It's the start of a new year, I've got new hair

and I'm really excited about all of the new English lessons

that I have in store for you and what I want most for you this year

is that this is the year where you start to feel more confident

and more natural when you speak English

like you can finally be yourself in English.

I'll be here all year to help you and we're kicking off

with some speaking practice so you're going to practise speaking

with me right now out loud okay.

We're going to work on your pronunciation, connected speech,

your tone and facial expressions to help you be more expressive

in English.

We're going to be talking about goals and intentions

for the year ahead and there's lots of useful

phrases and expressions. You'll get to hear them being used

naturally and in context.

By the way, what are your goals or your plans for the year ahead?

Let me know down in the comments.

If you want to, go and grab the PDF download that I've created

for you, it's got the script that we're going to use through this

whole lesson so you can practise easily at home

and you'll also have all of the really natural expressions,

the phrases that are helpful to talk about this topic.

If you're already on the mmmEnglish mailing list

then don't worry, I've already sent this to you, it's in your inbox.

Go check it.

We are using the imitation technique today and that's going to help

you to develop your speaking and your listening skills.

Both of them are really important if you want to speak clearly

and be understood. The focus is on natural pronunciation,

word stress, connected speech and tone that's going to help you

to be more expressive.

If you've done one of my imitation lessons before you probably

already know how this works, it's pretty simple once you know it.

So if you've done it before, jump straight ahead to this time stamp

and you can start practising right now.

If this is your first time, then I'll explain the three simple steps

you need to follow really quickly.

The first one is you'll just need to listen to me.

You can read the words on screen, it's just to get

a feel for the story.

Step two is where things get interesting, you'll listen to the same

story again but there'll be a pause after each clause or sentence

and you'll get to repeat after me.

And the last step is where you'll shadow me. You'll be speaking

at the same time as me.

Now pronunciation is important here but it's not the only thing

that we're focusing on. I also want you to pay attention to my

facial expressions, my body language, all of these things

are part of confident and effective communication.

All things that you can work on with me through this video

to help you feel and to sound more relaxed when you speak.

Step one, just listen first.

Throughout my twenties, I regularly made New Year's

resolutions. I was obsessed!

But I hardly ever kept them for longer than a few weeks.

I'd reach the end of January and feel disappointed

or annoyed that I'd let my bad habits creep back in.

I'd say to myself

"Wow, you didn't even last a month!"

And then year after year I'd get more and more disappointed

with myself and eventually, I just stopped making resolutions.

It seemed pointless but I think that's a shame!

I love the optimism and the hope that a new year brings.

It's a fresh start, a clean slate.

So, I've been listening to podcasts and talking to my friends

about their plans and their goals for the year ahead,

and I've decided to try a new strategy this year.

Instead of setting goals and setting intentions for myself

and there's an important difference between the two,

instead of focusing on the endpoint, the result,

I'm going to focus on the behaviours

that I need to adopt to get there.

So, for example, one intention I have for myself this year

is to take better care of myself,

physically, mentally and spiritually.

Now the old me would say: Okay

what do I need to do to make this happen?

Ah! I know, I'll set a goal to meditate for 10 minutes every morning

and I'll always take Sundays off

so that I have some time for myself.

But these goals really just set me up for failure.

If I accidentally sleep in or skip a morning meditation,

I suddenly feel like I've failed.

Instead, I can use my intentions to help make good decisions

that are going to lead me towards the outcome I want.

Like, would someone who's taking care of themselves

say "yes" to a late-night meeting just because it was more

convenient for the other person in their time zone?

Probably not.

I'm hoping that being intentional with the decisions that I make

can help me to take better care of myself this year.

Okay you've listened to the story now.

It's your turn to speak so you're going to follow along with me,

repeat what I say after me.

There's going to be a little pause where you can imitate exactly

what I say.

When you're listening, pay attention to word stress,

to the tone and to the pronunciation the way that words link

and connect together. Try to practise, try to copy those.

Step two, listen and imitate.

Step three is a little more challenging but I think you're ready for it.

If you want to, you can head back to step two and do it over again

if you want do it again and again until you feel comfortable,

do it as many times as you like, no one's gonna know.

So in step three

we are shadowing okay? You're gonna listen

but you're also gonna speak at the same time as me.

You may get a little bit tongue-tied, that's okay, don't worry.

Shadowing me is the best way to copy the rhythm,

and the tone that I'm using which is,

really, really important in English.

Step three, shadow me.

Hey you did it! Awesome work!

Now you get to speak about your new year's intentions with clarity

and with confidence.

Don't forget that you can grab the PDF download that I made you,

it's got the script to make it easy to practise at home.

You can also save this video just so that you can redo it, replay it

a few more times again and again.

See if you can play around with some of the ideas that I shared

through this lesson and make it your own,

add your own goals and plans for the future.

The more that you practise, the better you'll get

and you've got every opportunity right now at this time of year

to practise talking about this topic so make sure you do

And you can keep practising your natural

expression and your pronunciation with me right here

in this lesson, it's all about connected speech.

I'll see you in that lesson, have a wonderful year ahead.

I can't wait to share all of the lessons I've got in store for you.

I'll see you again soon!