In this episode, I'll be talking about driving culture in the UK. There are a lot of interesting laws and unwritten rules that are reflective of British culture. So whether you will be driving in the UK or not, I think this will be interesting for you. I share some of the big differences between driving culture in the UK and in Thailand, as well as my own experience taking my driving test when I was a teenager and how it might compare to your country. Of course, I also make sure to share lo...
Mar 05, 2025•53 min•Season 1Ep. 314
Let's explore the expression "The Grass is Greener on the Other Side". In English, this is used when we view other situations as better than our own. In fact, no matter what we have, we tend to value what we don't have more. I explore the meaning of this expression in some detail, examples from my own life, and also some common ways we all experience this along with some ideas on how to overcome the negative sides of this idea. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/...
Feb 26, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 313
Today I'm doing a rare in-person discussion with Teacher Zdenek . Zdenek has more than 12 years of experience in various settings, primarily teaching English learners of levels B2-C2. He's taught English in the Czech Republic, UK, Ireland and most recently Vietnam. Zdenek has also moved to Vietnam, and that's why we were able to meet up nearby in Bangkok for a casual discussion. We speak about moving abroad, learning the local language, habit-building, teaching English, naughty to...
Feb 19, 2025•53 min•Season 1Ep. 312
This is a big habit masterclass episode! We'll be diving into the basics of creating habits, how to keep them going without giving up on your goals, and also how to kick some bad habits that are holding you back. I also give examples of successes and failures based on a lot of my own habit-building experiences. As you can tell by the length of this episode, this is a topic I'm truly passionate about and something I've been focusing on for my whole adult life. I really do believe t...
Feb 12, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 311
The goal of this episode is to share as many useful healthcare vocabulary as I can think of. I first begin by comparing my medical experiences in the UK and in Thailand, and then go through some of my specific medical problems and injuries in each country where I go through my symptoms and share my views. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast310 This free video series will take you through a few lessons to Level Up your English quickly. Join me! Click here to sign up = ht...
Feb 05, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 310
Cleft Sentences are an area of English grammar that is used in daily conversation, but isn't often taught. I don't know many things, but what I am knowledgable about is English! (There's an example!) In this episode, I first explain two of these grammar patterns that you can follow, and then I go through some questions about travel, life experience, and work while answering using this grammar. And of course, I encourage you to do the same. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish....
Jan 29, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 309
Ben Gill from To The Point English joins us today for a great, detailed overview of the Cambridge English exams. Ben covers all sorts of topics and questions related to these exams on his YouTube channel (particularly B2, C1, and C2 levels). The exams are huge and we could talk about them for days, so in today's episode, I try to ask Ben a couple of common questions for each paper of the exam. We talk about tips for the listening exam, what accents to prepare for in the speaking exam, how m...
Jan 22, 2025•56 min•Season 1Ep. 308
For the past 6 months, I've been noting down the most common mistakes I see English learners make in preparation for this episode. I go through them one by one and give examples from my own life to give you some context for each one and show you how they're used. Some of these are simple mistakes, and others look at the subtle differences between two similar phrases. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast307 This free video series will take you through a few lessons to...
Jan 15, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 307
I've been tracking my own language learning for over a year and it's amazing to see my progress and time invested over that period. In this episode, I share with you the lessons from tracking all this data every day for one year, the benefits of doing so, and why doing something similar might be beneficial to you. Don't forget to join the discussion by leaving a comment in the shownotes or wherever you listen to this podcast. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast...
Jan 08, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 306
As an annual tradition here on the podcast, let's talk about New Year Resolutions! I'll be talking about how 2024 went for me - looking at work goals, personal goals, and bucket list goals. I then move onto looking ahead to 2025 and plan for the year ahead. A lot can change, but I'm discussing some goals I have for the upcoming year with the goal of enjoying the year and learning more. Head to the comments below and join in with the conversation by sharing your own reviews and goa...
Jan 01, 2025•44 min•Season 1Ep. 305
In this episode, we'll be going around the world to 5 different countries and looking at their different Christmas traditions. While doing this, I'll be sharing one expression with each one that you can use in daily conversations at any time of the year. I also talk a little bit about the differences in my experience between Christmas in Thailand and the UK. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast304 Sign Up for Free Lessons - https:/...
Dec 25, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 304
Today I'm joined by Emma ( Adventure into English ) for a conversation about group vs solo activities. Emma has been helping with the group classes at Level Up English for some time now, so it's an appropriate topic for today. We start by discussing some Would You Rather questions for activities that can be done as a group or on your own. We then move onto some English expressions around the topic of groups and working together. These are expressions you can use in your daily life, and...
Dec 18, 2024•52 min•Season 1Ep. 303
Mental Health is something we should all take seriously and I believe there's a lot of crossover between language learning and having a healthy mindset. This was a request from a listener to cover this topic. Although I am of course, not a professional, I do love the topic, so I share 18 different methods that I used to improve my own mental health and bring happiness into my life. I hope you find some of them useful too. Of course, as always, I mention loads of fantastic English words and ...
Dec 11, 2024•46 min•Season 1Ep. 302
You may know that British people are famous for using the word 'sorry' all the time. In this episode, I talk about this habit and how much truth is behind it, but I also share the different situations in which we would say 'sorry' in the UK - and maybe more generally in the English-speaking world too. Sorry is so much more than a word used when you make a mistake and it can have many different meanings. There are also many different ways to apologise and say you're sorry...
Dec 04, 2024•51 min•Season 1Ep. 301
In Episode 300 of the podcast, Akari from the Nihongo For You podcast joins me today for a chat about teaching languages, moving abroad, and learning English. In the second half of the episode, we talk about life experiences where I ask Akari questions using the present perfect tense about things she has done before. It's a great opportunity to practice the grammar and see it used in the context of a regular conversation. Perhaps you could also answer along at home and practice for yourself...
Nov 27, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 300
In my last episode, I spoke about my cycling trip to Taiwan. While there, I had a lot of time alone to think to myself with no distractions. In this episode today, I'm going to share some of the things I was thinking about. One of these was the idea of Hedonic Adaptation (also known as the Hedonic Treadmill). This is something that we all face as humans and might just be the key to understanding how to be happy and content. It's a really useful topic when it comes to being happy with w...
Nov 20, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 299
I took 2 weeks off in October to ride a bicycle around the whole of Taiwan. It was over 1000km and took about 2 weeks to complete. Along the way, I had both good and bad experiences and there's a lot I'd love to share! I also filmed a lot of videos of my cycle, so if you'd like to see, you can watch this episode on YouTube - The Level Up English Podcast . This is perhaps the longest solo episode I've ever recorded, but throughout the episode, I talk about the good and the bad...
Nov 13, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 298
The Comparison Trap is when we get stuck comparing our lives to other people and feeling worse as a result. It's a common problem in language learning, and this is something that I often experience too since I was inspired to make this episode after a moment of comparison made me feel worse. We often compare ourselves to others in many ways, such as income, appearance, skills, and on social media. In this episode, I cover all of these topics while sharing some useful comparative grammar str...
Nov 06, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 297
Curiosity is an important thing to practice to be better English language learners and enjoy your life more. When we start learning a language, we’re naturally very open and curious to learning new things. It can be an amazing feeling when you’re really into something and you’re looking up every little detail. However, along the way, we naturally get more complacent and we begin to take things for granted. This curiosity fades into daily habits and routines. Curiosity makes language learning so ...
Oct 30, 2024•46 min•Season 1Ep. 296
Megan is a teacher from Manchester, UK who has been teaching for 10 years and recently made the move to online classes. Megan specialises in Business English for professionals and improving spoken fluency, so in this episode, we talk all about jobs. We start out discussing dream jobs and finding the right job for you. I then quiz Megan on some really useful English business expressions that you can use both in and out of the workplace. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast295 T...
Oct 23, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 295
Let's look at 3 ways we can use 'used to' in English. We'll look at the different grammar and way we structure these terms while answering fun and interesting questions on these topics. I encourage you to answer these questions either in your personal studies or by leaving a comment in the shownotes below. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast294 This free video series will take you through a few lessons to Level Up your English quickly. Join me! Click here ...
Oct 16, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 294
This is a really fun episode all about the recent progress of AI (Artificial Intelligence) - specifically in the area of audio and music. I share a few songs that were made by AI about this podcast that I think will blow your mind. I had a lot of fun with it. I also share my thoughts on the future changes that AI will bring to the world, some jobs that will be lost and others that will be safe from AI and automation, and much more. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast293 This ...
Oct 09, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 293
I'm exploring a topic I truly love today and looking at the most unusual and strange places on our planet. I'll be talking about the highest cities, hottest places, coldest places, and much more in today's episode. This is a great opportunity to practice your knowledge of superlatives (using EST to talk about the most of something). Check the shownotes page below for more information on the words, and join as a member to access bonus learning materials to help you remember the lan...
Oct 02, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 292
In today's episode, we're exploring the topics of optimism, pessimism, and realism. These are different attitudes towards life and the future and can have a massive impact on your happiness and mental health. I go over the definitions and words, discuss some possible benefits of being pessimistic, and give many tips on how and why you can be more optimistic in life. A really fun episode filled with English vocabulary, and hopefully quite motivational too. Show notes page - https://leve...
Sep 25, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 291
Paola from the Talaera Talks podcast and I are doing a cross-post episode today. You can also find this episode and many more over on their podcast. The topic is all about jobs, careers, and business English expression. We start by asking questions to each other, using our own work experience to give examples of when to use these expressions. We then talk about advice on how to get a job when English isn't your first language, and a bit on work-life balance. Show notes page - https://levelu...
Sep 18, 2024•55 min•Season 1Ep. 290
One of the listeners suggested I talk about the topic of work-life balance. This is something I've been working on in my own life for many years, and I feel like I might have something useful to share on this topic. So in this episode, I talk about a few tips that you can implement to have a better sense of work-life balance and enjoy your life more, regardless of how many hours you have to work each day. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast289 This free video series will...
Sep 11, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 289
I recently went back to my home country - the UK - for the first time in a quite a while and was fascinated by how the UK appeared to me after being away for a while. There was a lot that I found strange, unusual, and interesting that I wasn't really aware of while I was still living in England. In this episode, I discuss some of my feelings and culture shock experiences, and perhaps some of you can relate to these experiences when you visit the UK for the first time. Show notes page - http...
Sep 04, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 288
I just came back from a trip in Europe and I thought I'd get on the microphone today and review some of the good and bad experiences I had there. I made the adventurous decision to travel from London all the way to Istanbul by train (listen to the episode to see why I didn't make it all the way!) In this episode, I talk about my experience sleeping on trains, my time in each country, and why I suddenly changed my travel plans. There are also some useful expressions and vocabulary to he...
Aug 28, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 287
Fran from Step Up Japanese and I discuss a few different topics in today's episode, including: The Shikoku 88 Pilgrimage (walking around the Japanese island of Shikoku) The Tadoku reading method for languages An embarrassing language mistake on TV And more! If you're a fan of hearing casual British English conversations, and also finding out something new about language learning, then this should be a good episode for you. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast286 This...
Aug 21, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 286
This is the fifth episode in the AMA series (Ask Me Anything) where the listeners of the podcast ask me questions about English learning, British culture, or maybe something totally unrelated. They're also fun, relaxed, and more casual than regular episodes. Hopefully, you'll learn something new in this one while enjoying the topics. If you want to submit questions for future episodes, the best place is on my Instagram page: @englishwithmichael Show notes page - https://levelupenglish....
Aug 14, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 285
