When you're learning a language, it's common to feel sad about your progress. You want to become fluent... but it seems like that goal is so far away! If you hear an expression that you don't know, or have difficulty understanding a fast conversation, it's easy to lose confidence in your abilities. You might think negative thoughts like "My English is so bad." You might wonder, "Will I ever become fluent in English, or is it impossible for me?" Let me tell you about my language-learning experien...
Jan 27, 2020•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Do you often feel nervous when speaking English? Today I'm going to tell you my top tips for improving your confidence when speaking English. First, I'll give you three reasons why it's important to improve your confidence about your English. Then, I'll teach you three mental exercises and three physical exercises that will help you speak English more confidently! If you do these things, then your confidence will improve! I believe that YOU CAN learn to speak confident English, because I've seen...
Jan 22, 2020•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Every year I like to teach a lesson on new words that have been added to the dictionary recently. The English language is always changing and evolving, and we're always creating new words or new meanings for existing words. Today you're going to learn 10 new words and definitions that were added to the dictionary in the past year. These are just a few of hundreds of new words that have been added to the dictionary in the past year, and I hope you found them interesting! It's really important for...
Jan 15, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's just a couple days away from Christmas, which is a major holiday in the United States. So in today's lesson I'm going to teach you about the difference between the words holiday and vacation. English learners often ask me about this, and it's a little tricky! Now put it into practice! What’s your favorite holiday? Describe it in English. What did you do on your last vacation? Write about it in English. One common expression you’ll often hear in December is “Happy Holidays!” - wishing someon...
Dec 23, 2019•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's lesson is about common mistakes, but first I want to say one thing: Please don't let the fear of errors stop you from speaking English! It's MUCH more important to communicate and practice your speaking, even if it's not perfect. However, one of the fastest ways to correct your English errors is to focus on avoiding the most common mistakes - and I'll teach you 5 in this lesson. In my years of experience as an English teacher, I've heard many of the same errors very frequently, so I crea...
Dec 18, 2019•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you have difficulties in listening to and understanding English, you're not alone. This is one of the most common problems for English learners. It's frustrating and embarrassing when you can't understand, but in this lesson I'm going to explain why it's so difficult and teach you how to improve your listening skills. You can also improve your listening skills by joining my Listening Course , which has 45 lessons with exercises that help you understand more and more. The audios in this course...
Dec 11, 2019•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I’m going to explain the difference between LATER and LATTER. These words are only different by one letter, but they have different meanings and they're pronounced differently, too. That’s all for now! If you want more, you can find lots of great explanations inside my 600+ Confusing Words E-Book. Thanks for joining me for today's lesson, and I'll talk to you later :-)...
Dec 04, 2019•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast After last week's lesson on common informal phrases, a lot of students e-mailed me saying, "please make more lessons like this!" So today I'll teach you more: You'll learn informal spoken expressions like "No hard feelings," "Join the club," and "Just my luck!" (that last one might be different from what you expect...) Let me know if you have any questions about these phrases - or if you have another phrase that you're not sure what it means or how to use it. One of the best ways to learn real p...
Nov 27, 2019•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast There are lots of little phrases that native English speakers use in daily life. But if you don't live in an English-speaking country, then you don't have the chance to hear these expressions - except maybe in movies or TV shows. So today I’ll teach you 8 common informal phrases that you might not find in textbooks - and I'll give you examples of situations in which we use them. Do you want to learn more conversational English? I’d like to invite you to join my Everyday English Speaking Courses ...
Nov 20, 2019•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's lesson is all about the expression "gonna” and when you CAN and CAN'T use it. I'll also tell you about "gonna go" - is this correct? Listen to the lesson to find out. I hope this lesson has been helpful! If you want to learn more from me, come check out my courses , where I can teach you about conversational English, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, phrasal verbs, idioms, business English, and more....
Nov 13, 2019•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's quick pronunciation tip involves a very common verb: the word "say." You might be surprised that there's slightly different pronunciation in the different forms of this word. In this lesson I’m going to ask you to repeat after me, because the best way to practice pronunciation is for YOU to say the words and sentences out loud, not just watch me say them :-) You can get a LOT more pronunciation training inside my courses called American English Pronunciation and Shadowing with Shayna. In...
Nov 06, 2019•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Students often ask me if we can use idioms and slang in professional situations - and the answer is "it depends." Some expressions are not appropriate for the workplace, but there are many that you can use in conversations among co-workers and less formal emails. Today you’ll learn 15 English idioms & phrasal verbs you CAN use at work. There are several more lessons about business idioms inside our Business English Course. This course also teaches you essential words and phrases for professional...
Oct 30, 2019•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast The words experience and experiment might be the same in some languages... but in English they are different, and I often see students confuse them. Both of these words can be both nouns and verbs. Let’s see how exactly they are used. Want more? Check out my e-book, 600+ Confusing English Words Explained , for lots of lessons that will help make these differences clear to you. Also, if you are confused about some English words, reply to this e-mail and let me know, so that I can create future le...
Oct 23, 2019•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I want to answer a question that is important for everyone who is studying English. Many of my students say, "I study grammar a lot and I understand it in theory. But when I speak, I can't think of the grammar in the moment, or it takes too long to remember the rules. So how can I use grammar correctly when speaking English? " This is a great question! It's true that when you're speaking there's really no time to think about grammar rules and to analyze each sentence. But what if the gramm...
Oct 16, 2019•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast When you're studying English, I recommend focusing on learning phrases and not just individual words. When you only study individual words, it's hard to put them together into a phrase - but when you study phrases, then it's much easier for you to use the whole phrase when speaking. The problem is that sometimes you might hear or see a phrase that doesn't seem to make sense. This often happens with idioms and informal expressions. My students ask me about phrases all the time, and today I’ll exp...
Oct 09, 2019•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I'll teach you about some common English-learning mistakes that I’ve observed among the hundreds of students whom I’ve worked with. This lesson is going to be a little different because it’s not about fixing specific words or phrases; instead, it’s about correcting typical problems that language learners tend to have in the way they approach studying. In some ways, these are the most important errors, because these habits or thoughts or attitudes are at the foundation of everything you do ...
Oct 02, 2019•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s lesson is all about spelling mistakes involving adding an extra letter to a word, or accidentally removing a letter from a word. There are so many words in English where these errors can happen, but again I’m going to focus on the most common ones. If you are looking for a quick way to check and correct your spelling and grammar, I recommend Grammarly - it's a free online tool! If you want to get personal correction from an English teacher, then I recommend joining our Advanced English G...
Sep 25, 2019•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Remember that mistakes are an opportunity to learn - and today you'll learn from the mistakes of other students like you. Today's lesson focuses on errors that I and my teaching team have found frequently when correcting students’ homework. Maybe you've made some of these errors in the past, and now you know how to avoid them! But maybe you're making different mistakes, and you want someone to check your English to see if anything is incorrect. You can get correction from a teacher inside these ...
Sep 18, 2019•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this lesson we’re going to look at 7 common pronunciation mistakes in words with confusing combinations of letters.. A lot of students ask me about rules, like how do we know when the letter e sounds like ee vs. eh, or when the letter g sounds like juh (general) vs. guh (get). Although there are some trends in English spelling / pronunciation, there are so many complications and exceptions that I’d encourage you NOT to focus on remembering rules. Instead, when you learn new words, always look...
Sep 11, 2019•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast This month I'm going to teach you about some common errors in English. These are mistakes that I've observed and corrected frequently during my years of helping English learners improve their skills. Today's lesson focuses on common errors with adjectives and adverbs. Do you want to get correction on YOUR English? Join one of our courses that includes teacher feedback! Here are the options: Advanced English Grammar Course + Feedback on writing Reading Course + Feedback on writing Vocabulary Cour...
Sep 04, 2019•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Here in the U.S., we’re in the middle of summer - the hottest part of the year! Today you’ll learn some English vocabulary related to summer and hot weather, with pictures to help you remember the words. Expanding your vocabulary is so important because the more words you know, the better you can express yourself in English. Inside my Vocabulary Builder Courses , you'll learn and practice 1000+ useful words. The lessons include lots of pictures to help illustrate the words, and there are also qu...
Aug 28, 2019•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast A gerund is a word that looks like a verb, but functions as a noun in the sentence. Gerunds are formed by using the -ING form of the verb - reading, swimming, studying, etc. - but when it comes to grammar, they act as nouns. Here are some common ways to use gerunds in English - and some practice sentences so you can use them yourself! You can study grammar for hours, but can you actually use grammar well? It's very important to create your own sentences with the grammar you are learning - this w...
Aug 21, 2019•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast The word spot has a few different meanings in English.The word spot has a few different meanings in English. Here are the three most common: as a noun, a spot is a mark that is a different color.A leopard has spots. as a noun, a spot is a place, location, or area.This is a great spot for camping. as a verb, spot is an informal way to talk about seeing or detecting.He spotted an eagle in the sky. Today we'll focus on definition #2 - spot meaning a place, location, or area. There are many common c...
Aug 14, 2019•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Are you ready to practice your pronunciation? Today we’re going to work on three very common words in English: where, were, and we’re - individually and in sentences. To get the most benefit out of this lesson, don’t just watch... instead, actually repeat everything after me! When it comes to pronunciation, practice makes perfect! If you keep working on it - especially by listening to a native speaker and trying to imitate - your pronunciation will get better and better. I can help you practice ...
Aug 07, 2019•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I'll teach you 10 English expressions with the words "easy" and "hard." These individual words have simple definitions, but when they are used in idioms, the expression might have a different meaning than you expect. You'll learn what it means when we say "easy does it" and "hard pass," as well as "he got off easy" and "that's hard to swallow." Take the lesson to find out what these idioms mean! How can you learn idioms like these more effectively? My 300+ English Idioms Course can help yo...
Jul 31, 2019•8 min•Ep 225•Transcript available on Metacast Do you know when to use "of" vs. "from" in English? Using the wrong preposition is a very common mistake. Many other languages have just one word for both "of" and "from," but in English we use these two words in several different ways. Learning English grammar can seem like an impossible task... but I want to help you do it step by step! That's why I have grammar products for all levels of English learners: Basic & Intermediate English Grammar E-Books Advanced English Grammar Course My students...
Jul 24, 2019•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb + preposition, like get up and find out. Phrasal verbs often have specific meanings that may not be obvious from the words themselves. In today's lesson, I'll explain four phrasal verbs that students have asked me about recently: hook up, plug away, ward off, and whip up. These are just a few of the THOUSANDS of phrasal verbs we have in the English language - and we use them every day! You can learn more than 500 phrasal verbs in the Phrasal Verbs in Conv...
Jul 17, 2019•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Spoken English has a lot of little expressions that are used frequently by native speakers - and some of these expressions are so similar that you might accidentally mix them up. Two such expressions are "give you peace of mind" and "give someone a piece of your mind" - they sound almost the same, but they are in fact very different. I hope this lesson has helped make these expressions clear! As always, try to put the phrases into practice by creating your own examples. If you want to learn hund...
Jul 10, 2019•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast A lot of English learners get confused about the words food, dish, meal, and cuisine. These all refer to the general topic of eating, but there are some important differences in how we use each one. In today’s lesson, I’ll explain when to use these words so that you’ll understand them clearly. If you enjoy my explanations and you want to learn more, then you'll love my e-book, 600+ Confusing English Words Explained! This e-book will teach you the distinctions among "families" of words (like ache...
Jul 03, 2019•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Are you ready for some pronunciation practice? In today's lesson we're going to work on pronouncing English words starting with DR-. There are two small but important details that you need to know in order for your pronunciation of these words to sound good - click on the lesson to learn, listen, and repeat! If you want to train all the different sounds in English and improve your pronunciation, you can sign up for my pronunciation and shadowing courses. There's a discount if you join both cours...
Jun 26, 2019•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
