Shadowing Practice: Talking About Housework in English | Easy English Podcast for Beginners - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Everyday English Academy,
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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Everyday English Academy,
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where we make English simple and enjoyable.
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I'm Sarah.
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And I'm Mike.
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Hello to all of our wonderful listeners wherever you are in the world right now.
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So, Mike, anything interesting happen this week?
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Sarah, I had the most stressful moment of my life on Wednesday.
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What?
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Are you okay?
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My mom called me and said,
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I'm coming to your apartment in one hour.
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Uh-oh.
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I looked around my apartment and I thought,
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this is a crime scene.
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What did you do?
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I threw clothes into the closet.
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I wiped the kitchen counter with my sleeve.
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I hid dirty dishes in the oven.
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You hid dishes in the oven?
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Mike, I do the exact same thing when someone visits.
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Really?
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You?
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Yes, but I usually throw everything into my bedroom and close the door.
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So you just move the mess from one room to another?
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Exactly.
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The living room looked perfect, but my bedroom?
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Don't open that door.
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See, this is why housework is so important.
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If we just did a little bit every day,
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we wouldn't need to panic clean.
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Panic clean.
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I like that.
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That's when you clean very fast because someone is coming to your home.
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Yes.
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Your heart is racing.
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You're throwing things everywhere.
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You're wiping surfaces with whatever you can find.
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That is panic cleaning.
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And I think many of our listeners know this feeling.
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If you've ever panic cleaned,
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tell us in the comments.
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So I think today we need to talk about this, right?
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Housework, chores, all those things we have to do to keep our homes clean.
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Yes, and this is such a practical topic,
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because we all do chores,
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even if we don't like them.
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And there's actually a lot of useful English in this topic,
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words you can use in real conversations every day.
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Exactly!
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So, today we're going to talk about common chores,
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share our cleaning habits – the honest version – and help you learn how to talk about housework in natural English.
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And later, I'm going to confess something about my cleaning habits that is… honestly a bit embarrassing.
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Ooh, I'm already curious!
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But first, let's talk about the basic chores.
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Mike, what chores do you do regularly?
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Well, the one I do the most is probably the dishes.
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I cook almost every day,
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so there are always dishes to wash.
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Same.
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And here's something interesting for our listeners.
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When you wash dishes, there are actually a few different steps.
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Oh, that's true.
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First, you usually scrub them.
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To scrub means to rub something hard to remove the dirt,
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like when you have dried food stuck on a pan,
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you really need to scrub it.
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Yes.
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You use a sponge or a brush and you scrub,
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scrub, scrub until it's clean.
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And sometimes if the food is really stuck,
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you need to let the dish soak first.
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Soak.
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That's a great word.
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To soak means to leave something in water for a long time so the dirt becomes soft and easier to clean.
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I'll let the pan soak for a while.
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That's what I tell myself every night.
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And then I forget about it until the next morning.
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Mike, that's not soaking.
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That's just avoiding the dishes.
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Hey, I call it strategic soaking.
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Sure.
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And after you scrub, the last step is to rinse.
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To rinse means to quickly wash something with clean water to remove the soap.
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Right.
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So the process is soak if needed,
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scrub the dirt off, and then rinse with clean water.
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Three simple steps.
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And honestly, it's not that bad,
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but I still hate it.
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What about laundry?
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Do you do the laundry often, Sarah?
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I try to do it once a week,
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but sometimes it piles up.
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Ah, to pile up.
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That's when something keeps growing because you don't deal with it.
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More and more clothes on the chair, on the floor.
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Yes!
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Dirty clothes pile up so fast.
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You think, oh, I'll do it tomorrow.
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And then suddenly you have a mountain of clothes.
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And it's not just washing them, right?
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you wash clothes, you have to fold them.
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To fold means to make the clothes neat and flat so you can put them away.
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Folding is the part I always put off.
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Put off.
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Good one.
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To put off means to delay doing something.
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You know you should do it, but you say, later.
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I'll fold the clothes later.
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And then later becomes next week.
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I think everyone puts off folding clothes.
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It's a universal thing.
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Oh, and what about stains?
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That's another laundry word.
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A stain is a dirty mark on your clothes that is really hard to remove.
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Like when you spill coffee on a white shirt.
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The worst.
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I got a coffee stain on my favorite shirt and I can't get it out.
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Or when you eat pasta with tomato sauce and you know what's coming.
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Red stain, game over.
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Okay, what about floor chores?
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Because this is where it gets interesting.
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Oh yes.
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So there are three main ways to clean your floor.
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The first one is to sweep.
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To sweep means to clean the floor with a broom.
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You know, that long stick with bristles at the bottom?
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You push the dirt into one place and then collect it.
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I sweep my kitchen floor almost every day, especially after cooking.
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There are always crumbs everywhere.
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Crumbs are those tiny pieces of food that fall on the floor,
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like when you eat bread or cookies.
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Crumbs go everywhere.
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The second way is to vacuum,
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and this one people either love or hate.
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I actually don't mind vacuuming.
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The vacuum cleaner is that noisy machine that sucks up dirt from the floor and carpets.
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I hate the noise.
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It's so loud, but the result is nice.
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Do you vacuum often?
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Maybe once a week.
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Sometimes less.
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Don't judge me.
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And the third way to clean floors is to mop.
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To mop means to clean the floor with a wet mop,
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that stick with a flat,
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wet head on the bottom.
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You use water and soap to wash the floor.
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I mop my kitchen and bathroom maybe once a week.
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It makes such a difference.
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The floor feels completely different after mopping.
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It really does.
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But here's my problem with mopping.
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The floor is wet after,
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and then you walk on it and leave footprints everywhere.
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Yes.
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You mop the whole kitchen and then you realize you're trapped.
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You're standing in the corner because the floor is wet and you can't walk on it.
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Every time.
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So you just stand there waiting for it to dry.
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Dry means when the water goes away.
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No more moisture.
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Wait for the floor to dry before you walk on it.
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Exactly.
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Okay, listeners, quick question.
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Which floor chore do you do the most?
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Sweeping, vacuuming, or mopping?
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Tell us in the comments.
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Now, there are some other chores we should talk about, like tidying up.
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Yes.
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To tidy up means to make a place look neat and organized.
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It's not deep cleaning, it's more like putting things back where they belong.
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Like picking up clothes from the chair,
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putting books back on the shelf, organizing the remote controls.
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The little things.
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I need to tidy up the living room before my friend arrives.
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That's basically what I did when my mom called, but in extreme speed.
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And then there's wiping.
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To wipe means to clean a surface with a cloth or a paper towel.
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You wipe the kitchen counter,
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the table, the bathroom sink.
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I wipe my kitchen counter after every meal.
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That's one thing I'm actually good at.
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Oh, wow!
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Congratulations!
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Hey, it's something.
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And what about dusting?
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To dust means to clean surfaces like shelves,
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TV stands, and furniture to remove dust.
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Dust is those tiny, tiny particles that collect on surfaces over time.
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You know when you see a layer of grey powder on your bookshelf?
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That's dust.
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And the thing about dust is it comes back so fast.
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You dust everything on Monday,
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and by Friday it looks like you never touched it.
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So true.
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It's like a never-ending battle.
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And there's one more I want to mention.
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Declutter.
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To declutter means to remove things you don't need to make a space more organized and clean.
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Oh, I love decluttering.
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It feels so good to throw away old things and make space.
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Really?
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I find it so hard.
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I look at something and think,
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but maybe I'll need this someday.
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Mike, you don't need a broken umbrella from 2019.
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You don't know that.
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Here's a good tip for our listeners.
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If you haven't used something in one year,
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you probably don't need it.
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Just let it go.
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That's easy for you to say.
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I get attached to my things.
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That's called being a hoarder, Mike.
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A hoarder is someone who keeps everything and never throws anything away.
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I'm not a hoarder.
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I'm just careful.
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Okay.
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Let's talk about something fun.
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Chores we love versus chores we hate.
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Oh, this will be interesting because I think we're very different.
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I think so too.
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Okay, I'll go first.
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I actually enjoy doing the laundry.
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There's something satisfying about fresh, clean clothes.
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Interesting.
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For me, laundry is okay, but I hate ironing.
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Ironing is when you use a hot iron to make wrinkled clothes smooth and flat.
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I don't mind ironing.
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It's kind of relaxing.
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You just stand there and press.
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Relaxing?
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Standing there pressing one shirt for ten minutes?
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That's torture.
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Okay, okay.
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What chore do you actually enjoy?
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Don't laugh, but I like vacuuming.
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Wait, you said you hate the noise.
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I hate the noise, but I love seeing the results.
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Those lines on the carpet after you vacuum, so satisfying.
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You're a strange person, Mike.
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What chore do you hate the most?
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I hate mopping.
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The bucket, the wet floor,
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waiting for it to dry.
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It takes forever.
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See?
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We really are different.
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But you know what?
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I think the chore you hate the most is usually the one that piles up the most.
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Hmm.
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That's actually true.
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Because if you hate it,
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you put it off and then it gets worse.
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Exactly.
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Like for me, I put off mopping,
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and then the floor gets so dirty that when I finally mop,
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it takes twice as long.
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It's a vicious cycle.
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A vicious cycle is when a bad situation keeps repeating and getting worse each time.
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I hate mopping, so I put it off,
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so the floor gets dirtier,
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so mopping takes longer, so I hate it more.
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That's my life.
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Because which chore do you hate the most?
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Okay, Sarah.
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I have a confession.
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Oh.
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Is this the embarrassing thing you mentioned?
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Yes.
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So, sometimes when I don't want to do the dishes,
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I eat straight from the pan.
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You what?
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If I make pasta or eggs,
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I just eat them right from the pan.
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That way, no extra dishes.
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Mike, that is actually kind of smart, but also terrible.
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But there's less washing, less scrubbing, less rinsing.
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Problem solved.
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Okay, I have a confession too.
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Sometimes I put clean clothes back in the laundry basket because I don't want to fold them.
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What?
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So you wash them again?
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Maybe.
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Sarah, that's worse than my pan thing.
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We're both terrible.
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But honestly, I think everyone has lazy chore moments.
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That's normal.
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Okay, let's talk about something useful.
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How to talk about chores with other people,
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because this comes up a lot in real life.
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So true.
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Like if you live with someone,
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a partner, a roommate, family,
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you need to talk about who does what.
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Right.
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You can say, Can you do the dishes tonight?
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I'll vacuum tomorrow.
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Or it's your turn to take out the trash.
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Take out the trash means to bring the garbage bags outside to the bin.
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And if your roommate is not doing their chores,
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you can say, Hey, the kitchen is a bit messy.
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Can we tidy up together?
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That's polite.
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You're not attacking them.
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You're saying we instead of you.
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That helps a lot.
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And if someone asks you to help,
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you can say, Sure, I'll wipe the table if you sweep the floor.
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That's teamwork.
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Dividing the chores so it's fair.
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And honestly, chores are much more bearable when you do them with someone else.
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Bearable means you can handle it.
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It's not fun, but it's okay.
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Yes.
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Cleaning is more bearable with good music.
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That's so true.
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I always put on my favorite songs when I clean.
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It makes everything better.
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Oh, and here's another useful phrase.
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If your home is really messy,
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you can say, this place is a mess.
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We need to do a deep clean.
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A deep clean.
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That's when you clean everything.
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Not just the surface.
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You clean under the sofa,
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behind the fridge, inside the oven.
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Inside the oven where you hid your dishes?
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Okay, I deserve that.
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But yes, a deep clean is a very thorough cleaning.
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Usually people do it once a month or before a big event.
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We're having a party next week,
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so I need to do a deep clean this weekend.
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And if you want to ask for help politely,
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you can say, would you mind helping me with the dishes?
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That's very natural and not aggressive at all.
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Or you can make it fun.
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Let's put on some music and clean together.
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It'll be faster.
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See?
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Chores don't have to be terrible.
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A little teamwork, a little music,
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and suddenly it's not so bad.
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All right, Mike, I think we covered a lot today.
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We really did.
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Let's do a quick recap.
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We learned scrub, soak, and rinse for washing dishes.
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Pile up when things keep growing because you don't deal with them.
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And put off when you delay doing something.
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Stain, a dirty mark that's hard to remove.
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And fold to make clothes neat after washing.
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Sweep with a broom, vacuum with a vacuum cleaner, and mop with water.
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Tidy up means to organize and make things neat.
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Wipe means to clean a surface with a cloth.
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Dust to remove those tiny particles from surfaces,
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and declutter to remove things you don't need.
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So much useful vocabulary in just one topic.
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And now we want to hear from you.
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Write in the comments.
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How often do you clean your home?
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And which chore do you hate the most?
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Write one or two sentences in English.
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For example, I vacuum every weekend,
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but I always put off mopping.
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Easy.
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Or you can say, I did a deep clean last weekend and now my apartment looks amazing.
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See?
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You're already using the vocabulary.
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We read every comment.
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And honestly, reading your comments is the best part of our day.
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It really is.
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And if you enjoyed this episode,
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please subscribe to Everyday English Academy and give us a like.
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Share this with a friend who is learning English.
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Or a friend who needs to do their chores.
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Perfect.
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Thank you so much for spending time with us today.
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Keep practicing, keep learning, and maybe go tidy up a little when this episode is over.
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We'll see you very soon in the next episode.
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Stay clean, stay cozy, and keep going.
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Bye, everyone.
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Goodbye.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will practice and learn essential vocabulary and phrases related to housework and chores in English. The focus will be on natural conversational patterns, enabling you to discuss housework effectively. By listening to the engaging dialogue between Sarah and Mike, you'll not only enhance your vocabulary but also practice your speaking skills in real-life contexts. This content is perfect for those preparing for the IELTS speaking test, as it offers practical language usage that can be applied in everyday conversations.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Panic cleaning: Cleaning quickly and stressfully before guests arrive.
- Soak: To leave something in water for a long time to loosen dirt.
- Scrub: To rub hard to remove dirt, especially from dishes.
- Pile up: When dirty clothes or dishes accumulate because they’re not dealt with.
- Tidy up: To make a space look organized and neat.
- Wipe: To clean a surface using a cloth or towel.
- Declutter: To remove unnecessary items from a space to create organization.
- Deep clean: A thorough cleaning that gets into all areas of a room.
Practice Tips
To maximize your learning from this video, consider using the shadowing technique. This involves listening to Sarah and Mike’s conversation and mimicking their speech immediately after hearing it. Start by focusing on their pronunciation and intonation, which will help you improve your English pronunciation.
Pay attention to the speed of their speech; while the dialogue is casual, try to keep pace with them. This can be particularly helpful for those preparing for the IELTS speaking practice, as being comfortable with conversational speed is key during the test. To reinforce your understanding of terms like "tidy up" or "panic cleaning," repeat their uses in context as you follow along. This not only helps with memorization but also aids in shadow speaking, where you can practice creating your own sentences using these phrases.
Lastly, consider recording yourself while you perform this exercise. Listening to your recordings will give you insights into areas you need to work on. By integrating these practices, you will not only enhance your vocabulary but also build your confidence in using English in everyday conversations about housework.
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.
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