why people used to say  that my lips were lovely they used to say your  

lips are very very thin but they have a beautiful  shape so there my lips i like my lips nothing else  

the rest of me awful but i like my lips i i  always try to take care of my lips because well i  

i need them first of all for talking so without  these i wouldn't be able to do my job i would  

have no voice i would have no ability to speak  so my lips are actually very important i wonder  

if there are there are any idioms connected to  your lips we will find out a little bit later on  

so we are going to look at some words and phrases  connected to parts of the body also if we have  

time we are going to look at some words and  phrases connected to books as well how often do  

you read books do you read books very often those  two subjects are what we will be looking at today

i am sure there must be lots of  people missing mr steve today  

sadly he's not here because he he's actually  singing with an audience right now as i speak

a good question has just come  through mr duncan are you  

ready for christmas i can safely say 100 percent  no definitely not and nor is steve we are both  

not ready for christmas a very busy time of  year i've been busy with my work of course  

i've been making lots of new video lessons which  i'm producing and then putting on every tuesday  

and also doing this as well not only that but  also i've been fighting a horrible bug as well  

so it has been a busy couple of weeks really  when you think about it and yes christmas is on  

the way we still have a few more days by the way i  suppose i should also say that we will be with you  

on the day after christmas boxing day this  year is on sunday the 26th of december and yes  

we will be with you live on the day after  christmas not christmas day because we will  

be busy but the day after christmas we will  be with you live on youtube and yes mr mr  

steve will be back hopefully next week i hope mr  steve will be back with us next week body idioms  

the human body is a very interesting thing  i think it is anyway i think the human body  

is is pretty amazing to be honest with you so i  thought it would be interesting to take a look  

at some body idioms oh body idioms and also  phrases as well and there you can see body  

idioms expressions and phrases that are used for  parts of the human body they relate to body parts

look at all the pretty pigeons flying by  can you see hundreds of pigeons flying by  

behind me isn't that amazing did you see that

all of the pigeons at this time of year are  sticking together and that's the reason why you  

will see lots of flocks of pigeons at this time of  year so we are looking at body idioms here we go  

i will move that over slightly so we can see my  beautiful face what uh that's better that's better  

we can see now you can see me and i can see you  there are many idioms expressions and phrases that  

are used in english that we can use to express  certain feelings or maybe certain emotions  

maybe certain things positive things and  also sometimes negative things as well  

here's an interesting part of the body i  like this part of the body there it is your  

elbow you might give someone the elbow to give  someone the elbow means to push away or exclude  

a person from a group you refuse to communicate  with someone anymore you give them the elbow  

you give them the elbow so quite often in english  we will say that someone is given the elbow when  

we want to push them away or exclude them maybe  your friend has done something bad maybe they have  

said something that has upset you maybe a person  that you don't want to know anymore you will  

give them the elbow you will exclude them you give  them the elbow we are looking at phrases and words  

connected with parts of the body the next one is  a little bit gruesome so i hope you won't be upset

a person might lose their head if you lose your  head it means you become angry or uncontrollable  

with rage you lose your head you lose control  of your emotions your feelings you lose control  

of your actions you lose control of yourself  you lose your head we can also say that you  

have lost your head so to lose control of your  emotions or your feelings is to lose your head  

that is the expression that we use we are  looking at some body idioms and expressions today  

here's another one oh now this is something  we mentioned earlier i mentioned my lips  

this time of year i always find that my lips  become dry i don't know why but it can be quite  

painful when your lips become dry they can start  to crack and they become sore and uncomfortable  

and every time you talk it is it is actually  painful so i don't like it i don't like it  

when my lips become dry and they become cracked  anyway here is an expression my lips are sealed

my lips are sealed this is said when you  want to let a person know that you will keep  

something secret your lips are

sealed the secret will remain safe and  

hidden you can trust me you can trust me  my lips are sealed they are sealed shut  

i will not tell anyone about your secret i  will not reveal the secret to anyone my lips

are sealed i like that expression that's a good  expression i like that one here's another one if  

you have something you want to tell another person  maybe there is something that is bothering you  

maybe something is worrying you maybe there  is something that is on your conscience  

you might want to get it off your chest you might  want to get that thing there off your chest you  

get it off your chest to tell someone about what  is worrying you or you reveal a hidden secret  

that has been troubling you you get it off your  chest you reveal or you talk about the thing  

that is bothering you the thing that is upsetting  you the thing that is making you feel unhappy you  

get it off your chest you unburden yourself  i like that word by the way if you unburden  

yourself to unburden is to relieve yourself  of something that is causing you difficulty  

maybe you are carrying something heavy you put  the heavy thing down you unburden yourself and of  

course the same thing can be said about problems  things that are worrying you things that are on  

your mind causing concern you might want to get  something off your chest maybe you want to confess  

to a crime maybe something bad that you've done  in the past you might want to tell someone about  

it you want to get it off your chest i need to  tell you about it i want to get it off my chest

saturino says in the us in the usa people will  often say my lips are zipped yes i think so  

i think that's a good one yes they will  often say my lips are zipped zipped  

they are zipped they are closed they  are sealed up here's another one

oh dear this is how i feel sometimes sometimes  i feel as if i have one foot in the grave  

if you are feeling unwell maybe you are feeling  ill under the weather you might feel as if  

you have one foot in the grave this particular  phrase is a humorous way of describing a person  

who is old and not long for this world or a  person who looks unwell or under the weather  

we can say that they look as if they have one  foot in the grave they look like they have one  

foot in the grave just like the picture there  is a very famous and funny tv show in the uk  

called one foot in the grave about an old  man who was always complaining about things  

every day he always found something  new to complain about a very funny  

tv show we are looking at body part idioms here's  another one coming now i hope you are ready for it  

oh maybe you play something by ear you play it  by ear this is a very interesting and i suppose  

an interesting phrase or some sort  of phrase that we use when we are  

describing doing something without any planning  or preparation to carry out or do something with  

no preparation whatsoever you do it by ear you  do it by your own personal judgment you play it  

by ear you work out what to do as you go along  you have no strategy or plan it means that you  

play it by ear it's rather like playing a musical  instrument you are not looking at the music sheet  

you are playing something by ear you are  listening as you play so you play something by ear  

but in this particular phrase it means you are  doing something as you go along you are doing  

it you are working out what to do as you go along  here's another one and this used to be or this was  

one of my mystery idioms that i used to do a  very long time ago i used to do mystery idioms  

do you remember so here is another one this  is one of my mystery idioms that i used to do  

and this particular one cost an arm and a leg we  are describing something that is very expensive  

something that you had to pay a lot of  money for so if something costs an arm  

and a leg it means to pay a high price for  something to pay more than you wanted to the  

thing in question cost you an arm and a leg  the most expensive thing you have ever bought  

maybe you buy a beautiful diamond ring for your  your future wife you want her to love you forever  

so you spend a lot of money more money  than you had planned we can say that that  

diamond ring cost you an arm and a leg it  was very expensive very expensive indeed  

here's another one we have a couple of more  and then we are moving on to something else

looking at expressions and phrases connected to  the body oh here's another one something that is  

a sight for sore eyes something that  you see that makes you feel better  

cheered up happy something that you see and  immediately you feel uplifted this expression is  

used to show a welcome attractive thing something  you suddenly see that makes you feel better  

something that relieves a bad moment is a sight  for sore eyes a welcome change to raise your  

spirits and your feelings is a sight for sore eyes  maybe you see your girlfriend in a beautiful dress  

as she walks into the room you will say oh  darling you are a sight for sore eyes you are  

very attractive you have made me feel better by  seeing your beauty i like that that's a good one  

a person who is a sight for sore eyes so that  one is a positive one uh here's a negative one  

here is a negative phrase we might say that a  person has a heart of stone we are describing  

a person who is so quite often we  can use the word heart to mean care  

love but also we can use it in negative phrases  as well such as this a person who has a heart  

of stone they have a cold heart this is used  to describe an uncaring or cold-hearted person  

they have no care for others they have a  heart of stone to have no empathy or feelings  

you don't understand other people's emotional  problems or maybe you are not aware of other  

people's unhappiness or sadness you can't feel  other people's emotions you have a heart of stone  

so there are many expressions many words  and phrases we can use that also use

body parts

angela hello angela thank you very much that is  a good suggestion mr duncan you can always use  

lip balsam lip balsam or as we call it here we  call it lip balm lip balm that means something  

that you put on your lips to to moisturize and to  keep your lips soft so they don't go dry and begin  

to crack there's nothing worse especially at this  time of year a lot of people suffer from dry lips  

dry skin because of the cold weather the cold wind  and many people get dry lips and sometimes they  

can crack but yes you are right that is a good  suggestion thank you angela for your suggestion

says in italy we say that something cost an i  to say that it is very expensive so you just say  

that thing was so expensive it cost me  an eye interesting i've never heard that  

used in that particular way but normally we say  something costs an arm and a leg i hope you have  

enjoyed today's live stream so far i'm not going  just yet but i will be going in around about 10  

minutes time rafael says something expensive  that you buy we say that that it costs a kidney  

interesting that's very interesting so  something expensive has cost you a kidney  

a lot of people joke about that you see in  this country if something is expensive maybe  

you want to have a new computer game maybe the  latest computer console and it's very expensive  

sometimes people will joke that they will  have to sell one of their kidneys to buy  

the computer game because it's so expensive so we  do we do say that as well we say it also sometimes

hello to hello to md ariful hello to you what  about vaseline mr duncan do you ever use vaseline  

yes i suppose you can use vaseline vaseline is  something that has many uses indeed many uses  

um yes yes there are many uses for  vaseline but one of the things you can use  

it for is when you want to put it on your lips  or your skin if you have dry skin vaseline  

can sometimes help but not too much because you  will be slipping and sliding all over the place  

not very good an iphone 13 might cost you  

a kidney yeah that's a very good point actually  yes as they are rather expensive you are right

tomek says there is another expression you can  say that you pay through the nose for something  

that is good that's a good expression so maybe  something that was expensive maybe you have to  

pay through the nose it sounds rather painful  and i think that is what it is expressing it  

is expressing the feeling of having to pace for  something pay for something that costs a lot of  

money you have to pay through the nose if you  want that expensive thing you will have to pay  

through the nose i think so very good nice to see  so many people here today even though it's only me  

i am on my own today it is just myself there is no  mr steve here however a lot of people are missing  

lovely mr steve so for those who  are missing him this is just for you

there it is for those who like mr steve  and you are missing mr steve right now  

that was just for you

it's sunday

for those who haven't yet realized it is sunday  

it is the 12th of december we are almost halfway  through this month christmas is around the corner  

we are all getting excited some people can't  wait for christmas to arrive one thing i've  

noticed this year is many of the neighbours in the  area where i live many people have actually put  

christmas lights on their house normally they  don't bother many people around here don't bother  

putting christmas lights on their houses but  this year a lot of people have do you know who  

started the trend of putting  christmas lights on their house

yes it was i started doing it around here and no  one else bothered so everyone around here did not  

bother with their christmas lights they didn't  bother putting christmas lights on their house  

but i was the first person  to do it around here and now

everyone around here is putting christmas lights  on their house and it does look rather lovely  

at night i must be honest with you we have some  interesting words coming up now we are looking at  

phrases connected to books do you read  very often a lot of people these days  

would appear not to read actual books by  books i mean actual books not not your ipad  

nothing like that i'm not talking about emails  or things that you've read on the internet  

i am talking about proper real books  something you open pages that you actually  

turn for real now i know that there are  many applications that you can get for your  

mobile devices these days that appear  as if you are turning the pages  

of a real book however there is nothing better  there is nothing that can replace the feeling  

of having an actual book in your hand opening  the pages turning the pages as you read  

the chapters as you slowly read the book but i  think these days there are many people who don't  

anymore they don't actually read books but i  thought it'd be interesting to have a look at  

some book phrases phrases and expressions  that use the word book or words connected  

to books here's a here's a good one our  first phrase do something by the book  

if you do something by the book it means you  are following the rules you are doing things  

in the right way you are following all of the  rules so the things that you are being told to do  

you do things by the book you follow all  of the rules you follow the correct laws  

you do all of those things to do  something by the book excuse me  

i thought i was going to cough then but i didn't  here's another one so someone who follows the  

rules does something by the book here's another  one if you book a room so this actually is a  

different use of the word book so if you book a  room if you book something it means you reserve  

something so maybe you book a room in a hotel you  reserve the room you are calling the hotel and you  

book the room you want the room to be reserved  some people might book a holiday you might book  

a flight book a train journey it means you are  reserving your place on the plane or the train  

you are reserving your place at the hotel so  when you arrive there they will have a room  

for you you book a room so this particular word  is being used as a verb you are booking the room  

a person might say i'm sorry mr duncan  but you can't spend the weekend here  

at the hotel because we are  booked up or fully booked  

so if a person is booked up or fully booked you  have to be careful how you say that by the way  

it means they have no rooms they have nothing  available for you you can't book a room because  

they are fully booked they have no rooms  to spare you can't i'm sorry you can't  

stay at my hotel this weekend because we are fully  booked we have no spare rooms nothing to spare

you might throw the book at someone if you throw  the book at someone it means you punish them  

normally by using the law you throw the book  at someone you punish someone quite often a  

sentence might be given if you've committed a  terrible crime you might have to go to prison  

so the judge in the court will throw the  book at you he will give you a very harsh  

punishment a very harsh sentence you will have  to go to prison for a long time you throw the  

book at someone person who likes reading books is  often described as a bookworm a person who likes  

reading books might be described as a bookworm if  you read books if you are always looking at books  

if you are always in the library reading  if you like to have a book in your hand  

normally at night a lot of people like to sit down  at night and read a book it helps them to relax  

we can describe a person who  likes reading books as a bookworm

you might say that someone is on the  same page as you that means you are  

both thinking the same thing or you agree on  a certain subject if you both understand each  

other's feelings perfectly well we can say  that you are both on the same page you both  

have the same opinion the ba you both have  the same feeling about something we you both  

have the same understanding of a situation  that is happening we are both on the same page

a person might decide to change their life they  might decide to stop being rude and selfish  

they might decide to be a nice person you  might say that that person will turn over  

a new leaf so by that we are saying  that a person will oh there is a  

car going into my ear oh oh it's  going to come out the other side now

that was painful if you turn over a new leaf  it means you turn a new page you turn over  

you start fresh you change your habits you change  your behaviour you change the way you do things  

you turn over a new leaf  

so by this we mean the page of a book so the  word leaf here refers to the page in a book

we might describe a person who likes reading as  bookish a person who is bookish is a person who  

looks as if they might read lots of books quite  often we will describe a person who wears glasses  

maybe they look studious they look like a  person who might always be reading books  

glasses can make a person look bookish  it looks almost as if they are always  

reading books because they have bad eyesight and  that's it you see so i remember at night i used  

to read books i used to love reading at night and  people would always say you should not read books  

at night it is bad for your eyes you will  have to wear glasses if you are not careful

you might say don't judge a book by its cover if  you don't judge a book by its cover it means you  

are not judging someone by their appearance so the  appearance of someone can be very deceptive maybe  

a person who looks untidy or scruffy or unwashed  you might think that that person has no money  

but they might actually be a millionaire  they might be a little bit like howard hughes  

so never judge a book by its cover  because sometimes you can be wrong  

just because something looks a certain way  on the outside doesn't mean that reflects  

the type of person they are  never judge a book by its cover

to be overbooked so this is very similar  

to fully booked if you are overbooked that means  too many people have arranged to do something  

so you have 20 rooms in your hotel but you  have booked 25 people to stay in your hotel  

so you might say that you are overbooked too  many people want to do that certain thing

there are some words as well that we can use  to describe parts of a book for example we  

can say appendix the appendix normally relates  to the ending the information that appears at  

the end of a book so quite often you will read  the book and sometimes at the end of the book  

on the very back page there might be  some extra information and we call that  

the appendix it is at the end it is added on maybe  there is some extra information to give you a help

here's another word that we often  use when we're talking about books  

especially long books there are some stories that  are very long and they go on for a very long time  

sometimes a person might rewrite that  book and they will make it shorter  

so if you if you abridge something a bridge means  to shorten you make something shorter you condense  

the story you make it shorter so maybe the book  is very long the story has has lots of detail so  

what you actually do you shorten the book you  make the story shorter you condense the story  

and that word is a bridge you abridge something  you make it shorter you shorten the story two more

chapter quite often we will when we are reading  sometimes we don't like to read for too long so  

quite often a story is divided into sections  and each of the sections is called a chapter  

parts of a story so you might sit down and  you might read one or two chapters of a book  

so you will sit down you will read a few pages  each time you read the book you might read  

a couple of chapters so most stories  have chapters they have parts in the book  

it is divided and sometimes you can  stop reading at the end of a chapter  

of course these days as well a lot of people talk  about chapters when they are watching a movie  

parts of a movie quite often on a dvd or  a blu-ray disc you might have chapters  

parts of the movie that you can jump to you  can find that part very easily and finally

if you want the story that you are about to read  if you want it to be explained you could have a  

preface as well or a preface some people describe  this as a preface some people say preface so  

a brief explanation that happens or is put at  the beginning of a story to explain something  

maybe there is something that happens in the  story that you want the reader to understand  

you will often give it a preface you will put  something at the start or before the story begins  

and those are the words we are going to look  at today because it's almost time for me to go  

you can also see behind me yes it's getting dark  night time is is arriving even though it's only 3  

40 in the afternoon but yes we do have very short  days during the winter months i don't know why but  

quite a few people are fascinated by  this the fact that the light disappears

at around about 3 30 in the afternoon so yes  it's 20 minutes to 4 o'clock and yes that is  

night time arriving very early  during this time of the year

so i think books nowadays what about you do you  read books do you ever read books these days i  

don't think many people do i don't think many  people sit down and actually take time to read  

a book my mother used to read books all the  time i would always see my mother sitting  

in the evening and she would always be reading  a book sometimes they would be crime thrillers  

sometimes they would be romantic stories

i think my mum is a bit of a romantic i think so  so what about you do you read books very often  

i used to read books a lot i am going to be  honest that i don't read as much as i used  

to i feel very bad about that but i do like  reading articles and things that are talking  

about a certain subject or describing a  certain situation so i do like reading  

but sadly i don't read many books unfortunately  angela says my cupboard is overbooked i would  

not say that i would say something different  if your cupboard is full you can say that it is  

overstocked so your cupboard has too many things  inside it is overstocked or it is overcrowded  

so you might say that your cupboard has too many  things maybe the cupboard in your kitchen where  

you keep the food maybe you have too much  stuff in your cupboard and you can't find  

the thing that you're looking for it's really  annoying when that happens really is so annoying

but yes you might say that your cupboard  is overstocked or overcrowded or  

over full there are too many things too  much stuff too many things in your cupboard

vitas makes a very good point the best way  to become acquainted with a subject is to  

write a book about it well i always say this is  something that i like to say to those who ask  

about writing or learning to understand grammar  writing is a very good way of understanding  

the language but also yourself as well i i used  to love writing stories as a child i used to write  

stories all the time sometimes they made no sense  but sometimes when my imagination was firing  

when my brain was really active i would write  some some good stories some interesting stories  

my english teacher used to love reading my stories

tomek says if you are on the same  page it means you are aligned  

yes yes i suppose you could say that two things  are aligned they are on the same page they both  

agree or connect together they both have the same  opinion or feeling about something that's good

ah louis says mr duncan i often hear  books or listen to books you are right  

many years ago spoken books were used to help  those who had difficulty seeing people who were  

blind or partially cited who could not read  books because they couldn't see so quite often  

spoken books were used to allow people who had  a visual impairment they couldn't see very well  

so yes that is good the spoken book but of  course nowadays there are many companies that do  

spoken books so instead of reading the  book you will just listen to the story  

instead so yes they have become quite  popular over the past few years i think so

i will be going in a moment i hope you've  enjoyed today's live stream we've had a  

lot of things to talk about today we've been  rather busy if you want to watch this again  

you can you can watch all of this as many times  as you want you can watch it once twice or even  

a thousand times if you feel like it i will be  going there will be captions later on as well  

you can read the captions later they will be there  as well thank you very much for your company today

thanks for watching thank you very  much for joining me audiobooks  

don't you call them audiobooks asks raphael  yes you can you can call them audiobooks  

spoken books long as you can hear them

that is what they are thank you beatrice thank  you mr duncan for this lovely live stream yes  

i have been on my own today  just myself holding the fort

hopefully mr steve will be back with us next  week and we will be back together again palmyra  

says i will watch the stream later thank you  very much see you later palmyra on the replay  

this is mr duncan saying thanks for  watching i am back with you on tuesday  

not live but there will be a recorded lesson  a new lesson coming your way on tuesday  

i hope you will join me then thanks for your  company for the last one hour and 47 minutes i  

hope you have enjoyed it this is mr duncan in the  birthplace of english saying thanks for watching  

see you next sunday hopefully with mr steve  

and also in my lesson that i'm going to  post on tuesday i will see you then as well  

almost and of course until the next time we  meet here you know what's coming next yes you do  

have a great weekend enjoy the rest of your  sunday and have a super duper week and of course

ta ta for now