Full video

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Hello and welcome to Real Easy English,

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the podcast where we have real conversations in easy English

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to help you learn.

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I'm Neil.

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And I'm Georgie.

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You can watch this podcast with subtitles on our website,

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bbclearningenglish.com, where you can also find a free worksheet.

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Hi, Georgie.

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Hello, Neil.

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It's getting towards the end of the year.

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It is.

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How are you feeling about that?

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Um, well, there's a few things that I wanted to achieve that I haven't,

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so I don't feel good about that,

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but I'm feeling quite festive and ready for those celebrations.

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What about you?

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Yeah. Time, time flies, as we say.

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It's the end of the year again.

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And that is what we're talking about today

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in this episode of Real Easy English.

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Shall we start?

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Yes.

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Have you had a good year, Georgie?

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Yes, Neil. I've had a great year.

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Um, I've been very busy.

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I've had a few trips and I've also turned 30, so I've had a big birthday.

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What about you? How has your year been?

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Yeah, it's been pretty good.

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I went to your 30th birthday party.

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You did.

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That was definitely one of my highlights.

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Was it?

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Talking of highlights,

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now highlights are the most important or interesting thing.

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What have your highlights been this year?

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Well, my 30th birthday was probably one of my highlights

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because I had friends and family from all over.

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I basically invited everyone I knew, which is why you got the invite.

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Um, and yeah, that was something that I was quite proud of because I am not

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a very organised person.

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And with this I was very organised.

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What's been the highlight of your year, Neil?

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Oh, well, that's a tricky question,

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but I did go on a fantastic holiday with my family.

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We went to Sicily.

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Wow.

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And it's so beautiful.

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And the food was amazing.

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And is there anything you're proud of this year?

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Proud of?

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Yeah, I'm always proud of my kids.

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Aww.

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They make me feel proud.

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Um, yes, they they had a good,

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they had a good year. And, um,

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yeah, they both they both did well in their own way at school.

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Oh. That's nice.

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And how about you?

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Well, I talked about being proud of my 30th birthday party,

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but I also, um, performed at the Royal Albert Hall, which is

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a big, famous, um, music hall in the UK, in London.

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Um, I didn't sing as a soloist.

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I sang with my choir, um, at the BBC Proms, which is a big music festival.

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Wow. How did it feel to sing in front of all those people

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in that incredible setting?

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It felt incredible.

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And I had lots of people I knew in the audience.

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Actually, some of our colleagues came. Yeah.

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Um, it was, the atmosphere was incredible, and I'll never forget it.

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Wow. So, Georgie, is there anything that you didn't do this year

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that you wanted to do?

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Yes. Lots.

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Um, I had lots of plans at the beginning of the year.

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Um, lots of New Year's resolutions.

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Like, uh, running.

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I wanted to run more.

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I have not been running very much.

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Um, so I regret not doing more running.

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And also my sugar intake.

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We all know that I eat too much sugar,

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and I wanted to reduce my sugar intake, but I find it too difficult,

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so I regret not, um, reducing my sugar intake.

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Well, you stopped having sugar in your coffee at least.

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That's true. What about you, Neil?

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Well, a bit like you,

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um, I wanted to do lots of running. Actually,

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I wanted to get really fit this year,

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and I haven't because I hurt my ankle and I can't run.

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And running is my main way of keeping fit,

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so I need to find something else to do.

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Yeah.

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Time now to recap some of the vocabulary we've heard in this episode.

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Starting with 'highlight'.

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And a highlight is the best bit of something.

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So the highlight of my year, Georgie, was my trip to Sicily.

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Or was it your 30th birthday?

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If you are 'proud of something',

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it means you feel good about something you've done.

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You can also be proud of someone else.

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For example, Neil is proud of his kids.

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And if you 'regret something', you feel sad about it

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and wish that you had done it differently. For example,

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I regret not running more.

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I'm not very fit.

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That's it for this episode of Real Easy English.

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Try the worksheet to test what you've learnt at bbclearningenglish.com.

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We'll be back in the new year

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for more real conversations in easy English to help you learn.

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Have a really great end to 2025.

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Happy New Year!