Hello my lovely English learners! Lori here, your teacher from BetterAtEnglish.com. I love technology, so we’re talking about robots today, but not in the way you might expect. A lot of conversations about robots have to do with whether or not a robot or machine could ever develop genuine feelings or emotions. But today we’re going to be thinking about our own emotions and feelings toward robots, particularly empathy. Can we feel empathy toward robots? And if so, why? Links to pre-listening back...
Nov 30, 2020•21 min
Episode summary Autumn is in full swing here in the northern hemisphere, so this Real English Conversations episode is full of vocabulary related to the colors, weather, moods and feelings associated with this time of year. Lori and her friend Eliza talk about exercising outdoors, the health benefits of spending time out in nature, and whether or not it’s a good idea to pick and eat wild mushrooms. Are you feeling tired and drained? Grab your audio player and some headphones, get yourself to a p...
Nov 11, 2020•21 min
When you watch the news these days, do you trust your eyes and ears? Do you think what you’re seeing is real and happened the way it is being shown? Or is your first reaction to think: Hmm, I wonder if this video is fake? That’s what today’s episode is about, so stay tuned. TRANSCRIPT PREVIEW - Get the full transcript here: https://www.betteratenglish.com/053-is-seeing-believing-deepfakes-and-the-information-apocalypse-transcript Before we get started, I hope you’ll indulge me in a little Better...
Oct 24, 2020•31 min
Talking about fat and fat bodies is a tricky area to navigate in English because the word FAT is so laden with meaning, associations, emotions, and feelings -- and these are different for everyone. In this episode, you'll hear a wide variety of people who self-identify as fat talking about their experiences. You'll hear how they think, feel and talk about their own bodies and how they experience things as a person of size. There are many registers (styles) of English represented here, as well as...
Oct 07, 2020•29 min
Did you know that you can get FREE transcriptions of any podcast in English, and that it's fast and easy to do? That's right, ANY PODCAST! And did I say FREE? If you are serious about your English learning, you will love Otter.ai -- a FREE online service that transcribes audio files. This means podcasts, audio taken from videos, anything at all where the language is fairly clear. All you do is upload the file to otter.ai, and then let the A.I do the rest. It's unbelievably awesome. You can watch...
Sep 29, 2020•4 min
Imagine if you will, the following scenario. You’ve volunteered to take part in a psychology study, say, at your university. All you have to do is show up to the lab, sit by yourself in a little booth and play a very simple game of chance, something like flipping a coin, where there's no skill involved, only luck. You get paid one dollar just for showing up, that’s guaranteed. And if you’re lucky and win the game, you’ll get paid 5 dollars cash. But if you lose, you get nothing. Here’s the kicke...
Sep 21, 2020•16 min
Neighbors can be great friends, but let’s face it: sometimes they can be absolutely horrible. But what do you do when you’re stuck living next to a neighbor who you just can’t get along with, no matter what you try? In this episode of Better at English, Lori introduces you to the “How To” podcast with Charles Duhigg. It’s a conversational podcast that covers ways to deal with all kinds of life problems, and does so in an entertaining and fun way. And best of all, it has free transcripts that you...
Sep 17, 2020•19 min
This is NOT a sales episode, I promise! Seriously, I have found and tested the BEST place to find people to practice speaking English with for free. It only takes 5 minutes to set up an account, and you'll be up and running, practicing your English with nice people from all over the world. No hidden charges, no sales, I promise you...as of September 2020 when I am publishing this podcast, it's 100% free. There aren't even annoying ads! No excuses. Start speaking NOW. :-) You can find free4talk.c...
Sep 14, 2020•9 min
Here comes part 2 of Lori and Will's discussion about A.I. and automation. If you enjoy these podcasts, please take a moment and rate or review. You can find the full transcript at https://www.betteratenglish.com/transcripts. TRANSCRIPT PREVIEW Lori: I heard that...I think it's Pizza Hut already has... or no... Domino's is already experimenting with robot pizza delivery vehicles. Yeah. I mean, this this is happening now. Will: Well, you know, a main...I've been talking about this whole automatio...
Sep 07, 2020•19 min
A study predicts that all human tasks could be automated in the next 30 years. And that all human jobs might be replaced within the next 100 years or so. Holy crap! What will we do when the robots take over? A.I. is coming. The robots are coming. But are we ready? In this Real English conversations podcast from Better at English, Lori and her American friend Will talk about their questions and concerns about the rise of A.I. (Artificial intelligence) and the automation of human labor. You can fi...
Sep 01, 2020•18 min
Hi English learners! Lori here, your teacher from better at English dot com. This little update is just to let you know that new Real English Conversations are coming. I know you love the conversations, and I do love making them for you, but they are quite a lot of work, let me tell you! In fact, I just invested in some fancy new recording equipment that’s going to make it much easier for me to record and transcribe the conversations in the future. Because hey, let’s face it, what good is a conv...
Aug 29, 2020•4 min
Hey there English learners, Lori here, your teacher from BetterAtEnglish.com. I've got a different type of episode here for you today. I'm gonna go through some American English slang expressions, some really common ones that you hear all the time if you're watching American English sitcoms or dramas on TV or Netflix. They're ones that have been in use for quite a few years, and that you hear people in a wide range of ages using. So it's not just super new ones that are just used by teenagers an...
Aug 18, 2020•12 min
The data is clear: some English grammar rules are stupid. Is it ever OK to make a grammar "mistake" on purpose? Is it ever OK to know a grammar rule and break it anyway, even when you know that some people will strongly disapprove? In this episode I talk about English grammar rules that (I and many people think) are stupid, and discuss whether or not it's OK to break them. You'll also hear a short extract from a podcast by Scott Adams, a well known cartoonist and professional writer, talking abo...
Aug 10, 2020•8 min
Hi English learners! Lori here, your teacher from Better at English dot com. It's story time here today, something I don't think I've done here on the podcast before. I'm going to use natural English, but will try to speak just a little more carefully than I normally would, so that more people can follow along. You can find the full transcript of everything I say on my website: www.betteratenglish.com/transcripts Today I've been thinking about mistakes, mainly how the fear of making mistakes in ...
Aug 02, 2020•11 min
A funny thing happened today when Lori was shopping for office supplies, and it involves an industrial-sized package of toilet paper rolls.
Jun 26, 2017
Introduction Hi English learners! Lori here, your teacher from Betteratenglish.com. Last week I shared the first part of a cool conversation I had with Dr. BJ Fogg, all about making the most of your motivation. Today you’ll be hearing part two, the final part of this conversation. If you missed the first part, make sure to go back and listen to part one before you listen to part two. At the end of part one, BJ was telling me about his goal to get better at writing neatly on a whiteboard. He knew...
Apr 13, 2017
What can you do when you're not feeling motivated? What is the best way to use your motivation when you ARE motivated? Find out in this episode of Real English Conversations from Better at English. Lori talks to Dr. BJ Fogg about how to make the most of the motivation that you have, no matter if it's high or low.
Mar 28, 2017•11 min
Introduction Hi English learners! Lori here, your teacher from Betteratenglish.com. In this episode of Real English Conversations, you'll hear part 5 of my conversation with Kyla. This is the final part of our conversation about the book Daily Rituals by Mason Currey. In the previous episode we talked about dealing with distractions and interruptions when you're trying to work. This time we talk about one of the biggest interrupters of all: email. We also talk about ways to structure your day to...
Mar 19, 2017•11 min
Introduction Hi English learners! Lori here, your teacher from Betteratenglish.com. In this episode of Real English Conversations, you'll hear part 4 of my conversation with Kyla. Up until now we've been talking about the book Daily Rituals by Mason Currey. But in this part of the conversation we digress [go off topic] and talk about dealing with distractions and interruptions when we're trying to work. That's one of the fun things about conversations: you never know where they are going to go! ...
Mar 12, 2017•11 min
Introduction Hi English learners! Lori here, your teacher from Betteratenglish.com. In this episode of Real English Conversations, you'll hear part 3 of my conversation with Kyla. We are talking about the book Daily Rituals by Mason Currey. In this part we talk about the routines and practices that many creative people have in common. Now before you listen I have to warn you: this is a particularly challenging conversation. Here is why: because both Kyla and I read the book, we have a lot of sha...
Mar 05, 2017•11 min
Hi English learners! Lori here, your teacher from Betteratenglish.com. In this episode of Real English Conversations, you'll hear part 2 of my conversation with Kyla. We're discussing a book that we both really liked. It's called Daily Rituals, by Mason Currey. The book describes the daily routines and habits of 161 creative people, people like writers, painters, musicians, philosophers, and scientists. Now, while I love the book, I don't recommend it for English learners at lower levels. This i...
Feb 27, 2017•10 min
INTRODUCTION Hi English learners! Lori here, your teacher from Betteratenglish.com. In this episode of Real English Conversations, you'll hear me talking to Kyla, a fellow musician. We met up to talk about a book that we both really like. It's called Daily Rituals, and was written by Mason Currey. But as it turned out, Kyla and I had a lot more to talk about than the book. In fact, we didn't even start talking about the book until several minutes into the conversation. So you'll have to wait unt...
Feb 23, 2017•9 min
In this Real English Conversations podcast, you'll hear Lori and her mom talking about their bedtime routines and what they do to get good night's sleep. The conversation includes lots of idioms and phrases related to going to bed, sleeping, waking up, and daily routines, and these interesting language items are listed in the vocabulary notes.
Jun 08, 2014•10 min
Lori talks to you about one of her favorite quotes: 80% of success is showing up. You'll learn what it means and who said it. And if you're feeling discouraged with your English progress, you'll learn how resolving to keep "showing up" can get you back on track with your learning.
May 26, 2014
Lori burns her arm while making a cup of tea, and can't sleep because it hurts so much. Her mother tries to help her find a way to get through the night. The real English conversation is between Lori and her mother the following morning, discussing what they did to relieve the pain and whether or not it worked.
May 09, 2014
This is the transcript for Better at English "Real English Conversations" podcast episode about perfectionism and procrastination (part 3)
May 05, 2014
Lori invites her mom onto the podcast to discuss telling time in English, focusing on some of the differences between American and British English usage.
May 06, 2010•10 min
Lori and her Dutch friend Yvette return to finish their conversation about perfectionism and procrastination. This time they focus on the strategies that have proved useful in their own battles with this debilitating problem.
Mar 30, 2010
Lori and her Dutch friend Yvette continue their discussion of perfectionism, focusing on how it can cause problems for foreign language learners.
Mar 15, 2010
Do you ever procrastinate? Lori sure does! She and her Dutch friend Yvette talk about what procrastination is, why we do it, and what we can do about it.
Feb 21, 2010
