I answer listener questions on all sorts of topics - ranging from British culture to the fairness of life! And of course, English language questions too. It was a fun episode and you all gave great questions. I always enjoy these episodes because they feel a bit more casual and laid-back compared to the usual ones. If you want to ask a question for next time, the best place to do that is on my Instagram - @englishwithmichael Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast254 Sign Up for ...
Jan 10, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 254
Let's look at some conjunctions (also known as connectives ) to help improve your conversation and debating skills in English. Conjunctions are an effective way to make your sentences more complex and sound much more natural - rather than simply using a string of short, simple sentences. We'll also be looking at more phrases, such as adverbs. In this episode, I share them in a natural way while sharing my own opinions on some controversial and interesting debate topics. Can you share y...
Jan 03, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 253
Welcome back to one of my favourite episodes of the year - one filled with reflections and goal-setting at the end of the year. I love this time of year because it's a natural rest point for thinking about how the previous year has gone, and what we'd like to change going forward. It's a great time to think about your goals and progress with your English learning, but also other areas too and consider what you want to get out of the next year, and your life! Join me in a slightly ...
Dec 27, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 252
Gregory Diehl is an English teacher and author of the new book: Our Global Lingua Franca: An Educator’s Guide to Spreading English Where EFL Doesn’t Work. It's a fascinating book looking at Gregory's experience teaching in many countries all around the world from Thailand to Iran, and we talk about this extensively in this episode. We talk about why English is so important to learn, Gregory's bad teaching experiences, the problems with school and teaching English, getting immersio...
Dec 20, 2023•56 min•Season 1Ep. 251
Let's learn to use hypothetical situations with confidence in this episode on Mixed Conditionals. It's been a long-time suggestion from listeners, and I've finally decided to get to it. I cover some different types of conditional structures in a casual way, and ask you questions to think about making your own sentences. I hope you find this episode useful, and perhaps more importantly, fun! Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast250 Sign Up for Free Lessons - https...
Dec 13, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 250
In this week's episode of the Level Up English podcast, we dive into the fascinating world of statistics. Prepare to be amazed by some truly unbelievable facts! I'll start by covering a few random statistics, ranging from sleeping with a teddy bear and not washing your hands. You'll be shocked at some of these! We'll then talk about the UK specifically and share some tourism-related stats on the country as a quiz. How many can you answer correctly? Show notes page - https://l...
Dec 06, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 249
Over the past few months, I've been meticulously tracking my language learning process for Japanese, Thai, and Chinese Mandarin on a Google Sheets doc. In this episode, I discuss the results of this data and we look together at the graphs that represent my study time. There are some really interesting patterns and trends that I can learn from, and I have several conclusions that shocked me. I had no idea what mistakes I was making before tracking my time! I am also sharing the template for ...
Nov 29, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 248
Paul Creane joined me today to talk about his exciting lifestyle of being a Digital Nomad. We talk about what this means in the episode as well as lots of other useful terms related to this topic. We also cover what it's like to live in a van, travel in Asia, Housesitting, and all the apps and platforms Paul uses to help him live the life he does. It's always great to hear new perspectives and ways of living, and today's conversation might just inspire you. It's a really fasc...
Nov 22, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 247
I am a big fan of reading for the purpose of learning a language as well, of course as listening, which is why I make podcasts. If you want to improve both of your listening and reading as well as your vocabulary, then this should be a good resource for you today. In today’s episode, Ariel Goodbody will tell you a story, but pre-teach some of the harder vocabulary first. This is a crosspost episode where Ariel shared one of my episodes on their podcast, and I am sharing a story I enjoyed from Ar...
Nov 15, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 246
In this episode, I will be talking about the IELTS Speaking exam. I know the IELTS exam isn't going to be relevant for everyone, although I always like to mention that preparing for the exam can also be great practice for English in a general sense. I'm sure those who have taken the exam before will agree that their English improved during the process. So even if you're not taking the exam, I really hope this episode will be useful for you in some way. Since the beginning of this ...
Nov 08, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 245
Over the years doing this podcast, the topic of exercise seems to have come up a lot when making comparisons to language learning, so I thought it was about time I made an episode where I talk all about it. In this episode, I talk about exercise and some of the benefits, teach you some useful expressions, and make some links on how exercise and language learning are similar and benefit you in the same ways. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast244 Sign Up for Free Lessons - htt...
Nov 01, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 244
I get comments occasionally from people who say “I want to be like a native speaker” and “I don’t want to learn from non-native speakers. In this episode, I'll argue the benefits of learning from non-native speakers as well as natives, and not closing yourself off from learning. The main thesis here is to stay open-minded in language learning and I explore some reasons why. I cover some ways in which non-native speakers might be preferable to native speakers, and even when they're not,...
Oct 25, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 243
In this episode, I have a great and casual chat with Zhifei from Xiaogua Chinese about language learning, using flashcards, the best mindset for learners, getting a good English accent, and much more! We also talk about my own Chinese learning methods and share ideas on the best way to learn two languages at once. There's a lot of useful information in this long episode, and I hope you find it useful listening practice for your English too. Xiaogua Instagram Xiaogua YouTube Show notes page...
Oct 18, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 242
For many of us, pets and animals are a huge part of our lives. We spend a lot of time and money looking after our furry friends, and I definitely have a huge soft spot for animals - especially cats! In this episode, I talk about choosing the right pet, dog people vs cat people, my own experiences with pets and vets, dealing with the loss of a pet, and share lots of useful phrases and expressions useful for daily English speaking. Join the conversation below. Show notes page - https://levelupengl...
Oct 11, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 241
I’ve been living in Bangkok, Thailand since the beginning of August, so it’s been over 2 months now. This is the longest I’ve spent in one place outside of my home country before. One of our group class students requested an episode sharing my thoughts and experiences after moving here, and I decided to give it a go. In this episode, I’ll be talking about what’s changed here and some big differences I’ve noticed between the UK and Thailand. I’ll be sharing the good and the bad, things I miss and...
Oct 04, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 240
Memory is something we've covered a few times on the podcast before, but it's always worth coming back to with more ideas and tips. In this episode, I share advice on how you can stop forgetting English vocabulary, 2 methods of learning new vocabulary that suit all types of learners and personality types, expressions related to memory and forgetting, and at the end I give some advice on general memory and forgetfulness. I think there's a lot of value packed into this episode so li...
Sep 27, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 239
Every now and then, I invite the members of Level Up English to join me for a chat about different topics. This time, we spoke about giving advice. In the end, only 3 people joined, which was quite a nice casual group. All members gave some amazing advice and also used some really good vocabulary. I hope you enjoy this episode! In this episode, we cover: Advice on being happy Advice on getting good sleep Advice on learning languages And problems we're facing in life Show notes page - https:...
Sep 20, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 238
Cara Leopold ( Leo Listening ) joins me once again on the podcast to discuss the benefits of learning English in groups with her experience teaching group classes based around movies, as well as some good movies and TV series she likes to use to practice and teach English. If you've caught this episode in 2023, Cara is relaunching her Movie Club course. You can try it out for one week in September to see if you like it. We talk more about this in the episode too Show notes page - https://le...
Sep 13, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 237
In this episode, we'll be talking about some patterns you can remember when adding UP to verbs. Here are some examples: cloud up, clear up, finish up, drink up, break up One of the Level Up Members recently asked about the difficult part of phrasal verbs where we add ‘up’ to a verb and why we do this. I decided to make an entire episode about it because it’s not an easy thing to get your head around. Part 1 was Episode 224 . I decided to stop the episode halfway because 1 hour of listing ph...
Sep 06, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 236
I had a great audio question sent in today about learning with comprehensible input. So in this episode, I cover some of the ideas behind the comprehensible input method, and then explore the input hypothesis from Stephen Krashen and how these ideas might benefit your language learning methods. As always, keep in mind we are all different and learn in different ways, but I think a lot of these points will be relevant to most of you. Perhaps you can take something away today that you can implemen...
Aug 30, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 235
Steve Kaufmann is a polyglot who has a good level of proficiency in around 20 languages. Steve is well known for his content online and on his YouTube channel, Lingo Steve . You've probably seen him before! Today he joined me for a really fascinating chat about language learning. I cover some of his recent YouTube videos and ask for tips on some of these topics. If you want to know more, I highly recommend going to his channel for more details. In this episode, we cover: Language learning m...
Aug 23, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 234
On the private podcast last week, I chatted a bit about my experience in China and then ended on the idea of the benefit of being silly in your language learning. I thought it was a really interesting and potentially useful topic for people to hear, so I decided to turn it into a public podcast episode too. In this episode, I’ll be talking about reasons why you shouldn’t take yourself too seriously, and how inserting more silliness into your life can benefit you - both generally and to help your...
Aug 16, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 233
I recently made a huge change in my life and I'm announcing it to everyone in this episode today. I'm going to talk a little bit about this change, why I made it, and some of my feelings about the future. I then talk about change in a more general sense and give you some tips (inspired by Atomic Habits) to help you in life and language learning, as well as some useful expressions related to change. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast232 Sign Up for Free Lessons - ht...
Aug 09, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 232
Do you know how to use the word 'dear'? A lot of people get confused with this term, and honestly the answer isn't as simple as you may think, so let's look into that today. I'll cover the ways in which we use this word and why you might not want to say it to strangers. This is a re-share of a video I posted on the English with Michael YouTube channel, so thanks for your patience with me during this busy time! Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast231 Si...
Aug 02, 2023•21 min•Season 1Ep. 231
A listener requested a topic on the housing market in the UK, so I thought I'd give it a shot and make it as interesting as I can. In this episode, I talk about the housing crisis the UK is currently going through, my own experience with buying a house and share some interesting sayings and idioms too. As always, we look at lots of useful and high-level vocabulary. Do you know the word 'insurmountable'? Let's learn it today! Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/pod...
Jul 26, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 230
Kevin Stroud from the History of English Podcast joins me for a fascinating discussion and dive into... well, the history of English! In this episode, we talk about a variety of things, including: Why TH doesn't have its own letter In what part of England the language was standardised? When did the first dictionaries come Why there are so many French words in English Why we have so many silent letters Why we have different words for animals and meat (pig, pork) Where English surnames come f...
Jul 19, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 229
This week I’m beginning to come down with a cold. I can feel my throat getting hoarse and it hurts to swallow, and I probably don’t have much time before I’ll be unable to record a podcast episode, so let’s get this done quickly! Getting sick is something we all have to deal with at some point, so although it’s not the cheeriest of topics, it’s an important one to cover since there are so many great expressions we can use to talk about this. I’ll be covering a lot of those today as well as tips ...
Jul 12, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 228
I had a listener question about Phrasal Verbs and why some of them use prepositions even though the meaning seems to be the same without them. Can we say "Check it" and "Check it out"? What's the difference? I break down this question in detail and also talk about the difference between literal and idiomatic phrasal verbs. I hope you learn a lot today in this useful and information-packed episode. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast227 Sign Up for Fre...
Jul 05, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 227
This is the first AMA (Ask Me Anything) episode I have done since #84! It's been a while, but this is where I reach out to Instagram to get some questions for me to answer on the podcast. If you like these episodes or have a question to submit for a future episode, get in touch with me on the website below or on Instagram . Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast226 Sign Up for Free Lessons - https://www.levelupenglish.school/#freelessons Join Level Up English - https://cour...
Jun 28, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 226
Aubrey Carter from All Ears English and IELTS Energy joins me today for a chat about the IELTS English exam, and a few other topics. We discuss tips for the exam as well as some interesting slang and vocabulary that would be useful for all learners! Should you use formal or informal English? Should you improve your English or study the exam structure ? Useful vocabulary Using idioms and slang New English words that we have learnt recently And more! Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school...
Jun 21, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 225
