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Real Easy English

Easy level

Talking about bad habits

Episode 251121 / 21 Nov 2025

(Photo: Getty)

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Introduction

Georgie and Neil have a real conversation in easy English about bad habits – the things we do repeatedly, even though we know we shouldn't. Learn to talk about having habits, breaking habits and turning over a new leaf.

Vocabulary

habit
something you do regularly and repeatedly

have a habit of (doing something)
do something regularly, often without thinking about it

break a habit
stop doing something which you do regularly

turn over a new leaf
start to behave in a new and better way than before

Transcript

Georgie
Hello and welcome to another episode of Real Easy English. In this podcast, we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn. I'm Georgie.
 
Neil
And I'm Neil. Don't forget to watch the video version of this podcast on our website. It's got subtitles so you can read along. That's at bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Georgie
Hello, Neil. How are you doing today?
 
Neil
Hi, Georgie. I'm very well. How are you?
 
Georgie
I'm very well too. Today on this podcast we are talking about bad habits, and we've talked about habits on this podcast before. Habits are things you do regularly and repeatedly. But today we're going to talk about bad habits – things we do a lot that we shouldn't do.
 
Neil
OK. Georgie, do you have any bad habits?
 
Georgie
I have lots of bad habits. One of them is eating way too much sugar. After every meal, I have a terrible habit of needing something sweet. So, for breakfast this morning, for example, I had a pastry. At lunch, after my meal, I had a chocolate bar. And later, after dinner, I'll probably have something else sweet. It's not very good. What about you? Any bad habits?
 
Neil
Well, I just had my lunch break and I basically wasted it because instead of relaxing and not looking at a screen while I was eating my lunch, I just looked at my phone and was scrolling: news, emails, messages – just rubbish that I don't need to look at.
 
Georgie
Oh no! And that means you're looking at a screen all day because you do it at work and then you also did it in your lunch break.
 
Neil
And then in the evening when I get home.
 
Georgie
So, you've talked about too much screen time during the day, and I also have that bad habit but I do it before bed unfortunately. So, instead of reading a book, which would be a better habit, I scroll on social media until late at night and I really need to break that habit. It's not good.
 
Neil
Well, it sounds like for both of us it's time to turn over a new leaf and stop scrolling on our phones.
 
Georgie
Yeah. Have you got any others?
 
Neil
Yeah, I tell the same story over and over again.
 
Georgie
That's very true!
 
Neil
And everybody who knows me knows this, and I want to stop. So, Georgie, do you plan to stop your bad habits?
 
Georgie
Mmm, yes. Well, I have wanted to reduce my sugar, sugar intake for a long time, and one thing I did in January – a common time to start good habits – I made a vision board, which has lots of pictures on it to represent things I want to change, and one of those things was a chocolate bar with a big red 'X' on it to remind me to reduce my sugar intake but it hasn't worked, so that can be a future thing. What about you?
 
Neil
Yeah. So, I decided the next time we all go out for a coffee or something at BBC Learning English, I'm going to say nothing so that I don't repeat my stories.
 
Georgie
Oh, come on! Don't be boring. OK. Let's recap the language we heard during the conversation, starting with a habit. A habit is something you do regularly and repeatedly.
 
Neil
We heard have a habit ofdoing something. And if you have a habit of doing something, you do it often.
 
Georgie
For example, I have a habit of scrolling on my phone late at night. We also heard break a habit and that means to stop doing something. For example, I need to break the habitof scrolling on my phone late at night.
 
Neil
And we heard the expression, turn over a new leaf. If you turn over a new leaf, you start again and try to stop your bad habit.
 
Georgie
And that's it for this episode of Real Easy English. Try the worksheet to test what you learnt on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Neil
Join us again next week for another easy conversation. Thanks for joining us and goodbye.
 
Georgie
Goodbye!

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