New Year's resolutions are decisions or promises you make for yourself about things you want to change in your life.

New Year’s Eve is always a time for looking back at the year that is finishing and, more importantly, looking forward to the coming year. And the end of the year is a great time to concentrate on English verb tenses… What things did you do last year? What things will you do next year?

What's your New Year's resolution?

Video Transcript

What’s your New Year’s Resolution?

New Year’s Eve is always a time for looking back on the year that is finishing and looking forward to the year that’s coming.

And the end of a year is a great time to practice English verb tenses. English verb tenses! What did you do last year? And what will you do next year?

Practice with these questions:

• What was the best song you heard in 2015?
• What was the worst movie you saw in 2015?

And then practice thinking about next year:

• What place do you want to visit next year?
• What do you want to stop doing in 2016?
• What do you want to do better in 2016?

So what is a New Year’s resolution?

A New Year’s resolution is a promise to yourself, just to yourself, that you will change something and do it differently next year. So you’re changing something to make it better for yourself.

At this time of year, we reflect on and we think about all of the great things that we did over the last year, in 2015. And we also think about some of the things that weren’t so great – things we would like to change or do differently next year!

Even if 2015 was horrible for you and you want to forget it completely, 2016 is a new year and it’s a time to think positively about all of the great things that you have and what you need to do to make the most of them next year.

So, New Year’s resolutions are made at the end of a year, just before you start a new year and here are some really common examples:

• I want to lose weight! 
• I want to get fit!
• I want to spend more time with my family and friends.
• I want to travel more!
• I want to speak English more confidently.
• I want to quit smoking and quit drinking.
• I want to pay off my credit card.
• I want to learn something new (like a language, or a new skill)
• I want to help others (I want to volunteer at the local hospital)

You can have more than one New Year’s resolution. You can have as many as you want! But it’s a really good idea to make them a bit more specific than those examples, so that you can really make sure you achieve them! For example, I want to make five English-speaking friends that I can practice with in 2016.

So here is your homework: Find an English speaker. They could be online, on Google+ or on the mmmEnglish Facebook page or maybe you’ve got a friend who you’re studying English with. But ask them “What’s your New Year’s resolution?”

Practice on me now! Ask me…

My New Year’s resolution is to make new English Video Lessons every week in 2016, to help my students practice and build confidence speaking English! Oh… I also really, really, really want to make 1000 YouTube subscribers in 2016. I have a long way to go, so if you haven’t subscribed, please help me! Pleeeaase help me!

OK, so now, what’s your new year’s resolution?

Write it in the comments box below so that I can help you achieve it!

Happy New Year to all of my wonderful students! I look forward to keeping our NYR (making sure they happen!) And also to a wonderful year ahead with you. I’m so excited for what’s going to come!

Bye for now!

mmmEnglish Video Lessons are a series of video lessons created to build confidence in English learners and focus on English in daily life. Download them and watch them anywhere! Subscribe to my YouTube Channel to be the first to get my new videos, and come and say hi on my Facebook page!!