English as a Second Language Podcast (ESL Pod) You can only master a language by comprehending what you hear. If you don't get it, you're not learning anything. Our lessons are simple, clear, and easy to follow. We break down everything as you listen and read. You comprehend, your English gets better, and you can speak it fluently. It's easy. It's effective. It works.
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Driving in a big city like L.A. can be so stressful . It sometimes feels like I'm doing battle just to get to the grocery store, much less across town . What is it about getting behind the wheel that brings out people's aggressive side? The most mild-mannered mother of three turns into a race car driver when she gets on the road. In L.A., people rely on the freeway to commute to their jobs or just to get around town. I think driving on the freeway has it's good and bad. On the one hand, there ar...
Spring cleaning is supposed to take place before summer, not after it. But, as usual, I procrastinated and now I have to finally get rid of all the junk I've accumulated over the year. But now there are no if's, and's, or but's about it --the cleaning must be done!I start in my bedroom. I have a king bed, with a sheet on the mattress and a top sheet , with pillow cases on the pillows . At top all that I have a down comforter . Well, they all need to be washed, so into the machine they go. Next I...
This is turning out to be a month for seeing old friends. I got an email a couple of weeks ago from an old friend from graduate school . She and her family are visiting L.A. for a week. They plan to see family and to visit old friends. Since she moved out of the country, I hadn't seen her in ages . I'm looking forward to meeting her new kids and seeing her again. Another old friend called this week. She and I were buddies in our undergraduate days. She plans to swing by L.A. on her way to San Fr...
Well, I was born and raised in Minnesota, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to be exact. I won't say how long ago that was, but let's just say I'm no spring chicken . I grew up there with my rather large family of 8 brothers and 2 sisters. (I was the baby of the family, but I swear I wasn't spoiled !) We were 13 in all, probably the biggest family in the neighborhood, maybe in the state. I had a mostly happy childhood . My father and mother didn't have a lot of money, but we were never worried about keepi...
My computer has been acting up on me. It's a pretty old model , and I need to replace it. So I decided to call up my friend Kevin to ask for his two cents. Kevin is a computer whiz . He knows PC really well since he worked on them for years, but in his heart of hearts , he is a big Mac fan. So, I thought he would be good person to ask. I have always used a PC. I do mostly word processing so I don't need anything fancy. But, I see people I know doing cool things with photos and video, so I’d like...
ESLPodcast 19 - Going Shopping Tags: Shopping Audio Index: 15:33 Believe it or not, I don't own an iPod. I know, I know. I'm really behind the times, but I have an excuse. I've been so busy at my work lately, I haven't had time to take a break. So finally yesterday I went shopping for an iPod down at the mall in Santa Monica. I walked into the Mac store there and was immediately greeted by a salesperson. He asked, "Can I help you find something?" "No," I said, "just looking." I don't like the fe...
ESLPodcast 18 - Getting Around (Fast) Tags: Daily Life , Transportation Audio Index: 15:34 Getting around in the United States is sometimes not very easy. Most people own their own cars, but not everyone can foot the bill for the car, plus the insurance, gas, and maintenance. Most big cities have buses, but they are much slower than a car. Several cities in the U.S. have subway systems, but many do not. There are even fewer trains that transport daily commuters. In cities such as Los Angeles, pu...
ESLPodcast 17 - Going to the Movies (Fast) Tags: Entertainment Audio Index: 20:00 I love watching movies. I like a lot of different genres. No matter what my mood is, I can always find something that fits the bill. When I'm feeling down, I sometimes like a good comedy. My favorite are romantic comedies. The plot is pretty simple. A boy meets a girl and there are road blocks to them getting together. The lead actors are usually likable people, the supporting cast give comic relief and villains ar...
ESLPodcast 16 - Summertime Vacations (Fast) Tags: Travel Audio Index: 18:41 I think the best summer vacation I've ever taken was when I went out East a few years ago. Two of my friends and I went on a two-week road trip. At the time, I was living in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the Midwest of the United States. Anyway, we started off camping every night, but that got real old, real fast. So we started checking in to hotels after about the third day. We were headed for Washington, DC first. Checking i...
ESLPodcast 15 - Going to a Concert II (Fast) Tags: Entertainment Audio Index: 14:52 My friend Ben and I have been waiting a month to see our favorite band in concert. This was the night. We were so excited. In a small venue like the Whiskey, there wouldn't be a bad seat in the house. So, we get to the Whiskey really early to find street parking and snagged a spot about four blocks away. Then, we got in line which was already about 20 deep. There were two bouncers outside of the bar and they were...
ESLPodcast 14 - Going to a Concert I (Fast) Tags: Entertainment Audio Index: 15:47 I heard on the radio this morning that my favorite band was going to be in concert here next month. I was so excited. The first thing I did was to call my friend Ben who is also a big fan of the band. Not only was the band playing in town, they were going to play at a bar called the Whiskey. The Whiskey is known as a small, intimate venue so we’d be able to get close to the band. It's not a big amphitheater where ...
ESLPodcast 13 - Dining at a Restaurant II (Fast) Tags: Dining Audio Index: 14:52 I love coming to this Italian restaurant. The appetizers and desserts are to die for. When the waiter came to our table to take our order, my friend ordered a lobster ravioli dish, and I ordered my favorite, lasagna. The waiter then asked us, "Would you like a soup or salad with that?" My friend said yes; I passed on both. The vibe in the restaurant is pretty laid back, not at all uptight like you find in some of th...
ESLPodcast 12 - Dining at a Restaurant I (Fast) Tags: Dining Audio Index: 12:13 Well, I love going out to restaurants to eat. One of the best experiences I've had recently was at a place here in Los Angeles called Il Fornaio . It's an Italian restaurant in a very nice part of Beverly Hills. I don't go there very often--I can't really afford it, but every once in a while I'll treat myself. The last time I went, I walked in with a friend and I was greeted by the hostess . She asked how many people...
Interview It would be great if I could always feel happy all the time, day in and day out. But sometimes I feel down. This is one of those days. Sometimes I get depressed if something disappointing happens—like if I interview for a job and I don't get it, or if I have to cancel my vacation after looking forward to it for a long time. Once in a while, I'll even feel down if I've read a very sad book or have seen a movie with a sad or tragic ending. Well... None of those things happened today, but...
Telephone Conversation Good morning, Roth and Company. Good morning. I'm trying to reach Michael Dobson. I'm sorry, Mr. Dobson is not in the office. Would you know if he will be in today? I'm afraid I don't know Mr. Dobson's schedule. Oh, I see. Well... I wonder if I could leave a message for him. Sure. I can take a message. Please let him know that Susan Kale called, and would you please ask him to call me at his earliest convenience? Would you spell your last name? Sure. It's Kale. That's spel...
Dr. Jeff McQuillan guides listeners on how to make polite requests in English, covering formal and informal situations. He shares personal stories of asking for vacation, a raise, and a date, highlighting effective and less effective approaches. The episode provides in-depth explanations of key phrases like "May I," "I was wondering if," and "Would you mind," offering practical guidance for improving speaking fluency.
Personal Email Hi, Julia. I'm sitting here in front of the computer in our apartment writing this email to you. It feels so weird not to have you here. You were my roommate for four years after all. I really miss having my best friend here. But enough with feeling sorry for myself. I am so happy to hear that you're getting settled in New York City. I'm trying to imagine what it's like for you—first, getting your dream job, then moving to an amazing city and starting a whole new life. I'm really ...
Mary's Response I love to eat, but I don't like to cook—not at all. I probably don't like to cook because I'm really bad at it. When I was growing up, my mother did all of the cooking in our house. But I never did learn how to cook any dishes at all. And so when I went to college and I moved into my own apartment, I had to learn how to cook a little bit. Usually what I made were very simple instant things, like ramen noodles. I bought a lot of TV dinners. And I also bought a lot of frozen pizzas...
I do have nightmares sometimes. I do have bad dreams. A lot of my bad dreams are things like I'm being chased by someone and I can't get away from them, or I'm hiding from them. Some other of my bad dreams involve not being able to get home. I'm trying to get home and there are a lot of different obstacles that I have to get past before I get home. And I usually wake up before I get there. So I find it very frustrating. These bad dreams make me really tense. And when I wake up, I'm very, very st...
Today we're going to talk about favorite places to live. I'm going to talk a few minutes, and then we'll go back and listen for some particular vocabulary. Let's get started, shall we? Well, I would say that my favorite place to live is in a big city. I've lived in a medium-sized city, a city of about 500,000 people. And now I live in a city—Los Angeles—of three and a half, four million people. It's difficult in some ways living in a big city. There's lots of traffic and there are lots of people...
This episode explores the host's personal struggles with various bad habits, detailing his journey from smoking to quitting cold turkey and his current aversion to the smell. He also shares his moderated alcohol consumption and his transition from coffee to a diverse range of teas. The discussion concludes with a detailed explanation of key English expressions like "give in," "cold turkey," "can't stand," and "can't handle."
In this episode, Lucy discusses her strong preference for city living, particularly Los Angeles. She highlights the city's continuous activities, cultural diversity, diverse food options, proximity to the ocean, and warm weather as key attractions. However, she also addresses the significant downside: severe traffic congestion. The episode concludes with vocabulary explanations for terms like "traffic jam" and "rush hour."
My name is Jeff McQuillan, and let's get started. Today we're going to talk about family and family members, and in doing so, we're going to go over some idioms and expressions related to expressing likes and dislikes. We focus on two questions today: What family member are you most like, and what family member are you least like? Well, my family member that I think I have the most similarity to or that I resemble the most would be my sister Therese. There are a couple of reasons why I think tha...
Dr. Jeff McQuillan introduces the ESL Podcast, designed for intermediate to advanced English speakers aiming to enhance their listening and speaking skills. The podcast offers daily, free content featuring "real English" spoken at a slightly slower pace, with each episode divided into a topic discussion and a vocabulary explanation. Listeners are encouraged to re-listen and utilize website resources like scripts to maximize their learning.
