ENGSPRESSO – Episode 39

Transcript of my podcast episode (39)

Hello and Happy New Year! May the New Year bring you joy, love, prosperity and fulfillment of all your dreams. And once they come true, let it add a handful of new dreams because they give meaning to life. These are my wishes for you, my dear listeners. I hope you started off 2024 on the right foot, and if you didn’t, don’t worry as you’re about to start it off properly with me now!

Last time I said that I might talk to you before Christmas, but later my mind was elsewhere, and I’m here only now. Anyway, I’m glad to be back here with you in 2024. Just one more episode and we’ll have 40 ENGSPRESSO episodes in total! As you can see, I don’t mind that we didn’t reach this number last year. These episodes are supposed to be regular, and they are somewhat regular, but in the end I prepare and record them quite spontaneously, so we never know when exactly the next one will show up on Spotify. I just hope it doesn’t bother you that much. In fact, it’s rather a nice surprise when there’s finally a new ENGSPRESSO episode to listen to, isn’t it?

By the way, as I mentioned starting off the New Year on the right foot, I’d also like to teach you some English idioms that you can use when referring to a new beginning. Here we go:

to turn over a new leaf ­- to change your behaviour in a positive way;
to start a new life / to make a new life for yourself – to completely change how and where you live;
to start afresh – to begin to live in a different way or do things differently;
to turn the page – to make a new start after a period of difficulties.

I encourage you to look up the phrases in a dictionary and find some example sentences with them. And if you want to learn more English idioms, visit my shop at angielskidokawy.pl/sklep and have a look at my e-book and course online with as many as 365 English idioms, proverbs and sayings. I’d say that the beginning of the year is the best time to start learning one idiom a day. In that way, it’ll become your habit, and you’ll boost your vocabulary really fast.

And now it’s time for our usual expressions!

The first one is BY TRIAL AND ERROR. If we do something by trial and error, we achieve an aim or solve a problem by trying a number of different methods and learning from the mistakes that we make.

For instance: The programmer managed to fix the bug in the code by trial and error. Now, repeat after me.
The translation is: Programista zdołał naprawić błąd w kodzie metodą prób i błędów.

Another example: Best solutions are often found by trial and error.
Najlepsze rozwiązania często znajduje się metodą prób i błędów.

The second expression is AT FIRST GLANCE. It means 'when first looking; when first considering something, before having a chance to look at it carefully’.

For instance: At first glance, he wasn’t her type, but after just a few dates, she knew she would marry him.
Na pierwszy rzut oka nie był w jej typie, ale po zaledwie kilku randkach wiedziała, że go poślubi.

Another example: The house seemed ordinary at first glance, but inside it looked like a little palace.
Na pierwszy rzut oka dom wydawał się zwyczajny, ale w środku wyglądał jak pałacyk.

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

Our context for the phrases is:

At first glance, the math problem was tough, but I managed to figure it out by trial and error.
Na pierwszy rzut oka to zadanie z matematyki było trudne, ale zdołałam je rozwiązać metodą prób i błędów.

Well, that’s a great start to the New Year! You’ve just learnt something new on the fly, taking your English to the next level. Did you know our today’s expressions before you listened to this episode, or are they completely new to you? In either case, remember it’s worth repeating the example sentences aloud after me. Thanks to that, you’ll speak English more fluently with every episode.

Make sure to have a look at the transcript of today’s episode if anything seems unclear to you. As always, the link to the transcript can be found in the description of the episode. You can also go directly to my website angielskidokawy.pl if you need the transcripts of the other episodes. And lastly, don’t be a stranger! You can message me on Instagram or Facebook and tell me how you found my podcast, where and why you listen to it, and what you’d like to hear in the next episodes.

That’s it for now. I’m glad you tuned in! Have another fruitful year and speak to you soon!