Happy New Year!

Hello everyone and welcome to EnglishPod.

My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and it's the start of a very new year so we have some interesting

vocabulary for you today about the new year.

That's right.

So we are starting a new year.

Why don't we just jump right into this dialogue.

Let's see what's going on and we'll be back in a bit.

It's almost midnight.

We're about to start a brand new year.

I know.

It's exciting.

A new year is always like a clean slate.

A fresh start to accomplish any dreams, objectives and goals.

Do you have a new year's resolution?

I was thinking about it but I'm never able to keep my new year's resolutions.

Last year for example I joined a gym and only went twice.

Yeah, I know what you mean.

That's why this year I am keeping things more simple.

Maybe like getting together with friends I haven't seen in a long time or doing some

volunteering work.

That seems reasonable.

We should get together and watch the ball drop in Times Square.

Sure, as long as you don't try to kiss me at midnight.

Well, we can't break tradition.

It's bad luck.

All right.

So we've prepared a couple of different words for you on language takeaway.

Language takeaway.

All right.

The first word we have is actually a phrase.

We have this phrase brand new.

Something is a brand new thing.

That's right.

We said that we are starting a brand new year.

And that's just another way of saying completely new.

So I want a brand new bicycle.

It means I want a new bicycle from the store, not one from the garage.

That's right.

So it's something completely new, never been used.

So we're starting a brand new year and we're saying it's exciting because it's a great

opportunity like having a clean slate.

So a clean slate.

Now this is an interesting phrase because you might not know what a slate is, but basically

it means that you start from the very beginning.

So there's no history.

There's no nothing that you have to worry about.

You start completely new.

That's a clean slate.

That's right.

So just imagine you're in class and you have the whiteboard or the chalkboard and you just

erase everything and then you start again.

That's kind of what it means to have a clean slate, a new start.

Exactly.

And so we have a clean slate.

We need to talk about what we will do with the clean slate.

And so one person asks the other, do you have any new year's resolutions?

That's right.

So this is one of the most popular things during the new year's is people make a new

year's resolution.

So a resolution is something that you have decided you will do.

I have many resolutions.

I will learn to play the piano this year.

So in the new year, I will do this thing.

That's right.

So it's really like a promise, something that you promise yourself that you will do in the

new year.

So as you say, maybe start playing the piano.

That's right.

So we call that a resolution or if we want to be specific, we call it a new year's resolution.

Now at the very end of the dialogue, we heard another phrase.

This is quite strange.

They want to kiss at midnight.

And the one person says, well, we can't break tradition.

That's right.

To break a tradition or to break tradition.

That basically means to not do something that we usually do.

All right.

So you can follow tradition.

That means that you do the same thing maybe every year.

But if you break tradition, that means you don't do what you are expected to do.

So remember that verb is to break, break tradition.

That's right.

All right.

So let's review this vocab.

Let's listen to the dialogue again.

It's almost midnight.

We're about to start a brand new year.

I know it's so exciting.

A new year is always like a clean slate, a fresh start to accomplish any dreams, objectives

and goals.

Do you have a new year's resolution?

I was thinking about it, but I'm never able to keep my new year's resolutions.

Last year, for example, I joined a gym and only went twice.

Yeah.

I know what you mean.

That's why this year I am keeping things more simple.

Maybe like getting together with friends I haven't seen in a long time or doing some

volunteering work.

That seems reasonable.

We should get together and watch the ball drop in Times Square.

Sure.

As long as you don't try to kiss me at midnight.

Well, we can't break tradition.

It's bad luck.

All right.

So let's take a look at those phrases now on Fluency Builder.

So there's a phrase in here that I use all the time.

We heard about this resolution to go to the gym more often.

And the person said, you know, I never really go to the gym.

And the other said, you know, I know what you mean.

Yeah, that's right.

She says, yeah, I know what you mean.

And so basically we use this when you agree with the person, you understand what they

are saying.

Yeah.

It's almost like saying I had the same experience.

So maybe I also belong to a gym and I never go to that gym just like you.

So it means I know what you mean.

I have the same problem.

That's right.

So you can just agree with someone, completely agree with someone by saying, yeah, I know

what you mean or I know what you mean.

I know what you mean.

All right.

So, well, this year we want to keep things a little bit more simple.

And we said, well, maybe like getting together with friends I haven't seen in a long time.

All right.

So let's think about this to get together with friends.

Lots of words there, but you can see friends, but to get together means to be social with,

to hang out with, to do things together.

But it's not very specific.

It's a nice way to say just to be with your friends.

That's right.

So maybe you are going with your friends out, maybe shopping, maybe to the movies.

So you say, yeah, I'm going to get together with my friends later on this afternoon.

All right.

So we can get together with friends as a resolution.

That's something we want to do in the near future.

But for now, we're going to get together and watch the ball drop in Times Square.

That's the New Year's plan.

That's right.

So it may seem strange.

It's not actually a phrasal verb or a colloquial phrase.

There is actually a ball that goes down as the countdown begins to midnight.

And once it completely disappears, then you celebrate the New Year.

So you actually see this big round ball coming down in Times Square.

Yeah.

It's a way to count down to the New Year.

So people often say 10, 9, 8, 7 to the countdown and the ball will drop.

And that means it's the New Year.

So this is something that we refer to.

It's something we talk about when we want to discuss the New Year.

So we'll watch the ball drop together.

It's an event.

That's right.

Okay.

So a lot of great stuff there.

Why don't we listen to the dialogue one last time.

It's almost midnight.

We're about to start a brand new year.

I know.

It's so exciting.

A new year is always like a clean slate.

A fresh start to accomplish any dreams, objectives and goals.

Do you have a New Year's resolution?

I was thinking about it, but I'm never able to keep my New Year's resolutions.

Last year, for example, I joined a gym and only went twice.

Yeah, I know what you mean.

That's why this year I am keeping things more simple.

Maybe like getting together with friends I haven't seen in a long time or doing some

volunteering work.

That seems reasonable.

We should get together and watch the ball drop in Times Square.

Sure.

As long as you don't try to kiss me at midnight.

Well, we can't break tradition.

It's bad luck.

All right.

So talking about New Year's, everyone makes New Year's resolutions and people get together

to watch the ball drop in Times Square.

Now this is more of an American thing.

Have you ever experienced anything different for New Year's?

Some other type of tradition?

Because also here, they kiss at midnight.

That's right.

Well, that's a pretty standard American tradition.

People will get together and they'll have the TV on.

They'll have a party or they'll be with friends and they will maybe watch some fireworks or

watch the TV as the ball drops.

So I've done both.

I've gone out because sometimes you go outside, it's very cold, but you go to a bridge or

a park or somewhere public or the city government or the state will have some kind of special

fireworks display.

So then everyone will watch the fireworks or watch a big TV screen.

And then when it's midnight, when it's the new year, then everyone will kiss.

So everyone will kiss.

Maybe I mean, is it like just between couples or whoever's available, you kiss whoever's

there?

Sometimes it's whoever is available.

That's happened to me where you turn around and you say, oh, hi, I don't know you.

So the tradition is you have to kiss someone at midnight.

So this is for good luck.

Yes.

For good luck in the new year.

Yes.

So if you don't kiss someone, then you're kind of breaking the tradition.

It's kind of sad.

And it's unlucky.

An interesting way of celebrating New Year's, this is as we said, in the United States,

watching the ball drop, kissing someone at midnight.

So we are really curious to know how you celebrate your New Year's in your country because maybe

you have similar traditions or very different things.

That's right.

And I know some places like Italy even have special foods you are supposed to eat to bring

wealth and prosperity in the new year.

So let us know.

Our website is EnglishPod.com.

All right.

We'll see you guys there.

Bye.

Happy New Year.