Lesson 36: English in a Minute: A Clean Slate

Welcome to English in a Minute. In a classroom, the chalkboard is also called a slate. It's important to clean it before starting a new lesson. So does clean slate relate to teaching? I love the start of the new year. It's a great time to start fresh, make a new start. Me too. This year I'm going to start with a clean slate and give up bad habits.

Like eating donuts and drinking too much coffee? No, no other bad habits. A clean slate means a new start or beginning. This phrase comes from the use of chalk and slate in classrooms. A teacher could start a new lesson with a clean slate. And that's English in a Minute.