Morning Routine

Hello everyone and welcome to EnglishPod.

My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today we've got a very special lesson for you all about time.

That's right.

We're going to concentrate a little bit on some specific points of grammar this time

and we're going to talk about the morning routine, what you do in the mornings.

Well, let's take a look first at the word routine.

This is our vocabulary preview for today.

Vocabulary preview.

Alright so a routine or the morning routine.

What is a routine?

A routine is basically your habit for a certain period of time.

So for example, your routine in the morning is what you do when you wake up.

Get breakfast and go to work.

You can also have an evening routine.

It's what you always do before you go to bed.

Exactly.

Everyone has a routine, what they do in the mornings, maybe what you do at night before

going to bed.

So that's what we're going to talk about today.

That's right.

You can also have an exercise routine.

So basically anything with steps.

One, two, three, four, five, that you always do the same way.

That's a routine.

Exactly.

Right.

So that's what we're going to take a look at today.

Let's actually jump right into our dialogue and listen to Stephanie's routine.

Stephanie did you just get to school?

But you were up and about when I left the dorm this morning.

That was about an hour and a half ago.

This happens all the time.

Why do you always take so long to get ready in the mornings?

It's a skill.

What can I say?

I don't know why.

I just have a long routine.

Please explain because it makes no sense to me.

How can a girl's routine be so complicated?

You get up, you shower, you get dressed, you brush your teeth, you're out the door.

Half an hour tops.

Jacob, you have the luxury of having a haircut that rarely needs styling.

I don't.

I have to set aside about an hour and a half to get ready in the mornings.

Every day I wake up and head straight for the shower.

Every second day I wash my hair.

If it's a hair washing day, I frequently need to wash my hair twice because it gets really

oily.

Then, I usually put in a conditioner and have to rinse that out too.

Because my hair is so long, I seldom manage to take a shower in under 20 minutes.

Afterwards, I often put on a pot of coffee and get dressed while I wait for it to brew.

I take a long time to get dressed in the morning.

Every now and then I remember to choose my outfit the night before, but usually I do

it in the morning.

In all, getting dressed takes about half an hour, at which time my hair is now semi-dry

so then I have to style my hair.

From time to time I'll put my hair up, but oftentimes I blow dry it straight.

And then, because of the texture of my hair, I regularly have to flat iron it to keep it

from frizzing.

That's another 20 minutes or so.

After that, I have my daily makeup routine.

True, I hardly ever see you without your hair done and your makeup on, even when you show

up to class in sweatpants.

Tell me, how long does it take you to choose that outfit in the morning?

Not funny.

Alright, we're back.

So obviously she has a very complicated routine.

I don't know if all girls are like this.

I'm not like this, but I think a lot of girls, and some guys are.

I don't want to be sexist here.

I know some guys who take their time in the morning and are very, very particular about

the way that they look.

Really?

Wow.

So, obviously everyone has their morning routine in different ways.

And it was interesting to see how she described it.

So why don't we take a look at Language Takeaway.

Language Takeaway.

So today's Language Takeaway, like I said at the beginning of the podcast, is all about

time.

So we're going to look at some of these important time adverbs.

That's right.

These are called adverbs of frequency.

And basically, they are telling us how we do things.

If we do something all the time or if we never do something.

Or everything in between.

Exactly.

So the first couple we have today are very, very common words.

You're going to hear these a lot.

The first one is frequently.

Okay, frequently.

So, if you do something frequently, consider it to be about 75% of the time.

Maybe a little bit more, almost 85% of the time.

Right.

So it's not always, but it's very often.

So for example, so I frequently forget to take my keys when I'm leaving the house, which

is a very big problem.

Exactly.

So considering out of seven days, maybe you forget your keys five days.

Not so good.

All right.

So that's frequently.

Now let's move on to another one that's actually a lot less.

We talk about seldom.

Well, Marco has told me that he seldom forgets his keys.

That means he almost always remembers them.

Right.

So seldom is a negative adverb.

It's saying that almost never.

Okay.

So if I say, for example, I seldom go to the movies.

That's too bad.

I like the movies.

Right.

Well, that means that I maybe go to the movie theater once a month.

Yeah.

Not very often.

Seldom.

Not very often.

Seldom.

All right.

Now going back to a positive adverb of frequency, we have often.

You described frequently as very often.

That's right.

You can also say, I often forget my keys or it often rains in tropical places.

This means this is a common thing.

Exactly.

So again, let's consider it to be about 70 to 80% of the time.

Now with pronunciation, some people like to pronounce often, right?

They kind of leave out the strong T sound.

Well, other people say often.

That's right.

Both forms are correct, right?

Yes, they're both correct.

So you're safe using either of these.

Right.

Okay.

And our third adverb of frequency, no, our fourth.

And our fourth adverb of frequency is also a positive one and we say usually.

Usually means this is something that you do pretty consistently.

I usually brush my hair before I go to sleep.

That means not always, but almost every day.

Right.

So let's consider out of seven days, you do it six times.

Yeah.

I usually do this.

Okay.

So usually is again, very, very common.

And something in between maybe 60% of the time, 50% of the time we say regularly.

Well, I think of the word regularly as being very closely related to regular.

So basically if I have a schedule, I do the same thing every day.

I do it regularly.

But sometimes there's a special occasion.

For example, I regularly run five kilometers after work when I go to the gym.

But sometimes when I want to go out with my friends, I don't run.

So it's not always, but it is pretty regular.

Exactly.

So regularly means you do it very often, but there are some exceptions.

Okay.

Now those are adverbs of frequency, but we have a couple of other phrases that are very

similar so we want to take a look at those as well.

Let's go back to the beginning of Stephanie's routine when she said that every day I wake

up.

Okay.

So every day means 100% of the time every single day.

Monday to Sunday.

Exactly.

So obviously you wake up every day.

Or I brush my teeth twice every day.

So that's 100% of the time.

Now if we say every second day, what does that mean?

That means Monday yes, Tuesday no, Wednesday yes, Thursday no, or any day.

So basically she says I wash my hair every second day.

That means one day I wash my hair, but the next day I don't.

The day after that though, I wash it again.

Every second day.

Okay.

So you can say every second day and I think you can also say every other day.

Every other day.

So every other day or every second day.

He calls his mother every other day.

Very good.

Alright.

And she also said that every now and then I remember to choose my outfit.

Okay.

Well, this one's interesting.

This is not very frequent.

This is basically saying sometimes.

Sometimes.

So now and then.

Every now and then means I sometimes do it, I sometimes don't do it.

Every now and then I really want to eat chocolate so I buy a candy bar.

Okay.

So basically you want to eat chocolate twice in a month.

Yeah, not very often.

Not very often.

Okay.

And another one that's very similar is from time to time.

So Marco said that he doesn't go to the movies very frequently.

So he goes from time to time.

Right.

So I can say I seldom go to the movies or I can say I like to go to the movies from

time to time.

That's right.

Or this girl is describing her appearance.

She says from time to time I put my hair up.

So that means most of the time.

That means sometimes it's down.

Sometimes it's up.

Right.

So as you can see there are many different ways of describing the frequency or how many

times you do certain actions or your routine.

So you can use this with a lot of things when you're describing.

And we encourage you to try some of these new ones because a lot of English learners

use the same time adverbs whenever they speak.

So try and really use some of these and challenge yourself.

Exactly.

All right so that's all we have for language takeaway.

Why don't we move on now to Fluency Builder.

Fluency Builder.

Okay so using some of these adverbs I could say I can say I regularly make a pot of coffee

in the morning.

Okay.

So a pot of coffee.

You regularly make a pot of coffee.

That means you like to drink coffee every day.

That's right.

I always need my cup of coffee in the morning.

So I usually make it first thing.

So a pot of coffee.

We know what a cup of coffee is.

But a pot of coffee.

What is a pot?

A pot is basically the container that you use when you brew coffee when you make it.

So you put the coffee beans in the machine and instead of having a cup underneath you

have a bigger container that's a pot.

You can also have a pot of tea.

Exactly.

It's many cups.

Usually eight or ten cups.

All right.

So what is that verb?

To brew coffee.

I think it's a very nice kind of fancy way of saying making coffee.

Brew a pot of coffee.

I'm brewing some coffee.

All right.

So apart from coffee and all of these things, let's take a look at some of the specific

phrases that she used when she was talking about her hair because I think her hair is

very complicated.

It is very complicated.

Sometimes she washes her hair.

Sometimes she doesn't wash her hair.

Sometimes she blow dries it straight.

Okay, so to blow dry means that you use a blow dryer.

That's right.

This is a machine that uses electricity to blow hot air on your hair so that your hair

will dry quickly.

But you can blow dry your hair in many ways.

Some people have curly hair and they have special tools for making their hair curly.

But she says she blow dries it straight.

That means she makes it straight with hot air.

Right.

So I think the way you do this is you take the blow dryer and a brush and you brush while

you blow dry, right?

Yep.

Awesome.

Making lines.

See, I know a little bit about this even though I don't have long enough hair for this.

No, I guess.

Well, maybe you are secretly one of those guys who has a routine like this woman.

I don't think I can take this much time in the shower and brushing my hair.

But moving on, actually, I also know this next phrase, to flat iron your hair.

Okay, so flat iron is a noun and a verb.

So I use a flat iron or I can flat iron my hair.

This is a tool that we use that's very, very hot.

Think of an iron.

It's very, very hot and it basically presses my hair and makes it very, very, very thin

and flat and straight.

So I think people that have straight hair don't need to really flat iron their hair.

Nah, but if you have very curly hair, then you need it.

So what's the difference?

Give us the insight here.

Why wouldn't you just blow dry it straight?

Why do you need to flat iron it?

Because a flat iron makes it more flat.

It makes your hair stick together more and it's much, much, much hotter than a blow dryer.

So I guess if you use a blow dryer, then you have puffy hair or like the next word that

she described, frizzy hair.

Okay, so the adjective to describe this kind of hair is frizzy.

For example, when it's very rainy, my hair is frizzy.

That means that it sticks out.

It's very thick and not straight.

It's not curly, but it's messy.

It kind of inflates.

That's right.

It's like a little balloon.

But the verb here is to frizz.

So my hair is frizzing.

And that means that it's getting like this, bigger or inflated.

That's right.

So girls who have this problem have it worse during very humid or rainy days.

Not so bad when it's dry.

Okay, so I actually have a little bit of frizzy hair.

That's why I have to use some sort of hair gel or mousse.

See, it's not because I'm vain.

It's just because if I don't use this, I'll come in looking like a lion.

I think I might have to insist that that happens sometime soon.

We can take a picture and put it on our website, EnglishBot.com.

For sure.

All right, so why don't we go back and listen to the dialogue one last time.

Stephanie, did you just get to school?

But you were up and about when I left the dorm this morning.

That was about an hour and a half ago.

This happens all the time.

Why do you always take so long to get ready in the mornings?

It's a skill.

What can I say?

I don't know why.

I just have a long routine.

Please explain because it makes no sense to me.

How can a girl's routine be so complicated?

You get up, you shower, you get dressed, you brush your teeth, you're out the door.

Half an hour tops.

Jacob, you have the luxury of having a haircut that rarely needs styling.

I don't.

I have to set aside about an hour and a half to get ready in the mornings.

Every day, I wake up and head straight for the shower.

Every second day, I wash my hair.

If it's a hair washing day, I frequently need to wash my hair twice because it gets really

oily.

Then, I usually put in a conditioner and have to rinse that out too.

Because my hair is so long, I seldom manage to take a shower in under 20 minutes.

Afterwards, I often put on a pot of coffee and get dressed while I wait for it to brew.

I take a long time to get dressed in the morning.

Every now and then, I remember to choose my outfit the night before, but usually, I do

it in the morning.

In all, getting dressed takes about half an hour, at which time my hair is now semi-dry,

so then I have to style my hair.

From time to time, I'll put my hair up, but oftentimes, I blow-dry it straight.

And then, because of the texture of my hair, I regularly have to flat iron it to keep it

from frizzing.

That's another 20 minutes or so.

After that, I have my daily makeup routine.

True.

I hardly ever see you without your hair done and your makeup on, even when you show up

to class in sweatpants.

Tell me, how long does it take you to choose that outfit in the morning?

Not funny.

Alright, so actually talking about morning routines, and we've given you so many tools,

I think it would be a great idea if our users came to our site, EnglishPod.com, and posted

a part of their morning routine, trying to use as many adverbs of frequency as possible.

That's a great suggestion, and to get you all started, I could give you a little bit

of my routine.

Alright, let's hear it.

Every morning when I wake up, I turn off the alarm, which is very loud, and I take a shower.

I always brush my teeth, and I usually brew a pot of coffee, although sometimes I don't

have time to brew my coffee, and I wait until I arrive at my office.

I seldom choose the clothes I will wear the night before.

I almost always choose them in the morning, and generally I ride my bike to work, but

not always.

Okay, I think in the winter you seldom ride your bike to work.

Every once in a while I ride it.

Alright, see?

You have a perfect example there of more or less what we expect, but also it would be

interesting to see if you have any other type of routine.

I know some people wake up in the morning, and the first thing they do, they always walk

their dog, for example.

Oh, that's very nice.

Other people are very hungry, so they almost always eat right when they wake up.

I eat before I brush my teeth.

Smart, actually.

Yeah, alright, so we want to hear from you guys.

Come to EnglishPod.com.

We'll see everyone there.

Bye.

Take care.