How do you talk about your dreams, goals, hopes, and plans in English? In this lesson, you’ll learn natural English structures for describing the future you want and expressing how you plan to make your dreams a reality.
We’ll practice useful ways to talk about dreams and goals, including: • My dream is to... • My immediate goal is to... • My ultimate goal is to... • I see myself... and more!
You’ll also learn how to use time expressions such as: • by the age of 65 • within the next two years • in my lifetime • one day • someday
We’ll look at the difference between a DREAM, a GOAL, and a FANTASY…and why turning a dream into concrete goals and smaller steps can make your vision feel more realistic. You’ll also practice expressing different degrees of desire, from “I’d like to...” to “I’d love to...” and “I’d go in a heartbeat.”
At the end of the lesson, you’ll have a chance to talk about YOUR dreams and goals using the new English expressions.
Chapters 0:00 Introduction 0:39 Structures with the infinitive 1:19 Using time expressions 1:58 Plan vs. hope 2:36 Future verbs 2:51 Other verb phrases 3:24 Expressing desire 4:30 Practice in the comments! 4:40 The need for dreams and goals 5:00 Dream, goal, fantasy 6:12More practice
AI Generated·May contain errors
Video Summary
AI Generated
Jennifer provides a comprehensive guide on the English language structures used to express hopes, dreams, and goals. She emphasizes the importance of purpose in life and teaches learners how to transition from vague desires to concrete, actionable plans using specific vocabulary and grammatical patterns to sound more confident and passionate.
You've likely seen the movie Forrest Gump. At the end, Forrest questions if we all have a destiny or if we just float around and things happen accidentally.
What do you believe? I think if you don't feel a sense of purpose, life can be hard.
For me, tapping into my passion, having a sense of purpose, and pursuing what I believe is possible gives me hope to keep moving forward.
Hi. I'm Jennifer, and in this lesson, let's practice the language needed to express our hopes and dreams.
Some structures use an infinitive. What do you want to do?
My dream is to impact more people, not just as a teacher but also as a speaker.
My present goal is to learn Spanish.
I can also talk about my immediate goal and my ultimate goal.
My immediate goal is to reach level B1.
My ultimate goal is to reach level B2 in Spanish and be comfortable with conversation.
I plan to travel more in 2027.
We can add time expressions.
My goal is to have a healthy retirement fund by the age of 65.
Are you saving for your future?
My goal is to reach level B1 in Spanish by 2027.
I plan to travel internationally within the next year.
I want to see a whale at some point in my lifetime.
A lot of us have travel plans, right?
One day I plan to visit Australia.
Someday I hope to take an Alaskan cruise.
Can you feel the difference between plan and hope?
If you want to sound more confident, more certain, use plan.
What do you plan to do?
I also caution you to stay away from words like one day, someday.
Not because they're wrong. People use these words. They do.
But it makes your dream seem far off in the future and less likely to happen.
My advice is to name a concrete date or period to bring your dream closer to your present reality.
We can use future verbs to talk about our plans and our vision.
By next year, I'm going to reach level B1 in Spanish.
Within a few years, I'll be conversational in Spanish.
We can also use see myself or picture myself plus a present participle.
I see myself working less but still teaching in some form when I'm 70.
I can see myself traveling to different countries for fun.
I picture myself volunteering more in old age.
These structures are good because you're actively imagining yourself doing what you want to do.
Let me share a few more phrases and see if you can tell which one sounds stronger.
I'd like to take a cruise.
I'd love to take a cruise.
I'd like nothing more than to take a cruise.
I'd dream of taking a cruise.
If I could, I'd go on a cruise tomorrow.
First, I'd say that love is stronger than like.
And we sound more passionate about our desire when we say,
To my ears, it sounds almost desperate when we say what we want to do tomorrow.
Like we can't wait.
If I could, I'd take a cruise tomorrow.
It's similar to saying, I'd take a cruise in a heartbeat.
Has this lesson helped you in some way?
If so, please like, subscribe, and turn on notifications.
Thank you.
It's your turn now.
Go ahead and share some of your hopes and dreams in the comments.
Use a new expression from the lesson.
I sure hope you have some wonderful dreams and exciting goals.
We need dreams because we need to feel inspired.
And we need goals because they make our dreams realistic.
Dreams are possible if we identify the steps to take.
Do you agree?
Let's be clear on these ideas.
A goal is something concrete that you want to achieve or bring into reality.
Graduating from college, getting a new job, learning a language.
These are goals.
And big goals can break down into smaller ones.
My ultimate goal is to have conversational Spanish.
Somewhere between B1 and B2.
So each year I want to move up one level.
I'm currently A2 and I'm working towards B1.
How is a dream different from a fantasy?
Fantasies are not realistic.
Moving to Mars and living in space at this point in time is a fantasy.
We don't have space colonies yet.
But be careful not to let others tell you that your dream is a fantasy.
If you can see your vision and have a sense of what it will take to realize it,
then I say work toward it.
Make it happen.
That's all for now.
If you'd like more interaction and feedback,
then join the English with Jennifer community,
where we practice all skills for confident, effective communication.
The link is in the video description.
Thanks for watching and happy studies!
