I go over some near and distant future predictions (as provided by Chat GPT) and share my views on how likely I think they are to happen. I'm a big fan of science fiction and wondering about how different things will be in the future, so I invite you to make predictions with me and use the new words I mention in this episode to practice your English. How accurate do you think I am? Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast270 Level 3 is coming to Level Up English this August! Click...
May 01, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 270
I share some of my opinions on debate questions provided to me by Chat GPT, ranging from general opinions to deeper more philosophical ones. While doing so, I share some useful vocabulary as well as phrases you can use to express your own opinions when debating or arguing. Why not respond to this podcast directly? Leave a common on the shownotes page below using one of the phrases from today and give me your opinion on a topic here. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast269 Leve...
Apr 24, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 269
Fabio Cerpelloni chats with me on the podcast today around the topic of his new book: 'Any Language You Want: 18 Conflicting Lessons for a New Kind of Language Learner'. A collection of contradictory true personal stories in answer to "What's the best way to learn a language?" In each of the 18 chapters, Fabio -- a language learner and teacher -- shares a story about how he mastered English, his second language, and tells you what's the best way to learn another language. In this episode, we dis...
Apr 17, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 268
A listener asked me how they can teach English to their friend, so I decided to give some tips and advice in this podcast episode. I cover some tips you can do to help a friend, partner, or family member learn English - whether this is in a casual setting or a more structured lesson setting. I also cover some mistakes that many beginner teachers make, which will you useful for you no matter what kind of teaching you are interested in. And finally, I talk at the end about some basic steps to take...
Apr 10, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 267
In Episode 255, we spoke about Linking . In Episode 262, we spoke about Elision . Now, in Episode 266, we're talking all about Assimilation. This is the 3rd and final part in our connected speech series, where I look at how spoken English can change the pronunciation of certain words. If you want to speak with a natural British accent, then this is essential to know. In this episode, I'll be looking at times when the sounds of words change so they become easier to pronounce. I'll be doing this w...
Apr 03, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 266
Acronyms are words that use the first letter of each word in a phrase. NASA and LOL are two common examples from very different areas. In the age of the internet, acronyms are now a part of everyday writing and reading, but did you know some are also used in speech? In this episode, I go through some really common everyday acronyms that you need to know and follow each one with an example from my own life. I also end with a list of some more casual texting acronyms that are useful when casually ...
Mar 27, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 265
In this episode, Clare from the Smart English Coach podcast joins us for a fun chat about confidence, limiting beliefs, and language learning. We explore how confidence is so important in language learning and the steps you can take to improve this skill. We also cover interesting stories from our own language-learning experiences and answer the question of whether you can be too old to learn a language. We touched on so many great topics today and I know you'll get something motivational out of...
Mar 20, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 264
Do you love the rambling episodes? Well this might be for you! Today, I go over my recent trip to Japan and discuss some of the things I did, but mostly reflect on the language experience I had there. Learning Japanese, it was great to go back and practice. In this episode, I share the positives and the negatives and tie it up into some takeaways that should benefit all language learners. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast263 Level 3 is coming to Level Up English this August...
Mar 13, 2024•48 min•Season 1Ep. 263
Textbook English is different from spoken English, and a big part of this comes down to pronunciation and how things are said in real conversations. This is Part 2 in my series on pronunciation, where we first looked at Linking in Episode 255, and now we're looking at Elision. These are both features of connected speech that share some similarities. In this episode, I share an example of elision followed by a question or challenge for myself that I also ask you (the listeners) to do as well! Sho...
Mar 06, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 261
I get a few requests to continue my series on Phrasal Verbs, and specifically, I had one recently to cover phrasal verbs that use the verb 'turn'. I thought of as many common ones as I could and made a list, and then I went through my memories to recount some memorable travel stories from my life. While doing so, I used these 'turn' phrasal verbs in a natural context. I encourage you to do the same too! Practice like this is the best way to learn. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/...
Feb 28, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 261
Dylan (from the YouTube channel British Education) joined me for a fun games session today. We're using games to have a conversation and practice English, and we encourage you to play along too. If you have a teacher or language partner, we also encourage you to try these games for yourself. We actually recorded for about 2 hours together, but I cut it down a lot to fit into this week's podcast. We played 20 Questions, Would You Rather, Riddles, and 2 Truths and a Lie. We also spoke for a long t...
Feb 21, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 260
Since this episode falls on Valentine's Day, let's discuss the topic of Love and Relationships. I'll be basing this episode around a group class I taught before where we discuss some questions related to relationships, such as having a long and happy marriage, and how to break up with someone. I also have the help of Chat GPT who gives some brilliant advice for all relationships out there. There will also be a few phrases you can use to talk about relationships . I'm sure at least one will be ne...
Feb 14, 2024•32 min•Season 1Ep. 259
Just a few days into 2024, I already made 2 very big and expensive mistakes. In this episode, I share what happened and exactly why I made these mistakes, and then I talk about some possible lessons that I should learn from these mistakes. I also spend a bit more time discussing the importance of making mistakes and the right mindset to have when it comes to mistakes in life and in language learning too. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast258 Level 3 is coming to Level Up Eng...
Feb 07, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 258
In this episode, we're taking a deep dive into Blue Zones - 5 areas around the world where people live a long time with great health. I'll be sharing my uneducated views on why this might be, but also looking at the Power 9 - 9 reasons why researchers believe life expectancy is so long in these places. For those of you who want to learn some new English along the way, I'll also be trying my best to include some dependant prepositions and their phrases too. I'll explain more about this in the epi...
Jan 31, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 257
Bree Aesie from Into The Stories Podcast joins us today for a conversation about meditation and stories. This was one of my favourite conversations yet, packed with lots of life lessons as well as English learning tips and motivation. Since Bree's podcast is all about looking at stories, we start by turning the tables on Bree and I ask her to share a meaningful story for her. We talk about her 10-day silent meditation retreat in Thailand and some of the difficulties and lessons from that experie...
Jan 24, 2024•51 min•Season 1Ep. 256
Textbook English is different from spoken English, and a big part of this comes down to pronunciation and how things are said in real conversations. You may understand English learner material easily, but then really struggle when it comes to watching TV or movies. What I discuss in this episode may be the reason why. This is the first part of a series I’m going to do on pronunciation, and this episode will be about something called Linking. Linking is when a consonant sound connects from the en...
Jan 17, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 255
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 your own vi...
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 longer episode ...
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 immersion, video games,...
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://www.levelupe...
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://levelupenglish.school...
Dec 06, 2023•36 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 you t...
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 fascinating conversation...
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 podcast, one of...
Nov 08, 2023•40 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, the thing...
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 - ht...
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•24 min•Season 1Ep. 241
