Advanced Vocabulary | 8 English Idioms about PROGRESS

124,909 views ・ 2019-07-24

Speak Confident English


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Hey, it's Annemarie with Speak Confident English.
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Right now as I'm recording this video,
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my students in the July 2019 Fluency School course are finishing up their very
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last week of Fluency School.
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It's been incredible to see the amount of progress that they've made over the
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last several weeks in their English fluency and confidence.
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So I thought that this is the perfect time to do a lesson on English idioms and
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some bonus collocations that we use to talk about making progress in English.
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So whether you are making progress in your English confidence and fluency or if
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you're working on a project at work and you need to update your boss on the
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progress that you've made or if you simply want to talk about something you're
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working on with your friends and again,
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you want to let them know where you are in the process and you want to show that
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you're moving forward in a positive way.
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Here are 8 English idioms that you can use to talk about making progress.
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I'll share with you exactly what these idioms mean and I'll give you examples so
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that you know how to use them in your daily English conversations.
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Then at the end,
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I'm also going to include four collocations in English that we use with the word
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progress. Now if you're not sure,
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collocations are groups of words that native speakers naturally use together.
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The more collocations you know in English,
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the more natural you're going to sound and the better you'll understand native
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speakers.
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And the good news is I actually have several lessons on collocations that you
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can watch right after this lesson.
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All right, let's dive right in with idiom number one and get the ball rolling.
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To get the ball rolling means to start something or to make it happen.
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So it's the perfect idiom to get started with this lesson.
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Another way that I could use it is I recently signed up to run a marathon this
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year, so it's time to get the ball rolling and get started with my training.
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So what about you? Is there anything that you're waiting to get started,
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something that you want to make happen? If so,
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try using to get the ball rolling in your own example.
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Idiom number two is the perfect follow-up:
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to take a step in the right direction.
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When you take a step in the right direction,
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it means that you're taking positive action.
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You're doing the right thing to help you achieve something that you want or make
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an improvement.
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So here's an example that you could use at work if your company has recently
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implemented some changes or even better,
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some modifications.
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That's a word that I recently shared in my lesson on 10 smart words that you can
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use at work. So if you haven't watched that yet,
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definitely do so after this lesson. But let's go back to the example.
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If your company has recently made some modifications,
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you might say something like,
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these modifications are a step in the right direction toward making our
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employees and our customers happier. Now,
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once you've made those first steps,
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you've gotten the ball rolling and you've taken your first step.
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When you start to see those first signs of progress,
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here are a few idioms that you can use. Number one,
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to gain ground.
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To gain ground simply means to go forward or to make progress.
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For example, after several months of implementing our new marketing strategies,
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we've gained ground over our competitors. In other words,
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we've made progress or advancement over our competitors.
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A similar idiom,
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idiom number four is to work your way up and this one is specifically used when
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we're talking about making progress within a structure. For example,
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a company structure, a process or a procedure. For example,
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maybe you've been with a company for 10 or 15 years.
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When you first started, you might have started at the bottom,
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maybe you were at an entry level position,
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but over time you've worked your way up through the company.
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You've been promoted time and time again and maybe now you're a senior level
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manager. So you could say over the last 15 years,
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I've worked my way up through the company.
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Now when you're working to make progress towards something, for example,
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a specific project at work,
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there might be times when you need to work extra hard.
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You need to give extra time, energy and commitment. And when that happens,
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we have the perfect idiom to kick into high gear.
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What this means is to start working faster and more intensely.
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So here's a great example.
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I've just got an email from our partner and they're moving up the deadline.
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That means the whole team needs to kick into high gear so that we can get this
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project done on time.
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Idiom number six is something your boss will always love to hear that you're
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smooth sailing. When something is smooth sailing,
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it means it's going easily, it's going well.
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There are no challenges or obstacles and that is always good news.
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So if you're updating your boss on how a project is going,
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you might say something like everything is smooth sailing.
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All the team members are working hard and I think we're even going to finish the
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project early. Again,
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that's a fantastic one to use when things are going really well.
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Now similar to smooth sailing is one of my favorite idioms about making
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progress: to get into the groove.
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To get into the groove means you are able to perform well.
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Everything you're doing is easy for you because you've learned it well.
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You've done it for a long time and you feel very comfortable with it.
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If you've recently started a new job, you could say something like,
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it took me a few weeks to get into the groove,
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but now I feel really comfortable with my responsibilities and I'm ready to take
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on some new ones.
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And then idiom number eight is the best news of all to have or to make a
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breakthrough.
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And this one is perfect for my fluency school students to have or to make a
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breakthrough means to make a sudden advancement,
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achievement or discovery. For example,
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some of my students might say, I've been studying English for years,
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but this summer I finally made a breakthrough and I'm feeling much more
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confident and fluent in my English skills. What about you?
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Have you recently had a breakthrough in your English? If you have,
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I'd love to hear about it. Give me an example sentence.
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Tell me about your breakthrough and be sure to use this idiom,
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but now I want to finish this video with four common collocations that use the
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word progress in English.
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All of these are perfect for daily conversations with friends or when you're
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talking about progress that you've made at work.
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Collocation number one is in progress.
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If something is in progress, it's simply means that it's happening,
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it's underway. For example,
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the safety investigation is in progress and they should be completed soon.
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Or if I'm talking about the Fluency School course right now,
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the Fluency School course is in progress,
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but they will finish at the end of the week. Now,
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when something is in progress and you're working hard to move forward,
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here are two collocations that are perfect to use progress toward something.
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This one is used when we're talking about the progress or the forward steps that
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you're taking toward a goal, an outcome or a destination,
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and we often use this with the present continuous tense.
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Here are a couple of examples.
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Our team is making great progress toward our 2019 marketing goals.
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Or if you've been working hard on your English, you might say something like,
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I've been making some great progress toward my English fluency goals.
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Now a similar collocation is progress with something and this one we often use
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when we're talking about to be in the process in the middle of doing something,
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and again, we usually use it with the present continuous.
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Here are a couple of examples.
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I'm making great progress with my marathon training.
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What that means is I'm in the process of my training schedule and things are
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going really well. I'm making great progress with, similarly,
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you could use this with talking about your English as well.
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Maybe you have an end goal,
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maybe in 2019 your goal is to be more confident and if you're in the middle of
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that process and you're taking steps forward, you could say,
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I'm making great progress with my English confidence goals and finally our last
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collocation is perfect.
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When you've reached that destination or the goal that you've had to progress to
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something. For example,
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if your team has submitted a proposal to a potential new partner,
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you could say something like, I have great news.
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I've just found out that our proposal has progressed to the final stage of the
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selection process.
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There are just three competitors left with all four of those collocations.
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Hopefully you notice that each one used a different preposition.
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We have to be really careful with which preposition we use because it can change
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the meaning just a little bit.
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And with that you have eight common idioms plus four collocations that we can
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use to talk about making progress in English in a positive way. So again,
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whether you need to talk about the progress you're making on a project at work,
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maybe you need to update your boss or your team members,
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or you simply want to talk about your achievement,
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your progress towards a personal goal. You've got several new ways to do it.
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Now it's time for you to practice.
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I want you to choose one idiom from this list. Choose your favorite one.
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Then use it in an example sentence of your own and share it with me just below
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this video. As always,
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I've got several other videos for you for advanced vocabulary that you can use
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in your daily conversations, whether you're talking to friends, neighbors,
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or coworkers. And of course, if you liked this video, I would love to know,
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be sure to give it a thumbs up on youtube and subscribe to this channel so you
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never miss a future confident English lesson.
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Thank you so much for joining me and I'll see you next time.
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