Help your FLUENCY in speaking English | Use English expressions related to a new start

Hi there, this is Harry and welcome back  to advanced English lessons with Harry  

where I try to help you to get a better  understanding of the English language.  

Whether you're trying to improve your basic  knowledge in English, conversational English,  

or perhaps you're preparing for that job  interview, whatever it is, you've come to  

the right place. And in the advanced English  lesson today, we're talking about a new start.  

First of all, I'd like to take the  opportunity to wish you a very Happy  

New Year. New Year is all about New Year's  resolutions, new goals, and new targets.  

Your new year's resolutions may be about staying  healthier, spending more time with your family,  

or indeed learning another language  or trying to improve your English.

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Now, let's get back to our lesson for today.  So a lesson about New Start, advanced English  

lesson about a new start. And this is well-known  and popular vocabulary and expressions related  

to a new start, I'll go through them. And I'll  give you some examples as we go through them.

First to clear the decks. Well, clear the  decks is a shipping expression to clear the  

deck of a ship is to make sure there's nothing to  obstruct you. So when we want to make a new start,  

we say let's clear the decks. Let's have a  blank piece of paper, let's start afresh,  

go to the very beginning. So if you want to  make a new start at the beginning of a new year,  

then you clear the decks and you're ready,  get rid of all the old habits that you had,  

and introduce new habits. So to clear the decks.

The second expression is to have a clean slate  or a clean sheet. Or to wipe the slate clean,  

you can use it in that way as well the the  intention is the same. So when you have a  

clear slate or a clean slate, then it's all  about starting with a blank piece of paper,  

a clean sheet of paper, and then start writing  down your goals are your targets. A clean slate  

because we used to write on slates. The old, old  old fashioned schools, they used to use chalk and  

write on slate. And then when you are finished  writing, you would wipe it clean and start again.  

So that's what we're talking about here. When  we want to make a new start, we take our slate,  

or we take our sheet of paper, and we make sure  that it's blank, it's clean. And therefore we can  

express our ideas and start again. And anytime  when I have a little difficulty or a problem on  

my mind, I actually do take out a clean sheet  of paper and I start writing down the pros and  

the cons of a particular problem. And I try to  weigh it up to see what's more beneficial to go  

this way or to go that way. So we have a clean  slate, or a clean sheet a clean sheet of paper.

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Number three, to turn over a new leaf,  to turn over a new leaf. Well again,  

if we look at a copy book or an exercise book,  when you're finished writing on one page,  

you turn over the page or turn over a new leaf  and you start writing again on a fresh clean  

piece of paper. So this is what it means to turn  over a new leaf is to start again. So you've none  

of the baggage that you brought with you from  the previous year or the previous decade. You  

start again and you turn over a new leaf. If  somebody changes the habits of a lifetime...  

So for example, if they give up smoking at the  beginning of the year, their friends will say,  

Ha, here he goes again. A new leaf. He's turning  over a new leaf. He has given up smoking, how  

many times has he done that in the last 10 years?  Hopefully, this time, he will be successful. So we  

turn over a new leaf at the beginning of the  year to break old habits and start new habits.

Number four, a whole new ballgame. Well, this  is a little bit of an American expression of a  

whole new ballgame. So when we talk about  football, or basketball, or baseball,  

whatever the sport happens to be, when the game is  over, the referee or the umpire blows the whistle,  

and that's it full time. Everything is  over. So then when we have another game,  

it's then a whole new ballgame. So when we want to  start afresh, or we want to start something new,  

then it is a whole new ballgame. What happened  in the previous games is largely irrelevant. We  

want to start again, it's 11, against 11, five  against five, whatever the team numbers are,  

we're starting afresh. So when we have a whole  new ballgame, then we're talking about everything  

is different. What happens in the past no longer  applies. So if you're giving up smoking, or you're  

taking up more sport or activity, then you say,  Yeah, well, this is a whole new ballgame for me,  

I'm going to go to the gym twice a week. And  then if I like it, and I improve my fitness,  

I'll go three times a week. So this is the  whole new ballgame for you to get yourself fit.

The next expression number five is nothing  ventured, nothing gained. Okay. So this is  

an old old expression, I think most people have  heard about it. What it means is, if you don't  

try something, then you you get no benefit, you  might not succeed. Of course, you might not, not  

everything succeeds first time. But if you don't  try, you definitely won't succeed. So nothing  

ventured, nothing gained. So if you want to wipe  the slate clean, you want to start with a new job,  

you start looking around to see what jobs are  available, what jobs are suitable for you, you  

might start with your CV to brush it up, clean it  up, so it looks presentable, and it's up to date.  

And then that's how you start the new year. So  nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you don't  

try, you have no chance of succeeding. If you  do try, it may be difficult. There may be a few  

stumbles along the way, but at least you're making  progress. So nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Now remember, when you're learning English,  it's really really important to practice,  

practice, practice practice, you can  do that with one to one lessons with  

Preply. And don't forget to click on  the link in the description below to  

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Number six new or fresh blood. Now that  sounds very grotesque but it's not really.  

So when we have new blood, it gives a  refreshing feeling people who have a  

blood transfusion feel really great for  a period of time because that new blood  

is full of oxygen and they feel really, really  good. So they had to cleanse the system, okay.

Or in a company, they have new blood when  they hire new people. And you'll often  

hear the expression, Ah, it's about time we  got some new blood into this organisation,  

a couple of new staff members will help to  bring in new ideas. So we're not all stuck  

in the past. So when we want to make a new  beginning, when we want to make a new start,  

fresh blood on new blood is really, really  critical. So introducing new people,  

new ideas is where that fresh  blood or new blood comes from.

Next number seven to go back to the drawing  board. Well, we have to go back to the drawing  

board. It's like an architect, he has his board  in front of him, and he's making his designs,  

if he makes a mistake, or doesn't work, or there's  some issue with it, he will go back to the drawing  

board, correct the mistakes that he has made and  start afresh. So when we want to have a new start,  

we go back to the drawing board, see what didn't  work in the previous year or past few years and  

make corrections make changes make alterations,  so that hopefully the new start in the new year  

will help us to improve so we have to go back  to the drawing board. So let's take a situation  

where a company wants to launch a new product and  they spend a lot of time and a lot of money and  

thinking time coming up with the new plan what the  product will look like how they will design it,  

how they will market it and how they will launch  it and then sometime coming towards the end of the  

project. You realise that there's something  missing that it's not really going to be as  

attractive to the public as you first thoughts.  So you cancel everything. You cancel the plans  

and you say to the team members, Okay guys, I  think we need to go back to the drawing board.  

We need to start again the something we've missed  this something we haven't taken into account. So  

we need to look at it afresh, we need a new  start. So to go back to the drawing board is  

to start again, cancel the old mistakes. And  let's look to see if we can improve on that.

Number eight, to be the new kid on the block, new  kid on the block. Well, we all have experienced  

that during our lifetimes, I'm sure we move  towns, we have cities, or we move within a  

city from one region to another. And when you  arrive in a new area, you have to go to a new  

school. And you are literally the new kid on the  block. Everybody knows that you knew some people  

would come up to you, to greet you. But it's  difficult, it's difficult to get known. It's  

difficult to get to know other people, but you  have to start somewhere. So being the new kid  

on the block can be interesting. But it can also  be very, very challenging. And in the same way,  

if you're a company that's getting into a market  that's well established, and you are bringing in  

some new ideas, you will be the new kid on  the block and people will look to you to see  

what sort of changes you are going to introduce  something that would be beneficial for them to  

be the new kid on the block that person with the  new ideas, the literally the kid that arrives in  

the area from a different district and comes to  the school. So you're the new kid on the block.

Number nine to blow away the cobwebs. Well,  we all know what the cobwebs are. We don't  

use a room for a long time or we  don't go into a particular room,  

cobwebs develop or spiders webs develops in  corners, around doors and around windows,  

then what we if we want to use that room, we have  to dust away those cobwebs so that the place looks  

neat and tidy and clean. So we get the duster or  the vacuum cleaner, and we clean the room. Okay,  

so when we blow away the cobwebs from the  old year, it means you want to start afresh  

and we want to start a new we want to start  and make a new start for the next year. So  

let's all blow away the cobwebs of 2022. And  we'll make a fresh start in 2023. New year,  

new beginning fresh air open the window, blow  away those cobwebs and let's start again.

And then a final expression, which is really  really old expression for this time of the year  

is out with the old and in with the new and well  used expression people use on New Year's Eve and  

New Year's Day. Yeah, yes, New Year's Eve, it's  a great time to get out with the old and in with  

the new and we have all of these traditions of  bells ringing to announce the end of one year  

and the beginning of the next tour. In Spain they  have the the tradition of the 12 grapes. In other  

countries, they have different traditions,  but it's all based on the same premise,  

Out with the old and in with the new. So if  you're starting a new chapter in your life,  

it could be in relationships. It could be in work,  it could be in business, it could be in location,  

then it's all about out with the old forget about  what happened in the past. Let's look to the  

future. As we all know we can't change  the past, but we can certainly change  

the future. So Out with the old in with the  new Out with the old ideas in with the new.

Okay, so there you have 10 particular  expressions all used a new vocabulary  

to help you talk about a new start and you can  practice those to help you understand what a  

new start is all about. As always, you won't  know them or you won't be able to remember  

them all but try a few of them. And this time  of the year. The beginning of 2023 is a great  

time to experiment with your English.  So let me get them to you one more time.  

Number one, clear the decks. Like the ship, to  clear the decks make sure everything is clean.  

To have a clean slate or a clean sheet literally  to write on. So you you there's nothing there from  

the previous the previous year that's going to  get in the way a clean slate or a clean sheet.  

To turn over a new leaf in a book or an exercise  book or even when you're reading to turn over a  

new leaf to start again. A whole new ballgame,  very American, a whole new ballgame. The referee  

blows the whistle on the old game. The next  time it's a new game. Everybody starts from the  

same position and a whole new ballgame. And then  about winning and losing, nothing ventured nothing  

gained. So if you don't try you don't get if you  don't try you don't win doesn't mean you will  

always be successful but nothing ventured nothing  gained. Number six, new or fresh blood introduce  

new people to the team introduce new ideas new or  fresh blood. Number seven, go back to the drawing  

board like the architect you make a mistake, you  go back to the drawing board and you try again.  

Number eight, new kid on the block that kid who's  just moved into town, the new kid on the block,  

you've you're new into the game you have  to be different you have to do something  

different to be noticed new kid on the block.  And number nine to blow away the cobwebs.  

Blow away those cobwebs that everything be  fresh that everything smell nicely, windows,  

clean and clear, you can look out, let the fresh  air in to blow away the cobwebs. And then finally,  

number 10 Out with the old and in with  the new a really really old expression.  

But as true today as it was 100 years ago  whenever it was first used Out with the  

old and in with the new. Now don't forget that  practice makes perfect. The more you practice,  

the better you get. It's all about that  practice makes perfect. Okay, this is  

Harry saying goodbye. Thanks for watching. Thanks  for listening, and join me for the next lesson.