A funny thing happened on the way to school.

Last friday it was very windy. I was walking down the street with my friend john. We were having a difficult time walking against the wind. The wind was pushing against us, and we felt the force of it pressing against us. We even had a hard time breathing. We were walking slowly. We watched the leaves as they danced and twirled in the wind. We watched a plastic bag as it flew by us. We saw a little boy whose baseball cap flew right off his head. His cap flew along the sidewalk, and he had to chase it. He finally caught it, and he held it in his hands tightly after he got it back. The trees were swaying frantically. Their branches swished and waved in the wild wind. John and I were hit by flying bits of paper and leaves. We laughed when a garbage can lid rolled along and hit john in the leg. We saw another garbage can rolling along the road as if it was alive.

Everything was moving because of the wind. Then, the funniest thing happened. I wasn't paying any attention, and a paper bag came flying up the street toward us. It hit me right in the face and covered my whole face. At first, i didn't know what had happened. I was blinded. I couldn't see where i was going. I stopped and held out my hands. When i stopped, the bag fell off my face. I looked at john. He was laughing very hard. He was laughing so hard that tears were rolling down his cheeks. He said that i looked very funny with the brown paper bag stuck to my face. I started to laugh too. We laughed about it all the way to school. John said that he wished he had a camera. He would have taken a picture of me with the bag on my face.

Are you interested in the behaviour of people and animals? If you are, then you might enjoy the study of psychology. Psychology is the study of behaviour, but this is a very large area of study. There are several different branches of psychology, each of which studies a different aspect of behaviour. Social psychologists study interactions among people. For example, a social psychologist might try to learn about the situations that cause people to behave aggressively. Another question studied by social psychologists is why certain people become attracted to each other. One of the interesting problems in social psychology is conformity? what causes people to behave in the same way, and to follow what others do and say? Cognitive psychologists study thinking, memory, and language. One problem studied by cognitive psychologists is how people remember numbers. For example, what is the best way to memorize some numbers Is it better to repeat the numbers to oneself, or to try to attach some meaning to these numbers? A cognitive psychologist might also study language. For example, why can young children learn a second language so quickly and easily? Cognitive psychologists are also interested in the ways that people learn to solve problems, such as finding a new place. Clinical psychologists study mental illnesses. For example, a clinical psychologist might try to find out the causes of depression and to figure out ways of helping people who are depressed. Other clinical psychologists might study the behaviour of people who suffer from addiction to drugs, so that this problem can be prevented and treated. Another topic of interest to clinical psychologists is violent behaviour. It is very important to find ways of preventing violence and to change the behaviour of persons who act violently. Some psychologists are interested in the measurement of psychological characteristics. For example, psychologists might develop tests to assess a person's intelligence, personality traits, or interests. These tests can be used to help people make decisions about education, occupation, and clinical treatment. Psychologists who study the behaviour of animals are called ethologists. Ethologists often go into wilderness areas to watch the activity of birds, fish, or other animals. These psychologists try to figure out why it is that some animals have instincts for various behaviours such as parenting, mating, or fighting. Some ethologists have learned very much about the unusual behaviours observed in many animals. These are only a few of the many areas of psychology. Truly, psychology is one of the most interesting areas of knowledge!

Louis Pasteur was one of the greatest scientists of all time. Pasteur made very important discoveries in biology and chemistry, and the techniques he developed helped greatly to develop medical science and the agricultural and food industries.

Pasteur was born in a small town in France during the year eighteen twenty two. When he was a young man, Pasteur studied science at a university in the city of Paris. He soon did some excellent work in chemistry, and later began his famous study of germs.

Pasteur was one of the first scientists to understand that many diseases could be caused by extremely small, invisible organisms. Only a few other scientists had believed this before Pasteur. He advised doctors to wash their hands thoroughly before treating patients.

Pasteur also demonstrated that life forms did not arise spontaneously. His research confirmed the idea, developed by previous scientists, that a living organism would not appear unless other individuals of its kind were present.

One of Pasteur's most important contributions was a technique that has been named after him pasteurization. Pasteurization kills the germs that are found in drinks such as milk or beer. Because of Pasteur's technique, people are no longer infected with diseases by drinking these liquids.

Just as important as pasteurization was a technique called immunization Pasteur found that a person or animal could be made safe, or immune, from a disease, by injecting the person with some weakened germs that cause the disease. The body can resist the disease after being immunized in this way. Today, many diseases are prevented by the use of this technique.

Pasteur's discoveries also helped to save people who had already been infected with diseases. One such disease is rabies. Rabies is a disease that sometimes occurs in animals. This disease usually kills the animal, but before dying, the animal becomes very aggressive, and may spread the disease by biting a person or another animal.

One day, the parents of a young boy came to Pasteur. Their son had been bitten by a dog that had the rabies disease. The parents knew that their son would die from the disease, unless something could be done to save him. Pasteur agreed to help the boy, and the immunization technique saved the boy's life. Pasteur died in eighteen ninety five He was greatly admired around the world for his achievements, which have helped all of mankind. Today, Pasteur is considered to be the greatest figure in the history of medicine.

Have you ever heard the saying walk a mile in my shoes. I think it is a very good saying. Do you know what it means. It means, that before you judge someone, you should put yourself in his or her position. For example, if someone was running in a race, and they did very poorly and came in last It wouldn't be fair to say, oh he's just a terrible runner. You would have to look at all the circumstances that made the person lose the race. Maybe they pulled a muscle in their leg the day before, maybe this is their very first race. Maybe they are not in good form because something isn't right in their lives.

There can be so many things that affect a person's life, performance and moods. If someone was very quiet at a party, you couldn't just assume that they weren't friendly. You don't know what is happening in their lives. They could be feeling ill, or they might have just had a bad experience. Nobody can know exactly how another person feels. Even if someone tells you what he or she is experiencing, you still won't fully understand. What is going on inside the other person. Everyone perceives and feels things differently. To walk a mile in someone else's shoes is to try and understand things from that person's perspective. We are all shaped by the events that have taken place in our lives. No two people have gone through the exact same things. So, before you are quick to judge someone, stop and think about what it is that they might have gone through. You won't always understand why people do what they do, but you can try to understand and put yourself in their position.

If I was walking down the beach one day and I happened to bump my toe on a magic lamp I would pick it up and rub it if it was a real magic lamp, but I don't believe that there really is a magic lamp, a genie would pop out in a cloud of smoke and he would call me master. He would say that he would grant me three wishes. I would have to think very hard about those wishes because I wouldn't want to waste them I don't think I'd want millions of dollars. Money doesn't buy happiness or so they say. I might wish for good health because if your health isn't good You won't be able to enjoy anything. Some people might wish for beauty, but beauty is only skin deep. Some people would wish for a mansion, or a beautiful car or a big boat. I don't want any of those things. Some people would want fame. Some people would want talent. Some people would wish for happiness. That might be a good thing to wish for. Yes, maybe I'd wish for health and happiness, but what would my third wish be? I could wish for something enormous, something global. I could wish for world peace. That would be a wonderful thing if somebody could grant me that. Yes, that would probably be my third wish. It's too bad there aren't any genies inside magic lamps. I won't get my three wishes. I can still work toward getting my wishes. I can eat well and exercise to stay healthy. I can be involved with a lot of things and be with my friends to stay happy. I can volunteer my time to different organizations to help achieve world peace. I can do my fair share in my community to help others. That's how I can get my three wishes, not through a magic lamp. I can only get what I want through self-determination and hard work. That is the key to getting your wishes fulfilled.

I sometimes imagine what it would be like if I could fly like a bird. Just imagine what it would be like to soar into the sky, flying high above the trees. You could stand on high rooftops and never be afraid of falling. You would see so many things as you flew over rooftops and forests. You would feel incredibly free as you traveled from place to place. Not bothered by road signs or traffic jams. If I could fly like a bird. I would start from my back yard and travel through town. I would look down on the houses and factories. When I got tired, I would land in a field and take a nap. I would travel above rivers and follow them as they wound along and emptied into lakes and oceans. I would fly above parks and I would call out to the children as I flew high above them. I would dip and dive as I flew. I would soar up high and dive down low. So that I could almost touch the treetops. Have you ever flown? I know that you can't fly like a bird, but you might have taken an airplane ride When you're in an airplane, you pass through clouds. It is exciting to take an airplane ride. I love taking airplane flights. I like to look down at the earth. When you are up that high, everything below you looks tiny. That's the closest I'll get to flying like a bird. But I can still use my imagination and spread my wings and soar high above the world. Just like a bird.

My father used to smoke. He got very ill. The doctor told him that he had to quit smoking. My father tried for a long time to quit. It was very difficult for him. Smoking is an addiction. After many months, my father finally gave up smoking, but he still craved a cigarette once in a while. He says that quitting smoking is the hardest thing that he has ever done. When my father did smoke, he smoked everywhere. He smoked in restaurants, stores and many public buildings. Now, you are not allowed to smoke in a lot of public places. When my father smoked, the rules were not so strict People could smoke just about anywhere. It really wasn't fair to the people who didn't smoke. Their clothes always smelled like smoke, and they breathed in second-hand smoke. Some people think that second-hand smoke is actually worse for you than if you smoke yourself. People would smoke in their houses, and very young children would inhale the smoke that was in the air. Some people still smoke in their houses, and their children breathe in the smoke. Some restaurants have areas for smokers and nonsmokers. But usually the smoke drifts from one area to the other. There are some businesses that have banned smoking altogether. Personally, I think that smoking in public places should be completely banned. I don't think that I should have to breathe in another person's smoke. If I choose not to smoke myself. It wouldn't be fair for a nonsmoker to get lung cancer. Because they had to be in a place where smokers were allowed to light up. I know that smoking is a powerful addiction And that it is very difficult to quit. But smokers should restrict their smoking to places where there is nobody else around. Lung cancer is an awful disease. Nobody should have to suffer with lung cancer. People should be educated about the dangers of smoking. Smoking should be banned in public places, but eventually I would like to believe that fewer people will smoke. It would be nice to live in a smoke free environment.

It is going to be my father's birthday. What can I give him? I don't have much money. I have looked all through the stores, and I have not found anything that I think he would like, or that I can afford. I have thought very hard about what to buy for him. I thought that he might like some candy, but my father really doesn't eat many sweets. I thought that he might like a new shirt, but he has lots of clothes. I can't afford a new car or computer for him. I was watching him on the weekend. He cut the grass, washed the car, took out the garbage, weeded the garden and watered the plants. I got an idea. I went to my room and took out some paper. I cut out pieces of paper, and I wrote on them. I wrote on one piece of paper that I would wash the car every weekend for the summer. I wrote on another piece that I would take out the garbage every week for the summer. I also wrote that I would cut the grass, weed the garden and water the plants every week for the summer. I made a birthday card for my dad, and I put the pieces of paper inside it. I went downstairs and gave my gift to my dad. My dad thought that the gift was very thoughtful. He said that it was a gift from the heart. I did all those things for my dad all summer. He said that he had a lot of free time because I helped him so much. My dad and I are good friends. I don't mind doing things for him because I know that he is always there to help me out. A good gift doesn't have to be something that costs a lot. My dad says that the best gifts are the ones that show how much you care for the other person. I'm glad my dad liked his gift.

On New Year's Day people start a new year. Many people make resolutions. They resolve to be better people. Some people decide that they will lose weight, so that they can be healthier. Some people decide to give up smoking. They also want to be healthier. There are all kinds of resolutions that people make. Some people try not to lose their tempers. Some people say that they will work harder. There are people who try to give up bad habits. Every year, my brother says that he will stop biting his nails. He stops biting his nails in January, but by February he always starts again. That is the thing about New Year's resolutions. People seldom keep them. Everybody starts out with good intentions, but it is very hard to stick with them. I don't make New Year's resolutions. I find that I just break them. I just work day by day to break my bad habits. I know that I eat too many sweets. Every day, I just try to resist them. I think that every day is a new day, regardless of whether it is New Year's Day or not. Bad habits are hard to break. The best thing is never to start any bad habits. I don't know if my brother will ever stop biting his nails, but I know that each January he intends to stop. Maybe one of these New Year's Days he'll get over that habit.

Many of my friends have dyed their hair different colors. I don't mean normal hair colors like brown or black. My friends have dyed their hair orange, purple and blue. I told my mother that I would like to dye my hair green. I explained to my mother that I would only use food coloring. The green would not last forever. My mother said that dyeing your hair was a silly fad. She said that I would not look good with green hair. I said that if I couldn't dye my hair green maybe I could get a nose ring. My mother said no. I said that maybe a tattoo on my arm would be nice. My mother said no way. My mother said that she did some crazy things when she was a young girl. She said that she used to iron her hair to make it straight. That sounds quite boring to me. My friend Joan came over. Her hair is dyed bright pink. My father said nice hair Joan. I don't think that he really meant it. My mother says that when I am an adult I can dye my hair whatever crazy color I like but for now she would like me to leave my hair its natural color. I tried to tell her that all my friends were doing it. if all your friends were jumping off a cliff would you do it too. I said no. I think I'll have to wait to have green hair, but maybe by the time I'm old enough to dye my hair green. I won't want it that color. My mother says that fads change all the time. One day something might be popular. One day something might be popular, and the next day it's not in style at all. I'll just have to live without green hair for now. I wonder what the fad will be next month.

It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer
Eighty percent of success is showing up
I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education
The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge
The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, the realist adjusts the sails
If you don't make mistakes, you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake
You can never get enough of what you don't really need
Insanity doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results
Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress
I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody

Let's talk about a problem you might have when listening to English, especially when watching a movie. You don't understand what you hear. And this is not because you don't know the vocabulary. If you read the transcript or the subtitles you will understand the material just fine. So you already know the words being used. You just don't recognize them when listening. So what should you do?

According to many research studies. In one study participants were trained to perform a task related to hearing. And there were three levels of difficulty easy normal and difficult. The participants were divided into two groups. The first group was trained to perform only the difficult version of that task. The second group however started with the easy and normal versions first before performing the difficult version. The researchers wanted to know which group would perform the difficult version better. So what was the result? Well despite having less training with the difficult version. The second group actually performed better. Practically speaking this finding suggests that if you have difficulty doing something, instead of just keep doing that it's more effective to start with something easy, and then slowly increase the difficulty as you improve.

So how can you apply this knowledge to improve your listening? I'll tell you. First you have to make it easy in the beginning. For example, if you listen to podcasts in English on your smartphone, find an app that lets you change playback speed. So that you can slow down or speed up what you're listening to. If you listen on your computer there are programs that can do that as well. Then whenever you have trouble understanding, use the app to slow down the audio like this. So now it gets easier right. You have more time to think. You have more time to make out words that aren't pronounced clearly. You have more time to guess the meanings of new words and phrases. The idea here is to make it easy in the beginning. Listen at slower speeds. Listen to speakers that are easy to understand. Listen to easy stuff like podcasts and interviews as opposed to movies. Start small but you're not done yet. Easy to hard training requires you to go from easy to difficult. So once your listening skills improve you have to gradually increase the difficulty, instead of listening at the normal speed, speed it up like this.

Now after you speed it up you must still be able to understand the content, but you should feel a little uncomfortable. This will help you become more familiar with listening to fast speakers. The idea here is to keep pushing yourself. If you keep listening to something easy your listening skills will stop improving. So you have to keep challenging yourself. So listen at faster speeds. Also don't keep listening to the same person. Listen to different people with different speaking styles. And then start watching movies without subtitles. If it's still difficult you can slow down the movie by five percent or ten percent or you can slow it down even more if you don't mind the slowness. Once you get used to it you can then start watching movies at normal speed.

The United States government is composed of three major sections. It is based on the Constitution of the United States of America that was put into effect in May, 1789. The three parts of the US Government are the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Each branch works independently of the other two and each has its own responsibilities. This system is in place to ensure that no branch can carry more power than the other. This is called the separation of powers, which was written into the Constitution.

The executive branch is the branch that most Americans are familiar with. It includes the president of the United States, the vice-president, and the cabinet. The president is the leader of the country and is the commander in chief of the US military. The vice president is second in command, and will act as president if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office. The cabinet acts as agents of the US President, and carry out the duties they are entrusted with. The legislative branch of government consists of the House of Representatives, and the Senate. Together they form the congress, which can levy and collect taxes, mint money, and establish federal courts. It can also declare war and raise and support the army, navy, and air force to protect the country.

The House of Representatives has four hundred and thirty five members and the Senate consists of one hundred senators, with two from each of the states. Any legislation, or new law must be approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The judicial branch is entrusted to apply the laws created by the legislative branch of government. It has the power to create lower courts under the Supreme Court of the United States. It works closely with state courts, although they are separate.

Christmas, observed on December 25 is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Christians of different denominations go to church on Christmas. Many Catholics go to midnight mass. In the United States, however, the holiday has a much more secular tone and is celebrated throughout the country.

Many people, regardless of their religion, put up and decorate a Christmas tree. The tree can be a real evergreen or it can be an artificial tree. Lights, strings, tinsel, and even popcorn can be used to decorate a Christmas tree. On the top of the tree is a star or an angel. The decorations are usually red and green. The purpose of a Christmas tree is to have a central location to place gifts. According to legend, a jolly fat man with a beard named Santa Claus, leaves presents under the tree. Children in the US often write lists of things they want Santa to bring them. Many parents bring their children to shopping malls across the country to tell a man dressed as Santa what they want. These children are often also photographed with the mall Santa as a keepsake. On Christmas Eve many children leave milk and cookies for Santa.

Of course it is the parents that buy the gifts from the wish lists, and even eat the cookies and drink the milk. On Christmas Day children usually wake up early and run to the tree so they can see what Santa brought them. Adults can also exchange gifts at this time. People don't just decorate a tree at Christmas. Many also elaborately decorate their homes with lights. Some of the displays are even synchronized to Christmas songs called carols. Originally these songs were religious, but now they are about the spirit of the season.

New Year's Day officially begins as soon as people yell. Happy New Year at midnight. Most people continue partying well after midnight into the wee hours of the first day of the new year. In fact, many New Year's parties include breakfast or brunch. Sometimes at the stroke of midnight there will be fireworks and couples often kiss.

One of the most famous New Year's celebrations takes place in New York City's Time Square where a huge cut crystal ball drops at midnight in front of millions of people standing in the cold. Many more millions watch on television. Some groups, called Polar Bear Clubs jump into the cold ocean water on New Year's Day as a literal way to start the new year fresh. New Year's Day, January 1, is a national holiday in the United States. This means that schools, banks, government offices, and post offices are closed. Given how much people tend to drink alcohol on New Year's Eve. Many people wake up on New Year's Day with a hangover. The national holiday is a good day to recover. Many people go out partying with their friends on New Year's Eve. Many people use New Year's Day to visit family members.

New Year's Day is also when many people start on their New Year's resolutions. A resolution is a promise to change a lifestyle habit. The most common resolution is to lose weight. Many people also join gyms as part of their resolutions. On New Year's Day there are also parades such as the famous Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, where all the floats are made of different colored roses and they compete for awards. Many people also watch college and professional football games, including the Rose Bowl, which is also held in Pasadena, California.

Hi everybody, I have a quick question for you. What do you think about your spoken English? Do you think your English is bad? A lot of people who want to speak English think this way because when they speak they have trouble coming up with words. They make a lot of mistakes and their sentence structures is just wrong, and they believe that they're just bad at speaking English and there's nothing they can do about it.

Now, if you are one of those people if you think that there's no way for you to improve your English, then I have something to tell you. You are wrong. You are just plain wrong and in this video I'm going to tell you why. Now, I want you to think about experts and top performers in any field, think about world-class athletes like Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan now here's my question for you. How good do you think they were in the beginning? Do you think they were excellent right from the start? No, of course not, they were terrible in the beginning. Tiger Woods was bad at golf when he began. Michael Jordan was bad at basketball when he began. The bottom line is this when you start out something new. You are going to suck really suck. You are going to make mistakes. You are going to look stupid, and the only way to get better is to keep doing it, and you will get better over time, and this is the truth and it applies to everybody.

But here's the more important question if everybody sucks in the beginning, then what separates successful people from unsuccessful people. How it is possible that they can be English learners? Who are similar to each others? I mean they have the same level of intelligence they have the same resources. But some of them managed to become good at spoken English while others cannot speak English at all. What's the difference the answer is one word action successful people suck in the beginning? Just like anybody else but they keep taking action they keep learning they keep practicing, because they know that even though they're not good at speaking today. They are going to get better if they keep learning if they keep practicing, so they take massive action unsuccessful people on the other hand don't take action very much. They tried to speak English a little bit they try to practice a little bit, but they quit very quickly. I mean they start speaking and they start having trouble it's not making mistakes, and then they say oh English is just not for me, it's too difficult. I'm just not good at language, and then they quit. They just give up immediately.

So here's my challenge to you. After you watch this video, I want you to talk about anything in English, and you just do it by yourself you don't need to find someone to do it with you. You can talk about anything you want you can talk about yourself. You can talk about what happened yesterday, or maybe you can talk about what you've learned from this video. It doesn't matter what to talk about what matters is that you take action and when you do that. I want you to keep two things in mind number one you are going to suck. Just keep in mind that you are going to make mistakes. You are going to say something confusing, or maybe you won't be able to speak at all but be okay with that that's normal everybody has to go through that. I mean this is my first Youtube video and as you can see my drawing sucks is terrible, but I'm okay with that I accepted and you should be okay with your speaking as well.

Second thing I want you to keep in mind is to keep taking action. Just keep learning just keep practicing because it doesn't matter if you suck today, the present does not equal the future, just because you're bad at speaking now doesn't mean that you're always be bad at speaking. If you keep taking action I guarantee that you will improve you will get better. I mean the same is true for my drawing is Saturday. But if they keep drawing if I keep practicing, I'm going to get better. Okay, so that's my challenge to you, and we've come to the end of this video now one last thing. If you want to receive free training videos on how to improve your spoken English, then click the link in the description below, to go to Engfluent dot com and subscribe to my newsletter. I'll be releasing an exclusive training videos on how to improve your spoken English soon and you don't want to miss that. So go to Engfluent dot com, subscribe and I'll see you soon.