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Small Talk

My daily routine in English

Follow Ariannita through a full day and hear how she describes routines—from waking up and caring for pets to working, commuting, meals, errands, and winding down. Short interviews show how other people talk about their own schedules.

Read the full lesson summary

Ariannita presents one example of a daily routine, following her day from waking up until going to bed. The video is a vocabulary lesson built around familiar activities rather than a schedule that everyone should follow. In the morning she gets up, uses an alarm, takes care of her pets, fits English study into her routine, and prepares breakfast. She then makes her bed, gets dressed, and goes to the gym. Expressions such as ‘hit snooze,’ ‘sleep in,’ ‘on an empty stomach,’ and ‘shake things up’ help learners describe choices and changes in a routine.

The middle of the day introduces language for work and transportation. Ariannita explains that she works from home editing videos and writing scripts, and that she sometimes travels to record lessons. She calls the trip between home and work a ‘commute,’ and notes that hers varies. She also talks about packing equipment or a lunch, working out, showering, and getting ready for work. These sections contrast staying home to work with travelling elsewhere, while showing that one person may have different activities on different days.

The video includes short conversations with people in a park about their own routines. Their answers mention getting coffee, walking, preparing for work, taking children to daycare, and spending time with family. The interviews show that people describe routines in different levels of detail and that follow-up questions can invite someone to share what they enjoy. Useful frames include ‘What does your typical daily routine look like?’ and asking about a favorite part of the day.

Later, Ariannita describes lunch, cooking, taking a nap, running errands, hobbies, and relaxing in the evening. She uses ‘run errands’ for practical tasks outside the home and ‘wind down’ for gradually relaxing before bed. Her nighttime routine includes preparing for sleep and setting an alarm for the next morning. The specific hours, habits, household roles, and activities are personal examples, not universal expectations.

Learners can adapt the lesson by describing their own morning, work or study day, and evening using sequence words such as first, then, and after that. They can compare routines without assuming that everyone has the same work schedule, family responsibilities, or leisure time.

S2.1
Ariannita la GringaAmerican English17:21

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Transcript

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Select an expression for its meaning · 0:30

Waking up and getting ready

Hello everybody! It's Ariannita la Gringa and welcome back to my YouTube channel! In today's video, I will teach all of you vocabulary related to daily routines so I will show you all of the activities I do in my everyday life and you might have the same activities! As you just saw, I had just woken up. I'm still wearing my pajamas or my PJs and I normally start my morning around 8:00 a.m. and I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock. I'm not a morning person, so sometimes I will and that's the button

Try it: Try using “hit snooze on my alarm clock” in a sentence about waking up and getting ready.

Phrase cheat sheet

All phrases at a glance

Review each expression, hear it, save it, or jump to where it appears in the video.

17 phrases

Showing 17 of 17 phrases

hit snooze on my alarm clock

Waking up and getting ready · expression

Press the alarm’s snooze button to delay it briefly and get a little more sleep.

Tone and use: Casual and common. Describe postponing a morning alarm for a few minutes.

May not fit: If you turn the alarm off completely, say turn off the alarm.

Example“I hit snooze once, then got up right away.”

sleep in

Waking up and getting ready · phrasal verb

Stay in bed and wake up later than usual.

Tone and use: Informal and everyday. Talk about waking later, often on a day off.

May not fit: If you mean a planned nap later in the day, say take a nap.

Example“I usually sleep in on Sundays.”

head straight to the bathroom

Waking up and getting ready · expression

Go directly to the bathroom without stopping elsewhere.

Tone and use: Natural conversational language. Describe going immediately to a destination.

May not fit: If you take a less direct route, simply say go to the bathroom.

Example“After the run, I headed straight to the shower.”

take my dog on a walk

Waking up and getting ready · expression

Walk with your dog outdoors for exercise or a bathroom break.

Tone and use: Everyday American English. Describe walking a pet as part of a routine.

May not fit: For the action of leading the dog outside briefly, take the dog out can be more concise.

Example“I take my dog on a walk before breakfast.”

scoop out the poop

Taking care of pets · phrasal verb

Remove waste from a litter box or another container using a scoop.

Tone and use: Plain, informal household language. Describe cleaning a pet’s litter box.

May not fit: In polite or professional contexts, say clean the litter box.

Example“I scoop out the litter box every evening.”

fit lessons into your busy schedule

Building language learning into a routine · expression

Find time for lessons despite having many other commitments.

Tone and use: Neutral and encouraging; common in planning. Talk about arranging study around work or other responsibilities.

May not fit: If the schedule is not flexible, say make time for lessons instead.

Example“The evening class fits into my busy schedule.”

shake things up

Building language learning into a routine · idiom

Make a change to a routine so it feels different or less repetitive.

Tone and use: Casual and upbeat. Suggest trying something new or changing an established routine.

May not fit: For a serious or sensitive change, explain the change directly.

Example“We shook things up by taking a different route to work.”

skip breakfast

Building language learning into a routine · expression

Not eat breakfast.

Tone and use: Neutral and common. Describe not having a morning meal.

May not fit: If you delay breakfast rather than miss it, say eat breakfast later.

Example“I sometimes skip breakfast when I’m in a hurry.”

on an empty stomach

Building language learning into a routine · expression

Without having eaten recently.

Tone and use: Neutral. Explain how someone feels or what they do before eating.

May not fit: For medical directions, follow the specific instruction fasting if that is required.

Example“Coffee on an empty stomach makes me jittery.”

make the bed

Making the bed and getting dressed · expression

Straighten the sheets and covers after getting up.

Tone and use: Everyday household English. Describe a common morning chore.

May not fit: If you are changing the sheets, say change the bedding.

Example“I make the bed before I leave for work.”

work out

Making the bed and getting dressed · phrasal verb

Exercise, often as part of a planned session.

Tone and use: Informal and common. Talk about exercising at a gym or elsewhere.

May not fit: When describing solving a problem or calculating something, work out has a different meaning; add context.

Example“I work out at the gym three times a week.”

work from home

Working from home · expression

Do your job from your home rather than a workplace.

Tone and use: Neutral and widely used. Describe where you do your job.

May not fit: If you are off work, say stay home rather than work from home.

Example“She works from home on Fridays.”

my commute varies

Working from home · collocation

The trip between home and work is different in length or details on different days.

Tone and use: Neutral, common workplace English. Explain that your travel to work changes from day to day.

May not fit: If the trip is always the same, say my commute is usually about…

Example“My commute varies depending on traffic.”

pack a lunch

Talking about commuting and packing · expression

Prepare food and put it in a container to eat away from home.

Tone and use: Everyday American English. Talk about bringing a meal to work or school.

May not fit: If you buy the meal at a shop, say get or buy lunch.

Example“I pack a lunch the night before my office days.”

run errands

Running errands and spending free time · idiom

Go out to complete several small practical tasks, such as shopping or picking something up.

Tone and use: Common informal expression. Describe a short trip involving everyday tasks.

May not fit: For one specific task, name it directly, such as pick up a prescription.

Example“I’m running errands after work, so I may be late.”

wind down

Winding down in the evening · phrasal verb

Relax gradually at the end of a busy day.

Tone and use: Casual and widely used. Describe a calm evening activity before bed.

May not fit: For ending a business or event, wind down can mean close or reduce activity; specify the context.

Example“I read for a while to wind down before bed.”

disconnect from the world

Winding down in the evening · expression

Take a break from messages, news, or other outside demands.

Tone and use: Reflective and conversational. Describe intentionally stepping away from devices or outside activity.

May not fit: If you mean a literal internet outage, say lose the connection.

Example“A walk in the park helps me disconnect from the world.”

Knowledge check

Practice the phrases you heard

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What it means · “hit snooze on my alarm clock”

What does Ariannita do when she hits snooze?