English Speaking Practice: Talk About Your Morning Routine

Vanessa: Do you want to learn real English, how it  

is used in the real world? Well, I have some good  news. Today, you are going to practice speaking,  

repeating after me about my morning routine, which  is probably similar to yours. You are actually  

going to speak English today. Yes. Hi. I'm Vanessa  from speakenglishwithvanessa.com and like always,  

I have created a free PDF worksheet with  all of today's important sentences, tips,  

and ideas so that you can speak English  better and more fluently. You can click  

on the link in the description to download this  free PDF worksheet today. It is my gift to you.

In today's lesson, you will be speaking out loud  and repeating after me. This is called shadowing.  

It's where you take a sentence that you want  to say yourself, that you want to imitate,  

and you say it directly after someone else. This  is a fabulous way to improve your pronunciation,  

your vocabulary, and just your speaking confidence  in general. I'm going to say a sentence and then  

I'll give you a little tip about that sentence.  I'll say it again, and then there will be a pause.  

This pause is for you. It's so that you can repeat  the sentence, shadow directly what I said. And  

because I have magical teacher ears, I can hear  you around the world no matter where you are,  

so you better be following the directions. I want  you to speak out loud. Don't care who's listening,  

your dog, your family, people on the train.  You are improving your English, so who cares  

what they think? Make sure that you speak out  loud during the pause today into this lesson.

Are you ready to get started with the beginning of  the morning? The beginning of our morning routine,  

let's go. My alarm goes off at 6:30 A.M. every  morning. We usually use this phrasal verb to  

go off for an alarm. My alarm goes off. I'm going  to say this sentence one more time and then I'll  

pause so that you can repeat. My alarm goes off  at 6:30 A.M. every morning. Great work. Sometimes  

I hit snooze and get a few more minutes of  sleep. We use this phrase to hit snooze,  

to talk about pushing the button on your alarm  or on your phone that will help you to get a few  

more minutes of sleep. Not the best sleep,  but a few more minutes of sleep. Sometimes  

I hit snooze and get a few more minutes  of sleep. Now, it's your turn. Go ahead.

When my alarm goes off again, I roll out of bed.  I love this phrase, to roll out of bed. It just  

means that you tired. You're not really rolling  onto the floor, but you are so tired and you're  

getting out of bed. Let me say it again. When  my alarm goes off, I roll out of bed. Oh no,  

I overslept. Don't forget that final T,  I overslept. Let me say it again. Oh no,  

I overslept. Every now and then, I sleep in.  Every now and then means occasionally. Every  

now and then I sleep in. But more often than  not, I wake up the first time my alarm goes  

off. More often than not means that it happens  more often than it doesn't happen. Let me say  

it one more time. But more often than not,  I wake up the first time my alarm goes off.

I'm a morning person, but my husband is not. A  morning person is someone who enjoys waking up  

in the morning. I'm a morning person, but my  husband is not. I'm usually an early riser,  

but this morning I overslept. Make sure  you pronounce the hard R's in this phrase.  

Early riser. I'm usually an early riser, but this  morning I overslept. Why do I wake up early? Well,  

the early bird catches the worm. Don't  forget the hard R's in this phrase too,  

early bird catches the worm. Why do I wake up  early? Well, the early bird catches the worm.

Next, I take off my glasses and put in  my contacts. Here we talk about taking  

off glasses, putting on glasses, putting  in contacts and taking out contacts. Next,  

I take off my glasses and put in my contacts.  Then I hop in the shower. Do you think I'm  

really hop hop hopping in the shower? No.  It just means I go to the shower quickly.  

I hop in the shower. I put my hair up and  brush my teeth. Don't forget that final TH,  

teeth. Your tongue needs to be between your teeth  to say the word teeth. I put my hair up and brush  

my teeth. Then I pick out my clothes and get  dressed. Notice at the end of the word dressed,  

it sounds like a T, even though it's ED, dressed.  Then I pick out my clothes and get dressed.

I usually make the bed. To make the bed means  that you pull the blankets up and you make it  

look nice and neat. Usually, I make the bed. Then  I go wake up the kids and help them get ready for  

school. We use this phrase, help them get ready,  when you are doing something for someone else,  

making them breakfast, helping pick out their  clothes, maybe helping them get dressed, helping  

them get all of their things in their backpack.  You are helping them get ready. Next, I go wake  

up my kids and help them get ready for school. I  tell them, "Rise and shine." Rise and shine is a  

very cheerful morning phrase that you can use to  wake someone up. I tell them "Rise and shine."

Usually, my kids are pretty happy in the  morning, but sometimes they wake up on  

the wrong side of the bed. This phrase  just means you are in a bad mood. Some  

days it's just like that. You just wake  up in a bad mood. Let me say that again.  

Usually, my kids are pretty happy in the morning,  but sometimes they just wake up on the wrong side  

of the bed. Once the kids are awake, my husband  whips up something for breakfast. To whip up  

means to quickly make something. We don't have  hours to make breakfast, so we usually whip up  

breakfast. Once the kids are awake, my husband  whips up something for breakfast. Remember,  

I can hear you no matter where you are,  so make sure you're repeating out loud.

While my husband makes breakfast, I throw together  some lunches. To throw together has the same idea  

here as hop in the shower, roll out of bed,  whip up some breakfast. In the morning, we're  

in a hurry, so I throw together some lunches.  I try to be a little bit thoughtful about it,  

but it's usually a fast process. While he makes  breakfast, I throw together some lunches. We sit  

down at the table and scarf down breakfast. Some  days we scarf down faster than others, but this  

phrasal verb to scarf down means you eat quickly.  We sit down at the table and scarf down breakfast.

"We got to get going. We don't want to  be late," this is a phrase I often say.  

You can pronounce this gotta. In American  English, the T changes to a D. We gotta  

get going. We don't wanna, here, we're  going to combine want to to become wanna,  

to be late, wanna be late. We got to  get going. We don't want to be late.  

They grab their things and head out the door.  This phrasal verb to head out means to leave.  

They grab their things and head out the  door. I see them off as they leave the  

house. To see someone off means that  you're saying goodbye. For my family,  

we usually stand by the side of the road and  wave as my husband drives my oldest son to  

school and we wave and say goodbye. I see them  off. I see them off as they leave the house.

Once they leave for school, I take a moment to  tidy up the kitchen. To tidy up means I just put  

things back where they belong. Once they leave for  school, I take a moment to tidy up the kitchen.  

Now, it's time for me to plan out my day. To plan  out means to plan. Sometimes we use phrasal verbs  

instead of regular plain verbs because it adds  more flavor to our vocabulary. So you could say,  

"I plan my day," but isn't it more  fun to say I plan out my day. Let's  

say that sentence again. Now it's time  for me to plan out my day. Generally,  

I get more work done in the first part of the  day. Take a look at the pronunciation of this  

word. Generally, generally. Generally, I get  more work done in the first part of the day.

I like to check my email first thing, so  that if I need to respond to anything,  

I can do that first. This lovely phrase, first  thing, is talking about the first thing that I do,  

but notice how it's used grammatically. I like to  check my email first thing. We're not adding any  

prepositions around this. Any other phrases.  It's just I like to do it first thing. Let's  

say that sentence. I like to check my email first  thing, so that if I need to respond to anything,  

I can do that first. Next, I check in on my  students and see if they need any help or  

have any questions. This phrasal verb to check in  on, is a three-part phrasal verb. To check in on,  

and it really means that you're  just monitoring someone's progress.

Next, I check in on my students to see if  they need any help or have any questions.  

Then I get started on the rest of my to-do list.  This phrase to-do list means things that I need,  

guess what, to do. That's right. Next, I get  started on the rest of my to-do list. After  

working for a few hours, I take a break  and make some tea. To take a break means  

that you just rest for a period of time.  For me, when I take a break in the summer,  

I like to drink some cold green tea, and in  the winter I like to drink some hot green  

tea. After working for a few hours,  I take a break and make some tea.

Well, congratulations. You just spoke  in English about my morning routine,  

which I hope is somewhat similar to yours. You  used some great vocabulary, you spoke out loud,  

and my magical teacher ears that can hear you from  around the world are very satisfied. Great work.  

Don't forget to download the free PDF worksheet  for today's lesson. This is an important one.  

It includes all of the sentences that  you repeated, all of the tips that I  

gave about vocabulary, pronunciation, and  grammar, and at the bottom of the worksheet,  

you can answer Vanessa's challenge question  so that you never forget what you've learned.  

You can click on the link in the description  to download that free PDF worksheet today.

Well, thanks so much for learning English  with me. Let me know in the comments what  

part of my morning routine is different  from your morning routine. Let me know  

in the comments. I can't wait to see what you  have to say, and I'll see you again next Friday  

for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel.  Bye. But wait, do you want more? I recommend  

watching this video next where you'll practice  repeating with me about a very strange story  

that happened to one of my family members.  I'll see you in that video to find out.