Let's Learn English! Topic: New Year's Resolutions! 🍅✈️🥕 (Lesson Only)

Welcome to this English lesson about new year's resolutions.

If you don't know what a new year's resolution is. It's a

promise you make to yourself when the new year starts. Many

people around the world when the new year begins. They

promise that they'll change their life somehow. They'll do

something different so that their life is usually better. I

think ninety-nine point nine percent of New Year's

resolutions are a promise to yourself to make your life

better. And I'll give you plenty of examples in this

English lesson. But welcome to this English lesson about new

year's resolutions. One of the biggest new year's resolutions.

One of the biggest things people promise to do is to lose

weight. We live in a world where in some countries people

are very fit. People are very healthy. In North America

though we have a bit of a problem. A lot of in North

America eat too much a lot of people in North America are

overweight and this could lead to a number of health problems

so one New Year's resolution probably one of the most common

ones in North America is for someone to say I'm going to

lose weight this year I am 200 pounds I'm going to try and

lose 10 pounds I'm going to try and lose 20 pounds I want to be

my ideal weight so as I losing weight there. I used a number

of English phrases and terms to talk about it. People say how

many pounds they want to lose. I want to lose 20 pounds this

year. I want to be closer to my ideal weight. My doctor says I

am obese. Obese is a word to describe someone who has too

who weighs too much. So many times you'll hear someone say

my new year's resolution is to lose weight. I think it's

probably the most common one. To go along with that many

people say they will exercise more. You will often hear

someone say you know I've been sitting around a lot. In 2022 I

sat around too much. I wasn't active enough. I need to

exercise more. So they will probably get a membership at

the gym. The gym I go to in January. There are a lot of new

members all of a sudden. Uh people decide that they're

going to lose weight. One of the ways they're going to do

that is by exercising more. And so they get a gym membership

Now there are a lot of other ways to lose weight. Um you can

definitely sorry there are a lot of different ways to

exercise. Besides joining a gym. You can of course walk

everyday. You can go for a run. You can walk your dog. You can

exercise at home as well. All of those things will help you

be more fit. So another way to describe it is to get in shape.

You've heard me use the phrase to get fit. To exercise more.

We also sometimes say to get in shape. I'm going to get in

shape this year. When you don't exercise your muscles get

smaller. Um you don't look fit. And so when you say you want to

get in shape. It means you're going to lift weights. You're

going to do things that make your body look better. You're

going to do things that make your body look healthier. You

are going to have a new year's Resolutions to get in shape.

And of course along with this is the New Year's resolution to

eat healthy. To eat healthy food. You could also say eat

healthier. I'm going to eat healthier foods this year.

Maybe in 2022 you ate a lot of chips. You ate a lot of snacks.

You ate a lot of chocolate. Maybe you ate a lot of foods

that aren't good for you. And so you're going to say you know

what? It's 20 twenty-3. My new year's resolution is that I'm

going to eat healthy. I'm going to eat healthier food so that

my body is just happier. By the way when you eat healthy food

you just feel better. It gives you more energy. It makes your

life more enjoyable and it's just good all around. This is a

great new year's resolution by the way to eat healthy. You

might decide that you want to do something that's good for

your mind. One of the things that's good for your mind is to

read more. Especially if you're learning English by the way.

You should read more English books. Um but one of your New

Year's resolutions might be to read more books. To just learn

more things. To explore the world through reading. It's one

of the cheapest ways to explore the world. Is to read a book

that takes place in another part of the world. But

certainly a common new year's resolution is for people to say

you know what I'm going to read more. I'm going to get a

library card and I'm going to check more books out of the

library. Uh or I'm going to buy a couple of self-help books to

improve myself. A self-help book tells you how to be a

better person. How to take care of yourself. So one of your new

year's resolutions might be to read more. I think personally

this is a great new year's resolution. I think reading is

a very good thing to do. So if you can find time in 2023 to

read more you should do that. And here's another one. This

one's difficult for me. You might say I'm going to work

less in twenty twenty-three. I'm going to spend more time

doing things with friends or family. I'm going to work less.

I work too much. I'm going to work less. This is not my new

year's resolution. I think I work just the right amount. I

don't work too much and I don't work too little. And I don't

think work is bad. I think work if you have the right job can

be very rewarding. And can can be very very enjoyable. So but

for you maybe you're working 60 hours a week. Maybe you just

don't need to work that much. Maybe you want to cut back and

work 45 hours a week or something a little more normal.

That might be your new year's resolution. And then here's

another big one. A lot of people decide they are going to

save money. They are going to spend less money. That is a

great new year's resolution. You can see there's a little

piggy bank in the background there. A piggy bank is a little

thing shaped like a pig. Yes the thing that goes that's my

pig sound for the day. Uh and you can put money in it. And

often children will have a piggy bank. And they will put

money in the piggy bank. So I found a picture of money with a

piggy bank to kind of illustrate that some will say

you know in 20 23, I'm going to save money. I'm going to start

to put money in the bank for my retirement. Or I'm going to

spend less. Uh I'm going to just try and save money. Uh

maybe so that you can go on a trip or something else fun. But

certainly saving money is a common new year's resolution.

Uh and then of course you might decide you're going to travel

more. Um we've had a number of years here where travel was

difficult or impossible. And for many people. I heard many

people over the last few days say that their New Year's

resolution is to travel more. To see the world we sometimes

say in English. Um this is not my new year's resolution. Um

I'm not planning to travel more in the new year although I

would love to go somewhere this year. I'm not sure what travel

will be like. Um but maybe my new year's resolution is to go

on a trip to another country. We'll see if Jen will to come

with me. But certainly an exciting new year's resolution

would be to travel more. To see the world or to visit another

country. Uh you might want to start a new hobby. Uh sometimes

you look at your life and you think you know this isn't

exciting enough. I'm not doing enough exciting things. I

should start a new hobby. A hobby is something you do for

fun and for enjoyment. This person is starting a new hobby

they are going to start having houseplants. So it looks like

they are repotting a plant. It looks like they bought a plant

and it was in a small pot and they bought some potting soil

and they're moving the plant to a new pot. So having

houseplants would be one new hobby. You could start a new

hobby that involves playing a new sport. Maybe you want to

collect stamps. Um there's a variety of things you could do

as hobbies. And maybe in 2023 your new year's resolution is

to start a new hobby. To find something interesting to

collect. Something interesting to do. Something interesting to

make. Maybe you want to start woodworking or something. Um

but hobbies are fun and hobbies are cool. And this goes back to

the eating one. Uh eating healthier might involve this.

You might decide to eat out less. You might decide that

you're not going to get food from restaurants as often. Here

in North America you can get food delivered with UberEats or

a Something called Skip the Dishes. It's an app that lets

you get food delivered. By the way it doesn't work out here on

the farm. Uh we're too far away. Um maybe you're going to

get takeout less or what's called takeaway in other

countries. Um maybe what you're going to do instead of eating

at a restaurant or getting food from a restaurant a lot you're

going to cook at home more. Sometimes people decide that

one of the best ways to get healthy and to start a new hob

is to get food from restaurants less and cook at home more. Buy

all the ingredients from a grocery store and make your own

food at home. Um I think this is a great new year's

resolution. I think eating at home. Um it it's not just

healthier but it saves you money as well. So you save

money. You get healthier. You have a new hobby. Cooking at

home more is a great great new year's resolution. One of the

best ones in my opinion. Spend more time with family or spend

more time with friends. One of the things that can happen is

our lives get too busy. In English people will often say

my life's too busy right now. I'm too busy right now. I don't

have time to visit my family or visit my friends. Maybe you

have an older parent. Maybe you haven't seen your brothers or

sisters for a while. Um if you're my age. So one of the

things people often say is they say I'm going to create a new

year's resolution I'm going to spend more time with family. Or

maybe you haven't seen your friends enough. And so you're

going to spend more time with friends. Uh both of those are

great new year's resolutions. I think spending time with people

is very important. If you are too busy life will go by really

fast. And eventually you'll realize you haven't talked to

anyone for a while. So make sure you spend a good amount of

time with family and with friends. It's very important.

Try something new. So we had the the slide to start a new

hobby. Uh you could also just say you're going to try

something new. This person I think is paddleboarding. It's

where you stand up on a floating looks like a surfboard

but it's not and then you paddle in the water. Sometimes

in life there are new things. Um something like reading a

book or collecting stamp is a common hobby that people have

done for a long time. But sometimes people invent new

things to do. So you should try something new in the new year.

Sometimes people will say my life is a little bit boring. I

am going to try something new. I'm going to try something new

in twenty twenty-three. That is my new year's resolution. So in

Canada and in the United States people will sometimes say

they're going to try and shop local. Let me explain this.

There are businesses close to me where they grow vegetables

or they grow fruit. Or they make things themselves. But

there are also places to buy things where everything comes

from other countries. In Canada and in the United States we've

been encouraged the last few years to shop local. This means

Instead of me going to Toronto to eat in a restaurant I should

go to the restaurant in my town because that helps the people

who own that restaurant. It helps people who live closer to

me. So you might as a New Year's resolution decide you

know what I'm going to stop buying clothes that are made in

another country. Sorry if it's made in your country. And I am

going to buy clothes from the local clothing store where they

are made in Canada or where the clothes are actually made in

the store that sells them. So you might decide to shop local.

This happens a lot more with eating. People sometimes try to

buy food that's grown close to them. Because it's better for

the environment. It doesn't have to go on a truck or on a

boat. Um I don't do this because I really like bananas

and you can't grow bananas in Canada. So I don't always shop

local but sometimes I try to. You try to drink more water.

I'm going to have a sip of water right now. Sometimes

people are very busy. And sometimes they don't drink

enough. It's very common at work for people to have a

bottle of water with them. Not one that you buy in the store

but like one you can refill. We actually have water refilling

stations at our school so you can refill your water bottle.

I'm kind of cheap though. I don't have a water bottle. I

just use an old cup. I just have an old cup. But you might

decide that it is healthy. Um to drink more water. You might

decide I don't drink enough water. My New Year's resolution

is to drink more water so that I am healthier. And if you hear

someone say that they're going to drink less they are talking

about alcoholic drinks. Sometimes people drink too

much. In English when you say you're going to drink less or

if you say that you think someone drinks too much you're

talking about alcoholic beverages. You're talking about

beer or wine or liquor. You're Talking about things that have

alcohol in them. So if someone says my New Year's resolution

is to drink less. It means they're going to drink less

beer or they're going to drink less wine. They're not talking

about water or milk. They're talking about alcoholic

beverages. And sometimes people who smoke their New Year's

resolution will be to quit smoking. Because smoking has

adverse effects on your health. Smoking is bad for you. So you

can get lung cancer. You can get a lot of Things because of

smoking. Smoking is not a healthy thing. So often people

will say you know what my new year's resolution this year is

to quit smoking. You might decide that you're going to

sleep more. Did you notice a lot of these new year's

resolutions have the word more or less in it? Most of them are

things people do but they might have a desire to do it less or

more. No one ever decides that their New Year's resolution is

to sleep less. Sometimes people are like I'm going to sleep

more. Um or I'm going to try and go to bed on time. Or I'm

going to try and not stay up late. A number of ways saying

it. But definitely I've heard a few people say you know what my

New Year's resolution is to sleep more. I'm going to go to

bed on time. Um or sometimes people will just say I'm going

to try to have more regular a more regular sleep pattern.

Gonna go to bed at 10 and get up at six everyday. I don't

need to do this one. I have a very regular sleep pattern. You

might join a club. So part of finding something new to do or

starting a new hobby might involve joining a club. In

Canada we have a lot of different clubs. This is a

sport called curling. And they're always looking for new

members. So you can join a curling club. This is a sport

where you throw a heavy stone on the ice and it slides and

you try to get it into the circle. It's a little more

complicated than that but it is a fun game. I've played it two

or three times. But maybe you join a club. In this way you

can get out. You can meet other people and you can learn

something new. Maybe you'd want to join a book club. A book

club is a club where everyone reads the same book. And then

once a month or every six weeks or so they get together and

talk about it. So join a club. A great way to have a great new

year is to do something new like joining a club. Eat more

vegetables. Maybe one of the ways you're Going to eat

healthier is by increasing the amounts of the amount of fruits

and vegetables in your diet. In particular vegetables.

Sometimes I wonder if I eat enough vegetables in a day. I

usually have carrots. I usually have some cucumbers. I usually

have some sort of green bean with my supper. Sometimes I'll

have something leafy like a salad or maybe even on a

sandwich. Um but sometimes I wonder if I'm getting the six

or seven vegetables I'm supposed to eat each day. I

think I should probably eat more vegetables. Buy a plant.

So we went back at the beginning we talked about let's

see what slide was that. Start a new hobby. So one of the

hobbies you could start is you could buy a house plant. You

could buy something that grows that makes the air in your

house better. You could buy a plant and you could enjoy the

greenery. Um I have a plant. It looks a little dark here. But I

do have a plant back here. Um and it helps me to be happy in

the winter. It's nice to have a it. Take the stairs. So this is

a a funny thing that we sometimes say. I'm going to

take the stairs more. In North America and I'm sure in your

part of the world you can take the escalator or the elevator

there are many ways to get from point A to point B that don't

involve walking. So sometimes people will say in order to be

healthy instead of taking the elevator at work to the fourth

floor I'm going to take the stairs everyday. So it will add

a little bit of activity in my life. So sometimes people say

you know what I'm going to take the stairs more. Maybe you

don't like your job. Maybe your new year's resolution is to

find a new job. This is not my new year's resolution. I love

my job. I love working here doing English lessons on

YouTube and I love going to my school and teaching in my

classroom every day. So this is not mine. But some of you might

maybe you don't like your boss. Maybe you don't like your

co-workers. Maybe you don't like the job you're doing. And

so your New Year's resolution is to find a new job. If it is

I wish you all the best. Now this might be something all of

you are doing. Uh learn a language. So this maybe doesn't

apply to those of you who are watching this. Or to me who

already is working on speaking two languages. Um but some

people they think you know what I should do something new this

year. My new year's resolution is to learn a language. Maybe

I'll learn German. Maybe I'll learn Chinese. Maybe I'll learn

French. I will learn a language so that I can travel to a

country where they speak that language and practice it a bit.

A great new year's resolution. Maybe you will volunteer more.

Um there are many ways to volunteer in Ontario Canada.

I'm sure there are many ways to volunteer in your community.

One of the ways you can volunteer here is you can clean

up garbage on the side of the road. I've done this a few

times in the past but I might actually do this more this

year. One of the things that really bothers me is when

people drink coffee and then throw their coffee cup out the

window. Uh or they eat hamburger and they throw the

hamburger wrapper or box out the window. Um so I might

volunteer. When you volunteer it means you work for free. You

do some kind of work. That makes your community better or

an organization better. And you do it for free. So I might do a

little bit more volunteering. I do volunteer now already a

little bit. But mostly I'm a dad who's really busy. But as

my kids get older it'll be easier for me to volunteer.

Some people procrastinate. When you procrastinate it means

instead of doing what you should do you just say oh I'll

do it tomorrow. I'll do it later. I'll do it the next day.

Um no I'm not going to do that tomorrow. I'll do it the next

day. Um oh I'll do that after I have breakfast or I'll do that

after I watch a movie. When you procrastinate it means you

don't get any work done because you always find something else

to do. So a very calm New Year's resolution is to stop

procrastinating. I'm going to stop procrastinating. I don't

really have this problem. I'm usually pretty good at getting

up and getting at it. I'm I'm not a procrastinator. I was

when I was in my 20s a little bit but not now. This is a a

great a great new year's resolution. This should be

everyone's new year's resolution. Be kinder. Be

nicer. Be more helpful. If I could highlight one of these

new year's resolutions I would say this is the most important

one. If we want our world to be a better place we all need to

do this. We need to be kinder. We need to be more helpful.

Reduce stress. Life can be stressful. There can be things

in life that you worry about all the time. You might have a

stressful job. You might be in school and you find that

stressful. So one thing people decide is there they think I'm

going to try and reduce the amount of stress in my life. By

the way exercise reduces Stress and working less reduces

stress. Those two things are two things you can do to reduce

stress. Of course you work less you might make less money. So

that might be a different challenge. Okay this is a big

one. Spend less time on social media. Sometimes people spend

endless amounts of time on Instagram or YouTube or TikTok

or Facebook. They spend too much time on social media. So

often people will say you know in the new year I'm going to

spend less time on social media. That's exactly how you

would say it. I'm going to spend more time doing something

fun and I'm going to spend less time on social media. We

actually when someone looks watches Instagram reels or

watches little videos on TikTok. We call it the endless

scroll. You can see what I'm doing with my thumb. I don't

have my phone. But when you see someone and they're just

sitting like this. We call it the endless scroll. You might

do that sometimes. Um hard for me to recommend this because I

like it. That all of you spend time on YouTube. But maybe you

should spend less time on social media. Try it for a week

or a month and see if your life gets better. Be tidier. Um that

part of my room. I always find this funny. This is all really

tidy. What you can't see here isn't very tidy. It's actually

quite messy. But be tidier. Keep your room or your house or

your apartment. Uh looking better. Often people will

decide that they are going to get rid of things they don't

need. And organize their house in a way that it looks nice and

tidy. Um I'm both tidy and messy. Depends on my area. My

work area is always tidy. My desk at school is tidy. But my

I sometimes just throw my clothes on the floor in the

bedroom. I'm not a very tidy person. Uh in some rooms of my

house. But you should be tidier. Be more responsible. So

this might be for someone who is younger. This could also be

for someone who's a parent. When you are responsible it

means you're on time. It means you're reliable. It means you

do things help other people or to help yourself. Let me give

you some examples. A responsible student goes to

class on time. A responsible student does their homework. A

responsible student works very hard. So if you were a student

and you said I'm going to be more responsible you would do

all those things more. Um a responsible parent has a job so

they can buy food for their family and pay rent. Um so

maybe in 2023 you are going to try and be more responsible.

Face your fears. So I put a picture of someone skydiving

because I'm afraid of heights and I will never go skydiving.

But sometimes it's important to just face your fears. Maybe you

have a job you don't like. And you're afraid to get a new job.

You might need to face your fear. And just do it. Maybe you

are afraid of exercise for some reason. You need to face your

fear. When in English we say you need to face your fear. It

means you try to do something that you're afraid of that you

know would be good for you. A better example would be this.

Some people don't like going out and being social. They

don't like hanging out with lots of people. But it's

healthy to talk to people and have friends. So you might need

to face your fear and do that more. Develop healthy habits.

So this is something that goes back to mindfulness. When you

develop healthy habits. Um it means you're trying to do

things regularly that are good. So here are some healthy

habits. Get up go to bed on time. Get up on time. Those are

healthy habits. Um don't go on social media for hours at end.

That's healthy. It's healthy not to do that. Um call your

mom or dad if you can once a week. Um let's see. Don't work

late every day of the week. Um develop things, habits in life

that help you just be healthier. And to go along with

that take care of yourself. This is another way in English

to say the same thing. When you take care of yourself you

regularly do things that make you healthier and happier. So

one way to take care of yourself would be to go for a

bike ride everyday. One way to take care of yourself would be

to eat healthier. So you might want to do things that

definitely make you feel better and make you happier. So

healthier and happier. Reward yourself. So it's important I

think to sometimes do something fun. Sometimes you need to

reward yourself. Maybe you reward yourself by getting some

ice cream. Maybe you reward yourself by going to a concert.

Maybe you reward yourself by going to a movie at the end of

the month. Usually though a reward comes after you do

something. So you could do something like this. I'm going

to study English 5 days a week for a And then if I do that I'm

going to reward myself by buying myself a new book or by

going to see a fun movie. So you give yourself a treat I

guess. Be more thankful. This goes along with being kinder.

It's just good to thank people. I usually thank everyone for

watching because I can make a lot of English lessons. But if

people don't watch them the whole thing doesn't work right?

So thank you for watching the lessons. I do appreciate that

and please spread the thankfulness around. Uh this is

what I put in here to be funny. If my dentist could give me a

new year's resolution my dentist would say you need to

floss everyday. So you're familiar with a toothbrush and

toothpaste and you brush your teeth. But there's also a small

string called floss. Dental floss that you're supposed to

use to clean between your teeth. Um if you wanted to have

a new year's resolution in terms of your teeth. Something

that would make your dentist happy. You should floss every

day. So this is common in some parts of the world. It depends

on what kind of food you have. In North America we have a lot

of food with sugar in it. We have a lot of drinks with sugar

in it. So sometimes people will say I'm going to cut out sugar.

This means they're going to try and eat stuff that doesn't have

a lot of sugar in it. They're going to cut out sugar. So

they're not going to drink soda or pop. They're not going to

eat cookies. They're not going to eat anything that has sugar

in it. They might stop putting sugar in their coffee. So one

way to take better care of yourself actually is to cut out

sugar. If you eat less sugar you will be a healthier person.

And then lastly listen to more music. And get outside more. So

these are the last two. I think music is a very nice way to

relax. If you are stressed or feeling a lot of stress music

can be helpful. And getting a outside more. You should get

outside more. Um even for me when it's the middle of winter

if I get outside if I go outside it just makes me feel

better. There's something about the outdoors. So my two

recommendations. If you're looking let me give you three.

If you're looking for three new year's resolutions I would say

be kinder be kind to people listen to more music and get

outside more. I think those three will really really help

you. Um especially getting outside. I don't know how many

times I have gotten up and I feel grouchy and then after I

go outside for a little bit for half an hour or an hour I just

feel better. And then a lot of times at night I will just

listen to music. So do those two. I think they will help a

lot.