How to Talk About Your Goals and Dreams in English

I'm sure when you think about the future,

there's things that you're hoping for.

There's things that you're planning to do,

but maybe you're not quite sure

how to express how you feel about that in English.

Well, in this English lesson,

I will teach you a whole bunch of phrases that you can use

to talk about things that you're hoping for,

goals that you have set,

and things that you are planning to do in the future.

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Before we get this lesson started,

I should mention one thing.

I'm sure you already know how to use phrases

like I am going to, or I will,

to talk about things you are going to do in the future.

And in this lesson,

I'm not going to help you learn the future tenses.

Instead, I'm going to teach you some other phrases

that English speakers commonly use

when they're talking about things that they are going to do.

So stick around for that.

Before we get started, though,

if this is your first time here,

don't forget to click that red subscribe button,

and give me a thumbs up

if this video helps you learn

just a little bit more English.

The first three phrases that you can use

to talk about your dreams and goals

all start with the same word.

They start with the word someday.

And the first phrase is the phrase I plan to.

I really like France.

I'm a French speaker, but I've never been to France.

So someday I plan to go to France.

You can see how someday refers to a day in the future,

not a specific day, but because I speak French,

and because the country of France is really cool,

someday, I plan to go to France.

So that's the first phrase.

The second phrase is the phrase I hope to,

and you can use this again with the word someday.

Once I was talking to a student, and the student said this.

Someday, I hope to become a doctor.

The student was studying really hard in my class.

Their plan was to go to university, and to become a doctor.

And the way they expressed that dream,

the way they expressed that goal

was to say someday, I hope to become a doctor.

The last phrase that you can use with the word someday

is the phrase I would like to,

and we shorten this to I'd like to,

so you might say something like this.

Someday, I'd like to visit Canada.

Someday, I'd like to see a Toronto Raptors game.

I've watched them on TV, but I've never gone to a game.

So someday, I'd like to go and see a Toronto Raptors game.

So those are the first three phrases

you can start all of your sentences with someday

to talk about something that you want to do in the future,

one of your dreams, or one of your goals.

Another way to talk about your dreams or goals

is to simply state your dream or goal.

And the phrase we use to do this is the phrase,

one of my dreams is, or one of my goals is.

For me, I would probably say this.

One of my dreams is to have 1 million subscribers

on YouTube.

That would be kind of surprising,

and I don't even know if I would be able to believe it

if it happened.

You might say this.

You might say one of my goals

is to become fluent in English.

So it's a very simple way to do it,

but this is the phrase we most often use

when we talk specifically about a dream or goal.

We say one of my dreams is, or one of my goals is.

Another way we talk about our dreams or goals in English

is to use the phrase I dream of a day.

This is a phrase we once again use

to talk about something we really want to happen.

You might use a phrase like this.

I dream of a day when I can own my own house.

You might use a phrase like this.

I dream of a day when COVID is gone from the world.

I certainly dream of that day.

I dream of a day where there is no more pandemic.

That would be really, really awesome.

But anyways, another phrase that we use

to talk about the future,

to talk about a dream or goal is to say I dream of a day.

Another way to talk about something

that's going to happen in the future

that you're excited about

is to use the phrase I'm looking forward to.

Christmas is coming up,

and I'm looking forward to Christmas.

It means I get a break from school.

It means I get to spend some time with my family.

So I'm looking forward to Christmas.

You might be looking forward to your next holiday.

You might even just be looking forward to the weekend.

I know today I'm making this video on a Friday,

and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Eventually this day will be over.

It will be the weekend, and I'll be pretty excited about it.

But right now I'm just looking forward to it.

Obviously, when something's in the future,

you have to wait for it to happen.

A phrase that we use though to talk about how we feel

when we want something to happen really badly

is the phrase I can't wait.

My son went to university this past year.

And during the summer, a few times he said this,

I can't wait to go to university.

I can't wait to go inside the house right now,

because I'm outside.

I have a jacket on and no gloves,

and it's actually quite cold.

So I know it's a small thing that I'm looking forward to.

It's a small thing that I'm going to do,

but right now I can't wait to go inside.

I do enjoy making these videos,

but my hands are getting a little bit cold.

Well thank you for watching this little English lesson,

where I hope you learned a few phrases that you can use

to talk about your dreams and goals in life

when you have your next English conversation.

Remember if this is your first time here,

don't forget to click that red subscribe button,

and give me a thumbs up if this video helped you learn

just a little bit more English.

And if you have the time,

why don't you stick around,

and watch another English lesson?

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