New Year`s Resolutions

www.anglophonie.fr
New Year’s Resolutions
(YouTube, 2012)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUgld1OR_vw
English mini lesson number 7.
Topic: New Year’s Resolutions. What does it mean to make a New Year’s resolution? Listen and try to find
out.
What does it mean to make a New Year’s resolution?
New Year’s resolution means (that) you try to make something good in the New Year that’s coming.
Make a New Year’s resolution is to effect a change within yourself, be it a personal, be it a personal thing or
something for your family or a goal in work.
What does it mean to make a New Year’s resolution?
To make a New Year’s resolution, to me, means it’s gonna be a new start for the new year. You start new
things and to stick to ‘em and to wish good will for people and family for the future.
New Year’s resolution means you try to abide by something, to try to plan for something that you are going to
do good in the next year.
You’ve heard three people give their own explanations. Now what do you think it means to make a new
year’s resolution?
A. Spend time with family
B. Have a party on December 31st
C. Make a promise
The answer is “C”: make a promise.
A new Year’s resolution is a promise you make to yourself about what you’re going to do in the following
year. It’s a decision to make a change in your life for the better.
In the United States at the end of the year, it’s quite common to hear the question, “Have you made any New
Year’s resolutions?”
Have you made any New Year’s resolutions?
Yes, I have. My main New Year’s resolution is to finish college this year by the end of 2010, and hopefully to
get into a brand new field to give my family some good stability.
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to declutter, that is, throw away things that I don’t need. In my children’s
closet there’s a lot of stuff that belongs to me, so I need to organize this and finally decide what I need to keep
and what I should throw away.
Note: if you’d like to share your New Year’s resolution with someone, it’s common to say, “My New Year’s
resolution is to ... do what?” Or, “I made the resolution to ... do what?”
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Here’s one more example, “Last year I made the resolution to exercise more regularly. I admit (that) I broke
that resolution, but I promise to keep it next year.
Note: there are three verbs we commonly use with the phrase “a New Year’s resolution: you can make, keep
or break a New Year’s resolution.
Question, do you end up keeping or breaking your New Year’s resolutions?
If you make New Year’s resolutions, do you end up keeping them or breaking them?
I try to, I try to start out (by) keeping them, but in the end I always break’em.
Well, I think you have to be very serious about what you’re resolving to do.
And the intent is to make the change, to do it! Whether it’s to lose weight or to stop smoking or to love thy
neighbor as thyself, and I’m not a New Year’s resolution person per se, because most people break the things
that they are trying to do.
Whether you make a New Year’s resolution or not, I wish you and your family the very best in the coming
year.
Vocabulary 01.
02.
03.
03.
04.
05.
06.
07.
08.
09.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
topic
what does it mean?
to find out
be it
it’s gonna be
to stick to’em (them)
to wish good will
to abide by something
spend time
have a party
it’s quite common
to finish college
by the end of 2010
hopefully
To get into a brand new field
To declutter
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
throw things away
a closet
a lot of stuff
that belongs to me
to break a resolution
to end up keeping
to start out (by) keeping them
break’em
sujet
Qu’est-ce que ça signifie?
apprendre, découvrir
que ce soit
= it is going to be (ça va être)
les respecter
souhaiter les meilleurs voeux, de la bienveillance
respecter un engagement
passer du temps
faire une fête, une soirée
c’est plutôt courant
terminer l’université
avant la fin de 2010
j’espère
entrer dans un tout autre domaine
jeter ce qui n’est pas utile, désencombrer
(clutter = désordre, pagaille)
jeter
une penderie
beaucoup de “trucs”
qui m’appartiennent
“casser”, revenir sur une résolution
finir par respecter
commencer en les respectant
= break them
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24. Whether it’s / be it
25. To love thy neighbor as thyself
26. Per se
que ce soit
aimer son prochain comme (on s’aime) soi-même
en soi