Transcript of my podcast episode (12)

You’re listening to my podcast series ENGSPRESSO. The name comes from the combination of the words: English & Espresso. ‘Espresso’ is a shot of coffee, and here, every episode is your shot of English – your ENGSPRESSO. If you like the way I teach English, you may also have a look at my e-books and courses online that are available on my website www.angielskidokawy.pl/sklep.

So here’s ENGSPRESSO episode no. 12! Today I have a question to you: What’s the key to success? Is it talent, popularity, or money? Well, I dare say that it’s none of these. In order to be successful, we mostly need one thing: consistency. And this is something that many successful people can confirm, for example, Marie Forleo who’s known for her inspiring YouTube videos. So what’s consistency or being consistent? Consistency is the quality of always behaving or performing in a similar way, or of always happening in a similar way. So when we’re consistent or do things consistently, we always behave or perform in a similar way, and then we’re likely to succeed. Do you know why? Because people like when things are predictable, stable and safe. Then they start trusting us and relying on us. And if we deliver value and/or high quality, they’ll stay with us. Do you find it interesting? Would you agree with me? If you enjoy such topics, check out Marie Forleo’s YouTube channel. It’s not only a source of knowledge and inspiration, but also a great source of American English. You can practise your listening skills by watching Marie’s videos.

And now, finally, I’d like to teach you two new expressions. The first one is BY MISTAKE / TO DO STH BY MISTAKE. If we do something by mistake, we do it by accident, unintentionally. In other words, we do it in the way that is unintentional.

For instance: At the meeting, I opened the wrong file by mistake, and everyone saw my family photos! Now, repeat after me.
The translation is: Na spotkaniu przez pomyłkę otworzyłam niewłaściwy plik i wszyscy zobaczyli moje rodzinne fotki!

Another example: He was wearing two different socks! He must have put them on by mistake.
Miał na sobie dwie różne skarpetki! Musiał je założyć przez pomyłkę.

The second expression is ACCORDING TO SB/STH. The meaning is “as stated by sb/sth”, “as reported by sb/sth”. “According to sth” can also mean “in a way that agrees with sth”.

For instance: According to many teachers, learning English grammar is essential.
Według wielu nauczycieli nauka angielskiej gramatyki jest niezbędna.

Another example: Everything was going according to plan, but then our car broke down, and we had to come back home.
Wszystko szło zgodnie z planem, ale potem zepsuł się nam samochód i musieliśmy wrócić do domu.

And now it’s time for your ENGSPRESSO to go!

Our context for the phrases is:

According to the hotel receptionist, our room wasn’t cleaned by mistake.
Według hotelowej recepcjonistki nasz pokój nie został sprzątnięty przez pomyłkę.

That’s it! You’ve made it! Now you can put your feet up, which means that you can rest or relax. But perhaps some of you are more ambitious and would like to learn even more. I’d like to share with you some exciting piece of news! I’ve been working on a new e-book for you. It’s going to be called “ENGSPRESSO workbook”, and it’s going to be based on the first ten ENGSPRESSO episodes. Thanks to the workbook, you’ll be able to learn so much more from these episodes. We’ll make the most of them together! Are you looking forward to it? When the workbook is ready, I’ll surely let you know.

Click the link in the description down below if you’d like to have a look at the transcript of today’s episode.

So that’s all for today. Thanks for listening and speak to you soon!