English is a language we call a stress-timed language . Perhaps it's unusual, because many other European languages are syllable-timed , especially Latin-based languages, like Spanish and Italian, for example. I'm going to explain and give examples of what a stress-timed language is. I'm also going to read you a poem . It's by a poet called Robert Southey, who was a poet in the 18th century. And he wrote a series of adventure poems, and one of these I'm going to read you today. It is called The ...
Oct 18, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Graded reader for B1 and B2 students. You can buy the book and follow the reading every week of each chapter. In this chapter, Isabel and Philip go for a coffee and talk about the mysterious missing play. Philip explains to Isabel the history of the first copies of Shakespeare's plays. https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-42.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 ...
Oct 15, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 42
This is a podcast on tips for approaching the part 1 sections of both the IELTS and the Cambridge FCE speaking exams. It's about the brief questions you will be asked and how to answers them: the vocabulary, grammar and linking words to make your answers coherent. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words an...
Oct 13, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Hello, and today I'm going to talk to you about the passive voice . I'll talk about its structure, about how to change from the active voice to the passive voice and why we use the passive. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam " is now available! This book g...
Oct 11, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Chapter 3 of the reader for learners of English progressing from B1 to B2. In this chapter, Isabel takes the bus to the Globe Theatre and meets Philip. Philip gives Isabel a tour of Shakespeare's theatre but Isable then reminds him they must talk about the mysterious lost play. Book written for intermediate level learners of English and now with audio. The Tudor Conspiracy... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisin...
Oct 08, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 39
And today I'm going to talk to you about... that. Exactly that... going to . I'm going to talk about going to . Now I think the going to structure is something that most learners of English acquire quite quickly. Why? Well, because it's quite intuitive to talk about the future . And we usually feel that if we use going to , we will always get it right. But I'm going to talk about another aspect or another use of going to , which is to talk about predictions in the future . Contact Mike Bilbrough...
Oct 06, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Now, in English, there is a structure that we use when we talk about other people doing things for us. And that is have something done . If you go to the hairdresser's, well, you don't cut your own hair, do you? You ask somebody else to do it for you. And that person is the hairdresser. So afterwards, we say, I went to the hairdressers today, and I had my hair cut. I'll also discuss another structure, which is to get someone to do something . https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-37.htm Cont...
Oct 03, 2021•6 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Chapter 2 of the reader for learners of English progressing from B1 to B2. In this chapter we learn about Isabel's job in Arthur's Antique Bookshop. Mr Fanshawe asks Isabel to set out on a mysterious mission to search for a very special book. The TudoerConspiracy is available as a paperback book and in Kindle on Amazon. Find out more here at my book website: https://mabilbrough.com/ Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.pr...
Oct 01, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Hello, and today I'm going to talk to you about subject and object questions . Questions with and without inversion and auxiliaries: do, does or did. And I'm going to explain just a little, because I think this is revision really rather than a full explanation. I will also tell you a very old Nasreddin story called The Dinner Party with some examples of these questions types. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisin...
Sep 29, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In the series of vocabulary about the house, this week you can listen to vocabulary about my balcony, and views from it - interesting collocations about the things you find there and use. Audio script at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-34.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases St...
Sep 27, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 34
The Tudor Conspiracy (first chapter) a book for students progressing from B1 to B2 English, which can be listened to with the book available on all Amazon platforms. This week we learn about Isabel, the university student from Seville and how she found her job in the strange little antique bookshop in London. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builde...
Sep 24, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 33
This is about the recent events in La Palma island where a volcano has erupted and destroyed much property and land. This podcast for practising English will use example of the passive voice. If you go to https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-32.htm , you can read the audio script and see the examples of the passive. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocab...
Sep 22, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Formal and informal English is the third in this series and follows episode 13 and episode 26. In this episode I talk about the formal language of complaints and how we need formal language to express strong opinions so that the reader takes notice. I'll also mention how literary language also sounds more formal. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Bu...
Sep 20, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 31
This is the final episode of H.G. Wells short story. Today Mr Fotheringay's miracles go catastrophically wrong. Find out the terrible things that happen in this last part of the story - find out how all of Mankind is destroyed... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the...
Sep 17, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Discussing the names of common tools we have at home, hammer, screws, nails, saw and drill etc. and looking at the idiomatic and metaphorical use of these words in English. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam " is now available! This book gives the learner ...
Sep 15, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Not just words from the bathroom like, soap, towel and toothbrush but also useful idioms and collocations about what we do in the bathroom. Listen to me giving you a tour around my bathroom and learn expressions like "have a nice soak in the bath" and "scrub your back". Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Wo...
Sep 13, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 28
The third episode of H.G. Wells' The Man who could Work Miracles (part 3). The language of this short story has been adapted a little for learners of English at B2 and C1 levels. This week Mr Fotheringay demonstrates the miracles he is able to do but Mr Maydig is already thinking that he could do a lot more than turn a vase of flowers into a bowl of fish... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contac...
Sep 10, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 27
And this is the second episode about formal and informal English - how to identify the formal and informal words and how to use them. And when we use them. This is a follow-up of podcast 13 on formal and informal English. I'll talk about word and sentence length and why these structures may sound more formal. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builde...
Sep 08, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Today I'm going to talk to you about future continuous and future perfect . And what I would like to do is to try to put them into context for you with tenses and aspects of tenses that you already know such as present perfect and present continuous etc. You'll see that they all function in the same way - the only difference being that each is placed in a different time zone... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practis...
Sep 06, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 25
The second episode of H.G. Wells' The Man who could Work Miracles (part 2). The language of this short story has been adapted a little for learners of English at B2 and C1 levels. This week Mr Fotheringay gets into trouble with working miracles so he goes to ask for advice from the local priest. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short S...
Sep 03, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 24
I'm going to talk about walking holiday s and make a comparison with the popular beach holida y. This is useful practice for the long-turn monologue of IELTS speaking test or the discussion part with your partner in the Cambridge exam. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pa...
Sep 01, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 23
B1 / EELTS 4.5. Zero and first conditionals, the structure, how to use them and real-life examples of the conditional usage for listening practice and with audio script. See my new graded reader novel for B1 and B2 level students: The Tudor Conspiracy... See the audioscript at: https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-22.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English ...
Aug 30, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Short story in English by H.G. Wells in four parts with updated language so to be useful for learners of English but still in the H.G. Wells style. Part 1 - Mr Fotheringay finds out he has a special gift - he can work miracles. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B...
Aug 27, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 21
A visit to my kitchen and a description of the utensils you'll find there, the expressions used and also some related food vocabulary too. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam " is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 e...
Aug 25, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 20
I'm going to talk to you about indirect questions . In fact, I'm going to talk to you about direct question s as well. So what is a direct question? Well, an example is, What is the time, please? Now, an indirect question has a little phrase before the direct question. Something like, Could you tell me what the time is, please? Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 Englis...
Aug 23, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 19
The history of Britain's favourite drink and some useful vocabulary about how to make a nice cup of tea. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam " is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge ex...
Aug 20, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 18
A funny story using vocabulary connected with a doctor's surgery and also some basic tools we use at home and the grammar point about present perfect continuous for actions that begin in the past and are still continuing. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam...
Aug 18, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 17
And today I'm going to talk to you about extreme adjectives . And also about the adverbs that qualify them or that go with them. So what do I mean by extreme adjectives? Well, we could divide the adjectives into two groups. Those adjectives which are gradable , we say, by gradable, we mean that those adjectives can be less or more. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 En...
Aug 16, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Hello. And today I'm going to talk about two verbs go and come . Now, they're very common and very simple verbs, aren't they? Well, they do have complications in their use for learners of English. Let's talk about them. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam "...
Aug 13, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Today, I'm going to talk about language around the bicycle . When you get on your bicycle, you say you push off , you push off and you start pedalling. Isn't it lovely to go out on your bicycle on a sunny day, when it's not too hot, not too cold? At the moment, I'm cycling along the river - along by the side of the river. Now, I think the first thing we could talk about is the all the different parts of the bicycle. Okay, of course it's got two wheels . And the wheels have tyres, TYRES, which ar...
Aug 11, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 14
