The word 'actually' is not an easy word to use in English for learners. In this podcast, I explain its meanings and uses and give lots of examples from my podcast stories. There's a full transcript with this episode, which you can read at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-163.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 f...
Jul 10, 2023•22 min•Season 2Ep. 163
In today's podcast, I'm going to show you how to use present perfect , and that if you avoid present perfect, you may lose points in your Cambridge exam , especially at B1 level and above. I'm going to play some extracts from my stories here on Practising English as examples of present perfect use. I include the transcript so you can listen and read. See transcript at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-162.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practisi...
Jun 28, 2023•23 min•Season 2Ep. 162
In this final part of the story (see part 1 at Podcast 160 ), Simon prepares for his part in the play, and life seems to be getting better for him - but will everything happen the way Simon imagined? Lots of B1 adjectives to listen for about personality: alike, uninterested, embarrassed, ashamed, uncomfortable, charmimg, shy, stressed, nervous, serious, confident. Enjoy the story! Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.prac...
Jun 11, 2023•14 min•Season 2Ep. 161
Part 1 of this B1-level short story with vocabulary about the theatre. In this first part, Simon Willoughby is a very shy man but is attracted towards Phillipa, but Phillipa is also a member of the local amateur dramatics group... 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 th...
Jun 05, 2023•20 min•Season 2Ep. 160
Short story called The Fool on the Hill for B1 learners of English. Useful personality adjectives and other vocabulary at B1 level. 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 (sp...
May 22, 2023•27 min•Season 2Ep. 159
The second and final part of the short story "Who was Sidney Peabody?". Listen for the adverbs I use in this story. The language is for B1-level students studying for Cambridge PET exam or similar. https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-158.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 Student...
May 07, 2023•26 min•Season 2Ep. 158
Part 1 of this story about someone who performed a miracle - or did he? B1 English study. Words for calculating: plus, minus, divide by, multiply by. Part 2 of this story on Sunday May 7th. https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-157.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 Students Need t...
May 01, 2023•31 min•Season 2Ep. 157
Vocabulary about climate change for B1-level students. The Great Dying refers to a time millions of years ago when the Earth warmed so much that most animal and plant life could no longer exist. I include a short story about the next Great Dying. Let's work together so this will never happen. https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-156.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW boo...
Apr 16, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 156
Use of adjectives and adverbs in your B1 stories. A short story about a an English boy and a French girl and what happened when they met. 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 ex...
Mar 28, 2023•29 min•Season 2Ep. 155
A B1 short story about a walk on the white cliffs of Dover. Vocabulary to describe the countryside and the weather. https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-154.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 Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam " is now available! This book gives the learner enough ...
Mar 14, 2023•17 min•Season 2Ep. 154
Today, I'm talking about useful cognates at B1 level. Useful, because they can be used in the Cambridge Preliminary or First exams instead of repeating words like 'fantastic' or 'great'. There's a story for the B1 writing at the end - even though it's longer than the usual 100 words! 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 L...
Feb 27, 2023•20 min•Season 2Ep. 153
This episode is for B1 students with lots of useful language to talk about describing a house. It's an extract from a short story by O. Henry set in New York at the beginning of the 20th century. I also give you some tips on how you can quickly increase your B1 word power by using vocabulary in the writing and speaking parts of the Preliminary Cambridge exam which is easily learnt. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.pra...
Feb 13, 2023•24 min•Season 2Ep. 152
After Twenty Years was, originally, a short story by the US writer O. Henry. I've completely re-written the story for B1-level English students with lots of useful language at the B1 level. I also talk about the different words we use to talk about crime... 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 Phras...
Jan 31, 2023•16 min•Season 2Ep. 151
A B1 story about an island in the sea and a young girl's hopes and dreams for the future. B1 English with useful expressions about the sea and about learning. For more help with studying towards a B2 level, get my book The Tudor Conspiracy at https://amzn.to/33Axu2N For more help with your B1 and B2 level English study, visit my website at https://www.practisingenglish.com/ Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisinge...
Jan 16, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 150
Today, to celebrate Epiphany, I'm going to release the audio version of my book for children learning English - Carlos and his English, The level is at A1 to A2. I invite you to buy this brightly illustrated book (written and illustrated by myself, M. A. Bilbrough) for your children or a younger member of your family as much of the story will be better understood when the pictures are seen. I enclose a link here to a full synopsis of the book https://mabilbrough.com/carlos-synopsis.htm and a lin...
Jan 03, 2023•45 min•Season 2Ep. 149
As we approach Christmas, we think more about being generous and being kind to others. This is a short story about generosity. This is a B1-level podcast for learners of English. For more help with your English, visit https://www.practisingenglish.com/ Also, check out my book for B1 students working towards B2 - The Tudor Conspiracy at https://mabilbrough.com/ Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/con...
Dec 23, 2022•14 min•Season 2Ep. 148
Continuation of the study of six more idioms at B2 level. Some are hidden in a story that you must listen to and find. The six idioms in the podcast are: have an eye for something can't keep/take your eyes off somebody/something look somebody in the eye be a piece of cake take your breath away cross your mind Check your answers at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-147.htm Also, check out my book for B1 students working towards B2 - The Tudor Conspiracy at https://mabilbrough.com/ Contact...
Dec 09, 2022•20 min•Season 2Ep. 147
A study of six idioms at B2 level. Each one is hidden in a story that you must listen to and find out which it is. The six idioms are: break the ice break sb's heart be a pain to lose track be over the moon from out of nowhere Check your answers at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-146.htm Also, check out my book for B1 students working towards B2 - The Tudor Conspiracy at https://mabilbrough.com/ Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English P...
Dec 01, 2022•21 min•Season 2Ep. 146
This is a B1-level story with a few surprises. There are lots of useful B1 level words in it, and, as usual, I'll explain some key words before we start. If you would like to read one of my full-length stories, and you're a B1-level student studying for B2, you could buy buy my book The Tudor Conspiracy... https://amzn.to/33Axu2N For more exercises to improve your English, visit my website, www.practisingenglish.com Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practisin...
Nov 22, 2022•18 min•Season 2Ep. 145
This is a story about a family. There's quite a lot going on in this family but that's not very obvious unless you listen very carefully. The story is told from the point of view of a six-year-old boy and his ten-year-old sister. I've written this story for B1 students with lots of B1 language all the way through. As usual, I'll explain some key words before I start. Come to www.practisingenglish.com to find exercises for B1 and B2 English. Get my book for learning B2 English The Tudor Conspirac...
Nov 08, 2022•21 min•Season 2Ep. 144
There is a place off the west coast of Scotland called the Inchcape Rock and on that rock many, many years ago there used to be a bell to tell the ships of the danger. This is a story about that rock and about pirates. It's a B1 level story with lots of useful B1 vocabulary. Come to www.practisingenglish.com to listen to more stories like this. You can also buy my book for B1 students: The Tudor Conspiracy ,,, Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising Engl...
Oct 28, 2022•16 min•Season 2Ep. 143
This is a B1-level story that I wrote based on a poem by Robert Southey. It's a story about terrible things and revenge. It has lots of verbs especially that are at B1 level and essential to study. Come over to www.practisingenglish.com to see more exercises to learn English or see my book The Tudor Conspiracy for B1 to B2 level students. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: ...
Oct 19, 2022•21 min•Season 2Ep. 142
This is a B1 session on clothes. I did a session on buying clothes at podcast 96 but this one looks at important B1 vocabulary describing clothes and talking about different parts of articles of clothing. Come over to www.practisingenglish.com for more English help... Here we go... 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 Lea...
Oct 10, 2022•11 min•Season 2Ep. 141
After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, I wanted to write a few lines about what she meant to me and to so many other people from the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. This is a B1 and B2 level podcast and there's a short poem at the end. Visit my site www.practisingenglish.com for more help for B1 and b2 level students. 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...
Oct 01, 2022•13 min•Season 2Ep. 140
And welcome to www.PractisingEnglish.com , where I'm going to tell you another story. Now, the story today, I suppose you could say it's about identity, our self-identity. It's very important to know who we are, the part we play, our role in society. Usually, perhaps that is defined by the job we do, or what we do with other people, how we behave. It's important to know who we are. And this is a little story about that, I suppose. But there again, on the other hand, it could be just a silly stor...
Sep 25, 2022•11 min•Season 2Ep. 139
Welcome back to Part Two of the story, which I started last week, called The Spaceman . I think the story has a message. And the message is about addiction. It's not about addiction to drugs or addiction to alcohol, or smoking. Listen to the story and think what is the addiction which is referred to here. So I'm going to continue then, with the exciting part two of the Spaceman. Here we go... Visit www.PractisingEnglish.com for more podcasts and English help. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a questi...
Sep 15, 2022•12 min•Season 2Ep. 138
So today I'm going to tell you a story about space. The area above, around the Earth, planet Earth, where the stars and the planets are found. The story is called The Spaceman. I'm going to tell this story in two parts. Today, part one, and this is a B1-level podcast with lots of useful B1 language in it. And I will start off with telling you a few words related, connected to the subject of space. Visit www.practisingenglish.com for more B1 language help and exercises. Contact Mike Bilbrough wit...
Sep 07, 2022•16 min•Season 2Ep. 137
This is a B1 level podcast for learners of English. Are bullies stupid, unintelligent? If that were always true, then when somebody is bullied at school, he or she just needs to get their big brother and the bully will run home crying to his mother! Just like so many stories in comics. If it were that simple, then bullying in schools today wouldn't be the huge problem it is. I've written a story about a school bully, who probably doesn't fall into that category of coward or stupid, or does he? L...
Aug 31, 2022•24 min•Season 2Ep. 136
If I say the word 'vampire', I think you'll know what it means. The monster from the dead with two large sharp teeth is known throughout many cultures and countries even though it's meant to be a fictional character. The definition of 'vampire' in my Oxford English dictionary reads: 'A dead person who leaves his or her grave at night to suck the blood of living people'. My story today is for B1 level students of English and it is called just that - Vampire! For more stories and exercises at B1 a...
Aug 19, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 135
This is a story I wrote specially for B1-level learners of English. It contains a lot of B1 language that is useful to learn. The story also contains useful language about English gardens. The story is called The Cucumber... Come over to www.practisingenglish.com podcast 134 to read the audio script and see the answers to the questions... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: ...
Aug 12, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 134
