Personal Email Hi, Julia. I'm sitting here in front of the computer in our apartment writing this email to you. It feels so weird not to have you here. You were my roommate for four years after all. I really miss having my best friend here. But enough with feeling sorry for myself.

I am so happy to hear that you're getting settled in New York City. I'm trying to imagine what it's like for you—first, getting your dream job, then moving to an amazing city and starting a whole new life. I'm really glad to hear that your cross-country drive to New York was a good one. There were no problems, no breakdowns, and you even made it in good time. I'm very, very happy to hear that the moving van made it there without any major catastrophes. I can't believe they made it there on time and they didn't even break anything. What a miracle!

Well, I hope that everything else goes well this next week while you're getting used to the new city before starting your new job. Are you excited about the job yet? It's so great that you'll be able to do what you've always wanted to—working as a writer for one of the best newspapers in the country. I always knew you could do it. You were always so focused and worked so hard. You really deserve it. I can't wait to start reading your articles in the newspaper.

Well, things here are pretty much as you left it. Same old, same old. My schedule at the restaurant is still the same. I'm working weekends. I'm not thrilled about that, as you know. But I do love my job. Being a chef is great. But there's one major drawback. I'm starting to notice that I'm getting fat. I have to stop eating so many of my own dishes. I decided today to do something about it. I joined the gym down the street. It's the one three blocks down near that video store. Do you remember it? I even went out today and got new workout clothes and a pair of new jogging shoes. Now I have absolutely no excuses. All I have to do is to get off my butt and go work out. I am so incredibly lazy. You know what a couch potato I am. But not anymore. I plan to get up each morning and work out before I head off to work. That means actually getting up before 10 a.m. Now that's going to be a challenge.

I'm going to start on Monday. We'll see how that goes. Wish me luck. Okay, that's all for now. Write me back soon. I'm anxious to hear how things are going. Talk to you soon.

One friend was emailing another friend who had just moved to New York City. Lots of expressions here that may be unfamiliar to you.

At the beginning of the message, Jessica—who was writing the email—said that she was “feeling sorry for herself.” To feel sorry for yourself means to pity yourself, to think that your situation is worse than everyone else's. We often, when we hear someone complain, say to them: Stop feeling sorry for yourself, meaning stop thinking that your situation is worse than everyone else's. This is something we would only say, however, to a friend, family member, or someone that you knew well. You wouldn't want to say that to your boss.

Another term was dream job. When we often use the term dream in front of a noun, it means the perfect or the ideal. So:

My dream vacation would be to go to Hawaii.
My dream car would be a Porsche.

Jessica also mentioned that her friend was lucky because she didn't have any breakdowns in her trip. Remember, this is a term we used in a previous ESL podcast. When a car or an automobile has problems and stops running, we say that it breaks down. And the term breakdowns would be the noun of that.

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ESLPod008 - Writing an Email to a Friend

ESL Pod Official - Speak English Fluently by Listening (with Text)