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Thank you so much for tuning in to Emma's ESL English for three years and 246 episodes! I really appreciate all your time, clicks and the occasional daring comment.

Unfortunately I have run out of time. I need to evolve my business, and this just doesn't fit in anymore, literally, not enough hours in the day. I will continue to teach English as part of my business, and you're very welcome to take English classes with me.

In addition, I'm hoping to incorporate my cultural knowledge into the business, so hopefully working with people in international teams or working with colleagues from other countries and helping them work more effectively.

• 🗨️ Please do comment and let me know if you can think of a need in this area that might fit me.

If you would like to stay in touch feel free to find me on:

• LinkedIn (just send me a message with 'Emma's ESL Podcast Listener' in the message so I know who you are!): https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmaethompson/
• XiaoHong Shu (Red Note) look for: Emma 爱人間 ID 26207781890

The podcast will stay live on Spotify and Apple and all the other places, and for now these videos will stay here on YouTube.

• If you'd like to give me a tip for the podcast you can do that through Ko-Fi here: https://ko-fi.com/emmaseslenglish

Thank you so much for being so supportive while I learned how to do podcasts, how to speak to the camera, how to edit videos, how to understand YouTube, how to write scripts and plan episodes, how to use Canva to make nice pictures.

I have learned so many things through doing this podcast. (Those that have seen the first episodes know how much I've learned!😳) Things that I'm now using for the next stage of my business. I have two areas of business I'm working on. The first is already up and running.

• You can find my other YouTube channel 'Somewhere on the Spectrum', where I focus on neurodiversity, specifically late diagnosed Autistic and ADHD adults here: https://www.youtube.com/@SomewhereOnTheSpectrum

And I am now developing the second part which I'm hoping will be a focus on culture with some coaching, peer-to-peer support and maybe courses, based in my years of teaching English and cultural understanding, helping people connect more effectively across cultures.

Thank you so much for being here for this journey. I hope to see you again in the future. Best wishes, Emma

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📚 In this special episode of Emma’s ESL English, we’re celebrating the life and legacy of beloved British writer and illustrator Beatrix Potter—whose birthday was just yesterday!Join me in the garden (two garden's! My Grandma's and mine) as we explore:- Who Beatrix Potter was and why she’s one of my favorite British women- How she created The Tale of Peter Rabbit and revolutionized children’s books- Her love for the Lake District and lasting impact on nature conservation🌿 Plus: I’ll be reading a short passage from Peter Rabbit—perfect for English learners who want to hear natural language from a real British classic.🎥 If you think you'd like to watch the movie, Miss Potter, check out the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqF25DJk-fo💬 Have you read Beatrix Potter’s books before? What’s your favorite character or memory? Let me know in the comments!📖 If you want to read the full story, check out your local library or bookstore—it’s a short and charming read!#BeatrixPotter, #PeterRabbit, #LearnEnglish, #ESLListening, #EnglishStories, #LakeDistrict, #BritishAuthors, #EmmaESLEnglish

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🌼 Welcome back to Emma’s ESL English, still recording in my grandma’s garden—complete with sunshine, thunderbugs, and roses.Today we’re talking about metasyntactic variables—a fancy way of saying “words we use when we forget the word!” These are common in English, used by native speakers every day, and they’re surprisingly useful for language learners too.In this video, you’ll learn:- Popular “filler” words like thingy, whatchamacallit, doohickey, and more- How native speakers deal with memory blanks in everyday conversation- Why it’s OK to make up words when you’re stuck (and how people will still understand you)🗨️ Tell me in the comments: What do YOU say when you forget a word in your language? Share your favourite filler words and let’s compare across cultures.💬 Don’t forget to subscribe, like, and share—especially if this helped make English feel a bit easier.#LearnEnglish, #ESLFun, #EnglishTips, #Whatchamacallit, #RealEnglish, #EnglishSpeaking, #SpeakNaturally, #EnglishFillerWords, #EmmaESLEnglish

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✏️ Struggling with writing in English? Whether you’re writing emails, essays, or presentations, I’ve got you covered. In this episode of Emma’s ESL English, filmed in my grandma’s sunny garden 🌹, I’ll show you 10 free tools that will help you write better English today—even if you’re not confident in your grammar or vocabulary yet.These tools include:- Translation apps (like Google Translate and Deepl)- Grammar checkers (Grammarly, Ginger, Write & Improve)- Vocabulary helpers (dictionaries, thesauruses, and Visuwords)- AI-powered tools (Hemingway, Deepl Write)- Simple tips like journaling to improve fluency💡 You’ll learn how to:- Avoid panic when writing at work- Write more naturally in English- Use vocabulary like a native speaker📌 All the tools I mention are FREE, and I explain when and why to use each one.

1. Word or Google Docs
2. Online Dictionaries and Thesaurus (I would recommend big name companies like merriam-webster.com for American English and https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ for British English)
3. Google Translate
4. Grammarly: https://www.grammarly.com/
5. Visuwords: https://visuwords.com/
6. Write and Improve: https://writeandimprove.com/
7. Hemmingway App: https://hemingwayapp.com/ (also a desktop version)
8. Ginger: https://www.gingersoftware.com/
9. Deepl Write: https://www.deepl.com/en/write (and translate: https://www.deepl.com/en/translator)
10. A Journal

💬 Which of these tools have you tried? Do you have another favourite that helps you write in English? Tell me in the comments!#EnglishWritingTips, #ESLLearners, #LearnEnglishOnline, #EnglishGrammarHelp, #WriteBetterEnglish, #EmmaESLEnglish, #EnglishStudyTools, #FreeEnglishResources, #WritingInEnglish, #LanguageLearnerSupport

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English is full of bizarre idioms that make little sense—yet we use them all the time! Remember, most British people don't study idioms at school, we just learn them by...osmosis? So we're not thinking about where they come from or how weird they sound, we just use them. Unfortunately for you as an English learner, you might need to remember them and maybe you even want to try and use them. In my podcast I try to make it easier to remember idioms by giving them stories, learning about the history, or just making them funny. I hope you find it helpful. In this episode of Emma’s ESL English, we explore four common but strange expressions:- More ideas than you can shake a stick at – Why are we shaking sticks?- Water off a duck’s back – What does a duck have to do with ignoring criticism?- There’s more than one way to skin a cat – A phrase with unsettling origins.- Miss the boat – A simple but widely used metaphor.Also, find out which ones might be used in Business English.Let me know in the comments if there's any of these you'd feel comfortable using yourself.#EnglishIdioms #WeirdEnglish #ESLEnglish #IdiomsExplained #LearnEnglish #EnglishGrammar #ESLPodcast #BritishEnglish #EnglishTips #EnglishFun#CommonIdioms #EnglishLessons #SpeakingEnglish #EnglishVocabulary #PodcastEpisode #EnglishCulture #IdiomsAndSayings #EnglishLearners #EnglishTeaching #LanguageTips

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In this episode of Emma’s ESL English, we take a thoughtful look at Tom Cruise’s career and his most memorable movie quotes. From Top Gun’s iconic “I feel the need, the need for speed” to Jerry Maguire’s “Help me help you,” Cruise’s films have shaped modern cinema.

We examine his rise to fame, his ability to carry a film, and the impact of his performances—from Risky Business to Mission Impossible. We also discuss the courtroom drama A Few Good Men, where Cruise delivers one of the most famous exchanges in film history, and Vanilla Sky, a film that divided audiences but left a lasting impression.

What's your favourite Tom Cruise movie or quote? let me know in the comments.

Join the conversation in the comments, share your thoughts, and don’t forget to like and subscribe.

TomCruise #MovieQuotes #ESLEnglish #Podcast #TopGun #MissionImpossible #JerryMaguire #AFewGoodMen #VanillaSky #ActorSpotlight #EnglishLearning #LearnEnglish #ESLPodcast

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Tomorrow is the birth date of famous dystopian British writer George Orwell. In this episode find out more about his interesting and unusual life and his passion for writing, freedom and raising awareness about life in poverty. I'll also be reading a little from the book.

George Orwell’s 1984 isn’t just a novel—it’s a warning about historical erasure, surveillance, and authoritarian control. Orwell’s writing has never been more relevant, especially in a world where truth is constantly being rewritten.

🌍 In this video, we discuss:

• Orwell’s life & why his experiences shaped his writing
• How totalitarian regimes manipulate history
• The eerie parallels between 1984 and today
• What Orwell’s work teaches us about freedom & truth

Today's video is great for practicing your English listening skills, and has some interesting vocabulary such as:

Homage - something done in honour of someone.

Tramp - someone who is usually living on the street

Pen name - also known as nom de plume or pseudonym, is a fake name created by an author to hide their identity

emmaseslenglish #learnenglish #englishreading #GeorgeOrwell #1984 #DystopianFiction #HistoricalErasure #Totalitarianism #TruthAndLies #Surveillance #FreedomOfSpeech #Literature #SocialIssues

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English is full of strange idioms, and today we’re diving into some bizarre British expressions you might hear! Some of these are quite common, especially the 2nd and 3rd, and you might hear them in the office or out and about. The others are less common, and just for you to be aware of, rather than need to try and use. Hopefully they're fun and interesting!

💬 Examples:

• "I don't think I had the brass neck to bunk off." → Brass neck = extreme confidence (or foolishness). Bunk off = skipping school!
• "You'll get it in the neck!" → Means you’re going to be in trouble!
• "We've got other fish to fry." → We have more important things to do!
• "You’ll be smiling on the other side of your face." → Not good news! You’ll regret something soon.

📌 You won’t need to use these—just understand them if you hear them!
💬 Have you heard any weird idioms before? Drop them in the comments!

EnglishIdioms #LearnEnglish #BritishEnglish #WeirdIdioms #ESL #LanguageLearning #EnglishTips #SpeakingEnglish #EnglishExpressions

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🗣️ Struggling with L & R sounds in English? You're not alone! Many ESL learners, especially those from Asian language backgrounds, find it tricky to pronounce these sounds correctly.

🔍 In this lesson, Emma explains:- Why L & R pronunciation is challenging

• How to position your tongue correctly
• Common mistakes & how to fix them
• And whether this is even worth you spending your time on

Today's Practice Words:Alive - ArriveLight - RightCalendarCurlyRelaxApril ReligiousLittleRuleRollercoaster

• For the 'F' Sound Episode 213: https://youtu.be/N2BZg718a-8
• For all the common sounds Episode 87: https://youtu.be/7kKfQzcWEQg

💡 Improving your pronunciation makes speaking clearer & easier! Let’s break it down step by step.

🔔 Subscribe for more English pronunciation tips!

LearnEnglish #ESL #EnglishPronunciation #SpeakingEnglish #ImproveEnglish #LanguageLearning #EnglishTips #PronunciationPractice #FluentEnglish #StudyEnglish #AccentTraining

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🚀 Take your English reading skills to the next level! Don’t let descriptive writing slow you down—learn how to tackle novels with confidence.📚 Learning English through books can be a challenge! In this video, we explore the difference between creative writing and daily spoken English, breaking down how novels use descriptive language that might not be useful for everyday conversation. We dive into four books, including Rogue Herries (Hugh Walpole), The Island of Missing Trees (Elif Shafak), Gorillas in the Mist (Dian Fossey), and Not Another Happy Ending (David Solomons), analyzing how their writing styles differ from spoken English.🌍 Topics covered:- Why reading in English sometimes feels harder than speaking- How descriptive writing can paint vivid pictures in your mind- Tips for choosing the right books to read - How local idioms and unique phrases can appear in novelsHead over to Episode 120 to hear a reading from Elif Shafak's Island of Missing Trees: https://youtu.be/OZEtmTp5hCs For more English listening practice, check out the playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6eu7BlE1AJSZA5GgMrFMmskXWE099AWL 👉 Want to improve your English reading skills? Watch now!🔔 Subscribe for more English learning tips#emmaseslenglish #EnglishLearning #LearnEnglish #ESL #DailyEnglish #CreativeWriting #ReadingEnglish #EnglishBooks #LanguageLearning #ImproveEnglish #StudyEnglish #EnglishTips #ESLStudents #ReadingSkills #SpeakEnglish

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British idioms can be totally baffling—what on earth does “she’s absolutely cream crackered” mean? 🤯 In this episode, we unpack some of the UK’s weirdest and most illogical idioms, from Cockney rhyming slang to century-old phrases like “a different kettle of fish.”

These expressions are commonly used but rarely understood—so let’s figure them out together!

Listen in to discover:

• Why "cream crackered" means "tired"
• What kettles and fish have to do with trouble
• How idioms evolve and spread (even when no one knows their origin)

No need to memorize these—just know them when you hear them!

BritishIdioms #UKSlang #LearnEnglish #ESL #BritishEnglish #EnglishIdioms #CockneySlang #RealEnglish #WeirdEnglish #EnglishVocabulary #emmaseslenglish

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Hello and welcome back to Emma’s ESL English! This week, we’re diving into some brilliant and bizarre British dialect words — from sea fog called fret or sea roke, to mountains named bens, fells, and bryns.

We’ll also explore how bread rolls have a dozen different names across the UK (seriously — baps, cobs, barms, and more!), plus Scottish weather words like driech and hoolie that perfectly describe grey, rainy days.

British English is full of regional quirks, and understanding them can really help if you're moving here or just trying to follow what people are saying.

I’ve also included tips on how to get used to different global English accents, like Australian and South African — remember, it's totally okay to ask someone to slow down!

Hit follow and leave a comment if you enjoy learning real-life English — and feel free to share any weird words you’ve heard in the UK below!

BritishEnglish #UKSlang #EnglishDialect #LearnEnglish #ESL #EnglishLanguage #RealEnglish #BritishCulture #ScottishWords #EnglishTips #ESLLesson #EnglishVocabulary #emmaseslenglish

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Welcome to Emma's ESL English! This week we’re diving into the quirky regional terms of endearment for strangers you might hear across the UK — from "alright, hen?" in Glasgow to "how you doing, chuck?" in the Midlands.

These words like "love," "pet," "duck," and "mate" may seem strange or even inappropriate to outsiders, but they’re part of the UK’s rich linguistic culture. Whether you're traveling to the UK, learning English, or just curious about real British English, this episode will give you insight into the warm — and sometimes weird — ways Brits speak to strangers.

💬 Have you ever been called duck or love in the UK? Comment below and share your experience!

I mentioned a video by Sir Ian McKellen, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebb272kjmWQ

🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more real-world English tips!

BritishAccents #LearnEnglish #ESL #UKEnglish #BritishCulture #emmaseslenglish

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Welcome to Emma’s ESL English! This episode kicks off a three-part series on real British English—and today, we’re diving into British accents. Think there's just one “British” accent? Think again! From RP (Received Pronunciation) to Cockney, Geordie, Welsh, Scottish, and Liverpudlian, the UK is full of unique, regional voices that may surprise international learners.Learn how history, geography, and class shape how we speak—and why the RP accent you hear on the BBC or in The Crown isn’t what most Brits actually sound like. Whether you're traveling to the UK, planning to live here, or just fascinated by accents, this episode will help you decode the real sounds of Britain.👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for the next episode, where we’ll explore weird ways Brits might talk to you!#BritishAccents #LearnEnglish #ESL #UKEnglish #BritishCulture #RPAccent #Cockney #ScottishAccent #WelshAccent

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Welcome to Emma's ESL English!

Today, we're doing something a little different—and a lot of fun! I'm reading an excerpt from the famous British sci-fi comedy The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

You’ve probably heard me say “Don’t Panic” before—and now you’ll learn where it comes from!

📘 In this reading, you’ll:

• Hear real British English from a classic book
• Learn new vocabulary and adjectives in context
• Explore British humor and science fiction
• Discover what a Babel Fish is and why you might want one in your ear!

🪐 Whether you're a fan of sci-fi or just love learning English through stories, this episode is packed with useful language, idioms, and laughs.

This book was originally made as a BBC radio show. It might be worth checking it out just for the sound effects, which were the most expensive in the BBC at the time! You can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnOdAqe8beU

Our section starts at 12:31, it's not exactly the same as the book though. Mostly just listen for the sounds effects. There are a lot of less used adjectives today, as well as some words related to aliens, so I'll write those here:

• Squalid - very dirty and disgusting
• Grubby - not very clean
• Cramped - small and uncomfortable
• Rummaged - to dig around in a bag to find something
• Snatched - to grab quickly
• 'was still holding it as if it was a two-week-dead lark' - lark is a British bird, so he's holding the book away from himself and touching it as little as possible, like he's holding a dead bird
• Bureaucratic - love paperwork, or requires a lot of paperwork
• Officious - does everything in a bossy, official kind of way
• Callous - unkind and mean
• Loophole - a gap in an otherwise tightly planned contract or plan that gives you a way around or forward.
• Impoverished Hitchhiker - someone trying to get a free ride, who has no money
• Unsuspecting soul - someone who is just minding their own business, not expecting anything strange to happen
• Antenna - the things on the top of the heads of snails...and aliens
• Demolished - destroyed
• Cornflakes - common British breakfast cereal
• Gargle - the noise you make when you swill your mouth with mouthwash
• Tannoy - loudspeaker
• Lightning movement - very fast
• Slithering - the way a snake moves...but wet!
• Scrabbled - when you're moving your hands trying to catch something
• Goggle- eyed - making your eyes big, usually in surprise or amazement
• Semblance - appearance

Alien language (you'll never need to know again!)

• Dentrassi - a species of alien that is known to be a good chef and drinks mixer
• Vogon - a species of alien that is very mean, rude and obnoxious and won't help anyone - very bad poets
• Sqornshellous Zeta - a planet that has swamps where the mattresses are grown
• Vogon Constructor Fleet - the ships that demolished Earth, they build and destroy planets.
• Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal - a space monster
• Altairian Dollar - international common currency
• Teaser - rich kid who plays tricks on planets that haven't travelled to space yet (only works for this book...well all this vocabulary only works for this book!)
• Betelgeuse - the planet where Ford Prefect is from (Ford Prefect is the name he took when he came to Earth because he thought it was the most common name...he didn't realise cars weren't the sentient creatures on the planet.)
• Babel Fish - the fish Ford puts in Arthur's ear is a Babel Fish. This fish is able to allow the user to understand any language in the universe.

emmaseslenglish #booktok #englishlisteningpractice #englishreading #hitchhikersguidetothegalaxy #douglasadams #dontpanic

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I went to look for weather idioms last month, and discovered none of them were about the weather! So today we're reviewing weather idioms that you can use in Business English. Actually you can use them in any situation, but our sample sentences are focusing on business scenarios today. We'll cover:

• Snowed under - I wish I could help but I'm absolutely snowed under - very busy
• A breeze - This project is going to be a breeze - so easy
• Come rain or shine (also come rain or come shine) - You'd better get that work finished come rain or shine - no matter what
• Lightning fast - Ask him to do it, he's always lightning fast - very quick
• To steal your thunder - I would tell my boss my idea, but I don't want him to steal my thunder - 2 meanings, 1 to do what you were planning to do (steal your idea), 2 to steal the praise or attention.
• It never rains but it pours - What do you mean the printer's broken? It never rains but it pours! - Everything is going wrong at the same time.
• Throw caution to the wind - Let's throw caution to the wind and invest in this project - Don't worry about the risks or results.
• Put it on ice - Let's put that idea on ice, it's good but we'll revisit it next week. - to postpone (the same as last week's 'put a pin in it')
• Out of the blue - What do you mean the CEO is here? In the department? Today? Out of the blue!? - suddenly.

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions. #emmaseslenglish #english #englishidiomsandphrases #englishidiom #businessenglish

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Today we're covering a common question from students:

It it OK to just answer 'how are you?' with 'I'm fine'.

Yes! We'll also cover it's cultural purpose.

And we'll cover the nuances of these common phrases and greetings:

• How was your weekend?
• How have you been?
• What have you been getting up to?
• Did you have a good holiday?

And, what do people even mean when they say:

• Let's grab coffee sometime.
• We must catch up.
• Let's do drinks one of these days.
• We must put something in the diary.

And are they different to:

• I need to take a rain check.
• Can we catch up next time.
• I'm in a bit of a hurry.
• I've got a lot on my plate right now.
• Let's put a pin in that.
• Can we push it?

I hope you find it useful.#emmaseslenglish #englishlisteningpractice #english #englishconversation #englishconversationpractice #englishgreetings

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Today it's my birthday! So we're covering some common idioms and phrases you might hear people use when talking about birthdays. Today's VocabularyOver the moon - to be very happy about somethingBig day - another way to refer to a birthdayThe icing on the cake - the best thing about this event/day/situationTo have a blast - to have a great timeAge is just a number - said to make people feel better about aging, just means age is not important.Full of beans - to have a lot of energy or excitementMake my day - the best part of the dayCrown jewel - the best thing or best bit about somethingPaint the town red - to have a party, usually a wild party with alcohol*It turns out, it wasn't Arnold or Sean who said 'Make my day', it was from a much older movie, in the 1983 film Sudden Impact, Clint Eastwood says, "Go ahead, make my day".Let me know in the comments, what sorts of things would make your big day special?#emmaseslenglish #english #englishspeaking #englishvocabulary #englishlearning #englishidiomsandphrases

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Last month I went to Scotland with my Mum. We went first to Helensburgh, the town where I went to high school, then to visit my piano teacher and finally to Glasgow.

While I was visiting I took some pictures to show you all. Come along with me and take a look at the architecture and views in Scotland.

While in Helensburgh I visited #thehillhouse designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh a famous Scottish designer and architect and his brilliant wife Margaret, who was a great designer and interior decorator. You will definitely recognise their famous rose motif.

The only vocabulary was 'spring up' which is a phrasal verb for when things arrive or start suddenly.

emmaseslenglish #english #englishlisteningpractice #glasgow #scotland #helensburgh

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In this episode I will read a short excerpt from Terry Pratchett's Raising Steam. In this section we are in a dwarf meeting. We hear the king and his direct rival having a conversation.

Unfortunately this book is set in difficult/exciting times in Discworld, some dwarves have become terrorists and they think they are fighting for all dwarfdom, but in fact most people recognise that the future has come, and are happy about it.

Perhaps this sounds a bit familiar. There is a section where the rival discusses the importance of discussion and compromise, even when we directly disagree with each other. I wish we could hear modern leaders calling for this.

I will include the vocabulary below, but in the video I take the time to explain each section. Let me know in the comments if this works, if it helps you to understand or if you'd rather I just give you the vocabulary in the description.

Vocabulary

Unreconstructed elements - I had to look this one up because it didn't quite make sense to me. In fact the meaning is quite different to what I expected. Taking it's part it should mean 'things that haven't been made again' - which doesn't quite make sense, how can we have something that hasn't been made again🤔. But actually this whole word, with these specific prefixes has another meaning:

not reconciled to political, economic, or social change; and holding stubbornly to a particular belief, view, place, or style.

So, 'unreconstructed elements of dwarfdom' means dwarves who disagree with the change and refuse to change their beliefs.

'keep the grags auditing all that's dwarfish' - the grags are the dwarf priests. So this means that the priests are allowed to decide what is dwarfish.

'inculcated their flocks' - 'flock' is a common term used for people who follow a religion and sit in a church listening to sermons. 'inculcate' means to instill an idea.

blasphemy - speaking badly against a god or religion

diminished - reduced

grump - to be angry and frustrated and make everyone else feel uncomfortable because you're unhappy

sapient creatures - act wisely

'the floor is yours' a common phrase used to introduce or recognise another speaker in a debate

courteously - politely

headstrong - willful, determined

orchestrating attacks - if we 'orchestrate' something then we are organising it.

Clacks - this is a Discworld term and is a kind of technology, similar to the telegraph, for sending messages long distance

Nugganites - again, this is a Discworld term and refers to a Discworld religion whose god is Nuggan. This religion is dying and has gone bad. You can find out more in the book Monstrous Regiment. In the end everything Nuggan asked his followers to do was quite insane.

Benison - a blessing - I had to look up this word! Even though it's short I had never heard it before! (Terry likes to introduce rare or unusual vocabulary in his books)

'makes me ashamed to call myself a dwarf' - this is a common construction in English whenever someone finds the people they relate to are doing something they strongly disagree with.

Discourse - the process of discussion

Compromise - finding a way to meet in the middle, we each give up something so we can both gain something

cornerstone - The cornerstone of a building is one of the most important parts of it's foundation. This word has come to mean 'the foundation' of whatever we're discussing

unequivocal - without question or challenge

murrain - I think this is perhaps a play on words from Terry. There are two homonyms in English 'moraine' is a mass of rocks moved by a glacier and 'murrain' is a plague or epidemic. In the dwarf world rocks are very important. Either way, the meaning is 'I curse them! I wish something terrible for them!'

emmaseslenglish #englishreading #englishlistening

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This week we're looking at a little known grammar point called 'intensifiers'. These words are used to intensify adjectives and adverbs. I have covered this subject before in a little more detail in Episode 90, so feel free to head back to that episode for more. In this episode we're focusing on just two intensifiers: So and Too.These two words are very common in English, and I think more so now because we are often emphasising things, and this is what these words are for...its all in the name😉So, what's the problem? The most common problem I hear my students make is using Too, when they should be using So. This might seem simple, but since they are often used close together, it's not always clear what the difference is. So, what's the difference? So is used to notice something, it is neutral. Too is often used to complain about something, it tends to be negative.Examples from our episode:I saw too many electric cars - complainingI saw so many electric cars - noticingShakespeare is too hard, it's so old. - complaint about difficulty, commenting on the reasonShakespeare is so hard it's too old. - commenting on the difficulty, complaining about the ageRemember we can (and often do) emphasise both of these words! So that's not the thing to help you decide which to use. Try to notice when you're using them first. After doing this for a while it will be easier to notice when you make a mistake and start fixing it. #emmaseslenglish #english #englishgrammar #englishspeaking #englishlearning

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Welcome to Emma's ESL English! 🌟
Today, we're diving into a very common English mistake: "I'm stressful about English." 😬
If you've ever said this—or felt it!—this episode is for you.

We'll explore:

• Why "I'm stressful about English" is incorrect
• The difference between stressed, stressful, and stressed out
• Useful alternatives like “tense,” “under pressure,” “anxious,” and more
• How native speakers actually talk about feeling stress

✅ Correct Example Sentences:

• I’m stressed about English.
• English is stressful.
• I’m stressed out about my test.
• English is stressing me out.

We’ll also look at nuanced vocabulary such as:
anxious, frazzled, nervous, tense, upset, exhausted, troubled, rundown, under pressure, and more.

🧠 Learning English can be overwhelming, but understanding how to talk about stress the right way makes it a lot easier. Stick around for clear explanations and examples!

💬 Let me know in the comments:
What English topic stresses you out?

📌 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and turn on the bell for more ESL lessons with Emma.

ESL #LearnEnglish #EnglishMistakes #StressedVsStressful #EnglishGrammar #EnglishTips #SpeakEnglish #EnglishForBeginners #EmmaESLEnglish

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This week I'm reading a short excerpt from Dr Martin Luther King Jr's Letter from Birmingham Jail. Written on April 16th 1963 and addressed to 'My Dear Fellow Clergymen'.

I do get quite political in this episode, certainly less neutral than I generally aim to be on this podcast. I also talk about current situations in America and the UK that are gravely concerning. I hope you don't mind me taking the time to talk about this. I hope you share my perspective, but understand that the world is a complicated place and we can't all agree on everything.

I wanted to read this letter because it points out the problem when normal every day people don't want to deal with change. The acceptance of the status quo, even as it worsens life for everyday people, can be the most dangerous thing, for everyone. I think there's a lot we can learn from leaders like Dr King so it's always worth spending time with their words.

Note: I'm not suggesting this applies to any of you, especially since I know many of my listeners are living in countries like the UK and America. But I do think it's important to discuss and for all of us to consider what is important to us, and what are the values we most aspire to live, in these difficult times.

There was a lot of difficult vocabulary in this excerpt. I hope I managed to explain it enough so you could get the gist, but I've included the vocabulary below as well, I hope it helps.

Vocabulary

irony - something that seems deliberately opposite to what we expect, and as such can be found funny

status quo - the 'normal' situation

condescending - to look down on someone

polarized - to be at opposite extremes of an argument

aided - helped

suppressed - pushed down, avoided, prevented from being seen

advocate - support and encourage

gravely - seriously

'great stumbling block' - stumbling block is an idiom and this means something in our way, preventing progress

'absence of tension' - lack of trouble

paternalistically - like a father, but condescending

'mythical concept of time' - not realistic or true

'lukewarm acceptance' - not enthusiastic

bewildering - confusing

'outright rejection' - a complete, obvious 'no'

'dangerously structured dams' - a stumbling block

plight - situation (usually difficult or negative)

boil - a large ugly, often infected, spot on the body

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This week we're continuing our story about China's great expedition to discover the world.

As I mentioned last week, everything comes from Gavin Menzies 2003 book: 1421 The Year China Discovered The World.

In addition you can find more evidence and what's still happening by checking the two websites here:⁠https://www.gavinmenzies.net/china/book-1421/⁠⁠https://www.1421foundation.org/

I have to apologise to my Chinese listeners for the pronunciation, unfortunately the book is only in English and I couldn't find the Chinese pronunciation for most of the characters.

In addition, I wanted to note that at the end of this episode I have an emphatic little speech, remember, I am saying this from the perspective of a British national, a citizen of the British Empire. If you don't come from a colonizing country, feel free to skip it. For those of us who do come from colonizing countries I do think that this is an important moment for introspection.

Vocabulary

JingDe Zhen - this is the name of a Chinese city, famous for centuries (and still now) for it's porcelain

Uruapan - a city in Mexico

Michoacan - a Mexican state and ancient people

Reinvigorated - Suddenly got more energy

Limped up - usually 'limp' is used when we can't walk normally, but we can also use it when transport is struggling to get somewhere

Shunned - to not be accepted, to be turned away and avoided

Venetian - Niccolo De Conti was the man who brought the maps to Venice, Portugal and Spain. He was from Venice originally and turned to Islam when he married his wife. He was a merchant. Venetian is the word used to describe people from Venice.

Colossus - describing something very large

Bogus - something that is false, a lie or fake

False pretenses - a common co-location meaning someone did something but they lied about what they were doing or why they were doing it

Posterity - for remembering in the future, for recorded history

Circulatory - related to the circulation of something, in this case the way air and water move around the planet

Xenophobia - prejudice or fear of people from other countries

Zealot - someone who is fanatical, obsessed in pursuit of their ideals, could be religious, political or other.

Barbaric - in English we think of a barbarian as a really violent terrible person, so this describes behaviour we think of as violent and terrible.

Cinders - when something is burned so much we can only see the black ash

Folly - a lack of good sense, foolishness

Latitude - measuring the planet from north to south

Longitude - identifying where we are on the planet east to west

emmaseslenglish #1421 #chinesehistory #englishlisteningpractise

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This week we're heading to China for an adventure story. I read this book last year and it was so good, but I couldn't figure out how to share it with you.

Recently I started using the Chinese App Red Note (XiaoHongShu) and doing short form videos there, I decided to tell this story. Once I had the base of the story I decided to see if I could adjust it for you too.

These two episodes are really English Listening episodes. I hope you will find the story interesting, it's possible you've never heard it before (if you have heard it or read the book, please drop me a comment to let me know).

The book is called 1421: The Year China Discovered The World and it was written by a British submarine captain called Gavin Menzies in 2003.

In today's episode I'll tell you about the writer, some main characters and the first part of the story. Next week we'll finish the trip and find out why this story isn't well known.

For more information about the evidence from the book and what Gavin did next you can check out the following two websites:https://www.gavinmenzies.net/china/book-1421/https://www.1421foundation.org/

There is some tricky vocabulary in this episode.

Eunuch - a man who has been castrated (formed an important and powerful group in China during this period)

Concubine - a woman who is kept but not married, in this case it also refers to the women who were kept on the boats, we don't know really anything about them though so whether this was by choice or not, we don't know.

Hustle and bustle - a common English term used to describe a busy place

Thriving hub - a successful centre of action

Accolade - some kind of award or privilege

Outskirts - the edge of a town or city

Rudder - the part at the back of the boat that helps direct the boat in the right direction

Scurvy - a common illness on board long ship journeys in the old days. Comes from a lack of Vitamin C.

Cartographer - Someone who's job is to draw maps

emmaseslenglish #english #learnenglish #englishlistening #1421

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Have you ever wondered how language shapes the way we see the world? In this episode of Emma’s ESL English, we explore an eye-opening story about the Zulu language—which has 39 words for “green”—and what that reveals about the deep connection between language and culture.

• 🌍 Discover how learning Chinese changed my perception of reality
• 🧠 Understand how different languages reflect different worldviews
• 📖 Learn why English may not always be the richest language to describe nature
• 🔤 Hear how older languages like Zulu express concepts we can’t even translate

Whether you’re learning English, teaching it, or just love exploring linguistics and cultural diversity, this video will expand your understanding of what it means to think in a language.

👇 Tell me in the comments:
What’s your native language, and how does it change the way you think compared to English?
👍 Like, Subscribe, and hit the 🔔 to support more thought-provoking ESL content.

📘 The book was written by Richard D Lewis, a leading scholar in the Intercultural sector, he started off as an English teacher travelling and living around the world. He also speaks 12 languages!The book is 'When cultures collide, leading across cultures.'VocabularyPhilology - the study of the structure, historical development, and relationships of a language or languagesSavannah - a large, usually flat, grass area with minimal treesOur tongue is seen as poverty stricken - meaning our language is seen as being without very much variety or choice - poverty stricken is a common phrase used to describe people or countries who are struggling with poverty.Finely wrought - carefully made or forgedCausation - the cause of thingsFamiliarizing - the process of becoming familiar with somethingTaboo - subjects or ideas that are not culturally acceptable to discussStraightjacket - a commonly used piece of equipment to limit movement. In this case being used to describe the limitations of languageStereoscopic - stereo means with two or more sources. We have stereo sound and mono sound, the first has two or more speakers, the second only one. In this case stereoscopic refers to our vision being from two eyes.#emmaseslenglish #englishlisteningpractice #englishreading #culture

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Welcome back! I hope you all had a great holiday period, Happy New Year! 🥳This week I wanted to give you a little life update, so I guess it's mostly listening practise for you. Sorry, I'm a little out of practise so I did go a bit too fast in places I think. Hopefully the subtitles can help you. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments.The Google search tip I mentioned is that you just add '-ai' to any search you do and it automatically doesn't run the AI search. I think most of the vocabulary was quite ordinary, some of you may have not heard one term though: 'each to their own'. This is a sort of proverb that we use to mean that every person has a right to do what they think is best. It suggests that we shouldn't judge other's ideas and should give them freedom to choose. It is sometimes used in a negative way, when we we don't understand why someone thinks a certain way we can use this phrase to mean 'there's no point talking any more, you do your way I'll do mine', it's similar to 'we'll agree to disagree' in this way. I hope you find this useful. Let me know if you've had any careers challenges.

See you next week.

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In Episode 218 we covered how to review your year, this is an important step, don't miss it. I know it can feel frustrating or even cringy to review the year, but we need to understand what worked and what didn't so we can improve next year.

So here we are, 2025, or almost. Happy New Year! 🥳🥂

Take some time over the next couple of weeks to figure out what worked well last year and how you want to move forward with your English in 2025. Are you going to change your textbook? Find some new reading material? Or perhaps get a teacher?

Check out episodes 152, 164, 181 and 183 for more tips on tests, goal setting and planning.

Work out some priorities and some achievable goals and get them down on paper.

I'm taking January off so I'll be back in February to see how you get on.

Any questions, just put them in the comments.

Good luck!

emmaseslenglish

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This week I have something a little different for you. Last year my family and I went to Castle Howard. This is an English country home in Yorkshire that puts on a special Christmas display every year. They take a story and decorate the house with that theme. Last year the story was JM Barrie's Peter Pan. I'll show you the dramatic road in to Castle Howard using Google Maps, and then some of the pictures and footage I got last year. Castle Howard was built between 1701 and 1811 by the Carlisle branch of the Howard family. The gardens were designed by George London in 1699. While you can't see a lot of the normal house behind the decorations, this will definitely give you an idea of the size and luxury of these big English houses.I visited with my family and my niece, who didn't know anything about Peter Pan. Luckily we were able to go at a quieter time, usually there would be many more people at this place because families come from all over the country for this experience. As far as I understand Castle Howard still belongs to and is lived in by the Howard family.#emmaseslenglish #englishlisteningpractice #englishchristmas

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Wow! Here we are again, at the end of the year!

For those of you who have been with me for a while, you will know what's coming, review and plan.

In this episode I'll give you some tips and thoughts on how to review your year in English.

This is an important step. So many language learners feel like they're not making any progress. It's important to take a little time to recognise how much work you've put in and any progress you've made. Honestly, even if you feel like you haven't made any progress, take time to recognise all the hard work you've put in (and yes, I'm counting watching TV shows and movies with subtitles as hard work 😉).

Let me know how you get on in the comments.

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This week we're analysing last week's reading. I'll talk you through some of the references and vocabulary. I'll also put the vocabulary list below.

In the first video I referred to the illustrator as Paul Kirby, which is actually not just confusion because the names sound similar. Terry's original artist who did about half of the covers of the original books was called Josh Kirby. When he passed away in 2001 Terry worked with a few authors but eventually settled on Paul Kidby,who I believe he met through the Discworld Conference and was a big fan.

Vocabulary List

Ticked off - slang - to anger or frustrate someone

Satire - a form of humor that reshapes real life so we can laugh at it

Sledge - a vehicle on sleds that is used to move people and goods through snow (Santa rides one)

Lavatory - Toilet

Deference - polite submission or request (so they are submitting to their age)

Underpinned - to be held tightly underneath something

Minstrel - a singer or song creator

Scribbling - writing quickly and untidily

Wince/Flinch - in the book Terry uses 'wince' which is when our face clenches in response to something we see that looks painful or worrying. I used 'flinch' in this episode is when our whole body clenches for the same reason or when we're surprised or scared.

Henchman - Harry has some stupid henchmen. Henchmen are the bad guys (often not smart) who work for the really bad guy and do everything he says.

Steed - the thing you're riding, usually a horse

Started with humble means - he began with small or not very expensive things (in this case a shed!)

Revert - to go back to a previous place, situation or state

Vicinity - the area around here

Marmalade - a British sort of jam made from Oranges (I'm sure we didn't invent this because we didn't have oranges in the UK for a long time (there's some disagreement about whether the first oranges arrived in the 1300's or the 1500's.)

a dig on our modern world - 'a dig' is when someone tries to make fun of something or to be rude about it.

Concubine - a woman who is married to a man but is not the main wife, emperors often had many concubines.

Never got the hang of dying - to 'get the hang of' something means you get good at it.

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This week we have the inevitable Pratchett Christmas reading. I hope you enjoy. This is taken from The Last Hero, a book about Cohen The Barbarian (that'll be the hero!). In this excerpt I'm reading a conversation between him and his old friends as they make their way up a giant mountain in the centre of Discworld with the goal of returning fire to the Gods 'with interest'.I'll read today and then next week we'll do an analysis and look at the vocabulary. I think the only possible new vocabulary this week is 'to get jumped' which is another way to say you were ambushed or someone caught you by surprise with the intent to hurt or attack you. Cohen the Barbarian is a character based on Conan the Barbarian, and Terry extends his joke by adding other references to Arnold Schwarzenegger who played Conan in the 1982 film. If you don't get this reference check him out in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwdYd_RdLCQIn the story we meet a minstrel, there are several names for this job. One of the most recent and famous ones is The Bard, who we meet in The Witcher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9HW-Z3F7joHope you enjoy this. There's lots more reading episodes for you in the English Listening playlist on YouTube.#emmaseslenglish #englishreading #englishlisteningpractice

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A few weeks ago one of my students brought me some phrases. She couldn't really work out what they meant, and the context wasn't helping. I was very quickly able to work out that the writer she was reading was using only half an idiom. Helpful!So today let's take a look at a couple of these examples so you can see what might happen when a native speaker isn't thinking about all the hard working international speakers of English out there!

The idioms we'll cover today are:

Spill the beans/Tea - to tell a secret or gossip

Not my circus, not my monkeys - to say we're not getting involved in something because it's not our business or not related to us

Additional Vocabulary

to gloss over something - phrasal verb - to quickly cover over something, to carry on as if nothing happened

clarification - to make something clearer or easier to understand

Osmosis - this is a biological function where cells can pass through a membrane, however, we often use it like this to mean we learned something without trying and in the natural course of our life. This is a common colloquial use of this word.

All the way back in Episode 4 I covered the idiom 'Spill the Beans' I also cover a lot of other common English idioms in this episode.

In Episode 37 I shared how Shakespeare influenced English and in Episode 38 I covered some vocabulary and idioms that we can track back to Shakespeare.

emmaseslenglish #learningenglishidioms #english #englishidiomsandphrases #idioms

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This week we're reading another Engoo Article: Level up your language skills by thinking in English. I'll give you some ideas about how you can use the https://engoo.com/app/daily-news website regularly to practise your English both by yourself and with a tutor. I'm also going to read the article and talk a little bit about what it means and how you can use it. If you'd like to read along you can find the article here: https://engoo.com/app/daily-news/article/level-up-your-language-skills-by-thinking-in-english/q0hpYo9CEe-3xxcbdEJNTgThe article also talks about three other resources you can use. The first is Rachel's English, this is a great YouTube channel and website that is particularly useful if you want to improve your accent or pronunciation. https://rachelsenglish.com/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvn_XCl_mgQmt3sD753zdJARepetery, where you can find English teachers. This site would be particularly useful for beginners or people who aren't confident with a Native English teacher, instead you can find a teacher who speaks your native language but who is qualified to teach you English.https://repetry.com/And English teacher Keith O'Hare who focuses on teaching IELTS and runs live classes.https://keithspeakingacademy.com/author/keithohare/As I mentioned, I have covered Engoo and learning from all kinds of articles before in Episodes 83, 118, 119, and 155. #emmaseslenglish #english #englishvocabulary #englishreading #englishlisteningpractice

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This week we have a bit of a silly episode focused on the pronunciation of the 'f' sound.

Episode 87 covers more pronunciation.

You can find the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/N2BZg718a-8Note: I filmed this video before the American election so...sorry, hopeful moment included😨😭I'll explain it in the video but the words we're covering this week are:Fond, Find, Fund, Fend, FannedAndFill, Full, Fall, Fell, Fowl/FoulThe phrases we'll review are:To bid a fond farewellTo fend for yourselfTo find yourselfTo fan the flamesTo fill your cup (and my cup runeth over)To fall foul of somethingTo fall over/He fell overTo fell a treeA foul fiend/A foul moodAdditional VocabularyA cheeky one - showing a lack of respect or politeness in a way that is amusing or appealing - in this case because my final word doesn't follow the first rule I set for myself.To fall into obscurity - to go from being relevant to no longer being relevant, importantTo trip us up - of course this might mean actually falling over, but we can also mean getting into trouble or making something more difficult or harder to succeed at.To put something in our way - to put an obstacle or situation in the way and make something harder.Personification - giving human characteristics to something that isn't human I hope this is fun and useful for your pronunciation. Let me know if you'd like more pronunciation videos.#emmaseslenglish #english #englishpronunciation

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This week we're looking at animal idioms. Surprisingly there's not as many of these as you might imagine (there's far more of the body part ones from last week!)This weeks idioms are:A frog in your throat: Have you got a cold? It sounds like you've got a frog in your throat.As mad as a box of frogs: Watch out for that one, he's as mad as a box of frogs.At a snails pace: Come on! Let's go! You always walk at a snails pace!Watch like a hawk: Careful, he's watching you like a hawk.The world is your oyster: Just remember, the world is your oyster.Hold your horses: Wait! Hold your horses! We're not in a hurry!Pet peeve: Being late is one of my pet peeves.Additional Vocabulary:erratically - doing something in an unpredictable, random or even dangerously irregular waypredictably - doing something in a way that we can figure out what will happen nexthoming pigeon - these are birds who have been trained to find a particular location, they are often in races to see which birds get home fastest.Mad as a box of ferrets - idiom - used just like 'mad as a box of frogs' to mean someone or something is crazyMad as a hatter - idiom - as above, same meaning and use.Slow coach - idiom - used to mean someone is always going slowlyBird of Prey/ hawk - large birds who hunt small animals or other birds, in the UK our biggest bird of prey is the Golden Eagle in Scotland, you can now commonly see Red Kites in Wales and Southern England after a very effective reintroduction program a few years ago.#emmaseslenglish #english #englishgrammar #englishidioms #englishidiomsandphrases

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This week we're learning some English idioms that use body parts! There are SO many of these so do Google for more if you'd like. I mentioned Rob Words, here's his YouTube video trying to trace English back through time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeAx3QZ7eRsEpisodes 179 and 180 of this podcast both talk about the different influences on English and why it's so complicated. There is an English Idioms playlist on my YouTube page if you'd like more.Today's idioms are:A list as long as my arm: I've got a list as long as my arm of ideas.Give the cold shoulder: It was going great, but suddenly she started giving me the cold shoulder.Don't hold your breath: Look, I know you want an answer but everyone's busy so don't hold your breath.To breathe down someone's neck: I know he want's it, he hasn't stopped breathing down my neck since Tuesday!At the top of your lungs: Hey! Calm down! There's no need to yell at the top of your lungs!Joined at the hip: Oh those two, they're in the honeymoon phase, always joined at the hip!Additional Vocabularyall the ins and outs - idiom - all of the little detailsgoing/blowing/running hot and cold - idiom - sometimes likes you sometimes hates you so it's difficult to know how they really feelGhosting - a modern term referring to when someone is talking and everything seems fine and then suddenly disappears, mostly used for acquaintances or people you met onlineFinite - something that is limitedHoneymoon phase - idiom - refers to the very happy time after someone gets married or starts a new relationship when their partner can do no wrongLovey-dovey - English phrase describing people who seem very much in love.#emmaseslenglish #englishidioms #englishidiomsandphrases #englishvocabulary

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This week we're going on a little road trip. We're going into the Lake District National Park in the North West of England. We're specifically going for a walk around a lake called Buttermere.

I show you a picture of the road we're on in the video, this was taken from Google Maps. So if you'd like you can head to Google Maps and use the man to drive down this road exactly and see where we were. You can search on Google Maps for 'Buttermere Lake, Cumbria, UK'.

Alternatively you can put in the Longitude, Latitude of 54.566024, -3.299059. The road name is B5289, once you put the little orange man down on the road you can just click through in a South Easterly direction until you get to Buttermere and you'll be following our route.

Places I mentioned today were Crummock Water, Rannerdale Valley and Buttermere (actually 'mere' is an English word for lake so it literally means Butter Lake).

Vocabulary

Glacier - Big blocks of ice that cut through valleys and mountains, some still exist in New Zealand and South America, but they would have covered the UK during an ice age.

Ordinance Survey Map - this is a kind of map you can buy in the UK (they also have a website) which is very detailed and necessary if you want to walk in the mountains and not get lost.

Aficionado - someone who is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about something (probably stole this from the French)

Connoisseur - an expert judge about the taste of things (definitely stole this from the French!)

Scone - a favourite British snack. Sort of a little cake, often with dried fruit like sultanas in. Can be served with cream or jam or both or butter and jam.

Push Chair - also buggy, pram - all words to describe the chair on wheels for children.

Mobility Situation - just referring to someone who might have limited mobility, need help walking or perhaps be in a wheelchair.

Dwindling - to reduce in size or amount

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Several months ago I got scammed. It took hours out of my time, both in the original phone call and in cleaning up the mess. And a lot of stress. This is the story of that experience.

I hope that in telling you this story you will remember some things that will help you avoid a similar experience. Please do not underestimate how crafty these people are and how much they want your hard earned cash!

Vocabulary

thrown into a panic - idiom - to get panicked, to suddenly get worried about something

Plausible - something that is very believable and seems sensible and logical and absolutely possible.

Legit - shortened version of 'legitimate' common slang version, meaning something seems honest and true and the real thing.

to set off warning bells - idiom - to make you start to feel worried or concerned that something is wrong

late in the game - used to describe something that is happening at the end of an experience or something that seems to have been left for longer than we would expect

got my back up - idiom - something that made you upset or angry

groomed - 2 definitions: the first, just cleaning or brushing an animal to look good. The second, the purpose of preparing or training someone for a particular purpose or activity. More recently this second definition has a very negative connotation and refers to the process of a sinister person making an innocent person believe the sinister person is good and coercing the innocent person into actions they would otherwise not do. We can see this term often used in conversations about abuse, including domestic, sexual and child abuse. In this scenario I was using it to describe how the scammers prepared my brain, making me feel simultaneously stressed and cared for, so that I would not question them when they finally asked for my private information.

the last leg - idiom - similar to 'late in the game', 'the last leg' refers to the final part or step of something

Galling - to feel upset, annoyed and resentful

to add insult to injury - idiom - used to describe when something bad has already happened and then something worse happens. Especially used when someone has done something bad to you.

Crafty - good at achieving goals by indirect or deceitful methods

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I'm back doing episodes this week and we're starting this month with a series of stories. The first is just a little update on my decorating, since that's what's taken up SO much of my time this summer. A big thank you to my Uncle, who created my bedroom window seat and my Mum (who is very clever!) and made 3 cushion covers very very carefully out of not really enough material. It is delightful to now have somewhere to hang out and read.Vocabularyputting it off - to procrastinate or avoid doing something sanding - to use sand paper to scrub off excess paint, or lumps or flatten a surfacedamp - when your walls or buildings have water coming throughhaphazard - in a disorganised or messy, chaotic way#emmaseslenglish #english #englishconversation #englishstory

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Do you get frustrated with the need to learn three different words to describe the same thing in English? Do we really need all of these varieties? What actually is the point, the benefit, of having 10 ways to describe rain? Or 100 ways to describe how you feel?In this episode I'll read a short excerpt from George Orwell's 1984. This book is a dystopia novel, so darkness is kind of the point! He's trying to show us what the worst case scenario might look like, so we can avoid it. Through this reading you can see one possible idea of what English (or potentially any language) would or could look like if we remove it's variety, if we take out all the antonyms and synonyms, what's left? And would it really matter?In this episode I mention two other episodes you can check out. Episode 180 International Influences On The English Language - Talks about the influences of Viking, Indian and African languages on English.https://youtu.be/YatbgD9YfswEpisode 179 Why Is English Spelling So Hard?😱 - Looks at the historical roots of some of English's weird spelling.https://youtu.be/4MWFHnoVnt8I also mentioned a recent video by linguist creator Rob Words called 'Tracing English back as far as possible'. This video uses maps and work by current and historical linguists to identify the potential mother of English and what similarities we can find between English and other languages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeAx3QZ7eRsI hope you find this episode interesting and it helps you feel a little less frustrated with the diversity and variety in English. It's frustrating to learn, but that diversity is definitely also a strength. Think about how you might use English to express yourself differently to how you might express yourself in your own language.See you next time.

Vocabulary

Purloin - steal something

Linguistic - the study of languages

Sanskrit - an ancient (still used) language in India

Examine - to look at closely

Proto Indo European - The linguistic name of one of the proposed earliest languages

Incidentally - by the way, used to add more information

Dystopian - fictional story genre with end of the world types of stories

Authoritarian - a form of government that has absolute power over the people

Excerpt - a short piece of something, usually reading from a book

Audacity - bold or arrogant disregard for normal behaviour

Infuriating - to make you very angry

Relevant - connected to something or a context related to our conversation or topic

Definitive - complete and final

Cut down to the bone - idiom - something is reduced as far as it can be.

Obsolete - out of date, no longer in use

Wastage - the process of losing or destroying something

Synonym - words with the same meanings

Antonym - words with opposite meanings

Vague - unclear or undefined

Afterthought - something that we add later

Lack of enthusiasm - not having excitement for something

Thought Crime - this and words like 'New Speak' are vocabulary invented in the book. Thought Crime defines the idea that you can be guilty of a crime just for thinking differently to how the government wants you to think

Rigidly - without flexibility

Subsidiary - less important but related to something

Self-Discipline - to have self-control

Revolution - the act of rising up against an organisation or government and changing it

Literature - the poems, books and words that make up the stories we read, often used for 'great' or 'classical' works

Slogan - a group of words used to sell an idea

Abolished - to destroy completely, usually for organisations, ideas and laws

Orthodoxy - authorised theory, doctrine or practise

Far-right - often related to authoritarian ideas, often describes people who are against immigrants, choice and freedom

Mainstream - commonly in use by the general public

Woke - aware of important facts (especially around racism)

Eradicate - to get rid of completely

Radical - asking for complete change

Inflict - to cause pain or discomfort to someone else

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Welcome back to the channel! In this episode I answer a learner question: how do I speak English well at a conference?In this episode we'll dive into why speaking English in stressful environments or situations is so challenging. Why is your English so impossible to use right when you need it? Is there anything to be done about it? If you can't practise your English in these situations, then what should you do?No worries, I have answers for all these questions. Sorry, I was a little excited to be back so I did go pretty fast and my British accent is in full force! Hope it's OK. Any additional questions, pop them in the comments! (We now have comments on Podcasts! Exciting!)See you next time.#emmaseslenglish #englishpodcast #englishspeaking #confidence #publicspeaking

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Just a quick update for everyone, I know it's been a while. I haven't disappeared, but I have been busy. There will be new episodes uploaded here, but they will be rather random. If you'd like me to cover anything you're always welcome to let me know via email: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com I'm also opening up all the previous episodes on YouTube so you can access those whenever you want.

https://www.youtube.com/@emmaseslenglishThe website has gone but all the vocabulary has been moved into the descriptions on the videos and I will continue doing that going forward. Hope to see you soon. Hope everything has been OK with you while I was gone.

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In this episode we will look at a very common mistake in Taiwan.

This mistake has come about because many people commonly directly translate from their own language to English. And most of the time, that works OK. But sometimes English doesn't have exactly the right word, or idea to translate too.

In this case Taiwanese people are using 'help me' in mandarin to soften the impact of their sentence. But in English this doesn't achieve that result... Instead it completely changes the meaning of the sentence!

So today let's look at some examples and see how we can fix this problem.

And if you're not from Taiwan, then think about your own language...are there any common words or phrases that you're directly translating to English that just don't work?

Remember, all the vocabulary and example sentences are available on the blog:⁠ ⁠https://www.emmaseslenglish.com/post/episode-163-taiwanese-students-avoid-this-common-mistake-when-speaking-english

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Today is Queen rock star Freddie Mercury's birthday. In celebration we have a listening episode all about him, his bandmates and his songs.

Did you recognise the lyrics from the beginning of the episode? Which songs did you think they were from? Answers at the bottom of the page.

You can head to the YouTube channel to find my Queen Playlist, and dance your heart out.

During this episode I mentioned conversations a journalist had with Freddie and his partner about Bohemian Rhapsody. If you're interested in hearing more you can check out that article here:https://thewire.in/culture/is-bohemian-rhapsody-really-all-about-freddie-mercury

As I mentioned in the episode Freddie's bandmates created the Mercury Phoenix Trust to raise money for AIDS research and charities. The trust continues today and Brian May and Roger Taylor continue to hold concerts to raise money for the trust. You can learn all about the trust here: https://www.mercuryphoenixtrust.org/

The songs I mentioned at the beginning of the episode were:

1. Bohemian Rhapsody

2. Crazy Little Thing Called Love

3. Don't Stop Me Now

4. Friends Will Be Friends

5. Under Pressure

6. Bicycle Ride

All written by Freddie.

Remember, all the vocabulary and links are available on the blog: ⁠https://www.emmaseslenglish.com/post/episode-162-celebrating-freddie-mercury-s-life-and-songs

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Today is the original Judgement Day as stated in the 1984 film Terminator.

Check out the original trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k64P4l2Wmeg

To celebrate we have a little listening episode covering a summary of the Terminator series, Isaac Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics and the current challenges with AI.

I'd be curious to know how you feel about the lack of laws, regulations or guidelines about the development of AI. Head over to the blog to share your thoughts: https://www.emmaseslenglish.com/post/episode-161-judgement-day-lessons-from-sci-fi-that-we-re-not-applying-today

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In today's episode we're looking at the website TED.com. ...well, I'm talking about it, you can go look at it! 😉

I'll teach you: 1. How to navigate the website to get to the most useful part for your English 2. How to use what we learned in Ep 152 (Learning Plans) together with the TED.Ed class to make the most of their videos 3. How to make the most of each of the sections you'll find in TED.Ed videos so you're really practising all the different skills.

I hope you find it useful!

emmaseslenglish #englishpodcast #english #learnenglish #ted #teded

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Today we're studying a confusing English word: 'overwhelm'. This is a very over-used word, so the most important thing to understand is that as long as you're using it to describe something that's 'too much', you're probably using it correctly.

First of all, the website I suggested was called YouGlish. It's really handy for seeing how words are used naturally. https://youglish.com/

As I mentioned I had two sets of definitions for 'Overwhelm' in this class the first from Cambridge English (which is a little more thorough) and covers the British and American uses. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/overwhelm And

Dictionary.comhttps://www.dictionary.com/browse/overwhelm

So the definitions I had were:

1. to bury or drown beneath a huge mass of something (often water)
2. to defeat someone or something by force
3. to have a strong emotional effect on
4. to cause someone to feel a sudden strong emotion
5. to be too much to deal with

As you can see, in general, the definition is 'too much' of something.

I really encourage you to check out the article in the blog about this episode. I think the first 3 example sentences were extra confusing and so I've given extra explanation about these on the website.

www.emmaseslenglish.com

See you next week!

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This week on the podcast we're celebrating the birth of famous British (Scottish) Civil Engineer, Thomas Telford.

This is a great lesson to practise your English listening skills. There are quite a few unusual phrases that you might find useful.

We're talking a little bit about British history around the 1700's, British infrastructure, including bridges, roads, canals and aqueducts, and legacy.

Remember, if you don't recognise or understand any of the vocabulary you can head to the blog to find it all written down and explained: www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

See you next week when we'll be talking about the word 'overwhelmed'.

emmaseslenglish #englishpodcast #english #englishvocabulary #thomastelford #civilengineering

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In this episode, similar to episode 155, we're going to look at Meta Thread's Launch, but this time, instead of looking at written articles online, we're going to consider videos. We're going to look at the vocabulary from three very different news reports on YouTube and see how the vocabulary differs, to help decide which report is good to study.

In this episode I'll help you see how my earlier tips for choosing written sources can also be adapted to choose video sources. I'll read through some of the vocabulary so you can see why I wouldn't choose one report, and why I would choose another.

The video reports I used today are: 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHH3VtfMmYM&t=29s 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5USvljqC7mg 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRKjGSkYsIg&t=11s

Remember you can get all of the vocabulary, tips and links by heading to the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com

I hope you find it useful. As always, you can drop any questions in the comment section.

emmaseslenglish #englishpodcast #english #englishtips #esl #esltips #englishvocabulary #englishlisteningpractice #learnenglish

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This week we're answering a student's question about 'even'. This word seems so small and innocent, but...you know, it's still English!🙄😬 So, of course it's not so simple! Today I'll show you several different ways we can use 'even' and how that changes our meaning in a sentence.

Let me give you some correct examples of sentences using 'even' together with another word, which changes it's meaning.

1. Even if I get a new job, we'll still be friends.
2. Even though I hate my job, I love the people I work with.
3. Even when you wear a hat, people still look at you!
4. It seems a nice company, even so, I wouldn't want to work there.
5. Even now, ten years later, I still wish I had gone.
6. Even with everything that's happened, I still think I was right.

Once you've finished have a go at fixing these sentences. Let me know your answers in the comments.

1. Even I get up early, I still can't do everything.
2. Even I go to Shanghai every week, I don't really want to move there.
3. Even it's not very useful I still have to go.
4. Even they want us to go to Singapore every time.
5. Even my favourite music, the drive is so boring!

Hopefully this episode is helpful for you. Remember you can find all the vocabulary on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com

Remember, only one episode this week so see you next week!

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Today we're reading an article from Reuters about the release of the online App from Meta, Threads and it's competition with Twitter. You can find this article here:https://www.reuters.com/technology/metas-twitter-rival-threads-hits-100-mln-users-record-five-days-2023-07-10/

Engoo also has an article about this thing. You might find that easier, although it is one of their advanced articles. You can find it here: https://engoo.com/app/daily-news/article/meta-launches-twitter-rival-threads/VNQPOBvoEe6bYgPW13_vtQ

Once you've found all the vocabulary and read the article consider what kinds of questions you could discuss about this topic with co-workers. Here are some of my ideas:

• Are you using Threads?
• What do you think about Twitter?
• What do you think asbout Elon Musk?
• Do you think Twitter is going to be dead now that this has happened?
• Do you think Musk really will sue Zuckerberg? And if so, do you think he'll win?
• And what's going to happen next?
• How do you feel about advertisements on social media?

If you've done everything you can think of with the article then why not try writing your own version. This is a great way to practise your writing skill, but remember you can write it in whatever style you like. You could write it as an information article, like this Reuters article, or your could write it as an opinion piece, just talking about your perspective of the two Apps, or the two CEO's or the software for each, whatever you like.

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This week I'm showing you how I would use two articles as learning sources to practise English. Remember, you can use this system, or take it apart and find a different way to do it. Also you could split this over two days or two weeks, depending on your schedule.

The article I've chosen for today's episode was out of House Beautiful. I chose this because it was conversational and the magazine has easier content than some other online sources. This article turned out to not be so easy at all, because it was so conversational and had so many idioms and phrases.

You can find the article here: https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/lifestyle/shopping/a44343529/shopping-secondhand-tips/

Here is a suggested order to go through the tasks: 1. Think about Episode 152 and figure out where you're going to get your article from. 2. Scan through the article and highlight any words you don't know. 3. Scan through again, this time looking for any idioms or phrases you don't understand. Highlight those. 4. Read the article out loud or to yourself. (Steps 2-4 could be reversed) 5. While reading you might find some more new words or phrases so you can highlight those. 6. Take some time to find the definition of the new words and find the meaning of the new phrases or idioms. Consider talking with a learning partner or teacher to help you. Remember to memorise the useful new words or phrases. 7. As yourself comprehension questions to make sure you understand the article. Such as: Do you understand this? Do you understand what it means? 8. Think about some conversation questions you might ask about the article. Such as: Do you have anything second-hand in your house? Where do you shop for second-hand things online? What is your favourite second-hand item that you own? And Why? 9. Write your answers to the conversation questions. 10. Read your answers aloud.11. Try to use your new vocabulary in your daily life.

Tomorrow we'll be back with another article, this time about a very current, hot topic!

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A while ago I made a short as part of the Escape the Plateau series on the YouTube channel, giving you tips to help you get unstuck with your English.

The short where I talked about being more deliberate when you speak got a lot of feedback, but everyone was confused about how to go about it.

So in this episode we'll think about what steps you can take to be more deliberate about your English.

This will help you steadily improve your English. The first step is to identify your mistakes or problems, and then I'll give you some tips to work on solving those problems.

I hope you find it helpful.

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In Episode 128 we talked about making good goals for your English. In this episode we're going to talk about how to break those goals down into easier pieces so you can create a learning plan.

I'll give you some example easy, measurable goals you could use and then show you how to break down two of those goals into learning plans. I'll give you some different ideas about how you could schedule your learning plans so that they fit into your schedule or lifestyle.

It's really easy to get stuck with your English when you're working full time and living a busy life, but you can fit in ways to improve. You just need to get clear on exactly what it is you want to improve and then plan how to get there.

Tomorrow we'll be talking about how to correct your English mistakes, you might find that useful too.

Remember you can always head to the ESL Tips Playlist for even more ideas on how to improve your English.

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This week we're learning about the advantages of learning to confidently pause when you're speaking in public. It's not an easy skill to develop, it takes nerve and practise. But it's very beneficial and can really add value to your speech.

In the episode I'll talk about Nelson Mandela and Barak Obama, who are both very skilled at this. I mention many videos in the episode so I'll link those below.

The best way to practise public speaking is to actually do some public speaking!

Look around your area and see if you can find a Speakers Club or Toastmasters Club. These clubs are often very friendly and work hard at providing a great and positive learning environment without making you feel highly criticised. They have courses and systems you can work through that will systematically improve your speaking skill over time.

However, I must stress, that if you go to one of these clubs, you MUST stand up and speak. Speaking is not a skill you can improve much just by watching others. You must put yourself in that stressful situation to have the experience, to understand what your own personal challenges are and learn some strategies to practise and overcome them.

If you don't have a speakers club nearby I would advise recording yourself making speeches (even if it's just in your bedroom!). Most of us hate the sound of our own voice, so for many this can be an effective way to get the same or similar levels of stress. It also allows you to watch your videos and see where the problems are and what you could work on.

I absolutely do advocate watching great speakers in action, there are several places you can do this. TED.com is probably the most famous. Toastmasters also has it's own YouTube channels where you can see excellent speakers.

I mentioned several videos in the episode. Trevor Noah's Netflix special is a great and fun show to watch to practise your English, learn about a wide variety of cultures (Trevor is well travelled and very curious and he pays attention!) But this particular clip just shows the part of the show I mentioned. In this clip Trevor is imagining Nelson Mandela's conversation with Barak Obama the first time they met. Trevor imagines that back then Barak was not a good speaker and Nelson taught him how to control his voice to build the gravitas needed to be the first Black American President:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F92b6LwOzC0&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJRfq-1axUv_P8gRlDYVwd4N&index=10

You can search for any of Nelson Mandela's speeches and learn something. This is just one I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w42rHdvFpVM&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJRfq-1axUv_P8gRlDYVwd4N&index=13

This video talks about the speech that really brought Obama into America's consciousness as a serious contender for president. This channel has a series called Podium which it says 'explores various genres of speechmaking and rhetoric, and provides inspiring, insightful analysis including "how-to" content.' In their Playlists you can find many speeches like this. If you're just learning about public speaking this might be a good YouTube channel to learn some tips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFPwDe22CoY&t=227s

I also mentioned Barak's Anger Translator. This clip is very funny but please pay attention to Barak's face. Even when everyone else is laughing he has a great poker face! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkAK9QRe4ds&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJRfq-1axUv_P8gRlDYVwd4N&index=11

I hope you find these videos useful. Let me know if you'd like more Public Speaking tips at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

See you next week!

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In this episode we'll find out who wrote the American Declaration of Independence that officially formed the country 'America' and split it from Great Britain.

Who signed the Declaration of Independence? And what on earth is a Founding Father?

No worries, I've got all the answers!

Understand why Independence Day isn't actually the day America became the United Stated of America that we know today.

If you're wondering why there are SO MANY American flags in your neighbourhood, or what Americans usually do on July 4th, this is the episode for you!'

This is a nice easy listening episode and will be helpful for anyone considering moving or visiting America around this time and for anyone who lives near Americans.

Remember all of the vocabulary can be found and has been explained on the blog: www.emmaseslenglish.com

See you tomorrow, when we find out one skill that makes America's former President Obama such a great public speaker.

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In this week's celebration of Pride we have an episode about the history of LGBTQ history in the UK. Unfortunately we do seem to be going backwards in the UK and America at the moment, especially regarding Trans rights, but as we will find out, Trans people have been with us all through time.

I mentioned yesterday several Influencers you can follow to increase your understanding on this and other LGBTQIA issues. In particular Alok's Book Reports, which you can find on their Instagram page, are a great way to find out more easily.

In this episode I quote Alok from an interview he did on the Man Enough podcast. You can find that episode here: https://manenough.com/alok/

If nothing else, I hope you find this a useful listening practise for your English. I do use quite a bit of vocabulary that is particular to the Queer community. You can find all of this vocabulary and more on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

I hope you have found this week's episodes useful and informational.

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This week on the podcast we are celebrating Pride.

**Please note: if you are against anything to do with the LGBTQIA community or pride in general, then this week's episodes are not for you. Scroll on. There are many other episodes you can explore.

I know there are lots of people who feel overwhelmed by the diversity that we're now seeing in the world and on TV. Personally, I've chosen to expand my world view by following some Trans and Non-Binary folks on social media and watch LGBTQ+ friendly TV shows and movies. These influencers and shows help me better understand the experience of people who have a different life experience to me and to understand some of the science and reality of living out and proud as a queer person in these modern times.

I will put a list of all the shows and influencers on the blog if you wish to get the links. www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog You can also find the trailers for the TV shows on the blog too.

Tomorrow we'll be doing a brief overview of LGBTQ+ history in the UK.

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In this episode I'm going to introduce you to some quintessentially summery English songs.

These will be well known to most native speakers and are often used as background music in shops, so even if we don't know who sings them, we usually know all the words!

I have covered weather before on the podcast. Head to Episode 9 for words about rain and Episode 68 for phrases about the sun. Both episodes also have a musical soundtrack! Head to the YouTube Playlists, to find fun playlists that will get you singing along. Don't forget to check out this week's musical playlist while you're there so you can get into the summer mood!

Remember you can always email me if you have any English questions emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

See you next week!

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Today we are talking about words and phrases we can use to talk about hot weather.

If you live somewhere hot or you're travelling with native speakers, these are great words and phrases to use to describe where you are. Native English speakers (and the British especially) LOVE talking about the weather!

In the UK we get A LOT of different kinds of weather, so it's our most common small talk topic. If you're confident talking about the weather, you can strike up a conversation with ANYONE ANYWHERE! And once you're talking about the weather you can start asking questions and 😎 you've made a new friend! (Or at least practised your English!)

There are two other episodes where I talk about the weather, Episode 9 talks about wet weather (made before I started filming my episodes so the sound quality isn't great. Sorry😫) and Episode 68 which talks about phrases for the sun.Don't forget to tune in tomorrow when I'll be sharing some essential summer songs, there's even a playlist!

See you tomorrow!

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Sometimes, there's no getting around it, we have to say something under high-pressure conditions. In these situations our anxiety can really get the better of us.

In this episode we'll cover 5 tips to help you manage your anxiety when speaking unexpectedly.

Remember, it's always worth building your toolbox with more tips and ideas for dealing with anxiety because we never know when it might hit us. In addition, anxiety management tips work in all kinds of situations, not just when you're speaking English, so once you've learned them and built your confidence in them you can start to generally reduce your anxiety everywhere.

Tips

1. Think about what you do to manage anxiety in other areas of your life. Maybe there are things you can just apply to your English and problem solved.
2. Breathe. Breathe deep and purposefully. This calms your nervous system and tricks it into thinking everything is fine, which reduces your anxiety and helps keep your English accessible.
3. Count down from 5. This switches the part of the brain that's working and helps you take action more easily.
4. Invest in a fiddle toy, or something similar. By putting something in your pocket to play with you move your anxiety and leave your brain free to speak.
5. Make yourself a happy place - this takes longer and requires some forethought, preparation and practise. But with practise, this can be quick to access and a fast way to reduce anxiety.

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This week we're talking about impromptu speaking, that's situations where suddenly, without preparation, you need to say something.

This is often extremely stressful and it can be difficult to make a good answer.

In today's episode I'll give you five tips to help you manage these situations and hopefully survive them successfully.

If you struggle with anxiety, tune in tomorrow when we'll be talking about things you can do to manage your anxiety in these situations.

Tips

1. Listen to the question - Make sure you're sure of the question before you answer it. Asking for clarification on a question or specific word in the question can also give you valuable thinking time for your answer!
2. Keep your answer short and concise.
3. Focus on the key points - they don't need to know everything. Decide what's the most important information to share before you begin.
4. If you think you're rambling or get lost, just stop. Use 'anyway', to randomly stop wherever you are and redirect, ask them a question or end your speech with a closing sentence.
5. Practise - work with a timer and practise speaking over and over so you can start to get an idea of how long 2 minutes actually is. Use a website like https://learnhip.com/randomq/ to easily find questions to speak on.

Bonus: Record your answers while practising. This way you're practising your speaking and can listen back for errors and things you want to improve or work on in your spoken English.

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In this video I'll be reviewing some of the phrases and idioms in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sqxYGubJTc

This video, just like yesterday's is also made by Izzy Sealey. This time I chose this short video (7 min) because I think it will be useful for many of you. It's titled: How to make time for language learning with a full time job.

Remember all of the vocabulary from today and yesterday's video will be covered in the blog: www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

I hope you will go and watch this video, because she has some great ideas, hopefully today's episode will ensure you can understand everything she says in the video!

Don't forget you can always ask questions in the comments section or in the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551603798656727

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In this episode I will review some vocabulary from the first six minutes of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSQlQcJumME

You don't need to watch the video to listen to this podcast episode.

This video is by a YouTuber called Izzy Sealey. She is a doctor in the UK who is learning Chinese and speaks with an RP (or received pronunciation) accent.

In this video we will cover some of the idioms and phrases she uses in the first six minutes, some of these you might hear in work or office situations and others are common with British English speakers.

I hope you find it useful.

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This week we're looking at some English Grammar.

I have collected all the sentences from this episode from things my students have said. The correct use of 'well' is quite a common challenge. This is understandable because we can use 'well' to talk about how we feel, then it's an adjective, or we can use it to talk about a skill or ability level and then it's an adverb!

In this episode we will have lots of chances to see how to use 'well' in different scenarios and hopefully you'll have a chance to test your skill and see if you can work out the right answers. I hope this will help you know how to solve this problem in your own English.

Remember there are lots of other episodes about English grammar in the podcast. If you head to the YouTube channel you can find a playlist dedicated just to grammar. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hHFZ6nhBpM&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJQ5YvCYgv6l9w4vCHPM0OGI) it includes other common problems such as intensifiers (Ep90), enough, so, too and such; phrases such as 'according to my opinion' (Ep 107); and talking about time (Ep 22, 30, 31).

Remember, if you have any questions you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com.

See you next week!

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Last week, in Episode 138, I read 'Winnie the Pooh Goes Visiting', I decided to spend some time looking at some of the phrases from this story as they are great examples of phrases commonly used in the UK.

In the UK being polite is a very important part of our culture, but this can be very confusing for foreigners and even for native speakers, because what we mean and what we say may not always match! The important point is always context.

In this episode we will look again at the story, see the key phrases and look at the context so that we can understand what is really going on.

There are some additional words and phrases that I use in this episode that you may not be familiar with. You can head to the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog to find these phrases and their explanations written down.

Remember, if you'd like to watch the video version of this episode, you can do that on Spotify or YouTube.

See you tomorrow for some grammar using the adverb 'well'.

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Today we're going to look at my Chinese Learning Journal.

Although mine is in Chinese I think there are a lot of principles that work for learning any language.

Key things to remember when choosing a journal:

1. Choose the right size

2. Choose the right paper

3. Make it colourful

4. Use pictures to help you remember vocabulary

5. Use your own language to help you identify and remember sounds

6. Put boxes around important information

7. Number your pages and create a Contents page or Index so you can quickly find things

8. Use different sections of the book for different things (Vocabulary at the back, lessons in the front, for example)

9. Use Post-it notes or similar to identify important pages quickly (such as Classroom English)

10. Don't worry about how it looks, what's important is how it works for you!

I hope you found that helpful.

I'd love to see pictures of your journals or hear your tips so share them in the Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551603798656727) or on the blog: www.emmaseslenglish.comSee you next time!

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This week on the podcast we're reading Chapter 2 'In which Pooh goes visiting and get's into a tight place' from A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh.

There are a few things to remember about this book, which I'll go into more detail about next week.

The first is that the book was first published in 1926.

Christopher Robin was a real boy, he was A.A. Milne's son, and Christopher had a toy bear, called Edward, or Winnie the Pooh for short, who A.A Milne based these stories on. This means that sometimes the way Christopher Robin talks and writes is not like an adult, but a child, because he was a real child.

This also means that some of the language and ways of talking are a little bit old fashioned sometimes. Next week we'll talk a bit more about some of the phrases and politeness we can see in the story.

I hope you enjoyed this episode in the woods.

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about my learning journal.

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In today's episode I continue the stories I was telling you about St Bees yesterday. This includes a story about the hand-carved swimming pool in the cliffs and my Grandma's St Bees Doctor story. We then go around to the church and I tell you a little bit more about the history of the church and area.

Again, just like yesterday, this episode is best viewed as a video. If you are on Spotify, you should be able to view the video. If not head over to YouTube for the video version (https://youtu.be/rVD_pLtYZ1Y). I have tried to describe everything though, so hopefully just listening will be fine for you podcast fans.

In this episode I talk about the church and St Bees man. Please let me know if this interests you and I might organise an interview with the man in the church to tell us all about it.

If you'd like to hear the organ in action check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrnvnegjCEI

Today's and yesterday's episodes are much more conversational in style than my normal videos, so don't be surprised if you hear an unusual phrase, remember you can always find these phrases and vocabulary on the blog: www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

It's really helpful for me if you follow and rate the podcast and share with your learner friends, this helps the algorithm notice the podcast and helps other people find me.

I should be heading home soon so next week we'll be back to normal.

Have a great weekend!

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In today's episode I take you on a walk from my parent's house down to the beach in St. Bees.

This episode works best as a video. If you're on Spotify you should be able to access the video. If not feel free to head to the YouTube Channel to get the video.https://youtu.be/KTZEkPmccQM

In this episode I start at my parent's house, then go down through St Bees village. I have an ice cream on one side of the beach and then continue to tell you the founding story of St Bees on the other side of the beach, under St Bees head.

In the middle of the episode you will hear the sea. Most of St Bees beach is sandy, but right at the top is a pebble beach. When the waves roll out across these pebbles all the stones knock together creating an unusual clicking or ticking sound. I hope you can hear it, although the waves were coming in quite quickly on that day.

In this episode I mentioned Episode 3 - Home, a video about this area of Cumbria with pictures. I also mentioned the videos I did in Workington, this was a series of 3 episodes, Episodes 60-62 where I read several book excerpts about the sea. All these episodes are available both on the YouTube channel and here.

In the next episode I will continue to tell you some stories from this part of the beach and a little about St Bees Church.

I hope you find this episode interesting. It was quite challenging to put this video together as it required far more editing skills than normal, I don't think I'll do videos like this often so I hope you don't mind listening.

Remember you can find all the vocabulary on the blog.

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Today we are continuing with yesterday's theme of preferences.

Today we will discuss preferences in four different scenarios: business/work, food, free time and dating.

You can find all of the sentences from the episodes on the blog as well as some additional vocabulary.

During the episode I played one of Meghan Trainor's songs, No: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMTAUr3Nm6IRemember if you have any English questions you can email them to me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com.

You're always welcome to join the Facebook group: ESL English With Emma: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551603798656727

See you next week!

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On today's episode we're talking about preferences. We're discussing the grammar when we're using phrases such as 'I prefer', 'I would rather' and 'my preference is'. We'll also go into the negative version of these phrases and I'll give you lots of examples. Tomorrow I'll talk about some examples and situations where we might talk about our preferences.

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In this episode we're discussing what to look for when you're choosing a book to help you practise your English.

Books can be great places to help you improve your English. You can read good quality language and depending on the kind of book you choose you can find vocabulary relevant to work, common dialogue spoken by native speakers and you can improve your grammar.

Reading is a great use of time, even in your own language. Don't be scared of reading in English though. Of course its scary at first and it will seem very difficult at first, but you'll be surprised by how quickly you improve.

In this episode I used books to give you examples of things to look for or things to avoid. I do not advocate you reading all of these books, some of them were very hard! But if you're interested I have included the list below.

Book List

Bernadine Evaristo - Girl Woman Other

Melissa Benn - Life Lessons, The Case For a National Education System

Audre Lorde - The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master's House

Audre Lorde - Sister Outsider

Simon Sinek - Start With Why

Elizabeth Gilbert - Big Magic

Kirsty Greenwood - Yours Truely

Elif Shafak - The Island of Missing Trees

Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist

Penguin's Abridged Sets Include:

Penguin Modern

Little Black Classics

Alternative Book Sites Include:

https://www.wob.com/

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/

Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551603798656727

See you next week!

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In this episode we're looking at another tip to improve your English: finding the right teacher for you.

It's OK to Change Teachers:

Remember you might need different teachers at different times in your development. In addition you might look for teachers that can help you solve a particular problem or help you with a particular kind of English, such as Business English or English relevant to your work.

English Qualifications

Today I talked about four different ESL qualifications:

ESL - English as a Second Language

ESOL - English for Speakers of Other Languages

DELTA - High level diploma run by Cambridge English. It includes learning how to teach and using different techniques, teaching practise, obeservations and specification for kinds of ESL teaching. It can take 9 - 12 months to complete.

CELTA - Also run by Cambridge English. Includes detailed lessons on English, grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure etc, lessons on how to teach and teaching practise and observations. Can take 1-3 months to complete.

TEFL and TESOL - Run by multiple organisations online and in-person. Some have teaching involved but they are often only online. Teaches some elements of English, although not in depth and some teaching suggestions. Multiple choice test usually. If you've never taught English before it could take a week to complete a TEFL course.

But remember, it's important to think about why you are looking for a teacher. In addition, you must bear in mind the number of years someone has been teaching. Someone might have a TESOL but has been teaching English for 10 years and has taught all over the world. In this case they are likely to be a better teacher and more knowledgabale than someone who as only just compelted their CELTA course.

Teachers to Help with Your Work

If you are looking for help to develop your English for work, then it's worth looking for an English teacher with experience in your particular field or job, that way they can teach you vocabulary and sentences relevant to your job and help you progress faster and more effectively.

If you are looking for a niche teacher, someone who has experience in your field or job, please do look on LinkedIn. If you don't find anyone, please send me an email (emmaseslenglish@gmail.com) I'm connected to a vast network of niche teachers and I would be happy to put you in touch with several you could choose from.

All this is available on the Blog along with the additional vocabulary www.emmaseslenglish.com/blogSee you tomorrow to discuss Book Sources for your English.

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In these two episodes I covered some social media (especially Instagram/TikTok) sources you could use to practise your English. I also talked about the importance of finding sources that you enjoy and trust, that you understand and can comprehend easily. This will make it more likely that you stop and watch their videos when you are scrolling.

In this episode I covered some Instagram Influencers. You can find them in the links below.

Stage Door Johnny is a British actor, cabaret performer and comedian. His videos focus on the confusing parts of English: words that sound different but have the same spelling, words that have different spelling but sound the same, words that are similar but have totally different spelling. His videos are short and funny. https://www.instagram.com/stage_door_johnny/

Blair Imani is an American author, historian and activist who uses her platforms to inform and educate. She founded Smarter in Seconds, a video series that informs and raises awareness about modern issues. https://www.instagram.com/blairimani/ #SmarterinSeconds

RxckStxr is a music producer and writer as well as a voiceover artist. He creates funny content where he adds voices to animal videos. As a Black American his content often has lots of slang and is casual English, it's also very funny.https://www.instagram.com/therxckstxr/

Elyse Myers is an influencer and singer with ADHD. She uses her platform to create content that is funny, she often tells stories from her life. Recently she's become very famous, even starring in a music video with Meghan Trainor! She has also recently started her own podcast, Funny Cuz It's True. https://www.instagram.com/elyse_myers/

Mel Robbins is a writer, motivational speaker and influencer who also has ADHD. She has one of the most watched TED talks ever with over 31 million views! She has written several books including: High Five Habit and Five Second Rule. She also has her own podcast.https://www.instagram.com/melrobbins/ I hope you found these episodes useful. Please email me or join the Facebook Group to tell me your favourite social media stars to practise your English.

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This is one of two episodes that I will post about Social Media Sources. I decided the original recording was too long so I've split it into two. Today we are discussing finding sources for your English practise on social media outlets such as Instagram and TikTok. Tomorrow I will give you a list of some Instagram content creators that I think are fun and enjoyable and pretty easy for you to follow.

Remember, if you want to get your English from social media it's important to choose creators that you enjoy, who are talking about things that interest you or that you find fun. This way you will be more likely to pause and listen each time they come across your feed.

In this episode I mention three podcasts. In fact I don't suggest you listen to these podcasts. The podcasts themselves are usually about 50 minutes long, so they would be quite challenging to listen to. However, most podcasters upload short clips from their podcast onto Instagram. These clips are usually less than 2 minutes long. This gives you a chance to listen to conversational English in short bursts that can be interesting and great listening practise.

The three podcasts I mentioned today were Tom Daley's Made with Love, Man Enough and Glennon Doyle's We Can Do Hard Things.

The first two have their own Instagram Accounts, for We Can Do Hard Things follow Glennon Doyle's Instagram.

Don't forget to check in again tomorrow for part two of this episode!

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In today's podcast we're studying Shakespeare's most famous sonnet, Sonnet 18 to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday on the 23rd.

In this poem Shakespeare tries to tell his lover how much more beautiful than a summer's day they are and how he has immortalised them, how they will now live forever in this poem.

This poem is construct using a rhyme scheme called 'iambic pentameter'. This is a complicated scheme to use as it requires on/off stress throughout. Similar to a Haiku it has a rigid structure, always following the same rhyme, the same number of lines and the same structure of 14 lines.

Shakespeare is perhaps the most famous poet to use this structure because of the vast number of sonnets he wrote (154). He also often used iambic pentameter in his plays too.

Check out this video of Patrick Stewart (he of Star Trek Next Generation and Picard) reading this poem as part of a series he did through the pandemic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYnj7ZutTgI

You can find a copy of the poem at the Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45087/sonnet-18-shall-i-compare-thee-to-a-summers-day I hope you enjoy this episode.

See you tomorrow!

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Today we're celebrating another birthday.

You might not have heard of Ma Rainey, but she was a very influential singer and songwriter in the early 1900's in America.

Today we'll learn a little about her background and her influence in American music.

As I mentioned in the episode, Viola Davis recently portrayed Ma Rainey in the Netflix film Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, named after one of her songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ord7gP151vk

And here is Ma Rainey Singing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_QcVq3ksGg

If you head to the blog you can see all the linked videos easily of all the songs in this episode.
See you next week!

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In today's episode I'm talking about fluency.

So many students, when I ask their goals for learning, tell me 'I want to be fluent in English'.

Today I want to look at what does that actually mean? And how can we make a clearer and more effective goal.

As I mentioned in the episode I have a free Escape the Plateau Guide you can download on the main page of the website www.emmaseslenglish.com.

If you go to the English Tips playlist on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scYQoEaK224&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJQMUy_Pb_BFgboHoW2EhH54) you can find lots more videos for improving your English.

In today's episode I referenced this page ( https://www.dictionary.com/e/fluency/) in Dictionary.com.

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Since today is the day that the first man, Yuri Gagarin, entered space we're celebrating by reading an article from the European Space Agency.

If you'd like you can read along with me. You can find the article here: https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESA_history/50_years_of_humans_in_space/Yuri_Gagarin

There isn't much difficult vocabulary in this article although there are some unusual grammar terms, I cover those at the end. If you would like to go into specific vocabulary in more detail please head to the blog: www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

If you have any additional questions please ask them in the comments section below the blog.

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Today we have a grammar class about time.

We will be covering time expressions:

to take time

to make time

to have time

to find time

to keep time

to do time

to be on time

to be in time

It's a busy episode!

Remember all the examples are available written down on the blog. www.emmaseslenglish.com

You can now join the Facebook group at: ESL English With Emma

See you tomorrow!

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On today's podcast we're looking at some confusing grammar.

Something, Anything, Nothing and Everything seem like they might be used the same way, but this is English! And that would be too easy!

At the most basic level:

Something = indefinite, not clear number or quantity.

Anything = specifically for negative sentences or questions.

Nothing = I don't have any of the things.

Everything = I have all of the things.

But listen to the podcast and head to the blog to find out more.

Remember you can always ask questions in the comments on the blog at: www.emmaseslenglish.comOr drop me an email emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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Today we are celebrating Maya Angelou's birthday. Maya was a famous Black American writer, poet, speaker, actor. civil rights activist and so many things in her life, including professor. Today we're going to read one of her most famous poems: 'Still I rise.'I would suggest you take some time to go and listen to Maya read this poem, she has a wonderful voice and her reading is filled with character and emotion.

You can find Maya reading Still I Rise here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qviM_GnJbOM

In the podcast I made a mistake about the name of Maya's first book. I said it was 'I don't know why the caged bird sings', but of course the whole point of the book is that Maya did know! The correct title is 'I know why the caged bird sings.'

And remember you can go to the website to see all of today's vocabulary: www.emmaseslenglish.com

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Today we're talking about people who aren't generous with their money or who would rather keep their money to themselves than give you any!As I mentioned on the podcast, it's quite rude to use most of these words so I wouldn't advise using them. In terms of grading, 'tightarse' is definitely the worst, probably followed by 'skinflint' and then 'tightfisted'. If you need to describe someone in this way I would stick with 'scrooge' which is also internationally recognised, where as some of the others are more British English.Remember, if you have any questions you can ask them in the comments below.I mentioned The Christmas Carol in the video. I actually did a reading from this book at Christmas time it's Episode 95 of the podcast:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAralyTzpXI&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJSZA5GgMrFMmskXWE099AWL&index=4Have a great week and I'll see you next time.

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This week on the podcast we're looking at idioms and vocabulary that we use to talk about money. Today we're talking about spending money. These often mention money or purses, places where money is kept.

Tomorrow we're talking about people who aren't generous with their money.

Can you think of any other phrases like this? Or are there any you've heard that were confusing?

Let me know in the comments.

See you tomorrow!

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Today on the podcast we're celebrating Star Trek's Captain of the Enterprise, Captain James T Kirk.  I'll talk a little bit about the show and share some quotes from the show.

You will also see an unexpected appearance of Tommy the cat in this episode. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to sit in the sun or not.

There isn't much vocabulary today, it's just a fun episode. 

If you'd like to join the Facebook group to meet more learners and get more practise with the podcast vocabulary head to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551603798656727

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Today, in celebration of the International Day of Forests, I was reading from Elif Shafak's new book The Island of Missing Trees. This book is based both in Cyprus and the UK and covers a couple of different times. One of the main characters of the story is a Fig tree, brought over from Cyprus.

In addition, I mentioned Peter Wohlleben's book, The Hidden Life of Trees. This book is written by a man who is the custodian of a German forest, but began his career as a forester. He has a great respect for the trees and, as well as bringing us up to date with some of the modern scientific understanding about trees, he also tells stories about the trees in his care.

Fig tree - Apparently it's fairly common for people to bring fig trees to northern countries and burying the tree each year helps it to stay alive in the cold winter weather, however, it's quite traumatic for the tree.

Hawthorn - Is a very common genus of tree and provides food and support for over 200 kinds of insects, as such it is considered to have a high ecological value.

Today we also have a quick introduction to my Grandma's cat who is staying with me.

If you would like you can now join me in my Facebook group, ESL English with Emma: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551603798656727 I hope to see you there. 

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In today's episode we're looking at the story of Trump being reinstated on Facebook and Instagram. This is a little different to yesterday's story because Trump tends to be such a controversial person and because there are allegiances within the media that are either for or against Trump.

This time we will consider what to look for in your sources, as well as the background of your sources and how they might make you feel.

Article Links

Engoo -https://engoo.com/app/daily-news/article/donald-trump-allowed-back-on-facebook-after-2-year-ban/84yP7qCyEe2_eJfl4php1g

NPR - https://www.npr.org/2023/01/25/1146961818/trump-meta-facebook-instagram-ban-ends

Reuters - https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-restore-donald-trumps-facebook-instagram-accounts-2023-01-25/

Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/31/techscape-donald-trump-return-to-facebook-meta-instagram-chatbot

Fox News - https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-issues-statement-meta-announces-year-facebook-ban

You can now join the Facebook group for more vocabulary from the podcasts, questions, confidence building and English fun. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551603798656727

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In today's episode we're looking at lots of articles about the same story. The goal is to figure out how we can identify good learning sources for English quickly and easily. We will consider the source, the vocabulary, the tone of the writing, the grammar and the purpose of the writing.

In today's episode I mention many different articles. You can find them all in the links below. The person our articles focus on is Marie Kondo.

Tomorrow we'll be doing a similar exercise with a different story.

Engoo

https://engoo.com/app/daily-news/article/marie-kondo-has-kind-of-given-up-tidying-her-house/NrRLOqMCEe2RFENmiYDh8w

Financial Times

https://www.ft.com/content/432c520c-c4e3-41a7-85c3-7a47fa1cb506

Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2023/01/26/marie-kondo-kurashi-inner-calm/

The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jan/30/queen-of-clean-marie-kondo-says-she-has-kind-of-given-up-on-tidying-at-home

Channel News Asia

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/marie-kondo-tidying-mess-appreciate-life-children-family-3256916

NPR

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/29/1152149068/marie-kondo-revealed-shes-kind-of-given-up-on-being-so-tidy-people-freaked-out

Homes and Gardens

https://www.homesandgardens.com/news/marie-kondo-given-up-on-tidying

You can now join the Facebook group for more vocabulary from the podcasts, questions, confidence building and English fun. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551603798656727

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Happy International Women's Day! 

In this episode I'll go into why I wanted to do these three readings for International Women's Day and what I think the value of learning English. I talk a little bit about my frustrations with our modern world and how I think English can help and I get a bit motivational (I hope!)

As always, head to the blog for vocabulary www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

And please do join our Facebook group and let me know your thoughts on this episode. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551603798656727

See you next week!

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In today's episode I'm reading a poem from the collection of stories, poems and non-fiction writing in 'The Things I Would Tell You', which is edited by Sabrina Mahfouz.

You can buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Things-Would-Tell-You-British/dp/0863561462

Today's poem was written by a 14 year old Seema Begum. You can watch her read it in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmHOZNU1RIg

I'll talk more about poetry and how it's different to most writing in English on the blog. www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Remember you can now join our Facebook group to talk about this episode https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551603798656727

See you tomorrow.

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Welcome to part 2 (there are 4) of our International Women's Day celebration. In this episode I'll read a short excerpt from Reni Eddo-Lodge's book 'Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race.'

Reni is an award winning British journalist, author and podcaster who's writing has a focus on feminism and structural racism. The book began as a blog post and after release quickly became a best seller.

You can find out more about her work on her website: https://renieddolodge.co.uk/

Reni is British so we can hear quite a few idioms and some complicated words. I've covered all of these on the Blog.

As I mentioned in the podcast, if you want to know more there are three ways you can access this work. You can buy the book. You can read the blog post or you can watch the Emma Watson interview.

Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Longer-Talking-White-People-About/dp/1408870584

Blog Post: http://renieddolodge.co.uk/why-im-no-longer-talking-to-white-people-about-race/

Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JklR7jZT-zU

Also, I now have a Facebook Group! (ESL English with Emma) It's brand new so there isn't much there but feel free to ask questions and I'm planning on doing some lives. If you'd like to join just click the link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551603798656727

See you next week!

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This is episode one of our 4 part International Women's Day celebrations. In this episode I will be reading an excerpt from Jane Goodall's book 'Reason for Hope'.

We are listening to Jane's thoughts on compassion and love.

Jane is a world-recognised expert on Chimpanzee behaviour. She began as a young woman sent out to Africa to study wild chimpanzees. At 88 she is still very active working with children to raise awareness of the importance of wildlife and the natural world.

There are some unusual words here. You can head to the blog to find all the vocabulary written up: www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

If you're interested in reading the book yourself you can find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reason-Hope-Spiritual-Jane-Goodall/dp/0446676136

If you'd like to know more about Jane Goodall's work you can head to the Jane Goodall Institute: https://janegoodall.org/

I have now a Facebook group. I look forward to seeing you there: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551603798656727

See you tomorrow!

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This episode is a little different to normal. This month is Black History Month in America, in the UK Black History Month is October. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to four Black American musicians. All four were active at around the same time. All four were active in the American Civil Rights Movement and all four had their own, major impact on music.

I managed to figure out how to get some music on the podcast, so you will hear a little clip of each of the songs but if you'd like to hear more then please check out the videos on the blog: www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog I have also made a playlist for you on the YouTube channel.

The artists and songs I will talk about today are:

Nina Simone, Sinnerman

Ray Charles, What'd I Say

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, Summertime

I hope you enjoy these songs and find it interesting to learn about these very cool and accomplished people. 

See you next week!

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Today is Pancake Day in the UK, otherwise known a Shrove Tuesday. This is the day before Ash Wednesday, or the beginning of lent. Traditionally people made pancakes to try to use up all the things in their cupboard before lent.

In this episode we'll talk a little about the religious days that Pancake day is a part of. Then we'll look at the ingredients for pancakes. We'll look at the differences between British, American and French pancakes and finally we'll talk about the most important factor...toppings!

I hope you enjoy this episode. If talking about pancakes and Nutella makes your mouth water head over to the blog for three recipes and a video about how to make pancakes. I've also put a video about maple syrup, since it's quite a cool sugar. 

See you tomorrow!

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Hello! This is a special announcement!

I'm opening Group Classes. For now these are only open to my podcast audience but I will open it to the YouTube crowd next week, depending on the interest. 

If you would like more information about the Group Classes (inc. cost) please head to the website: https://www.emmaseslenglish.com/groupclasses 

If you would like to join a group class with me please email 'interested in group classes' to emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

I will email you out a Google form to fill in. Please complete as much information as you can, this will help me understand your level and experience and hopefully help me put a good group together. 

I'm hoping to start in March, but I haven't set a date because it depends on your availability. 

Don't worry about your level. I'm hoping to do group classes for each level eventually and the first class will depend on numbers and availability.

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Today I will read a short excerpt from Jane Austen's book, Persuasion. This is the love letter that Captain Wentworth writes to Anne Elliot after he guesses that maybe they feel the same way.

I'll also give you a little summary of the story. While it might be a little difficult for you to set on and read the book yourself, there are plenty of movie adaptations you can watch instead. On the blog I'll leave some trailers and links to various versions along with my opinions or tips about each. 

Probably the easiest version to watch is Netflix's recent adaptation. However, be warned, while this does stay fairly consistent to the story (and the letter), it is very definitely a MODERN adaptation! Some of the language and character adaptions are definitely NOT Jane Austen approved. However, it is easy to watch, pretty funny and I think pretty romantic too. 

You can find the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz7HmgPJQak

I hope you enjoy today's episode.
See you next week.

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Happy Valentine's Day!! I hope you're having a lovely day, whether you have someone special, or you bought yourself chocolate! 

Today I wanted to talk a little bit about the history of Valentine's Day and then look at how we celebrate it in modern times. 

We'll find out a little more about where the English (does anywhere else do this?) tradition of starting ALL (it seems like!) Valentine's poems with 'Roses are red, violets are blue' came from; who made Valentine's Day (traditionally a religious holiday) romantic and why they had to save a bridge in Paris from lovers!

Tomorrow, we're going even more romantic with the ultimate love letter!

See you then!

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Today we are reading the William Wordsworth poem 'Daffodils' or 'I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud'.  

If you'd like to read along with me you can find the poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45521/i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud   

As we know from yesterday's episode William was walking with his sister when they saw this crowd of daffodils on the side of the mountain on Ullswater.   

You can find all of the vocabulary from this episode (mine and William's) on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog. I have also gone into some more detail there about some of the terms I mentioned yesterday such as William being a 'romantic' poet and his role as Poet Laureate. 

We don't often study poetry on the podcast because English poetry breaks all the rules you spent so long learning! So it can be very confusing. I hope you enjoy this though. 

See you next time.

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My brother is coming up to visit and just like last year he's staying in Grasmere. You can check out my video from above Grasmere on the YouTube channel. In honour of his visit we're reading an excerpt from Dorothy Wordsworth's diary.

Dorothy and William Wordsworth lived in Grasmere and later Rydal. William is one of the most famous British Romantic poets. Today and tomorrow we will look at both of their attempts to capture the same scene.

While walking along Ullswater in the Lake District the brother and sister came across some daffodils. They were both captivated by the scene. Dorothy wrote about it in her diary. William wrote one of his most famous poems about it. It's really interesting to see how two people capture and write about exactly the same experience.

Dorothy is famous for talking about colour, flowers and going into detail in her journals. We know that sometimes William used her journals to remind himself of things and inspire his poems, but this also seems to be very much the way Dorothy saw the world.

If you'd like to read along with me you can find the diary entry online here:

https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Literature_and_Literacy/Writing_and_Critical_Thinking_Through_Literature_(Ringo_and_Kashyap)/03%3A_Creative_Nonfiction_Readings/3.11%3A_Wordsworth_Dorothy_Daffodils_entry_from_Grasmere_journal_(1802)

If, after listening, you'd like to know more you can watch the video of this episode on the YouTube channel. In the video I have shown some pictures of the different flowers Dorothy mentions in her diary. Additionally, you can head to the blog where I've posted videos of Dove Cottage (their Grasmere home) and Rydal Mount (their Rydal Water home) both now museums. I have also posted a video of Ullswater, so you can see where they were walking.

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On today's episode we're learning lots of phrases and idioms using the word 'heart'.  Many of these idioms are very common and some can be used as phrases alone or to describe people. I hope you find them useful.  

You can find all of these, as well as a bonus idiom and link to the Wizard of Oz trailer on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com.  

See you next week.

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This week I was having a conversation with a Turkish student and discovered that a phrase I had been hearing for a while wasn't a little mistake but was, in fact, a direct translation from Turkish: 'According to me' or 'According to my opinion'.   

Since in many Western countries it's common to express your opinion, I think it's important to address this to make sure you have the vocabulary you need if you're speaking to Native English speakers about your opinion.   

Remember, if you want to express your opinion you can say: 

In my opinion...  

My opinion is... 

From my perspective... 

I think...  

Check out the blog for all of today's vocabulary as well as two bonus idioms.  

See you tomorrow.

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Today is Burns Night. This is a big night in Scotland when the Scottish poet Robert Burns is celebrated. 

In this episode I'll give you some history about Burns, I'll tell you a bit about how Burns Night is celebrated and I'll read a little excerpt from Robert Burns' poem Tam O'Shanter. I'll put the translated version of the poem in the subtitles of the YouTube video. 

If you'd like to read along with me you can see both the original and a translated version of the poem here: http://www.robertburns.org.uk/Assets/Poems_Songs/tamoshanter.htm

If you'd like to watch an animation (without words) of the poem, so you can understand the story, you can find that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nKXaoMQDdc&t=64s

Alternatively, if you'd like to hear the poem read by a real Scotsman, you can hear it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiATxrzZamE

I hope you enjoy this fun episode. 

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This week we're looking at a group of idioms that you can use to ask or explain that there is space for change. You might be negotiating something or asking someone to change.

Many of these idioms might be used in a business or public setting where negotiations are going on. 

You can find all of the vocabulary from this episode in the blog where there is also a good example of a 'wiggle' if you're not watching the video.

Remember you can always email me your English questions (no question too big or too small!) at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

See you tomorrow!

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Today we're looking at phrases you might hear when someone is being sarcastic. British people are quite famous (or infamous) for their sarcasm. 

These phrases are most likely to be used when someone has just stated the obvious, or just said something that we already know about. 

Content warning: There is a little swearing in today's episode.

There aren't many new words in this episode but if you're interested you can find them on the blog.

Have a great week!

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This is the final episode looking at the vocabulary from Witches Abroad.

In episode 100 I read a segment from the book in which Granny Weatherwax (an older witch) beats three men at cards. As the scene proceeds the main male player gets angrier and angrier and the language he uses to describe Granny gets worse and worse. 

In this episode we'll review the wide variety of vocabulary used in the book to describe an old woman. We'll also look at some of the swear words he uses when he gets angry.

You can find all of this vocabulary and more on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog in addition, I've left a link there to the trailer for Netflix's The History of Swearing, which is a fun and informative watch about English swear words.

Remember, you can always head to the YouTube channel to see the video, complete with subtitles.

See you tomorrow.

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Continuing with our Witches Abroad analysis, this time we're focusing on the gambling vocabulary used in the episode. 

Disclaimer: I don't gamble or play cards! Do your own research first if you want to use your English to gamble!

All of this vocabulary and more can be found on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Of course you're also welcome to ask questions in the comments on the blog or email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

May the odds be ever in your favour.

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Today we're going to analyse the reading from last week (Ep100), Terry Pratchett's Witches Abroad. I hope you've had time to listen to last week's episode a couple of times and feel at least a little bit confident about what you think is happening. 

You can find all of this vocabulary on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Additional Note: in this episode I talked about 'card sharks', in the book Terry calls them 'Card Sharpers', in fact the two terms mean the same thing: people who cheat at cards to get money, sorry for the confusion.

Tomorrow we'll talk about the gambling terms used in Episode 100. See you tomorrow! 

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Today is our 100th episode! That's pretty amazing to me! Thank you all so much for listening each week. I really appreciate you taking the time to listen and I really hope you find it useful.

Spotify tells me that this year people from 22 different countries tuned in!

Remember, you can always send me feedback and ideas or questions by commenting on YouTube or on the blog, or by emailing me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com, I'd love to hear from you.

Since I really wasn't sure what was the right way to celebrate 100 episodes 🤷‍♂️I decided to read again😎. I've got quite a bit of feedback that people like the reading so I hope you find this fun too. This time I'm reading from Terry Pratchett's Witches Abroad, quite an old book, published in 1991, it's only the 12th book in the Discworld series.

The Discworld witches are some of my favourite characters and for me, deciding between Tiffany Aching (who we read about at Halloween) and Granny Weatherwax is absolutely impossible. ...Although Granny might be a little ahead🤔

I'm going to save the analysis until next week. So you have almost a week to listen as many times as you'd like to see how much you can understand by yourself. Remember, you can always head to the YouTube channel to see the video and subtitles.

4th Jan - Reading

10th Jan - Analysis - I'll post all of the vocabulary on the blog too.

11th Jan - Gambling language from the reading

17th Jan - Language describing old ladies from the reading

I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed reading it. Let me know what else you'd like to hear me read or talk about on the podcast.

See you next week and Happy New Year!

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Today we're talking about New Year's Resolutions and I gave you some tips on how you can set yourself up to have successful goals, rather than things you quickly give up on.

Remember:

1. Make your goal realistic
2. Make it achievable
3. Don't forget to motivate yourself

There is some vocabulary that you might find challenging in this episode. If so, just head to the blog and it's all written down www.emmaseslenglish/blog

Let me know your New Year's resolutions, especially if they're about English! emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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Today we're talking about New Year celebrations in America and the UK.

Of course all over the world people have different kinds of celebrations for New Year. Let me know in the comments what's normal for you and what kinds of things your family eats or does on New Year.

I mention in the podcast about the ball drop in New York. You can see the video from last year here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoTKv4d5yjc

You can hear a traditional version of the New Year song Auld Lang Syne here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZz1FYg8fmc

For more videos and vocabulary head to the blog. 

See you next week for episodes 99 and 100!

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Today it's just a short episode. I want you to take some time to evaluate your progress this year. We will use this evaluation next week, but for now just evaluate and feel smug about how great you are! 

In this episode I mention one of my favourite online coaches Mel Robbins. She has two books and some great ideas. If you want to carry out her Year End Review you can watch the video and download the workbook from YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCLB533VtS0

You can find some of the vocabulary in the blog: www.emmaseslenglish.com

I'll see you tomorrow when we have a fun episode all about different New Year traditions.

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Yesterday we read Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol. This is quite a challenging read, even for me! So I just read a tiny bit, which is all about Christmas dinner. Today we are analysing the text. This is the longest episode yet, 20 minutes! But I go through the text bit by bit and I hope it will help you understand. 

In this analysis I will also tell you a lot about British Christmas dinners, the kinds of foods and how they are prepared as well as some background to Charles Dickens.

Remember you can leave any questions on the blog, under the video in YouTube or email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

In the blog I have written down the meanings and also some of the vocabulary I used in my own commentary. In addition there are pictures on YouTube and in the blog (a little different in each place) that will hopefully make it easier for you to understand.

Whatever you're doing this holiday season, I hope you have a lovely time! Happy Holidays!

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Continuing on our Christmas theme, today I will read a short excerpt from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. 

This is the quintessential Christmas story and has been retold hundreds of times in different plays and movies around the world. Charles Dickens was a famous British writer and his story of a British Christmas created the idea of what we think Christmas should be. 

This piece is quite a small part of the story and just talks about the meal that the poor family, the Cratchit's, eat for Christmas dinner, you might remember Tiny Tim, the youngest son of the Cratchits. It's more likely you will remember the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future and, of course, Scrooge, perhaps the most famous grumpy Christmas character that all other grumpy Christmas characters have been based on. 

I hope you enjoy the reading. Try not to worry too much if you don't understand, tomorrow I will go into detail about all the different elements of this reading. Today just focus on listening and try to understand as much as you can. Tomorrow we'll focus on learning. 

Merry Christmas!

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Yesterday we read Terry Pratchett's Christmas story 'Father Christmas's Fake Beard.' 

Today we will review some of the phrases and grammar from the story. In this story we had quite a lot of euphemisms for things, that is phrases that mean something else. In addition, a surprising amount of the vocabulary is very relevant to work life and especially HR related things!

Remember you can head over to the blog today to see all of these phrases, and some others, written down. www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Today we'll find out what 'helping the police with their enquiries' really means. Why Father Christmas using a little too much of his own discretion is a problem, and why 'blowing someone away' is bad...but weirdly 'I'm blown away' is good! It means 'I'm impressed.' 

I hope you had fun listening yesterday. Remember, you can always watch again on YouTube with subtitles. 

Next week we have one more reading before Christmas. This time we're going for something much more challenging, and much more traditional, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (don't worry, I'm not reading the whole thing!)

Have a great weekend!

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In this episode I will read a short children's story written by my favourite author, Terry Pratchett. 

The story is about Father Christmas (Santa) going to work in a department store at Christmas time. The story is written through a set of emails between various employees at the store. Of course, the people in the store don't know that the real Father Christmas is coming to work as a fake Father Christmas in the Christmas Grotto. Over time they start to realise that all is not quite what it seems...

Who are the little faces that keep appearing all over the toy department?

Why is there real reindeer poop in the toy department every morning when all the reindeer are made out of plastic?

And why does this Father Christmas keep giving expensive toys away? Doesn't he know this is a store to sell things?!

Tomorrow we will review some of the phrases and vocabulary from the story. 

I hope you enjoy this reading. Remember you can head over to the YouTube page to watch the video, the video also has English subtitles. Tomorrow on the blog I will write down some of the vocabulary and some phrases from today's reading.

Correction: I thought the illustrations were by Roald Dahl's illustrator Quentin Blake, in fact they are by a different illustrator, Mark Beech.

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In this episode I will introduce some different English vocabulary to describe laughter. It turns out that there are a lot of different words, collocations and even idioms that we use to describe laughter. Some of these like 'giggle' you will definitely have come across before, but others are more obscure.

In many causes you're more likely to see these words written down in a story, rather than spoken out loud. In a story we're trying to understand the kind of laughter. But in real life we can already hear it, so we don't need to explain it.

In the episode I will mention a few famous laughing videos. However, if you head to the blog after the episode I've created a whole raft of examples for you. These examples will hopefully help you understand exactly what each word sounds like, if you were to hear that kind of laugh. www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

If you'd like to hear a few yourself you can listen to the Elvis, Lonesome Night, Laughing Edition here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6GiEpGZIvY 

And you can see Greta here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CumNvIx2ryo

I hope that sets you up for a fab weekend! See you next time!

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• It looks like rain!
• She looks like my mother!
• Wow! A lookalike!
• Don't they look alike!

These phrases are our focus today. They all use similar words but have very different meanings.

Remember, you can find everything written down in the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Any questions you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

See you tomorrow!

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In today's episode we will look at the correct grammar and meaning for intensifiers, specifically So, Too, Such and Enough.   

It's common for my students to get 'too' and 'so' mixed up or to think they are the same thing. In this episode we'll look at how they can change the meaning of a sentence.   

You can find all of this grammar and examples written down on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog  

Let me know if you have any questions.   

Have a great weekend!

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Today we're going to look at the phrasal verb 'back up'. 

In this episode I will cover 6 different meanings for this phrasal verb, however, after filming I found two more! You can head over to the blog to read about the last two phrasal verbs. You can also find all of the examples and explanations I talk about in this podcast on the blog. 

I hope you find this episode useful. If there are any other phrasal verbs you find challenging, let me know and I'll do a podcast on them. You can message me in the comments or you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

See you tomorrow!

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Today we're going to talk about the different phrases you might say to go out with your colleagues for food. We'll also talk about some of the cultural differences around food.

If you scroll back you will find Episode 5 Dating Vocabulary ...or Don't Panic which covers a wide variety of vocabulary and culture around dating.

You can find all the vocabulary from this episode in the blog.

I hope you find it useful. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

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This one of the first classes I planned to do, and then I thought, 'Hmm how could this work in a podcast?' I'm still not sure it does! So if you get frustrated and want to see the visuals to help you know what I'm talking about please head over to my YouTube channel where you will find the video of this episode. Alternatively check to see if your podcast provider allows you to watch the video in the options. 

The YouTube channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZuUr-gK1KmiuKirvVEEhRQ

Remember you can always see the keywords and additional vocabulary written down on the blog at: www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

I hope you find this helpful! Let me know if there are any other sounds you'd like me to focus on.

See you tomorrow!

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Today we're going to analyse yesterday's story. We will review the structure and see how it compares to the structures we discussed last week. We will also review some of the vocabulary I used while telling the story.

All of the vocabulary from yesterday's and today's episodes is up on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog.

You can also find the 'services' section on the website that I mentioned today, if you'd like to work with me. Alternatively you can email me at emmaseslenglish.com. Of course I'm also always happy to answer your English questions on the podcast, so feel free to email me your questions too.

Have a great weekend!

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Today I'm sharing the story of my recently deceased phone.

The reason I decided to share this story in particular, is because it's a very common scenario. I think it's likely you might have your own phone story to share. It's also very likely you will hear this kind of story among friends or colleagues.

My focus today is just to provide some listening practise. Tomorrow we will look at the vocabulary and structure I used when telling the story. This story was entirely unscripted, so I didn't know what I would say. I hope this makes it a more natural representation of the kind of story you might hear.   

Since tomorrow's episode is reviewing today's I decided to just write one blog this week, which I will release tomorrow. I  hope you don't mind.  As we discussed last week, this story follows the very familiar western structure of beginning (what happened to my phone), middle (what happened next) and end (the happy ending).

You can find the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

You can also find the podcast as a video with subtitles on the YouTube page at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZuUr-gK1KmiuKirvVEEhRQ

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Yesterday we read an article from Engoo.

You can find the article here:  https://engoo.com/app/daily-news/article/mysterious-disappearances-what-is-the-bermuda-triangle/wD9Zqj44Ee2vY1NCE3_HmA

I also discussed the various ways that you could use this website to help develop your English skills.

The episodes I mention in today's podcast about writing emails are Episodes 18, 19, 20.

They look at how to construct the beginning, middle and end of your business email.

Today we will focus on the writing in this Engoo article.

• How did they structure the article?
• Was there a reason for this structure?
• And can we learn something from this structure that we could apply to our own writing?

Head to the blog to see some tips of how to organise your writing that accompany this episode. 

www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

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https://engoo.com/app/daily-news/article/mysterious-disappearances-what-is-the-bermuda-triangle/wD9Zqj44Ee2vY1NCE3_HmAToday's podcast features a reading from Engoo. This is a really useful website for your English. It can help you increase your vocabulary and see good examples of easy writing and reading. There are also discussion questions that you can use with a teacher or use as writing prompts so you can practise your writing skill.

https://engoo.com/app/daily-news/article/mysterious-disappearances-what-is-the-bermuda-triangle/wD9Zqj44Ee2vY1NCE3_HmA

Ways to use an Engoo Article:

1. Just read one article a day.
2. Read one article out loud every day to practise your pronunciation.
3. Read one article every day and learn any new vocabulary.
4. Work with a teacher. Read the article out loud, ask the teacher to correct your pronunciation.
5. Work with a teacher. Read the article and then use the discussion questions to practise using the vocabulary from the article and speaking.
6. Read the article and then use the discussion questions as writing prompts. Try to write down your answer to each question in good sentences and using the new vocabulary.
7. Study different kinds of styles for different kinds of articles and try to write your own article using that style, structure or topic.

In this episode I also mentioned the YouTube channel. For those of you who would like some extra support with your listening, you can watch the episode on YouTube to see subtitles. The channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZuUr-gK1KmiuKirvVEEhRQ or you can just search for Emmas ESL English.

Additionally, I will cover some of the vocabulary from today's episode in the blog at: www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog there were some terms today that might be useful if you use English in a business setting.

See you tomorrow!

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Yesterday we talked about what was happening in the UK that led up to Guy Fawkes and his gang's 'Gunpowder, Treason and Plot'. Today I'll finish explaining what Guy Fawkes did and what happened to him.

In addition, in today's episode we will look at the ongoing impact of Guy Fawkes on modern society, mostly in the UK, but in the wider world too. 

This Saturday is Bonfire Night, so we will have lots of fireworks and bonfires around the country to remember these events.

You can find all of today's vocabulary along with some of the quotes and links to the movies I mentioned in today's episode on the blog. 

See you next week!

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This week, on Saturday (5th Nov) it's Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night in the UK. While this isn't a public holiday, other than Christmas and Halloween, it's probably one of the days kids look forward to the most.

Guy Fawkes Night comes from something that happened all the way back in 1605, and yet even now, most people in the UK can remember the story and at least the beginning of the nursery rhyme about it.

In today's episode we'll look at the British history that led Guy Fawkes and his gang to plot to try to blow up the King, his family and Parliament all those years ago.

In this episode there is some unusual vocabulary, I'll also mention 4 idioms from the King James Bible, you can find all of this on the blog.

Tomorrow we'll look at Guy Fawkes influence in modern Britain and around the world.  

See you tomorrow!

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In this episode we are revisiting Tiffany and Miss Treason. We've just missed a major part of the story where Miss Treason takes Tiffany to a dance. She specifically tells Tiffany NOT to dance, but Tiffany dances anyway. Unfortunately this has caused a major problem, the God of Winter (the Wintersmith) is now interested in Tiffany and summer may never come! 

Not surprisingly, Miss Treason was very angry with Tiffany! They just had a big fight. Now they are trying to make up. Also Tiffany just saw the Wintersmith outside, so she's feeling a bit thoughtful.

In this episode there is one word you need to know:

Boffo is a Discworld specific word. Boffo is the name of a joke shop in the main city of Anhh Morpork. It is a very famous joke shop that turns up in several of the witch books and it turns out that the owner is a witch. In this case Tiffany starts using the name of the shop to refer to anything that isn't real or is giving an untrue representation of something.

Remember you can find this and many other words from this episode explained on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Next week we'll be looking at the British holiday of Guy Fawkes, which is on the 5th of November.

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On the 31st of October we celebrate Halloween in the UK. I was going to do some Halloween vocabulary, but that's a bit boring. So instead I'm going to read two parts from Terry Pratchett's book, Wintersmith.

This book is part of a series of books that begins with the Wee Free Men, which introduces the main character, Tiffany Aching, a young (at that point 8 years old) witch. Wintersmith is the third book in the series. We are introduced to several other witches in this passage. The main character is Miss Treason, at 113 years old she is one of the oldest people on Discworld. You will also hear mentioned Mistress Weatherwax, who Tiffany thinks of as a very old person, but who Miss Treason describes as 'the girl Weatherwax'. And finally, a brief mention of Miss Tick. Miss Tick appeared in the very first novel, she travels around the world looking for young witches and getting them into training. She is a kind of teacher.

In this passage we will be hearing about Miss Treason and her house. Tiffany is the first witch who has been brave enough to stay for very long. She is scared of Miss Treason, but at this point she is starting to notice some strange things (such as the lack of spiders) about the house and the witch.

Tomorrow we will read a second passage from this book. We will learn more about what is going on behind the scenes in Miss Treason's house.

Remember you can find the video for this episode on YouTubeand I will review all of the vocabulary on the blog.

If you have any questions you can write them in the blog or email them to emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

Let me know if you have anything you'd like to hear me read.

See you tomorrow!

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Today we are looking at idioms that describe untrustworthy behaviour, untrustworthy people or things you can't quite believe.

There are a surprising amount of these. Some of them can be tied back to previous episodes where we talked about keeping secrets and telling lies, both of which can be seen as untrustworthy behaviour. 

In the blog I also covered some of the vocabulary that we heard in this episode, including subterfuge, a nice word but rather unusual to hear. 

I hope you found it interesting. Let me know if you have any questions by emailing (emmaseslenglish@gmail.com) or leaving a comment on the blog. 

See you next week!

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Today we're talking about lying. There are lots of ways that we use lies in different societies. In the UK we often use lies as a way to be more polite. Today we'll look at idioms that describe lies or liars.

Head to the blog to see all these written down and I also cover some other vocabulary such as 'on the one hand' and 'crook'. 

Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to talk about in this podcast, I'm always looking for ideas. You can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

See you tomorrow!

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Today we're focusing on telling secrets. Some of these phrases can be used to ask someone not to tell a secret, or to describe someone who can't keep a secret. We'll also cover some business vocabulary we hear in relation to telling secrets.

You can find everything from today's episode in the blog, where I'll also go into some detail about the phrase 'for heaven's sake' which is common in the UK but a bit difficult to explain! (I hope it makes sense!)

I'll also cover some of the people I mentioned in the podcast. I got confused between Julian Assange and Edward Snowdon 😣...too many whistleblowers! So I explain more about that on the blog.

This is the last episode for this week but I'll be back on Tuesday talking about idioms about lying.

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This week we're starting a 4-part series on related idioms. Today, keeping secrets. Tomorrow, telling secrets! 🙊 Then next week: lies and trustworthiness.

I wanted to let you know that from this week I'm going down to 2 days a week with the podcast. I love doing it but I need to free up some time for some other things.

Remember, if there's anything you'd like me to cover, or any other sorts of content you'd like me to make please let me know by emailing emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or leaving a comment on the blog or YouTube.

You can head to the blog after the episode to see all of these words and some additional vocabulary that I used in the episode written down. 

See you tomorrow!

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The word 'temper' is used in a lot of phrases but what actually is it?

'Temper' usually describes someone's anger level. For some people who are described as having a 'short temper' they tend to get angry easily and quickly.

There are a lot of different ways we use the word 'temper'. Let's talk about some of them today.

You can find all of these written down on the blog, as well as a link to the Cambridge Dictionaries definition of 'temper' which gives you some idea of how wide ranging it's use can be! 

Have a great weekend!

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Today we are talking about phrasal verbs that start with 'look'. There are a lot of these! So we're not covering all of them today. Hopefully you have heard of many of these before and we're just reviewing or you're hopefully going to feel a bit more confident about using or understanding them.

Because there are so many of these phrasal verbs out there I want to give you a couple of other links where you might find a more comprehensive list. However, please don't feel like you need to memorise all of these. If you can't remember the word, just try and think of an alternative way to say it.

If you go to the blog you will find the links and also some additional, more physical, meanings for a couple of the phrasal verbs. You can find those at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

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We have covered words for looking before. In Episode 28 we covered watch, see and look. However this time we're looking at more nuanced words that you might hear or come across when you're reading such as Glance, Gaze, Glare and Glower.

These words often have an implied meaning about an emotion or a way that we have looked.

Remember you can always email me your questions to emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or you can head to the blog to see this written down at www.emmaseslenglish.com.

See you tomorrow when we'll be looking at phrasal verbs using 'look'.

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Today we're reviewing something that has come up a few times for several different students this week. When using comparative and superlative adjectives, when do you add the er = bigger? When do you use 'more'? And do you ever use both?

Hopefully it will be a useful review. Remember you can find examples written on the blog and this episode has been subtitled on the YouTube channel. 

If you have any questions you can email them to emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

See you next week!

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This week my student said 'there wasn't many variety', and just like yesterday's podcast, I had that feeling of 🤔 why is that weird?

The problem is that 'variety' is countable and uncountable, so it depends on the situation as to whether we would use 'much' or 'many!

Today we'll look at this problem and several possible solutions for it. 

Remember you can find this all written down at emmaseslenglish.com

Tomorrow we'll talk about some idioms and phrases related to sunshine!

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Today's episode came from a sentence that I knew didn't sound right but I wasn't sure why. I hope I can clear it up, but you know, English has a tendency to be more confusing than it needs to be!

We're looking at when we should use 'a few', when we can use 'few' and when we can use 'quite a few' and what the difference is between them. This kind of nuanced grammar is quite tricky and confusing. But unfortunately using the wrong thing at the wrong time can completely change the meaning of a sentence, which might just make native speakers look confused, or it could get you in trouble! (hopefully not!)

Any questions you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or you can head to the blog to see the rules written down: www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

See you tomorrow!

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Today we're talking about some different idioms, words and phrases that we use in the UK. These are all related to the sunshine, but some of them are descriptions rather than idioms. Some of these are very British and I also talk a little bit about the sarcasm used in British humour.

In the podcast I talked about the song and the movie 'Walking on Sunshine', you can head to the blog to see those videos at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Any questions you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

Have a great weekend! See you next week!

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In this episode I will review a few of the changes that will be happening in the UK due to our change of monarch. I will talk about the changes to flags, stamps and money, also official titles and a bit about what will or might happen next.

In this episode there was a lot of vocabulary that is pretty unusual or you might not normally hear as well as a lot of common idioms, you can learn about those in the blog.

Remember you can head over to YouTube to watch the video if it's not available on your podcast provider. The video has subtitles, which might be useful because I think I was going a bit fast on this one.

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With the Queen's funeral yesterday I decided this might be the best time for us to talk about death. It's a depressing subject but something that touches us all and I don't want you to be stranded with no vocabulary or confused about what people are talking about.

In English we have a lot of euphemisms for death. We don't like using the actual word and we don't like talking about it either so we have lots of other ways to say it.

As always you can head over to the blog to get all of these phrases written down at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Tomorrow we'll be talking about the changes the UK can expect with our new King.

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Today, after so many readings from different books! I decided to do a little sales pitch on why you should read English books. Actually any kind of reading is fine, it doesn't have to be books. 

I hope this gives you some tips, confidence and ideas to get you started. Don't be scared, don't get frustrated, just take your time and keep it fun.

Have a great weekend!

Let me know what you're reading now, I'm really curious.

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Today I'm reading from Simon Sinek's first book 'Start With Why'.

You can also check out the TED Talk which tells you the main parts of this book.

Today we are finding out about the idea of starting with why and thinking about how it might apply to your language learning journey.

In fact, you may find there are several areas of your life that would benefit from really considering why you want something or why you want to do something. Once you can get clear on the WHY it can give you much more clarity on how to proceed. It can also help you make better decisions, do something because it serves your purpose, rather than because someone told you to do it, for example.

I hope it's useful to you. I'd love to hear your Whys for learning English.

Remember, the vocabulary will be available on the blog.

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Today we're talking about a skill that hopefully you have learned from speaking in a foreign language, that you might not necessarily be applying to your daily life, but perhaps might benefit from.

The book is called 'The Talking Revolution: How creative conversation can change the world.' by Peter Osborn and Eddy Canfor-Dumas

I think there are so many things we can learn from our language journey but I don't think we always realise how much we learn or what kinds of skills we build that we might be able to apply elsewhere in our lives. Hopefully this gets you thinking.

Remember, you can find all of this week's vocabulary on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

See you tomorrow!

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Today we are finishing our week of reading with, of course, my favourite writer ever! Terry Pratchett. This excerpt is from a section of the book where a police officer (Vimes) is in hot pursuit of a ship that has abducted one of his officers. With him are Jenkins, the captain of the ship and Detritus, another (troll) police officer.

We are looking at the weather and the sea again, this time the book is a fantasy satire novel so this gives it a different feeling compared to the other two readings from this week. You can find all of the vocabulary on the blog.

Now it's your turn!

This weekend have a go at writing a short paragraph. You can describe the sea, the weather or both. You can talk about today, or a day in the past, a favourite day or an imagined day, your choice.

Try to imagine (or go to the beach or get a picture) the sea and the weather and then try to describe it. If you need to translate from your own language, that's OK, but if you can, try to write it straight into English.

I would love to read your writing if you're willing. You can post it in the comments on YouTube, on the blog or if you feel a bit shy then you can email it to me directly at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

Even if you don't want share it, I would still encourage you to try, it's a great way to practise your English skills.

See you next week, have a great weekend!

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We're continuing on the beach at Workington.

This second reading is from a non-fiction book about nature, Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty. In this book Dara (18) writes a diary of one year of his life. We follow his family as they move house and as they explore nature, both in Northern Ireland where they live and elsewhere in the UK. Dara is Autistic and an environmental activist, however in this book what stands out is his love of nature. His writing is beautiful and very detailed so we get a clear picture of what he sees and his experience of it.

Like yesterday, have a think about what is the writer doing to help us imagine the place they are describing?

If you have any questions you can email them to emmaseslenglish@gmail.com. Remember everything will be written down on the website.

See you tomorrow!

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This week the videos were recorded on the beach at Workington. It was very bright and when I got home I realised I hadn't looked at the camera once!🙄 

Anyway! This week we have three readings about the sea and the weather. The first is from Harry Potter, The Philosopher's Stone. When Uncle Vernon, trying  to escape the letters, he takes the family out to the shack in the middle of the sea. (Just before this scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXvlqsSeJ7Q)  

We are having a bit of listening practise with the reading, also maybe introducing some new vocabulary. We're also looking at what are the writers doing to help us imagine the place they are describing?  

If you have any questions you can  email them to emmaseslenglish@gmail.com. Remember everything will be written down on the website.

See you tomorrow!

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Today we're talking about various different idioms that I said or heard this week. Hopefully they will be useful for you. 

You can find today's episode on the YouTube channel with the subtitles if you need, or alternatively head over to the blog to see everything written down. 

Let me know if you have any requests for podcasts topics or if any questions have come up from your studies or classes that you'd like me to talk about. You can leave a comment or you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

Have a great weekend!

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This week we're looking at lots of different idioms. Today, we're talking about illness. This week I filmed all of the podcast episodes. If your provider doesn't allow you to watch the video episodes you can head over to the YouTube page to watch the episodes with subtitles if you'd rather.

Remember all of this vocabulary is written down on the blog which you can find on the website at emmaseslenglish.com.

I hope you're having a great week. See you tomorrow!

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This week we're looking at lots of different idioms. Today, elaboration, tomorrow illness and Thursday is a bit more random. This week I filmed all of the podcast episodes. If your provider doesn't allow you to watch the video episodes you can head over to the YouTube page to watch the episodes with subtitles if you'd rather. 

Remember all of this vocabulary is written down on the blog which you can find on the website at emmaseslenglish.com.

I hope you're having a great week. See you tomorrow!

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We're continuing the speech analysis from yesterday. Today we're focusing on using stories and tone of voice to deliver your point effectively and help people emotionally engage with what you're saying.

The speech we're listening to is Simon Sinek's Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmyZMtPVodo&t=523s

You can find it on YouTube at the above link with English subtitles or head over to TED.com to find a version with a wide variety of subtitles.

I hope you've found this series of podcasts useful. It seems like giving presentations is such a huge part of most people's working life. I hope that taking the opportunity to really understand some strategies from a master can help you improve your own skills. 

Let me know if you'd like to look at more speeches or if speaking is a regular part of your role.

You can head over to the blog to see all of this written down.

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We're continuing the speech analysis from yesterday. Today we're focusing on the repetition that the speaker uses to reinforce his points and ensure that we remember his key ideas.

The speech we're listening to is Simon Sinek's Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmyZMtPVodo&t=523s

You can find it on YouTube at the above link with English subtitles or head over to TED.com to find a version with a wide variety of subtitles.

I hope you find this series of podcasts useful. It seems like giving presentations is such a huge part of most people's working life. I hope that taking the opportunity to really understand some strategies from a master can help you improve your own skills. Tomorrow we'll be looking at his use of stories and intonation. 

You can head over to the blog to see all of this written down.

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This week we're doing something a little different. We're going to analyse a speech. We're looking at what the speaker does to make the speech more interesting and engaging and to help the listener really understand and take on board his ideas. 

The speech we're listening to is Simon Sinek's Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmyZMtPVodo&t=523s

You can find it on YouTube at the above link with English subtitles or head over to TED.com to find a version with a wide variety of subtitles.

I would suggest you listen to this speech before you check out the podcast. The speech is just 12 minutes long. 

Today we will be looking at some of the common phrases and collocations that Simon Sinek uses in the speech to make the listener feel more comfortable, less cynical and more likely to emotionally engage with the speech.

I hope you find this series of podcasts useful. It seems like giving presentations is such a huge part of most people's working life. I hope that taking the opportunity to really understand some strategies from a master can help you improve your own skills. Tomorrow we'll be looking at his use of repetition to highlight and then drive home his point. 

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This week I'm talking a little more about my Grandpa's garden. I'll put a video together on YouTube so you can see some of the pictures and things from the garden. 

I talk about some of my experiences as a child in the garden and the history behind how the garden came about, it's a pretty young garden, by British standards, but it's definitely the best garden I know...but maybe that's because it's so personal. 

Let me know if you have any ideas for future episodes. I'd also love to know where your favourite green space is and why you like it so much. You can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or head over to the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com.

See you next week!

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Mnemonics is the word we use to describe rhymes or phrases we can use to help us remember things. In today's episode I will talk about a few common things that we use to remember things in English. Some of them are about remembering spelling or language, one is a business phrase and others are just for fun. Maybe you have some of them, or something similar, in your own language, I'd love to know.

You can find all of these over at the blog. If you find this useful please share it with your friends. Please let me know if you have anything you'd like me to talk about by emailing emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or writing under the blog.

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There's a lot of very busy bees in my garden right now. In honour of all their hard work I wanted to talk about so phrases and idioms we have in English that use the word 'bee'. Many of these are very common and you may hear them in a casual or office environment. 

Head over to the blog to see them written down or to YouTube to see the video of the bees on the lavender plant in my garden. 

Do you have a garden, or a park nearby? Which plant is the bee's favourite there?

Any questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes please leave them on the blog or email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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Today we're talking about a tricky punctuation point: apostrophes '

We will be discussing how to use them when we talk about possessive nouns. This episode was particularly tricky for me because, like most native speakers,  I really hate apostrophes! The rules actually aren't that complicated, the trouble is remembering the rules! 😣

I would suggest you listen to this podcast while looking at the blog post. That way you'll be a lot less confused and you can see exactly what I'm talking about. 

Feel free to leave any questions or any tricky sentences with apostrophes in the comments under the blog and we can discuss them there. 

If this has been useful, please feel free to share it with your friends and remember, I'm happy to talk about whatever might be useful to you so if you have any suggestions for a podcast episode or series, please let me know at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

See you next week!

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This episode will be particularly useful for people who are serving customers or clients and wish to address them directly. These two situations are different because usually, with a client, you will know their name. There are some appropriate ways to refer to people, however they do vary depending on whether you are addressing an American or a British person.

We previously covered when it was appropriate to address someone by their first name back in episode 18. 

Head over to the blog to see some of the idioms I used in this podcast. I have also added some links to the different regional references we have in the UK and how to refer to the queen...should you ever get the chance to meet her!

Remember you can always ask a question or let me know if you'd like me to focus on something by emailing me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or by leaving a comment under the blog.

Tomorrow we'll be talking about the sticky subject of apostrophe's' 😬 see you there!

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Hello! This is my first video episode! Let me know if you like it and would like to see more. If your podcast provider doesn't allow videos, don't panic! You can just head over to my YouTube channel and watch it there: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZuUr-gK1KmiuKirvVEEhRQ

In this episode I am talking about the business phrase 'to manage your expectations'. This is a very common phrase and I think it has been growing in popularity over the last five years. I think it's very likely you will hear it at work and you may even have to use it yourself. Have a listen to find out what it means, what sort of situations you might hear it in and why I absolutely hate this phrase! 

If you have any questions please email them to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or feel free to write them in the comments on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com or on the YouTube video.

I'd love to hear how you feel about this phrase and if you've ever heard it before, let me know!

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Today we have the final reading of the review. I'll read it with all the punctuation included, see if you can hear the difference between today's version and Tuesday's version. 

In this episode I also talk about how you can use punctuation to help you when you have to give a speech or read something out in public (or perhaps just your kid's bedtime story!). The punctuation can help us know when to breathe and how long our pause should be. It can also tell us which parts should be emphasised. 

If you head over to the blog (www.emmaseslenglish.com) you can see the full version with complete punctuation as well as some videos of Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela speaking, that will give you some idea about how you can use pauses in your speeches. 

Remember you can leave your questions under the blog post or you can send me an email: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

Have a great weekend!

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Today I'll read the review again, this time with commas, full stops and exclamation marks (points). You can head back to yesterday's blog (www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog) and see if you can add today's commas into the text. 

Tomorrow we'll be finishing off the review with parentheses (brackets, dashes or commas). In tomorrow's blog you will be able to see the whole piece complete with all the punctuation. 

Try reading the review aloud to yourself to help you work out where you should put commas and full stops. Remember full stops tend to be longer pauses (and places we can breath) whereas commas are a much shorter pause. We can also pause at a conjunction (and or but).

If you have any questions you can leave them below the blog or you can email them to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

See you tomorrow! 

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This week we're talking about punctuation. We'll cover full stops (or periods, as the American's call them) today, commas tomorrow and brackets or parentheses on Thursday.

There will be just two blog posts this week. If you would like to take part in the quiz, head over to the blog (www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog) and take a look at today's version of the writing. It has no punctuation at all! Listen to today's podcast and decide, where do you think the full stops go? Can you figure out where the other punctuation should go to?

Today I'll also talk about how we can vary our writing style depending on what we're writing: we usually use much shorter sentences for webpages, for example, compared to the much longer sentences of novels.

Remember you can leave your questions under the blog post or you can send me an email: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

See you tomorrow!

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We've been prepping for today's episode all week! Finally all the vocabulary and phrases we learned will be used in context. Are you ready?

Today I am reading from the Bloomsbury 1997 edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, just the first three pages of the novel. 

Remember all of this week's vocabulary is on the blog at: emmaseslenglish.com

If you have any English questions you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or you can write your question under the blog.

I hope you enjoy the reading. Let me know if you'd like me to read more in the future and if you have any favourite books you'd like to hear from. 

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Today we are going to review some more phrases from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Remember none of the vocabulary from this week is magical and many of these phrases are commonly used by native speakers.

All of this week's vocabulary is on the blog at: emmaseslenglish.com

If you have any English questions you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or you can write your question under the blog.

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Today we are going to review some of the phrases that appear at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. None of the vocabulary from this week is magical and many of these phrases are commonly used by native speakers.

Remember all of this week's vocabulary is on the blog at: emmaseslenglish.com

If you have any English questions you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or you can write your question under the blog.

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This Sunday (31st July) is Harry Potter's birthday. In honour of that day we're going to study the first few pages of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the very first Harry Potter book. Today we will review some vocabulary, tomorrow and Thursday some phrases and on Friday I'll be doing another bonus reading. 

Only one word from all of this vocabulary is magical and many of these words and phrases are commonly used by native speakers. Hopefully by studying the vocabulary ahead of time you'll be able to just sit back and enjoy the reading on Friday.

All of this week's vocabulary is on the blog at: emmaseslenglish.com

If you have any English questions you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or you can write your question under the blog.

In case you'd like to avoid it, I have my soapbox moment about my feelings about JK Rowling and the Trans question at 9:40min.

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Today's episode is really for people who are working in office environments who will be having short small talk conversations with colleagues at the water cooler or when making tea or smoking. I also give you some tips on how to end those conversations.

I mention 'the episode from last week about making conversations'...only that wasn't last week!😫 For more on having conversations check out Episodes 6, 34 and 35.

All of the vocabulary and conversation starters are included in the blog at: emmaseslenglish.com

Remember if you have any questions about this or any other English challenges you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or you can write your question under the blog.

Have a go at starting a conversation this week and let me know how it goes. 

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Today's episode is really for people who are working in office environments or perhaps you're planning on having visitors over and you might have to make drinks for them. If you drink tea, or coffee, then I'm guessing all of today's episode will seem really obvious. However, you can still listen in to enjoy how hilariously bad I am at this, and pay attention, at the end I'll tell you a funny story about cutlery collections in the office.

There is a video to accompany this podcast where I make tea for my family, just so you can see the variety of ways people like their tea in the UK. Check that out on the YouTube channel at: https://youtu.be/xQ4tC67e6RU

I would like to apologise again for the speed of this episode. All of the vocabulary used is included in the blog at: emmaseslenglish.com

Remember if you have any questions about this or any other English challenges you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or you can write your question under the blog.

I'd love to hear whether you struggled with tea etiquette at work or if you know anyone who has very particular taste in their tea or their cup.

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This week's episodes are relevant for anyone living in the UK or working with British professionals. Tea is an important part of our working culture and has quite a few points of etiquette, which we will talk about tomorrow and on Thursday. In this episode I give a lot of details about the history of tea from a British perspective.

I would like to apologise for the speed of this week's episode. It seems I was really excited to talk about tea...although I have no idea why! I have tried to slow it down and put some extra pauses in. I hope it's Ok for you. Because of my excitement you will find that this week's vocabulary is a bit more relaxed than normal. There are some Americanisms that are unusual to hear from Brits and lots of vocabulary. All of these are included in the blog at: emmaseslenglish.com

Remember if you have any questions about this or any other English challenges you can email me at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or you can write your question under the blog. 

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Surprise! I'm here again! Just in time to start your Friday!

This bonus episode is a reading of the opening scene of Shakespeare's Macbeth and the opening scene of Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters. There were several words I didn't know in the Macbeth scene, I have added the explanation for those into the blog post that accompanies this bonus episode at emmaseslenglish.com/blog

I hope you enjoy this short and fun episode.

See you again next week. Have a fantastic weekend!

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Today we are looking at some of the phrases that appeared in Shakespeare's plays that have become common idioms in the English language. 

You can ask any questions about English by emailing emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or heading over to the blog and writing your question in the comment section atwww.emmaseslenglish.com.

I know I say goodbye at the end of this podcast, but... I mentioned on Tuesday that I might do a reading for you. I will post that for you tomorrow morning. It's just for fun, but there will be an accompanying blog too. 

I hope you have time to tune in. Remember, if you've found any of this useful, please consider sharing with your friends. 

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Today we're learning some of the vocabulary that was first captured in Shakespeare's plays. Many people think Shakespeare invented all of these words, however, these days people suspect many of the words were in common use already and Shakespeare was just the first person to write them down. You might be surprised by how normal they sound!

You can ask any questions about English by emailing emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or heading over to the blog and writing your question in the comment section atwww.emmaseslenglish.com.

Tomorrow we're talking about some of the phrases Shakespeare used in his plays that have become common idioms in today's English.

See you then!

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Today I'll be introducing Shakespeare. I'll talk about the history we know and tell you about some of the influences Shakespeare has had on British culture and the English language. 

This is introducing this week's topic, tomorrow we will talk about some words Shakespeare invented and then on Thursday some of the idioms first heard in Shakespeare plays. 

You can ask any questions about English by emailing emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or heading over to the blog and writing your question in the comment section atwww.emmaseslenglish.com.

Thanks for tuning in, see you tomorrow!

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Today we're thinking about your business. If you're trying to build your business, or make some business connections then we need to have a little bit of a different conversation compared to yesterday's focus. This time we're really thinking about how to talk about what you do. 

Remember in English 'What's your job?' and 'What do you do?' are exactly the same question. Asking about your job is very often the second or third thing we want to know about you, so if you have to meet new people, it's good to think about how you can answer this question well.

You can ask any questions about English by emailing emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or heading over to the blog and writing your question in the comment section at www.emmaseslenglish.com.

Have a great weekend and I'll chat to you next week. 

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This time we're thinking of ways to extend your conversations with colleagues or new friends past 'Hi, how are you?'

This podcast sort of feels like it's all about asking questions. And I know that really you want talking time, lots of talking time to practise your English, right? But think about when you're chatting to your friends in your language, it's usually a two-way conversation right? So if you want to practise your English, you first have to get good at getting people to talk to you! And nobody want's to talk to someone who only talks about themselves. So yes, in the beginning it is all about asking lots of questions, think of it as practising your listening skills. You ask lots of questions, you learn things about them and then you build more opportunities to chat with them in the future. 

You can ask any questions about this podcast or English generally by emailing emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or heading over to the blog and writing your question in the comment section at www.emmaseslenglish.com.

See you tomorrow!

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We have already covered some vocabulary and options related to this topic all the way back in episode 6, but here we are looking specifically at answers to the question 'How are you?'.

You can ask any questions by emailing emmaseslenglish@gmail.com or heading over to the blog and writing your question in the comment section at www.emmaseslenglish.com. 

I hope it's useful, see you tomorrow!

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In the UK we have a lot of words for meal times and it can get pretty confusing with different people using the same words but for different meals! Hopefully this can be your guide to figuring out what meals we're talking about.

As always you can find this all written down on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog and you can ask more questions in the comments section there.

Let me know if you have anything you'd like me to talk about in these podcasts by emailing: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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Today we're looking at using 'ish' (tenish) when making appointments. We also cover a lot of vocabulary that might be useful if you're working in an international company or with native speakers such as 'one minute!' or 'Can you give me a minute?'

As always you can find this all written down on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog and you can ask more questions in the comments section there.

Let me know if you have anything you'd like me to talk about in these podcasts by emailing: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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This week I thought we'd do a few time related things. This episode is really a review of what you learned in school and covers different kinds of time and telling American and British time. 

As always you can find this all written down on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog and you can ask more questions in the comments section there.

Let me know if you have anything you'd like me to talk about in these podcasts by emailing: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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I'm currently doing some decorating in my house and I'm having to watch the paint dry! This got me thinking about all the different idioms we use related to paint. 

You can find all of these idioms on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog and you can ask more questions in the comments section there.

Let me know if you have anything you'd like me to talk about in these podcasts by emailing: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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In this episode we are looking at the vocabulary we use when we talk about seeing something. We cover looking at our phone, watching movies and some phrasal verbs and alternative words we might use.

Remember you can listen back to these podcasts at any time on the website.

You'll find all of this vocabulary on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog and you can ask more questions in the comments section there.

Let me know if you have anything you'd like me to talk about in these podcasts by emailing: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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In this episode we are looking at sentences using 'have got' and especially at time phrases using 'have got'.

You'll find all of this written down on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog and you can ask more questions in the comments section there.

Let me know if you have anything you'd like me to talk about in these podcasts by emailing: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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In this episode we are looking at idioms using the word 'gut'. 

Remember you can listen back to these podcasts at any time on the website.

You'll find all of these idioms on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog and you can ask more questions in the comments section there. 

Let me know if you have anything you'd like me to talk about in these podcasts by emailing: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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In this episode let's consider the time words 'by' and 'until'. It can be tricky to know which one of these to use, just like yesterday's 'during' and 'for'.

Remember you can listen back to these podcasts at any time on the website.

You can find all of the vocabulary from the podcasts this week on the website at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog 

Let me know if you'd like me to do a podcast about any other time words you find confusing by emailing: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

Tomorrow we'll be finding out lots of idioms using the word 'gut'. 

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In this episode we are looking at using 'during' and 'for' as time phrases.

Remember you can listen back to these podcasts at any time on the website.

You'll find all of the information from this episode, including some detail about the vocabulary I used in the episode, on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog 

Email emmaseslenglish@gmail.com if you have any other time phrases you'd like me to talk about.

Tomorrow we'll be talking about 'by' and 'until'.

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In this episode we are looking at how we use 'one day' and 'some day' to talk about the future. 

Remember you can listen back to these podcasts at any time on the website.

You'll find all of this written down on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Let me know if you have anything you'd like me to cover in these podcasts by emailing: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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In this episode we are talking about the grammar when using 'time' as a noun.

This is one of the most confusing episodes I've done because 'time' as a noun is really not simple at all!! So don't be surprised if you're feeling confused. I was too! Head over to the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog, I have written everything down, and for this episode, I really think it's useful to see it written down. 

Please send your questions about this subject or any other English question to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

Please share with your friends if you've found this useful.

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In this episode I read a short excerpt from Terry Pratchett's 26th Discworld novel, Thief of Time. 

I will look at a variety of idioms and vocabulary words in this episode and you can find them all on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

I realised part way through recording how well this book fit with this week's theme (which up until that moment wasn't a theme!) of 'Time' and you can hear me figuring that out! This also turns into a bit of a sales pitch (it always is when I start talking about Terry!) for my favourite author. I'd love to know if you're a Discworld fan too.

Please send your questions to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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Today we are talking about how to end your emails, closing comments and final words.

Remember you can listen back to these podcasts at any time on the website. 

If you want to use any of the vocabulary in this set of podcasts you can find it on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

If this gets you thinking or you have an email that you don't understand please send your questions to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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Today we are talking about what to say after you've started your email. After 'Dear Sir' what comes next? 

We will be talking about emails all this week, tomorrow, endings.

If you want to use any of the vocabulary in this set of podcasts you can find it on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

If this gets you thinking or you have an email that you don't understand please send your questions to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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Today we are talking about how to begin your emails. We will be talking about emails all this week. 

If you want to use any of the vocabulary in this set of podcasts you can find it on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

If this gets you thinking or you have an email that you don't understand please send your questions to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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In this episode we are analysing some of the vocabulary used in a recent interview with Jackson Wang, the famous Chinese musician. You can find that interview on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxVH7ng3NTE&t=1s

There was a lot of unusual vocabulary in this video. In addition, I used quite a lot of idioms as well. You can find all of this vocabulary on the blog that accompanies this episode at : https://www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Remember you can email your English questions to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

See you next time!

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In this episode we are analysing a short piece from a recent UK radio show. We will look at some common vocabulary and grammar from this kind of show, this vocabulary is common across the music scene and wider UK. 

You can listen to the show (hopefully, I'm not sure about access outside the UK) here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00173g6

And the part we are analysing is from 1:31 - 1:35.

You can also find the full vocabulary on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com

If you have any English questions or things you would like us to analyse please email them to me at: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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Today we are looking at a grammar point: when you want to agree with someone, do you say 'me too' or 'me neither'?

As usual you can find all of the sentences and todays test😳 (don't panic, it's easy!) in the blog at: www.emmaseslenglish.com

If you found this useful please share with your friends.

Remember you can email your English questions to emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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Today, carrying on from yesterday's theme, we're looking at ways we can talk about being full, full of food and...full of alcohol!

You can find all of this vocabulary on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com

Please get in touch and let me know your ESL questions at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

If you found this episode useful, please share it with your friends.

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Today we're talking about idioms and phrases, many of which sound like they're related to food, but they can be used for other things.

You can find all of this vocabulary on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com

Please get in touch and let me know your ESL questions at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

If you found this episode useful, please share it with your friends.

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In this episode we look at a grammar point. It's quite complicated so I would suggest having the blog open at the same time so you can read and see the examples. I have also put some links in the blog so you can read some definitions of the grammar points we need for this. 

We are discussing phrases like 'most of the time', 'all night' and 'the whole time'. 

You can find the blog on the website at: https://www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

If you have any questions about this podcast or any of your other English work, please don't be afraid to ask. I can assure you, if you're wondering about it, so is someone somewhere else in the world. You can send your question to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing from you.

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Today we'll talk about some vocabulary related to shopping and sales.

You can find all of this vocabulary over on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com

Please get in touch and let me know your ESL questions at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

If you found this episode useful, please share it with your friends.

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Today we will look at some vocabulary related to arguments: things that might cause an argument, how we might say we're having an argument and what we might need to do afterwards. 

You can find all of this vocabulary over on the blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com

Please get in touch and let me know your ESL questions at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

If you found this episode useful, please share it with your friends. 

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I know you learned 'It's raining' and 'It's sunny' at school, but can you use any more interesting or creative terms to describe the weather where you live? In this episode we will look at some weather vocabulary and some idioms and sayings in the UK. Hopefully it will give you some more interesting ways to talk about the weather with your friends. 

As usual you can find all of these terms in the blog. This week I have also made a supplementary blog episode full of weather songs! We love singing about the weather and many of these songs are very famous and often heard at weddings and parties, I hope you enjoy the list. https://www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Remember you can email me any of your English questions at emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing from you. 

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Today we have some phrases that you might hear at work. The phrases are for situations that might be a little bit negative. 

Remember you can find more information about the vocabulary in this episode in the blog at: https://www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

You can email your ESL English questions to emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

Additional Vocabulary

procrastination - when you avoid doing something for a long time

elaborate - goes into great detail 

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Today's podcast is especially for the unofficial 'Star Wars Day'. It looks at some of the idioms and vocabulary that you can hear in the very first Star Wars movie, A New Hope.

You can find all of the vocabulary covered on this episode on the blog at: https://www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Remember you can email your ESL English questions to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com 

I look forward to hearing from you.

Vocabulary

Quest - a long journey with a goal or task to achieve, often used to describe stories like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.

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In this episode we talk about some small talk options for when you are joining a meeting or want to start a conversation.

We will cover options such as 'How was your weekend?' 'How are you holding up?' and 'How you doin'?'

For more information about this episode and the vocabulary you might hear, head over to the blog at https://www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

To ask your own question email emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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In this episode I answer a question from a listener. This episode covers a lot of dating vocabulary and considers some pronouns we can use when talking about gender queer or non-binary people.

We cover vocabulary such as 'ask out', 'go out' and 'take out' along with quite a few variations. For more detail on the vocabulary you will find in this class please check out the blog post at: https://www.emmaseslenglish.com/blog

Don't forget you can send in your questions to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

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This episode is from some previous discussions with one of my advanced students who is reading an English novel.

Remember you can send your questions in to emmaseslenglish@gmail.com. You can find out more about the vocabulary in this episode on my blog at www.emmaseslenglish.com

Spoiler Alert: I definitely spoil the ending of the movie Thelma and Louise in this podcast. Also, it sounds a bit weird because I forgot the name for ages, so I was really excited to remember! 🤣

Vocabulary

Idiom - to squeeze something out of someone - to make someone tell you or give you something

Idiom - to spill the beans - to tell the secret

Idiom - Her hopes were dashed. - hopes are destroyed

Vocabulary - irrevocably - impossible to take back or fix, changed forever

Idiom - to have a send off - to have a party, usually when someone leaves to go somewhere but can be used for a life celebration at a funeral

Idiom - Lets have a knees up - to have a party ...people will probably get drunk

Idiom - scared out of my wits/scared witless - really scared of something

Idiom - two peas in a pod - to share interests or seem similar

Vocabulary - stagger - 'he staggered home' - walked awkwardly or drunkenly

Vocabulary - spotted - I spotted a bluebird. - to see

Vocabulary - avidly - with lots of interest or excitement

Vocabulary - fanatic - (route of 'fan') someone who is a big fan or really loves something

Vocabulary - bird spotter (also 'bird watcher' is common)/train spotter - someone who really loves birds/trains and goes to look for them as a hobby.

Vocabulary - twitcher - someone who watches birds as a hobby.

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In episode 3 I talk a little bit about the North West of England, where I was born and now live.

Remember to email your ESL questions to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

You can find more references for this episode on my website at www.emmaseslenglish.com

Vocabulary

hesitate - to pause or wait

coastal - an area next to the sea

exporting - to ship things out of a country

lucrative - that is very profitable, makes a lot of money

downside - the negative or bad part of something (sometimes disadvantage)

indicator - a signal or way to identify something

menagerie - a mixed collection, usually used to describe a mixed collection of animals

Botanist - a scientist that knows about nature, usually plant life (in Beatrix Potter's case, mushrooms)

'to hold a dear place in (your/my/our) heart' - idiom - something that you (or in this case a nation) really love and feel affection for

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In this episode you can hear all about my travels.

Remember to email your ESL English questions to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

Vocabulary

Phrasal Verb - 'popped off to Italy' - pop off to (also pop to) - Mostly British phrasal verb meaning to go somewhere quickly or easily.

Phrasal Verb - 'pop up somewhere in the city' - pop up - Used to describe the action of appearing suddenly out of the ground. Often used for animals such as meercats or groundhogs. In this case used to describe the action of using underground transport to go somewhere without an expected or planned destination.

Idiom - 'right on my doorstep' - Used to describe a place that is very close to your home, often in comparison to some other place. In this case Paris is much closer to the UK than South Korea and so can be described as being 'on my doorstep'. 

Phrasal Verb - 'we set off' - Used to describe leaving somewhere to begin a journey.

Vocabulary - auspicious - Suggesting a positive or successful future or outcome (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/auspicious).

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A little bit about my teaching background and some ideas about what you might ask.

Remember you can email your ESL questions to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

Vocabulary

obscure - not clear or very unusual

up-level - to increase your skill or ability

interlude - a break or short time

evolving - changing and developing

a rule book - the idea that we have a set of rules for certain things, it doesn't have to be an actual book, just rules that we can accept seem to exist

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Please email your English questions to: emmaseslenglish@gmail.com

You can find me at www.emmaseslenglish.com. 

Can't wait to hear from you!

Idiom: 'the nitty gritty' - the detailed information about something