Shadowing Practice: Daily Life English | A Day at Home | Easy Listening Practice for Beginners - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Enjoy English Talks, where every conversation helps you learn.
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I'm Judy.
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Hello, Judy.
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Hello, everyone.
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I'm Jake.
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How are you today, Judy?
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I am very happy today.
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I had a wonderful day yesterday.
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Very quiet, very relaxed.
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Oh, that sounds nice.
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What did you do?
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Nothing special.
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I stayed home all day.
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No work, no shopping, no plans.
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Just me and my home.
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That sounds like a dream.
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It was perfect.
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And you, Jake?
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How are you?
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I am a little tired.
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Yesterday was very busy.
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Shopping, errands, walking everywhere.
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My feet hurt.
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Oh no, you need a day at home.
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Yes, that is exactly what I need.
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And that is actually our topic today.
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Really?
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A day at home?
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Yes.
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Today we are talking about what we do when we stay home all day.
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Oh, I love this topic.
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Staying home is my superpower.
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I know it is, Jake.
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But first, we have a small request.
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Yes.
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If you like our podcast, please click the like button.
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And please subscribe to enjoy English talks.
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And share this episode with your friends and family.
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Thank you.
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It helps us so much.
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We love our listeners.
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Okay, now let's start.
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So, Jake, imagine a perfect day at home.
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You wake up in the morning.
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What is the first thing you do?
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Um, the first thing, I stay in bed.
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You stay in bed?
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You don't get up right away?
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No, no, no. First, I lie there.
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I check my phone.
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I look at messages.
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Maybe five minutes, maybe thirty minutes.
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Thirty minutes in bed with your phone?
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The bed is warm.
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The phone is interesting.
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It is hard to leave.
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I understand, but I am different.
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When I have a day at home, I get up, and the first thing I do, I open the curtains.
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Curtains?
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What are curtains?
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Curtains are the fabric on your windows.
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You pull them open, and the sunlight comes in.
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Curtains.
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C-U-R-T-A-I-N-S.
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Oh, I know curtains, but I never open mine.
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Jake, you need sunlight.
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Natural light is important.
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It helps you wake up.
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It makes you feel good.
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My phone screen is very bright.
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That is my sunlight.
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Not the same, Jake.
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After I open the curtains, I make coffee.
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Hot, strong coffee.
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And I drink it slowly, by the window, looking outside.
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That sounds very peaceful.
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It is my favorite moment.
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The house is quiet.
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The coffee is hot.
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No rush.
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No rush.
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What does that mean?
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No rush means you don't need to be fast.
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You have time.
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You can be slow.
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Take your time.
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No rush.
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No rush.
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I love this phrase.
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My whole day at home is no rush.
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That is the beauty of a day at home.
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No schedule, no alarm, just your own time.
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My own time.
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Yes, that is the best feeling.
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After coffee, breakfast.
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On a home day, I make a real breakfast.
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Not fast, not simple.
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A nice, slow breakfast.
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What do you make?
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Maybe eggs and toast, or maybe pancakes.
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I take my time.
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I enjoy the cooking.
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Pancakes?
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On a regular morning?
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On a home day, yes.
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During the week, I eat fast.
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Cereal or yogurt.
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But when I have the whole day, I cook something special.
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I like that idea.
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I also eat breakfast at home.
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But mine is simpler.
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How simple?
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Toast.
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Just toast.
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Just toast?
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No butter, no jam?
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Okay, toast with butter, sometimes jam, and coffee.
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Always coffee.
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Classic.
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Simple, but good.
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Where do you eat it?
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On the sofa, with a blanket on my legs.
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A blanket?
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Everyone, a blanket is a large, soft piece of fabric.
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You put it on your body to stay warm, on the bed or on the sofa.
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Blanket.
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B-L-A-N-K-E-T.
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My sofa blanket is very important to me.
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It is soft, it is warm, it is my best friend on a home day.
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Your best friend is a blanket?
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Don't judge me, Judy.
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My blanket never says no. It is always warm, always ready.
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I cannot argue with that.
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A good blanket is a treasure.
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A treasure, yes.
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Okay, after breakfast, I usually do some cleaning.
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Cleaning?
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On your day at home?
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That is not fun, Judy.
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I know it sounds boring, but I feel so much better when my home is clean.
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A clean home makes me feel calm, peaceful.
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I understand that, but cleaning is not my favorite activity.
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What kind of cleaning do you do, Jake? Be honest.
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Well, I wash the dishes.
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Good.
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Sometimes.
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Sometimes?
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When there are no more clean cups.
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That is one way to know it's time to wash dishes.
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And I tidy up my living room.
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Tidy up.
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That means to put things in the right place, right?
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Exactly.
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Tidy up means to make things neat and organized.
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Put the books on the shelf, fold the blanket, clean the coffee table.
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Very good, Jake.
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I do that on home days, but big cleaning, like vacuuming, I do that less often.
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Vacuum.
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Everyone, a vacuum is a machine that cleans your floor.
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You push it, and it picks up dust and dirt.
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It makes a loud noise.
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Vacuum.
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V-A-C-U-U-M.
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My vacuum lives in my closet.
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Very lonely in there.
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Poor vacuum.
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It wants to help you, Jake.
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We see each other once a month.
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Maybe less.
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I vacuum every week, and I mop the kitchen floor.
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Mop means to clean the floor with water.
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After mopping, the floor is clean and shiny.
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Your home must be very clean, Judy.
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I try my best, but cleaning is not the whole day.
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Maybe one hour.
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Then the fun begins.
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One hour of cleaning.
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I can do 15 minutes.
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15 minutes is fine.
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A little cleaning is better than no cleaning.
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And then your home feels fresh.
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That is a nice feeling.
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Fresh home, fresh mind.
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Okay, I will try 15 minutes next time.
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After cleaning, lunchtime.
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And this is one of my favorite parts of a home day.
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Cooking lunch?
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Yes.
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When I have the whole day, I cook something nice.
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Not fast food, not a sandwich.
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A real meal.
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What do you cook?
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Last time, I made vegetable soup.
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I chopped the vegetables, carrots, potatoes, onion.
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I put them in a big pot with water.
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I let it boil.
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Then I added some salt and pepper.
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And the whole house smelled like soup.
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Yes, the smell filled the kitchen.
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Warm and wonderful.
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That is one of the best things about a home day.
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The smells.
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Coffee in the morning, soup at lunchtime.
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Home smells good.
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I agree with that.
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What about you, Jake?
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Do you cook lunch on your home days?
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I cook.
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My kind of cooking.
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Your kind of cooking?
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Tell me.
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Instant noodles.
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Instant noodles?
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They're fast, they're hot, they're delicious.
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Three minutes and done.
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Well, that is true, but do you add anything to them?
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Add?
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Like what?
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An egg.
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You crack an egg into the boiling water.
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You stir a little, and now you have egg noodles.
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Much better.
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More filling.
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You can add an egg to instant noodles?
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Yes, and you can add vegetables, too.
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Some green onion on top, maybe a little cheese.
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Wow, this is a life lesson, not just an English lesson.
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See?
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You learn many things on this podcast.
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Egg noodles.
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I will try this today.
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Good.
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Let me know how it goes.
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After lunch, afternoon time.
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This is the quiet part of a home day.
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What do you do in the afternoon, Jake?
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First, I change into my pajamas.
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Wait, you were not already in pajamas?
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Well, I was, but I change into my other pajamas, my afternoon pajamas.
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You have different pajamas for the afternoon?
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I have morning pajamas, afternoon pajamas, and evening pajamas.
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Three sets.
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How many pajamas do you own, Jake?
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Enough.
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Everyone, pajamas are the clothes you wear at home or to sleep.
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Very soft, very comfortable.
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Pajamas.
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P-A-J-A-M-A-S.
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The most important clothes in your closet.
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I also wear comfortable clothes on home days.
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Leggings and a big sweater.
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Not pajamas all day, but comfortable.
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See?
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Everyone wants to be comfortable at home.
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True.
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Okay, so you're in your afternoon pajamas.
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What do you do?
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I read.
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On my sofa.
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With my blanket.
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You read?
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What do you read?
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I read comics and sometimes short stories in English.
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Short stories in English?
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Jake, that is wonderful practice.
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Simple stories for beginners.
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I understand most of the words.
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When I don't understand a word, I check my phone.
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That is a very good habit.
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Reading in English, even a little, helps you learn new words, and you see how sentences work.
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Yes, and I'm comfortable.
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That's the key.
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Comfortable body, open mind.
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I love that.
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Comfortable body, open mind.
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Very wise.
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I also read on home days.
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I like a novel or a magazine with a cup of tea.
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Tea, book, quiet house, very Judy.
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Very Judy, yes.
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Sometimes I sit in my favorite chair, sometimes I lie on the sofa, and I read for one or two hours.
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Time goes fast when you're reading something good. Or sleeping.
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Time also goes fast when you're sleeping.
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Do you take a nap on home days?
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A small nap, maybe 20 minutes, maybe two hours.
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Two hours is not a small nap, Jake.
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It starts small, but the sofa is very comfortable and the blanket is very warm.
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Things happen.
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Things happen.
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Okay.
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And then the evening comes, the last part of our home day.
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What do you do in the evening, Jake?
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Evening is movie time.
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What kind of movies do you watch?
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It depends on my mood.
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Comedy when I want to laugh, drama when I want to feel something deep and sometimes a documentary.
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I also watch movies on home days, and I like to make it special.
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Special?
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How?
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I make popcorn, I turn off the big lights, I use a small lamp, I get my blanket, and I feel like I'm in a cinema, but in my living room.
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A home cinema?
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That is a great idea.
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It is very cozy.
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Do you know this word, everyone?
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Cozy.
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C-O-Z-Y.
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Cozy means warm, comfortable, and nice.
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A cozy place makes you feel safe and happy.
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Cozy.
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I love this word.
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My sofa corner is very cozy, with the lamp and the blanket and the hot chocolate.
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Hot chocolate.
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You drink hot chocolate on home evenings?
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Yes, on cold days.
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Hot chocolate, blanket, movie.
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The perfect combination.
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Hot chocolate makes everything better.
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It really does.
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You hold the warm cup, you smell the chocolate, you take a small sip, and the world is good.
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Beautiful, Jake.
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Simple things, but they make us so happy.
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You don't need expensive things.
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You don't need to go outside.
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Sometimes the best day is a quiet day at home.
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I agree completely.
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Home is where you recharge.
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Recharge means to get your energy back, like a phone.
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You charge your phone at night, and you recharge yourself on a home day.
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Hmm, recharge.
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I like that word.
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I recharge on my sofa.
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We all recharge in different ways.
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Some people recharge with friends, some people recharge alone, some people with a book, some with a nap.
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I recharge with all of those, plus snacks. Of course.
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Snacks always help.
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Now, let me teach you a useful phrase.
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This phrase is for talking about your time at home.
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Yes, please.
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The phrase is, I spend time plus verb-ing.
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For example, I spend time reading.
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I spend time cooking.
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I spend time cleaning.
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Spend time.
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Like, spend money?
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Great question.
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Yes, same word, spend.
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You spend money at the store, and you spend time at home.
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Time is valuable.
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You choose how to use it.
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That is a nice way to think about it.
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More examples.
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I spend the morning drinking coffee.
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I spend the afternoon reading comics.
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I spend the evening watching movies with hot chocolate.
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Let me try.
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I spend time lying on the sofa.
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Perfect sentence.
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I spend the afternoon reading comics in my pajamas.
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Excellent.
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Very natural.
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Very true.
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I spend the evening watching movies with hot chocolate.
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Beautiful.
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You got it, Jake.
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Also, everyone, try this phrase.
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Think about your day at home.
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How do you spend your time?
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Make three sentences.
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What do you spend time doing at home?
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You can also say, I spend the whole day at home.
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Whole means all, complete, the whole day.
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Not just the morning, the whole day.
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I spend the whole day at home, in pajamas, happy.
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And that is perfectly fine.
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We all need those days.
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Okay, let's review.
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Yes, let's review.
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Today we talked about a day at home.
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Yes, all the things we do when we stay home.
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In the morning, coffee by the window, a slow breakfast, opening the curtains.
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Or staying in bed with the phone.
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That is also a valid choice.
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Then some cleaning, washing dishes, tidying up, vacuuming.
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My vacuum says hello, finally.
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Cooking lunch, vegetable soup for me, instant noodles with egg for Jake.
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Life-changing egg noodles.
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In the afternoon, reading, relaxing, wearing comfortable clothes.
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Afternoon pajamas.
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Very important.
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And in the evening, watching movies, making popcorn, feeling cozy.
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Hot chocolate, blanket, the perfect evening.
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We also learned some useful words today.
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Curtains, blanket, pajamas, vacuum, tidy up, cozy, and recharge.
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And spend time plus verb-ing.
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Very useful phrase.
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Perfect.
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You remembered everything, Jake.
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I spent time learning today.
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See?
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Perfect use of the phrase.
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Well, that's all the time we have for today.
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Thank you so much for listening to Enjoy English Talks.
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Yes, thank you, everyone.
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It was a very cozy conversation today.
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Please subscribe to Enjoy English Talks.
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And give this episode a like.
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And share it with a friend.
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And we have a question for you today.
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Yes.
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Please leave a comment below.
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Tell us, what do you like to do on a day at home?
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Use this sentence.
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On a day at home, I spend time...
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We would love to read your answers.
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Maybe you cook, maybe you read, maybe you lie on the sofa like me.
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All answers are welcome.
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See you next time.
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Bye, everyone.
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Keep practicing your English.
Why practice speaking with this video?
The video titled "Daily Life English | A Day at Home" provides a perfect opportunity for English learners to practice speaking in a relatable context. The dialogue between Judy and Jake captures a casual conversation about staying at home, which is a familiar scenario for many. Engaging with this kind of content helps learners develop their English speaking practice skills in a natural setting.
By listening to authentic dialogues, you can improve your pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation, essential elements for sounding more fluent. Shadowing these conversations with the shadowing app allows you to mimic the speakers while enhancing your understanding of contextual language usage. This method of practice enables you to speak more confidently and effectively in everyday situations.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
Throughout the conversation, several key structures illustrate everyday language use, which are crucial for English learners:
- Using simple present tense: Notice how Jake says, "I stay home all day." This structure is often used to describe routines and habits. Practicing this tense allows you to talk about your daily activities comfortably.
- Expressing feelings: Judy expresses her emotions by saying, "I am very happy today." Learning to articulate your feelings in English enhances communication, making interactions more personal.
- Asking follow-up questions: The phrase "What did you do?" showcases a common way to extend a conversation. Mastering inquisitive forms can help you engage better with others.
- Descriptive expressions: Phrases like "very quiet, very relaxed" not only express a state of being but also help in adding depth to your language. This is useful when describing your own experiences.
Common Pronunciation Traps
As you practice with this video, keep an eye out for common pronunciation challenges:
- Relaxed consonants: Notice how consonants like “d” in “and” are often softened in casual speech. Pay attention to this to sound more natural.
- Connected speech: Look out for phrases like “I had a wonderful day” which may sound like “I hadda wonderful day” in fast conversation. Practicing this can help you adapt to real-life English communication.
- Word stress: Note the stress in words like “perfect” and “happy.” Emphasizing the right syllables will improve your clarity and help convey your message effectively.
Incorporating these elements into your practice sessions with shadow speak can significantly enhance your speaking skills. Take time to listen, repeat, and shadow the speakers to improve not just your vocabulary but also your overall fluency in English.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.