Feifei Hello, this is The English We Speak. I’m Feifei…
Rob …and hello, it’s me, Rob.
Feifei Hey, Rob. How are your plans going to get fit?
Rob Oh, Feifei, they are a disaster!
Feifei Oh no! What’s gone wrong?
Rob Well, I went for a five-mile run last night, but I gave up after just one mile – I was exhausted. And then I went for a ten-mile bike ride, but only got to the end of the street. I give up – getting fit is not fun!
Feifei Don’t give up, Rob! You need to take things one step at a time.
Rob You mean walk – don’t run?
Feifei Not exactly – just improve your fitness gradually, in stages. When you do things ‘one step at a time’, you improve them gradually in stages – step by step. So, Rob, improve your fitness ‘step by step’, which means the same as ‘one step at a time’. Here are some examples…
Examples
I know the instructions look confusing, but take them one step at a time and they should make sense.
If you want your cake making to be a success, you need to follow the instructions one step at a time.
Don’t panic! I’ve written a step-by-step guide on how to turn the heating on, so you should be fine.
Feifei This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, and we’re talking about the expression ‘one step at a time’ – it means to improve something gradually, in stages – step by step. So, Rob, to get fit, you need a plan – improve your fitness in stages.
Rob OK, so where do I begin?
Feifei Well, don’t run before you can walk – so do lots of walking and then a little bit of running.
Rob OK, and after that?
Feifei The next stage is to run a bit further and then walk a little. Set yourself a goal, like from your couch to running a 5K.
Rob Oh, did you say ‘couch’? Great, I’m off.
Feifei Where are you going?
Rob I’m going to run to my couch – put my feet up and eat lots of biscuits. Bye.
Feifei Bye Rob!