Espresso English Podcast

You already know a LOT of nouns in English, but did you know that there are different types of nouns? That’s what we’ll be learning today! Make sure to watch to the end of the lesson, because I’m going to clarify a very common confusion between categories of nouns that many English learners have. There's a lot more grammar to learn - and you can learn it easily in my Basic and Intermediate Grammar E-Books! They have 70+ step-by-step lessons and quizzes teaching you grammar in about 10 minutes a day, so that you can be confident you’re saying and writing things correctly.

Today I want to help you fix a pronunciation problem that I hear in a LOT of students’ English, and that is saying things like this: I ask-ed him to help me. We pre-par-ed for our trip. The mistake is with the verbs in the past, ending in -ED. The correct way to say them is: askt (not ask-ed) pre-pard (not pre-par-ed) It’s a small mistake, but unfortunately it makes it obvious that someone’s not a native English speaker. I’ll explain some simple rules to help you pronounce the -ED ending correctly every time, and we’ll practice together! If you want to improve your pronunciation fast in the next 30 days, then I’d like to invite you into my American English Pronunciation Course.   We’ll go through every sound in the English language and help you speak more clearly, so that you can be confident that other people will understand you!

A lot of English learners are curious about the word “shall.” Is it the same thing as “will”? When exactly do we use it? I’ll answer those questions in today’s lesson. I hope this lesson has helped you understand when people sometimes use “shall” and what it means, as well as the alternatives which are becoming more and more common nowadays, especially in American English.   If you’ve got a question about a word or a phrase, please let me know, because I love getting ideas from students about tips and lessons to create in the future.   And if you want to take your English to the next level, check out my courses and e-books because they can help you improve your speaking, understand better when listening, expand your vocabulary, and so much more!

Today I'm going to quickly clear up confusion between the words wander and wonder. These are two completely different words, but sometimes English learners mix them up because of their similar spelling and pronunciation. For more simple and clear lessons about the differences between confusing words in English, get my e-book, 600+ Confusing English Words Explained! These are words that English learners often ask me about, or often make mistakes with – and when you read this e-book, you can avoid those mistakes and use these words correctly.

Today we’ve got a really interesting question from a student: In English, do we say “congratulations ON or FOR your anniversary”? Listen to the lesson to find out  :-) When you’re learning English, it can be hard to feel like you’ve really mastered the grammar of the language. There are so many rules, so many exceptions, and the grammar might be very different from how it works in your native language.   At Espresso English we’ve got something to help you at every level: Our Basic & Intermediate Grammar E-Books will give you a strong foundation. Our Advanced Grammar Course will really help you reach a high level. So if you’re confused by grammar, if you hate grammar, or if you just want to make sure your grammar is good and you’re not making mistakes all over the place, check out our basic, intermediate, and advanced grammar lessons!

Today let's expand your vocabulary by learning 20 different words for lights - from lamps to lighthouses to lightning (which you shouldn't get confused with lighting). As you learn each word, repeat it after me to practice your pronunciation. Do you ever have trouble remembering the English vocabulary words you learn? It's very common. In fact, lots of students write to me asking what to do about this problem. I have several tips, but one important thing to think about is how you originally learn the word. Is it from a word list, textbook, or dictionary? Well, that's a good start... but your memory will be even more powerful if there's an image - a picture - associated with the new word. That's how we learn vocabulary as children. We don't yet know how to read, but we learn to associate new words with the objects we see. That's why there are lots of pictures and illustrations in my Vocabulary Builder Courses! Each level of the course will teach you more than 1,000 useful words in a simple, efficient way

English has some interesting expressions with the word “business” – and many of them AREN'T related to work. Today you'll learn 10 expressions with "business": funny business [someone] means business [do something] like nobody's business make it your business [to do something] ... and more! If you are learning English for work, my Business English Course will teach you the phrases and vocabulary you need. You'll learn what to say in interviews, meetings, negotiations, phone calls, presentations, networking events, and more. You'll also expand your vocabulary in the areas of management, finance, marketing, human resources, entrepreneurship, and many other topics.

Mistakes are part of language learning... and part of life! Remember that with the word mistake, we always say: “I made a mistake” and never “I did a mistake.” But what are some DIFFERENT phrases native English speakers use to admit mistakes and promise to resolve them? That's what we'll learn in today's lesson. Inside my Everyday English Speaking Courses, you can learn phrases for lots of different situations in everyday life. And if you’d like to focus on correcting mistakes you might be making in English, then a good choice is my 200 Common Errors in English Course! ⭐ Everyday English Speaking Course: https://www.espressoenglish.net/everyday-english-speaking-course/ ⭐ 200 Common Errors in English Course: https://www.espressoenglish.net/200-common-errors-in-english-course/ 

Compound words are made of two words together, forming a new word with a new meaning. For example: bathroom = A room where you can take a bath mailbox = A box in which you receive mail toothbrush = A brush that you use on your teeth Let’s improve your English vocabulary and practice your pronunciation with these compound words around the house. How many of these things do you have in your home? When you expand your vocabulary, you will be able to express yourself better in English because you won’t always have to pause trying to think of the right word. You can increase your vocabulary by 1,000+ words in the next 30 days when you join my Vocabulary Builder Course – it’s a FAST way to learn and practice useful English words! There are two levels of the course – Level 1 is easier, and Level 2 is more advanced. (The words in the courses are different, so you'll learn 1,000+ words in Level 1, and 1,000+ MORE words in Level 2)

The pronunciation of many English words sounds different from the way they appear to be written. Some English words have "disappearing or dropped syllables" - reductions or eliminations of sounds in the middle of the word. One example is the word favorite - we don't pronounce it FAV-o-rit with three syllables. Instead, we say it more like FAV-rit - the "o" syllable disappears. In today's lesson, you're going to practice pronouncing some of the most common English words that tend to have dropped syllables. If you're having difficulty with pronunciation, the key is to practice repeatedly and consistently! You can get that practice inside my Pronunciation & Shadowing Courses. There are lots of exercises for you to listen and repeat, and at the end you get a pronunciation evaluation. When you buy both these courses together, you get a discount, so you can get a lot of pronunciation training for a great price :-)

⭐ Watch the video: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-challenge-day-5/ ✔️ Download the worksheet: https://www.espressoenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Phrasal%20Verbs%20Challenge%20-%20Day%205%20Review%20Practice.pdf Today is the FINAL DAY of our phrasal verbs challenge. We’ve covered a lot this week, but there are still many more phrasal verbs to learn! You can do that inside my Phrasal Verbs in Conversation Course. The lessons in that course teach phrasal verbs through dialogues, so you can easily see how native English speakers use them when speaking.  Let’s get started with our challenge questions! Try to figure out the meaning of the phrasal verb from the sentence, and after a few seconds, I’ll show you the right answer. This brings us to the end of our phrasal verbs challenge! I hope you’ve enjoyed it and learned a lot. We covered 50 phrasal verbs in 5 days, so make sure you also go back and review the lessons to help you remember them better. Your learning doesn’t have to stop here –

⭐ Watch the video: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-challenge-day-4/ ✔️ Download the worksheet: https://www.espressoenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Phrasal%20Verbs%20Challenge%20-%20Day%204%20Review%20Practice.pdf Welcome to day 4 of our phrasal verbs challenge – we’ve been flying through these phrasal verbs, learning 10 a day, every day. I hope you’re enjoying the quizzes; they’re an interesting and challenging way to learn these phrasal verbs because they make you look more actively at the sentence and think for yourself about what the phrasal verb might mean. I’ve got 10 more for you today; let’s give them a try! How many of these phrasal verbs were new to you? Remember to download the worksheet to review and practice these a little more, so that you don’t forget them. And tomorrow will be the final day of this challenge, so make sure to watch the final video. I’ll talk to you then! Learn more in the Phrasal Verbs in Conversation Course: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-in

⭐ Watch the video: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-challenge-day-3 ✔️ Download the worksheet: https://www.espressoenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Phrasal%20Verbs%20Challenge%20-%20Day%203%20Review%20Practice.pdf It’s day 3 of our phrasal verbs challenge and today we’ll learn 10 more interesting phrasal verbs through a quiz where you’ll have to guess what each one means. Do your best – good luck! Phrasal verbs are important to learn, because we use them so often in everyday spoken English. You can learn a lot more phrasal verbs inside my course called Phrasal Verbs in Conversation – those lessons are based on conversations, so it’s really easy to see how the phrasal verbs are used in context. Click on the link in the description for more information about that. And we still have two more days left in this phrasal verb challenge, so stay tuned for the next lesson. Bye for now! Learn more in the Phrasal Verbs in Conversation Course: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-intensive-co

⭐ Watch the video: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-challenge-day-2 ✔️ Download the worksheet: https://www.espressoenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Phrasal%20Verbs%20Challenge%20-%20Day%202%20Review%20Practice.pdf Welcome to day 2 of our phrasal verbs challenge, where we’re learning 50 phrasal verbs in 5 days by looking at them in context. As a reminder, these lessons are quiz-style, and I’d highly encourage you to try your best to figure out each phrasal verb from the sentence. Let’s jump right in. Now that you’ve learned these 10 phrasal verbs, download the worksheet to review and practice by clicking on the link in the video description. I’ll be back tomorrow with the next challenge video! Learn more in the Phrasal Verbs in Conversation Course: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-intensive-course 

⭐ Watch the video: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-challenge-day-1 ✔️ Download the worksheet: https://www.espressoenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Phrasal%20Verbs%20Challenge%20-%20Day%201%20Review%20Practice.pdf Today is the first day of our phrasal verb challenge! Over the next 5 days, we’re going to learn 50 phrasal verbs through quiz-based lessons. Here’s how it works: I’ll show you a sentence with a phrasal verb, and give you three choices for what that phrasal verb means. Your goal is to understand it from the context of the sentence, and try to choose the right option. After a few seconds, I’ll show you the correct answer. After we go through today’s 10 phrasal verbs, then download the worksheet. The worksheet has a reference table of the phrasal verbs, definitions, and examples, as well as a practice exercise where you’ll try to put the phrasal verbs in the right sentences. Learn more in the Phrasal Verbs in Conversation Course: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-intens

Intransitive phrasal verbs examples: https://www.espressoenglish.net/intransitive-phrasal-verbs-in-english/ Separable phrasal verbs examples: https://www.espressoenglish.net/separable-phrasal-verbs-in-english/ Inseparable phrasal verbs examples: https://www.espressoenglish.net/inseparable-phrasal-verbs-in-english/  ✔️ Read the lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-in-english/ Did you know that there are different types of phrasal verbs in English? Phrasal verbs can be... transitive or intransitive separable or inseparable What does that mean? Listen to today's lesson to find out!

Next week we're doing a FREE "Phrasal Verbs Challenge" – and you're invited! Phrasal verbs are combinations of verbs + prepositions like take off, set apart, crack up, and break out - they are very common in English, and they have meanings that aren't always easy to know. In the 5-day "Phrasal Verbs Challenge" you'll learn 50 phrasal verbs fast through fun, quiz-based lessons. The challenge will run from Feb. 21-25 and the challenge videos will be published on this channel – make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss any of them!  If you also want to get the lessons by e-mail, click on the link to register (again, it's free!): https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-challenge/ I’m really looking forward to doing this challenge with you next week – get ready to learn a lot!

In today’s lesson we’re going to practice our pronunciation and learn when to use the words proof and prove, belief and believe. These pairs of words are different by only one sound. Their meanings are closely related, but their grammar is different. If you want to take it to the next level, try to use each one of these words in your own sentence. And make sure to check out my American English Pronunciation Course, where we practice all the different sounds in the language. You even get an evaluation of your pronunciation when you finish the course!

When a person asks you a question in English, it's hard to give a quick answer. How can you reply to questions faster? One way is to learn some of the typical responses to common questions - and in today's lesson you'll learn 100 answers to common English questions!   If you want to improve your English speaking ability for situations in daily life, join my Everyday English Speaking Course. The lessons in this course are based on conversations - with topics like traveling, shopping, restaurants, entertainment, discussions, and more. You'll learn hundreds of phrases so that you can speak English confidently in any situation. Everyday English Speaking is my most popular course, because it's so practical and useful.   "I found the Everyday English Speaking Course to be one of the best. It covers such a wide range of topics – from simple things such as telephone conversations and ordering food at a restaurant to dealing with tricky situations such as how to complain politely and criticize diplomatically.

⭐ 600+ Confusing Words Explained E-Book: https://www.espressoenglish.net/600-confusing-english-words-explained ✔️ Read the lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/confusing-words-in-english-wish-and-hope/ Today I’m going to explain the difference between wish and hope and how to use these words correctly in English – with lots of examples. I hope you put this into practice so that you remember the difference and you don’t mix up these two words like a lot of English learners do. For more lessons like this one, make sure to download my e-book, 600+ confusing English words explained, because it will make the differences between confusing words clear to you. ⭐ 600+ Confusing Words Explained E-Book: https://www.espressoenglish.net/600-confusing-english-words-explained