Learn Some English Phrases to Talk about Being Busy or Not Being Busy!

- Hi, Bob, the Canadian here.

I have to be honest with you.

I almost didn't make an English lesson for you this week.

I'm really busy right now.

So I thought I should make an English lesson

where I also just tell you about my life for a little bit.

So I'll try to explain my current life situation

and why that makes me busy

and why I almost didn't make a video for you today.

So the first thing is,

I don't have a lot of spare time this week.

In English, when you have spare time,

it means you have extra time where you can do fun things

or make English lessons for people like you.

I don't have a lot of spare time.

I don't have a lot of time on my hands.

That's another expression that we use sometimes.

If you say, "Oh, I have a lot of time on my hands,"

it means that you don't have to work a lot

and you don't have a lot of other obligations.

So I don't have a lot of spare time this week

and I don't have a lot of extra time on my hands

because I work in a school where we have a semester system,

and semester one just ended last week

and semester two is beginning this week.

So I thought I should teach you some English phrases

about how I'm feeling this week

in the sense of how I feel about time.

So the first two phrases I want to teach you are this.

I'm in a hurry a lot and I'm in a rush a lot.

So this morning I got up early

and I've been in a rush all morning.

I've been in a hurry all morning.

When you're in a rush or when you're in a hurry,

you do a lot of things very quickly

and you do them one after each other.

So this morning, I got up, I had breakfast,

I did some editing on my computer.

I made some lesson plans for my classes later today.

I've just been doing one thing after another all morning

and I've been in a rush.

So I've been in a hurry, I've been in a rush.

I will probably be in a hurry

and be in a rush all day today and all week as well.

Those are the first two phrases.

The other phrases I want to teach you are things like this.

I'm at home right now and I'm running late.

So that means I need to be at work soon

but I'm going to be late for work, okay?

So I'm running late.

In English, when you say you're running late,

it means that whatever you're doing right now,

you should have been doing about half an hour ago

or five minutes ago.

So right now, I'm running a little bit late, not really late

but I'm running a little bit late.

So towards the end of this video,

I'll probably say something like, "I need to get going,"

or, "I got to get going," or, "I got to go."

Those are phrases you can sometimes use

when you're talking to someone and when you're in a hurry

and when you're really busy or when you're in a rush.

So yes, that's my situation right now.

I am definitely feeling a little bit overwhelmed.

I definitely have a lot on my plate.

I have a lot on the go right now.

So there are some more phrases you can use

to talk about being busy, but it's not too much.

It will be busy for a few days,

but eventually, I will settle back into a nice routine.

When you get into a routine

or when you settle into a routine,

it means that everything is doable,

everything is manageable again.

So it's just a little change in my life.

It happens every year, of course.

I've taught at this school for a very long time,

but this week in particular, it feels extra busy

because we were teaching remotely

and we're actually starting to teach in-person again.

So that makes things a little different as well.

I was teaching from home for all of December and January

and now I do need to actually go to school today

and I actually need to teach students in the classroom.

So I'll be wearing my mask.

We'll be social distancing.

We'll be following all of the proper protocols,

but I think it does make me

just a little bit nervous as well.

And that also makes it hard to get things done.

So when you're really busy and you're a little nervous,

nervous because it's the start of a new semester

but also nervous about things like COVID

and the fact that we're in a pandemic,

I think it makes it hard to think with a clear mind,

but overall, I think things should be fine.

Anyways, Bob, the Canadian here.

Just some rambling thoughts for me about my life

and kind of a little explanation why you're not getting

a polished, awesome, entertaining,

funny English lesson today,

but instead you're just hearing me talk for a little bit

about my life, but anyways, that's it for now.

I hope you're having a good day.

I hope that you are not too busy.

I hope you're not in a rush, I hope you're not in a hurry.

I hope you're not running late.

I hope that you don't have to get going, but I certainly do.

I got to get going, I got to get to work.

Anyway, see you later, have a great week.

I'll see you next week with another English lesson,

a good one next week for sure, absolutely.

100% guaranteed.

See you later.