📙 Part 2: Describe a goal you would like to achieve

This episode's vocabulary

To be pressed for time, money, space, etc. - to be in a difficult situation because you do not have enough time, money, space, etc.

Substantive (adj.) - important, serious, or related to real facts.

To put something off (phrasal verb) - to decide or arrange to delay an event or activity until a later time or date.

Ultimately (adverb) - finally, after a series of things have happened.

Take something with a pinch of salt (idiom) - to not completely believe something that you are told, because you think it is unlikely to be true.

Mercifully (adverb) - in a way that makes you grateful because it stops something unpleasant.

Reassuring (adj.) - making you feel less worried.

Forthcoming (adj.) - happening soon.

Questions and Answers

R: Well, I kind of achieved all my goals in life. So this took a lot of thinking about. If I'm really pressed though, I suppose I'd like to do my Delta Module 3 and get my full Delta qualification. This is like an advanced teacher training course that people do with the University of Cambridge. I think it's like a master's level qualification. So it's pretty up there in terms of difficulty. I've done the first two parts. And this part is the final element required before you get the whole thing. Basically, you have to design and explain the choices behind an English language course in about 5000 words, I think. You think it would be easy since I've written five books already. But actually, it's been proving rather difficult to find the time to get through it all. Plus, I've written and designed courses before, so at this point, it's kind of just doing something for the sake of doing it rather than anything substantive, which is probably why I keep putting it off, frankly. Ultimately, though, I think I'll do it by 2025, maybe. Though, I've been saying I'll do it every year since 2018. So we'll take that with a pinch of salt. Mercifully, it doesn't need to be done by any set time. So that's quite nice. If I had to do it by a fixed time then I probably would have failed the whole thing by now. So that's quite reassuring. It's a natural part of the Delta qualification, which is how I became aware of it and to achieve it I'll need a willing class to create the course for, which has also not been forthcoming so far, but I am hopeful. And I'll also need a bit of time to gather everything together for the course and the final essay. If I don't get it done, though, I doubt I'll be terribly upset about it. Like I said, it's just something that's nice to have. I already know I'm a decent teacher without that overly theoretical element behind me. A small part of me might be disappointed, but I'm sure I'll cope.