In fact, I am back at work.

The school day just ended, so, I'm happy about that because I can take my mask off.

It's been a long day, actually.

But I'm definitely back at it.

And that's the first phrase that I wanted to teach you.

Sometimes, when you take a break from work⏤like, as a teacher, I had the summer off⏤when you start working again, you say that you are "back at it".

So, "back at it" is a simple phrase that just means you're working again.

The other phrase I wanted to teach you is the phrase to "be back in the swing of things".

The first week of school, things were a little rough.

It's hard to remember how to do everything.

But, eventually, you get used to the job again, and then we use the English phrase to "be back in the swing of things" or to "be back into the swing of things".

And, basically, all that means is that work seems pretty normal to me now, I've remembered how to do this job, and I think I do it pretty well.

So, I'm definitely back in the swing of things.

Like I said, the first week was a little rough while I was trying to remember how to do this job well.

I certainly needed to work out some kinks.

That's the third phrase I wanted to teach you.

When you need to "work out some kinks", it means you need to kind of relearn how to do the job well.

Sometimes you know exactly how to do it, but you haven't done it for a long time, so, when you start doing the job again, you need to work out the kinks.

And certainly, after I worked out the kinks, I needed to roll up my sleeves.

Now, I know I wear short-sleeved shirts, but the English phrase to "roll up your sleeves" means to get to work and to work hard.

So, after I worked out all the kinks, I certainly rolled up my sleeves and started doing the job well.

This is actually my third week back at work, and it's time to get down to business.

In English, when we talk about work and we use the phrase to "get down to business", it means that you want to start getting work done.

Sometimes, when you start a job, or restart a job like I just did, there are many things you need to do that aren't the actual work.

You have a lot of training and a lot of new things you have to learn.

But now, because it's the third week back at the job, it's time to get down to business.

It's time to get the actual work done that needs to be done because I want to make headway.

When you use the English phrase to "make headway", it means that you want to have progress at your job.

When you start a project or you start a task, you always want to make progress or make headway.

When you say you want to make headway, it means that each day you want to get a certain amount of work done so that, eventually, you outdone the project.

It is always nice to get down to business and then to make headway.

So, so far, the job is really exciting.

It's fun to be back at work, but eventually, it will be the same old, same old.

In English, when we use the phrase "the same old, same old", it just simply means that something has become routine and maybe even a little bit boring.

Usually, my job doesn't become too boring, but eventually, it'll just be the same old, same old.

I'll do the same things every day as I continue to do the job.

Every once in a while at work, I need to go the extra mile.

The English phrase to "go the extra mile" means that you do more than you are expected to do.

So, I'm expected to teach my classes, but, sometimes, I go the extra mile by helping out a colleague on a project they're working on.

So, at work, when you say that you are going to go the extra mile, it means you're going to do more work than they would expect you to do on a project or a task.

It's really nice to have colleagues that are willing to go the extra mile.

Speaking of colleagues, I'm sure everyone has a coworker who needs to pull up their socks.

In English, when we say that someone needs to "pull up their socks", it means they need to work harder.

I'm sure at your place of work, everyone works really hard, but there might be that one person who just doesn't work as hard as everyone else.

And we would say that that person needs to pull up their socks.

Because when everyone is working on the same task or job, it's nice if everyone pulls their weight.

In English, when we say that everyone needs to "pull their weight", it means that they all need to work as hard as everyone else.

When you have a job to do or when you're working on a project,

and if three people are pulling their weight, but one person is not working very hard, that person definitely needs to pull up their socks.

I really do enjoy being back at work, but I do need to keep my nose to the grindstone.

In English, when you're talking about a job and you say that you need to "keep your nose to the grindstone", it means that you need to keep working hard and not take too many breaks.

It's important when you're a teacher like me, when you're doing this job, that you keep your nose to the grindstone.

Because if you get behind, the job becomes very, very difficult.

I also wanna keep my nose to the grindstone because I wanna stay ahead of the game.

In English, when you use the phrase to "stay ahead of the game",

it means that you plan well and that you work ahead and that you do things before they need to be done so that your job is a little bit more relaxing.

I often find that if I get behind, my job becomes a little bit irritating and I get annoyed.

But if I stay ahead of the game, I can stay happy at work and I can do really well as an employee.

Well, hey, thanks for watching this little lesson on a few work phrases that you can use when talking about your job or about work.

I hope you were able to learn just a little bit more English in this video lesson.

And I hope that wherever you work, whether it's a part-time job or a full-time job, that it's going well and that you are enjoying yourself.

I'm Bob the Canadian and you're learning English with me here on YouTube.

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