Expressions for New Year's Resolution

 And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.

During a new year, many of us decide to try something new. With a new year’s resolution, we resolve to do something we have not done in the past.

Sometimes new things are risk-free – like eating healthier food or getting more exercise.

Sometimes we decide to learn a new skill, like a language or a musical instrument. Again, these things are not risky, nor do they have bad consequences. If you do not learn how to play the guitar, nothing bad will happen — probably.

However, sometimes we need to shake up our lives and do something different that does have consequences. That means there are risks if things do not work out.

Such a change could involve moving to a new city, starting a new job, or ending a relationship. These new things do have a level of risk . Things could go wrong. On the other hand, things could go very right.

So, for these situations, we introduce two expressions that encourage you to take a chance.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The first expression is nothing ventured, nothing gained.

This means that without doing something risky or difficult, a bad situation will not improve. You could also sum it up this way: If you try something risky, you could fail. But if you do not try at all … you will surely fail.

The word “venture” can be both a noun and a verb. As a verb, it means to proceed in a dangerous or risky plan. As a noun, it means an action that involves chance, risk, or danger.

For example, starting a new restaurant is a risky business venture these days. And venturing into an unknown area could be dangerous.

A friend of mine wanted to learn how to drive a stunt car and then move to Los Angeles to become a stunt car driver. A stunt car is a vehicle used in the movies to perform crashes and wild driving. There are not many women in this profession. So, I told her that her decision involved lots of risk. She said to me: “Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Fortune favors the bold.

Our second expression is fortune favors the bold.

“Fortune” usually means wealth or fame. But it can also mean being in a good situation. And, if you are bold, you are brave.

So, this expression means that people who are brave and take chances help themselves. Their bold, brave actions put them in a good place.

When using this expression, keep this in mind. The person who finds a fortune has done something to get it. It just doesn’t happen to them by chance. So, if someone happens to win a lot of money in a lottery, you wouldn’t use the expression fortune favors the bold.

However, let’s say you quit your job and moved to a new city. That is a bold decision. But you are sure that it will be good for you. In the new city, you find your dream job. It might even pay more money than your old job. Here, you could definitely say, “Fortune favors the bold!”

And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. For the start of 2023, I wish you and yours health and wealth.

Until next time … I’m Anna Matteo.

Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

resolution –n. a promise to yourself to do something you believe you should do

consequence –n. the result of an action usually that is meaningful or serious

encourage –v. to make someone likely to take some action

shake up –v. (phrasal) to make a lot of changes or to make a big change

venture –v. to do something that involves risk and reward

fortune –n. wealth, fame or good conditions (often because of influences beyond direct control of an individual)

favor –v. to approve of or to support

bold –adj. not afraid of danger of difficult situations

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The Secret To Speak English Like A Native

 

Talk English  

The Secret To Speak English Like A Native In 6 Months For Busy People, Learn Spoken English From The Success  

Ken Xiao

When I started to improve my English, I started by taking one single action. The next day, I took one more action. I kept taking the same action day-by-day. After three months, I had already built enough fluency that people started telling me that my English was good!

 I followed through by building my fluency little-by-little, day-by-day. After another three months, I started to speak what seemed impossible before – fluent English!

 If you'd build your fluency by just 1% a day and keep building on it, imagine what your fluency will be like six months later . You could have built enough fluency to speak English that seemed impossible before!

The Formula has three steps:

Step 1: Set Your Goal

Step 2: Take Action

Step 3: Follow Through

 

Step 1: Set Your Goal

There are two effective way to set your goal: inspiration and desperation.This is the golden rule for success: 80% of your success depends on your goal, and 20% on your work. Put your goal in places where you can see them as often as possible. The point here is for you to look at your goal as often as possible to remind you that you have a goal to work on!

Step 2: Take Action 

I'm going to show you nine action to completely get rid of your accent and make you speak English just like a native. So have your MP3 player or your cellphone ready. Put on your headphones if you need.

Action 1: Listen And Repeat At The Same Time

Repeat what you hear as quickly as you can. Say it back without trying to understand it or trying memorize it. if you hear words you don't know how to say or words that are hard to say, that's perfectly fine. Just try to say the words or just make some noise and move on.

Action 2: Finish Repeating The Whole Material 9 (Continue all the way to the end)

Listen to and repeat the whole material from the beginning straight to the end. If you have to pause it, pause it. When you come back, keep going from where you've left off. What you're doing here is building your flow, making you speak whole sentences instead of just words, so repeat whole sentences and the whole material from the beginning to the end.

Action 3: Record Your Voice

Yes, record your voice practicing this piece of native study material. This is crucial. Do NOT skip this.  

 Now you know how to practice the repeating strategy and you have already repeated this material once. At this point, you'll need to record your own voice repeating this same piece of material.

Action 4: Finish Repeating The Whole Material All At Once Yet Another Time

 For the third time, listen to and repeat the same material from the beginning right to the end. You want to keep your flow going – repeat the full sentences and the whole material. Repeat everything you know how to say and make some noise on everything you don't know how to say. Just do your best and keep going forward until you reach the end.

Action 5: Rewind And Repeat The Words You Can't Say As Many Times As You Need

Yet this time, immediately go back to the words you can't say or have hard time to say. Listen to them again and try to say them again. Try to say them again and listen to them again. Try once, twice, three times.... Try as many times you need UNTIL you can finally say them.

Action 6: Ignore The Meaning And Focus On Speaking

When you master speaking, you'll understand the words automatically, in English. So ignore the meaning and focus on speaking and only on speaking.

Action 7: Finish Repeating The Whole Material For Three Times

 Now that you know how to say every word in this piece of native study material. It's time to practice the whole thing again. From the beginning to the end, practice saying what you hear for three times. Be sure to mimic the flow, the tones, the volumes, the expressions, the speed... Try to mimic everything.

 Practice this piece of native study material three times and then move on.

Action 8: Record Your English

Now it's time to record your voice again repeating the same piece of native study material. Now it's time to compare your recordings. Listen to the first recording first and then listen to the second recording.

Action 9: Find A Different Piece Of Material And Do Action 1 To 8

 First, let's rate this native study material. Choose one of the following. To me, this native study material is: 1.Too slow.2.J ust right. 3.Too fast.

 

Choice 3: Too fast. Go to one of the following links, 

• Slower speed for American English: http://tinyurl.com/qqq4446 ,  
• Slower speed for British English: http://tinyurl.com/qqq5551

Choice 2: Just right. Go to one of the following,

•  Average speed for American English: http://tinyurl.com/qqq4447
•  Average speed for British English: http://tinyurl.com/qqq5552

 Choice 1: Too slow., go to one of the following links, 

•  Ultra fast speed for American English: http://tinyurl.com/qqq4448
•  Ultra fast speed for British English: http://tinyurl.com/qqq5553

 do action 1 to 8 again.

Step 3: Follow Through!

Keep doing Step 2! This is Step 3! Keep taking action 1 to 9. This is how you follow through to get the results you've been waiting for.   Once a month, go back to the previous pieces of native study materials you've practiced before and try to practice them again. This is for your retention. Go back to them and practice them again. This will help your brain naturally memorize them and your bodily mechanisms naturally speak them! Here is something to get excited about: By taking action 1 to 9, your brain will NATURALLY process the pronunciation, grammar, sentence flow, speed, tone, vocabulary … and everything you need to speak like a native on whatever you practice. As a result, you'll know exactly how to correctly pronounce English words, you'll know exactly when to start, when to pause and when to stop, you'll know exactly what to say louder and what to say softer, you'll know exactly when to speak faster and when to speak slower … just like native speakers would.If there is one word to describe this step, the word is “persistence.”

Take action today

What you need to do is to take action today. The key word is today. Copy my formula today and follow the exact same process I did before. Start from today – I mean today, right now. Do exactly what I did before. Take one action to start building your fluency today. You only need to start from small and keep building.