📕 Part 1: Days Off

This episode's vocabulary

Take a day off (phrasal verb) – to take a day's holiday from work or school. → I want to take three days off next week.

Catch up on (phrasal verb) – to do something that you did not have time to do earlier. → I like catching up on my reading as well.

Head over to (phrasal verb) – to go to a place to visit someone. → At night I usually head over to my best friend's.

Take a break from (phrase) – to stop doing something for a short period of time. → Most people take a break from everything to celebrate Christmas.

Downtime (noun) – time when you relax and do not do very much. → Even though I like my downtime, I also like being productive.

Productive (adjective) – achieving or producing a significant amount or result. → I also like being productive.

By myself (phrase) – alone. → Actually, I'm usually by myself.

In someone's company (phrase) – to be with someone. → I'd likely be in his company if I'm not alone in the house.

Fairly regularly (adverbial phrase) – quite often. → I do try and see my parents fairly regularly though.

Go round to (phrasal verb) – to visit someone in their home. → We usually go round to theirs on Sundays.

Must have been (modal phrase) – used to express a logical conclusion about a past event. → I think it must have been around New Year time.

Bucket list (noun) – a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime. → On my day off, I usually create my bucket list.

Questions and Answers

Maria: What do you usually do when you have days off?

Rory: Anything apart from work. I think I normally play video games, do yoga or go to the gym. Sometimes all three. Oh, and I like catching up on my reading as well. That's in the day, of course, at night I usually head over to my best friend's and we sit and catch up on the latest gossip as well.

Maria: When was the last time you had a few days off?

Rory: I'm not sure really. I think it must have been around New Year time. All my students were away on holiday and that's the time of year when most people focus on their families and take a break from everything to celebrate Christmas. So it makes sense that I'd have been off as well.

Maria: What would you like to do if you had a day off tomorrow?

Rory: Well, even though I like my downtime, I also like being productive. So I think I'd probably book myself into some yoga classes just to take advantage of the time I had. After that, I'd probably recover from the workouts in front of the TV or with a book or a video game or something like that.

Maria: Do you usually spend your days off with your parents or with your friends?

Rory: Actually, I'm usually by myself, but I live with a friend. So I'd likely be in his company if I'm not alone in the house. I do try and see my parents fairly regularly though. We usually go around to theirs on Sundays unless I'm away for the weekend.

Discussion

Maria: Days off, dear listener. So a day off is a day when you do not work or do something that you normally do. And we say I want to take three days off next week, or I took a day off last week. So to take a day off. And Rory usually plays video games, he's a gamer. He does yoga, go to the gym. So I go to the gym, I do yoga, I do sports, I play video games. So, nothing, nothing really interesting, dear listener, just boring.

Rory: Do you need to be doing exciting things on a day off though?

Maria: Well, just to excite the examiner, perhaps. Can you imagine the examiner asks such questions to six people, and six people say, just nothing much, doing yoga, playing video games.

Rory: If the examiner is asking the same questions to six people in a row, then they are not doing their job properly.

Maria: Yeah, that's true. Okay. Usually examiners have six candidates in a row. And they can choose questions, and normally examiners ask different questions. Sometimes I head over to my best friend's house. Head over to somebody means to go and visit them.

Rory: There we go. That's a phrasal verb, surely. Or a multi word verb.

Maria: I usually head over to my parents. I usually head over to my best friend's. Okay, because friend's place. I usually head over to my girlfriend's, boyfriend's. And we catch up on the latest gossip. So to catch up on something, to chat, to share information on something. So we usually catch up on the latest gossip. So gossip is when you talk about somebody else, so you discuss other people. So, Rory, you just, do you discuss other people?

Rory: Sometimes.

Maria: Their private lives, disapprovingly.

Rory: You shouldn't do that, but it's been a very boring start to the year.

Maria: I see, right. The last time I took a day off was last week or last year. Or if you're not, if you're kind of sure, but 90% sure, you can say, I think it must have been around New Year. So probably it was around New Year. It must have been around New Year.

Rory: It must have been. I have logically deduced that's what it was.

Maria: But here you are pretty sure.

Rory: Yeah.

Maria: It must have been. It must have been around New Year. My students were away, my family was away. So I decided to take a break from everything. I took a break from everything. I want to break free. Right, continue. So where were we? We can use the second conditional. I'd go to Paris if I had a day off tomorrow. I'd, I would. I would go swimming if I had. So we are imagining you don't have a day off tomorrow perhaps, dear listener. But if I had, I would.

Rory: And so we see a lot of past tense, like I'd book myself into some yoga classes. I'd recover. And of course the time that I had, not have, because it's imaginary.

Maria: You can say that I enjoy being productive. I like being productive. So I would do something. Yeah. I would do yoga, I would do sports. And then I would watch TV or I'd watch some films. I'd read a book, I'd play a video game. Usually I'm by myself, like I'm alone. I'm by myself. I'm alone. I'm with myself. Or I see my parents regularly. So kind of often, frequently.

Rory: Fairly regularly.

Maria: Fairly regularly, almost every week. We usually go round to theirs. I usually go round to their place, to their house. So I usually go round to theirs. It's like with friends, remember? I usually head over to my best friends.

Rory: My besties.

Maria: Or I usually go round to my parents. Go round to theirs. Go round to their place on Sundays, yeah? If I'm not away for the weekend, unless I'm away for the weekend. Unless means if not. So if I'm not away for the weekend, or unless I'm away for the weekend.

Maria: Dear listener, if you want just something interesting, interesting activities, all right?

Rory: If you want to get a life, Maria is going to help you.

Maria: Yeah, okay, there you go. The ultimate list of things to do when you are bored. Acrobatics, obviously, baking. Okay, I bake some cake. Basketball, beach volleyball, especially in winter. Belly dancing. Belly dances. Going to a board game club. So play a board game. Oh, that's a nice one. Board game. Break dancing. Build furniture. What do you usually do on your day off? Oh, I usually build furniture. Oh my God.

Rory: Yeah, I take a break from work by working even more.

Maria: Build furniture. Okay, there you go. Butterfly watching. So I watch butterflies. A popular British hobby is bird watching. They enjoy watching birds. But this one is butterfly watching. You watch butterflies. Okay, right. Chocolate tasting. Oh, okay. I taste different chocolates. Create a family tree. I usually create a family tree on my...

Rory: On your day off. You create a family tree once. That's a once in a lifetime event.

Maria: Yeah, but maybe it's a long thing. It's ongoing. Oh, create a bucket list. Oh, that's a nice one. So on my day off, I usually create my bucket list. A bucket list is a list of things to do before you die, dear listener.

Rory: There's a cheerful thought.

Maria: No, it's, and the movie, the movie is cool. It's called the bucket list. So watch this film. Nice one. The list has 100 items. I'm just choosing the best ones.

Rory: You're just choosing the craziest ones.

Maria: Oh my god. Okay, going to the spa. Oh, Rory, have you ever been to spa?

Rory: Not for a long time. No.

Maria: Get a tattoo. You know, I usually get a tattoo on my day off.

Rory: I usually get tattoos on my days off.

Maria: Ah!

Rory: What?

Maria: Really?

Rory: I mean, you would have a day off to get a tattoo done, but you wouldn't do that regularly as part of your normal day-to-day existence.

Maria: Oh, it's crazy, dear listener. And the list continues to what? To 500 items? Oh, 382 items. Zumba is the final one because it's Z. So they go...

Rory: Because it's the least likely for people to do.

Maria: Zumba is just dancing, you know, you do yoga, so people do Zumba. So...

Rory: You said Zumba?

Maria: What do you call it?

Rory: I don't know. I don't do it. I think it's called Zumba.

Maria: Zumba dancing. And it's pretty cool actually. I've done it once, twice, twice. Right, dear listener. So I took these activities from busybudgeter, budget, budgeter.com. Things to do when you're bored.

Rory: Yes, because if you're doing this on a budget, then getting a tattoo seems like something that's well within the budget of normal people.

Maria: And dear listener, we'll finish it off with a joke.

Rory: Oh, I thought the list was the joke.

Maria: No, no, no. It's a serious, a serious list.

Rory: Oh, very serious.

Maria: Come on, super serious. Get a tattoo.

Rory: Yes, that's coming across.

Maria: The joke. Right. Most people enjoy a day off on the 4th of July. Except fire. Fire works on the 4th of July. Rory, you're gonna explain the joke.

Rory: I mean, that's actually quite funny.

Maria: The 4th of July. What's the 4th of July?

Rory: 4th of July is the national holiday in America, which is celebrated with fireworks. And of course, fireworks, fire works, the thing, fire, individual word, works, individual word.

Maria: So the joke is most people enjoy a day off on the 4th of July. But not fire. Except fire. So fire doesn't have a day off on the 4th of July because fire works on the 4th of July. Ha ha ha. So you can crack this joke in the exam.

Rory: And then immediately be deported.

Maria: Or you just tell a joke and then you laugh yourself. And then the examiner will burst into laughter.

Rory: I promise. Or burst into flames since we are talking about fire.

Rory: Right, thank you very much for listening. We'll bring you more top-notch humor next time.

Maria: Bye!

Rory: Bye!