– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Hello and welcome back to my slow

English podcast.

[Music]

Today I will be having another interview

with my sister Brianna.

We'll use

real English expressions.

you can use at work or in daily life.

Listen for phrasal verbs and expressions

and see how many you catch.

Today, my sister and I are talking about

burnout

and the balance we need between

work and life. Have you ever taken on

too much at work or school?

Um, definitely.

Last year, I was working full-time and

studying for a certification at night.

That's a lot. Did you ever feel burned

out?

>> Um, yes. By the end of the month, I was

exhausted.

>> Mhm. And do you normally take on too

much?

>> Uh, yes, I do take on too much. I like

to do as much as I can, but the problem

is I usually end up feeling burned out.

>> Mhm.

And did you ever have to put in extra

hours?

>> Sometimes. Sometimes I've had to put in

extra hours from maybe a time I was more

productive or a time I was less

productive.

>> Mhm. And how did that feel?

>> It was very exhausting.

Uh I was very tired at the end of all of

it and I lost a lot of time for my

hobbies and what makes me happy. Mhm.

And have you ever let something slide

because you were too busy?

>> Sometimes I'll let my sleep schedule

slide or I'll let my workout schedule

slide because I'm too busy with other

things.

>> Mhm. Yeah. Um so normally would you say

you bite off more than you can chew?

Um, not always.

>> In life or sometimes.

>> Do you think more so in life or in work?

>> Um, probably more

Well, I would say those kind of go

together in work and in life. So, if I

take off if I bite off more than I can

chew in work, then my life is affected

and vice

>> versa.

Yeah. I've been there, too. Once I

actually had to meet three deadlines in

an afternoon, and I didn't even have

time to take a break. I tried to catch

up over the weekend, but honestly, I

think I've just I should have just taken

a day off because when I sacrifice my

weekends, that's when the whole week

goes wrong. I think I need a break.

Everybody needs a break.

>> Yeah. Sometimes it's important to just

slow down and admit that you can't

handle the pressure.

>> By the way, this episode is from my

English course. If you want to practice

more with conversations,

lessons, and challenges, then check the

link in my description.

Mhm. Yeah, that's exactly it. We need to

slow down. Yeah. I feel like when you're

under pressure, it's always best to take

a break instead of forcing yourself to

catch up on work that you just didn't

finish when you were supposed to.

>> Personally, me, I work a lot better

under pressure. If I don't feel

pressure, I am not as productive.

>> Mhm. Yeah. And uh have you ever fallen

behind on a project? And if so, what did

you do?

Um, yes, I have fallen behind. Um,

usually to catch up, I'll try and

sometimes it's not the best, but I will

pull allnighters

or work through the weekend.

Just try and find ways to keep a fast

pace so I don't fall even more behind.

>> Mhm. Yeah, that's a good strategy. And

what do you usually do when you feel

stressed out at work or school?

>> If I'm feeling really stressed out, but

I don't have any time to relax or I do

have time to relax.

>> Um, I guess you do have time. Let's say,

>> okay, if I'm feeling stressed and I do

have time to relax, the way that I

choose to would probably be

going out with my boyfriend, playing

video games, or seeing my friends.

>> Mhm. Now, what if you don't have time?

I'm curious.

>> If I don't have time, I just listen and

deal with the stress. I'll take uh maybe

small times of my day um 10 to 15

minutes to meditate to read or you know

rest in any way I can find.

>> Mhm. Yeah. Or you take like shifts right

you'll do little little shifts of work a

break and then another break to sleep

for like 2 hours and then you wake up

and you work again and then you have a

break and sleep again.

sometimes. Yeah.

>> Yeah. You separated. I think you split

it up and that's good.

>> I split up my time.

>> Mhm.

>> Now, have you ever had to take time off

to recover

>> recently? Yes. I had my wisdom tooth

removal.

>> Mhm.

>> And I had to take um about 3 days off of

work. I got my surgery on Sunday and I

wasn't back at work until Thursday.

Okay. Yeah. So you that was mandatory.

You had to take time off that time.

>> Um

it was it was mandatory because

otherwise um I was in a lot of pain. Um

just the way that I couldn't uh do a lot

of physical activity at first

>> didn't allow me to work.

>> Mhm. Yeah. And is there ever someone you

need to run things by to? For example,

your break that you needed for your

wisdom teeth. Is it something you had to

run by someone?

>> Yes. Whenever it comes to paid time off

or time off. Um, and that could be

another one cuz paid time off is

something that they use in business.

PTO.

>> PTO

or paid time off. This is a common

abbreviation used in the workplace.

>> Paid time off.

>> PTO. And then

>> so whenever I take time off, I do need

to run it by my boss.

>> Mhm.

>> She she isn't the CEO of the company,

but she is my manager basically.

>> So when it comes to those things, I just

need to send her a message and usually

it's fine. Okay. But yeah, I remember

when I used to work for the last company

I was working for teaching English, um

my boss would always say, "Run it by me

first." Always. So, I always had to run

things by someone else before teaching

them or before showing them to students.

Do you consider you've ever dropped the

ball on any tasks that you had to hand

in? Maybe a deadline you had to meet.

Um,

I would say that I don't normally drop

the ball, but sometimes I do. Um,

sometimes when it comes to

We had a project recently that I had to

wrap up by the end of the week and I

ended up handing it in probably like

Tuesday the next week. So, it wasn't

delayed too much, but it was

not something that should have happened.

>> Mhm. Okay. Have you ever felt burned out

at work?

>> Um, sometimes. Sometimes I feel burned

out. I think that everybody goes through

a burnout

when you can't practice your hobbies as

much or when you're in a job that

consumes your energy and all your time.

>> Um, it's really easy to experience

burnout. I wouldn't say in my current

job, but I would say as a teacher, I

would experience a lot of burnout

because I had almost no time for

anything else.

>> Mhm. Yeah. I feel like it's easy to have

an overload of work when you're a

teacher cuz I feel like it just never

ends. It can keep on going if you don't

stop yourself and give yourself a break.

Mhm.

>> So, yeah, it's good to take a break and

not take on too much work. What do you

usually take a break from when work is

stressful? When I have to take a break

from work, especially now that I work

with brands, I try and stay away from

anything that has to do with

advertisements

>> because it can remind me a lot of work.

So, I stay away from screens. I stay

away from TV. I stay away from my phone.

I really try and connect with nature or

something of the sort because my work

involves a lot of advertising.

>> Yeah, that's good. And it's the same as

when you're a teacher. You know, the

only thing you want to do is to take a

break from all the noise. So, I feel

like that's what you do mostly when you

need to take a break from something. You

take a break from the noise and from

chaos in general.

I remember mom used to come home from

school and be super stressed because

they're little kids that she's working

with all day. They're always crazy.

They're always super energetic. So,

she's pretty low on energy when she

would come home. And do you ever stay

late at the office? Even when you're

tired?

Um, yes, I do stay late at the office.

I'll stay late. Um if I'm behind on work

or if I felt that I wasn't um productive

enough that day, maybe I break early in

the morning and so I try and gain that

time back later in the day.

>> Mhm. Do you ever feel like your workload

is too heavy and that's why you work

overtime or is it more because of you?

I think that it's a little bit of both.

I think the workload maybe is heavy for

me, but it might not be as heavy for

other people.

>> So, I try and do my best to adapt and to

get better, get faster. So, so it's not

um a me issue always and so I can

eventually um fill in the shoes that I

need to fill in.

>> Mhm. Yeah. So now I want to go through a

quick teaching moment using some more

phrasal verbs and expressions that you

might use in the workplace.

First one being um to check in with

someone.

So I always check in with my manager

before starting a lesson plan. So,

Brianna, who's someone you have to check

in with before making a big decision?

>> I always have to check in with my my

boss, my manager. Um, I'm in the

creative division and I always have to

make sure that before I start on an idea

or before I uh choose to go a certain

way, I need to check in with her and

make sure it aligns with the company.

Another phrase is to wrap up.

For example, I need to wrap up this

report

before lunch.

So, Brianna, can you explain what wrap

up means or refers to?

>> Wrap-up is basically to finish.

>> It comes from the idea of wrapping up a

gift or wrapping up a toy, wrapping up

your lunch, which is preparing it to be

ready.

>> Mhm. Okay.

>> And in work, um, wrap-up could be used

like, I need to wrap up this report

before the end of the day. Mhm. Yeah.

Before a certain point.

>> Another big one. They use that a lot.

EOD. End of the day.

>> Uhhuh. Before the EOD. Before the end of

the day.

>> Mhm.

>> They use that a lot. You know, managers

say that all the time. Like

>> they say EOD.

>> Yeah.

>> They send emails or they'll send out

instructions like, "Oh, this needs to be

ready." EOD.

>> Okay. It's e o d or end of the day. This

is another common expression we use in

the workplace. And another one is hand

in. That one's pretty common to hear in

the workplace. Like did you hand in your

assignment? Or if you're asking, what

time do I have to hand in this project?

Mhm. And last one, to drop the ball. So,

Brandon, maybe you could explain what

drop the ball refers to.

>> Drop the ball is a phrase that means you

messed up or you made a mistake. So, as

maybe in football, I think the

expression comes from American football.

I think

>> Mhm.

>> when you drop the ball, it's a fumble

and it's a big mistake in American

football.

>> And as it is maybe in the workplace, you

dropped the ball because you made a

mistake.

>> Mhm. Yeah. You dropped the ball. I can't

believe I dropped the ball on sending

those emails. So, you made a mistake.

You messed up.

>> Now it's your turn. Which expressions

did you hear in our conversation?

Shadow this sentence with me. I'm

feeling under pressure,

so I need to take a break.

And tell me,

have you ever felt burned out?

What happened?

Try to tell me a story

on a time when you had to catch up on

work or school.

Think of a moment when you let something

slide because of too much work.

If you liked this video, I'm sure you'll

like these ones, too.

[Music]

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
burnout /ˈbɜːrnaʊt/ B2	noun - a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged or excessive stress.
balance /ˈbæləns/ A2	noun - an even distribution of weight, allowing someone or something to remain steady.
exhausted /ɪɡˈzɔːstɪd/ B1	adjective - completely worn out; drained of energy.
productive /prəˈdʌktɪv/ B1	adjective - producing or able to produce large quantities of goods.
schedule /ˈʃedjuːl/ A2	noun - a plan for doing or happening something at a particular time.
slide /slaɪd/ A2	verb - move smoothly along a surface while maintaining continuous contact with it.
bite /baɪt/ A2	verb - to take a small amount of something.
chew /tʃuː/ A2	verb - to crush food between the teeth.
deadline /ˈdedlaɪn/ B1	noun - the latest time or date by which something should be completed.
sacrifice /ˈsækrifaɪs/ B2	verb - an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else.
pressure /ˈpreʃər/ A2	noun - the feeling of being worried or uncomfortable because of something.
handle /ˈhændl/ A2	verb - to deal with a situation or problem.
recover /rɪˈkʌvər/ B1	verb - return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength.
wisdom /ˈwɪzdəm/ B2	noun - the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment.
mandatory /ˈmændətəri/ B1	adjective - required by law or rules; compulsory.
physical /ˈfɪzɪkəl/ A2	adjective - relating to the body.
align /əˈlaɪn/ B1	verb - to bring into agreement or harmony.

Key Grammar Structures

• Did you ever feel burned out?

  ➔ Past Perfect Simple in a question

  ➔ The question uses 'did' as an auxiliary verb to form the past simple tense of 'feel'. It inquires about a past experience of feeling 'burned out'. The structure is typical for forming yes/no questions in the past.

• I usually end up feeling burned out.

  ➔ Present Simple + 'end up' + Gerund

  ➔ The phrase 'end up' indicates a result or consequence. Here, it shows that feeling burned out is a typical outcome of the speaker's actions. 'Feeling' is a gerund (verb acting as a noun) functioning as the object of 'end up'.

• Have you ever let something slide because you were too busy?

  ➔ Present Perfect in a question + 'let slide' (phrasal verb)

  ➔ The question uses the present perfect ('have you ever') to ask about experiences up to the present time. 'Let slide' is a phrasal verb meaning to allow something to be neglected or postponed. The 'because' clause provides the reason.

• Do you think more so in life or sometimes?

  ➔ Tag Question + Comparative Adverb

  ➔ This is a tag question used to confirm or seek agreement. 'More so' is a comparative adverb intensifying the idea of 'in life'. The question seeks clarification on the frequency of the behavior.