Episode 17
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Hi, everybody! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.
In this episode:
SpeakEnglishPodcast.com/podcast >
• I'll be talking about what happens just after we end our vacations.
• Later, a cool mini-story to practice your English speaking.
Let me start by telling you that I'm super excited to be back again and connecting with you! How are you doing? Are you feeling happy and relaxed? Or are you feeling blue?
We’re in September, so I can officially say that the summer holidays are over.
During summer, I've been resting, sunbathing, and enjoying my free time. I've recharged my batteries.
I like to be near the beach, enjoy the sun, the sea breeze, and eat delicious food. I must say that I've managed to disconnect from my routine completely.
How about you? How did you disconnect from your everyday worries?
Talking about disconnecting and taking a break. In September, a fascinating phenomenon occurs:
I’m referring myself to the post-holiday blues, also known as the post-travel depression.
By the way, did you know that the color blue is actually the most popular color in the world? The color blue is also used to express feelings of sadness, nostalgia, or depression.
Here are two expressions where we use the color blue to describe sadness: "feeling blue" or "getting the blues."
Examples:
It seems that you are feeling blue. Is there something wrong?
Ann gets the blues every Christmas holiday. She lives away from home, so she misses her family.
You might like to know that the Blues is a music style characterized by the sometimes sad or down focus and melancholy melodies.
The phrase "blue Monday" means feeling sad. These are often, the feelings experienced by many when the weekend is over.
Let's get back to the post-holiday blues, which is a mood experienced by many people after returning from a long trip or holiday.
Although we all love an extended holiday, we'll need to face the downside: we'll suffer from the post-holiday blues.
The effects people usually experience are tiredness, loss of appetite, nostalgia, and even depression. It can become tough to get back again to reality.
Additionally, if you've traveled to a country with a significant time shift, the effects are even more noticeable since, in this case, you'll need to overcome the jet lag.
So if you've had a short vacation this year, don't worry. Just think that you'll get back to the routine again without going through the post-holiday blues drama.
Okay, so what can you do? How can you overcome the post-holiday Blues? Here are some tips:
1) Arrive home at least one day before the first day of work. I know it can be tempting to extend the trip as much as possible; it's essential to get some rest in your own bed for at least one night. You'll need to familiarize yourself with your surroundings again.
2) Unpack: As soon as you arrive, unpack. Yes, I know tomorrow seems like a better day for that, but you're just fooling yourself. Seeing an unpacked suitcase is a reminder of your wonderful holiday. And don't forget to do your laundry too.
3) Plan your next trip. Yeah, I know it sounds crazy. You just got back from one, but normally planning a trip can make you happy. In fact, I do this every time I come back from a trip. It really makes it easier for me to move on and start working again.
4) Recreate your favorite holiday dish. Why not? It's a way of savoring a positive aspect of the holidays again. Maybe it'll help you feel less nostalgic.
5) Stay at home and relax. As much as you want to share your pictures with your friends; I suggest that you take some time for yourself, at least for some days.
But you know what?
There's nothing better than to recover yourself by practicing your speaking with a new mini-story.
Speaking Practice
Mini-Story: Speaking Practice
Answer each question out loud, then listen to the answer and respond quickly. Don’t worry about mistakes.
Speaking practice
Let’s Start!
Last year, Jimmy traveled to Italy with his girlfriend.
Did Jimmy travel to Spain?
No. Jimmy didn't go to Spain. He traveled to Italy.
Did he travel to Italy alone?
No, he didn't. He didn't travel alone to Italy. He traveled with his girlfriend, not alone.
What's his girlfriend's name?
Nicole?
No, not Nicole. His girlfriend's name is Kim, not Nicole.
Who traveled to Italy?
Jimmy and Kim. They traveled to Italy.
When did they travel?
Last month?
Last year?
Last year. They traveled to Italy last year.
In Italy, both of them ate two pounds of pasta every day.
Did Jimmy eat two pounds of pasta every day?
Yes, Jimmy ate two pounds of pasta every day.
Did Kim also eat two pounds of pasta every day in Italy?
Yes. Kim also ate two pounds. Both of them ate two pounds of pasta every day.
Did they eat every week?
No, not every week. Every day.
What type of food did they eat?
Chinese food?
No. Not Chinese food. They ate pasta.
How many pounds of pasta did they eat?
Two pounds. They ate two pounds of pasta.
They didn't do any exercise; not even walk.
Did they play tennis every day?
No, no. They didn't play tennis every day.
Did they play soccer?
No, neither. They didn't do any exercise.
So…they ate pasta, and they didn't exercise, right?
Yes. They were on holiday, and they just ate pasta all the time.
They returned to the stressful life of New York just a few hours before the first day of work.
Did they return one week before the first day of work?
No. They returned just a few hours before the first day of work.
Did they return to New York?
Yes. They returned to New York.
Is the life of New York peaceful?
No, no. Life in New York isn't peaceful but stressful.
Both of them went through a post-holiday blues for a long time. It lasted for 11 months!
What did Jimmy and Kim have?
A post-holiday blues.
Did the post-holiday blues last ten months?
No. Not ten months. It lasted 11 months.
How did they feel?
Happy or blue?
Blue. They didn't feel happy. They felt blue.
Did they get the blues after returning to New York?
Yes. They got the blues. They were sad after coming back from Italy.
Now they're planning on visiting Spain .
Will they eat paella every day?
We don't know because that's a different story.
Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you in the next episode.
Review
Vocabulary from This Episode
Review the most useful words and expressions before listening again.
01 feel blue
feel sad or depressed.
05 downside
a disadvantage or negative aspect.
02 get the blues
begin to feel sad.
06 jet lag
tiredness caused by traveling across time zones.
03 recharge your batteries
rest and recover your energy.
07 unpack
remove your belongings from luggage.
04 post-holiday blues
sadness after returning from a vacation.
08 move on
accept a change and continue with normal life.
Dear Georgiana,
My name’s John (Prayoon Thavon) I was an English teacher who’s looking for an effective method to teach English to my students.
I came accross yours and know it’s the method I want.
Thank you so much for inventing and creating this method and materials for us. Please forward them to me and I am going to use it
for my students. Again Thank you so much.
That’s awesome! I’m glad to know that you and your students are happy with my lessons 🙂
Georgiana is an excellent English teacher and her method is very good and efficient.
Thanks!
Everything she does is awesome. The material made by her has excellent quality. Thank you, Georgiana, for giving me this opportunity!
Hi
You’re a perfect teacher.
You are the best teacher in the world. Your method is very effective. I love you Georgiana. İf you come to Turkey we can meet and i can practice speaking English and I would teach you Turkish 🙂
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