Today I'm going to quickly clear up confusion between the words wander and wonder. These are two completely different words, but sometimes English learners mix them up because of their similar spelling and pronunciation. For more simple and clear lessons about the differences between confusing words in English, get my e-book, 600+ Confusing English Words Explained! These are words that English learners often ask me about, or often make mistakes with – and when you read this e-book, you can avoid...
Apr 27, 2022•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’ve got a really interesting question from a student: In English, do we say “congratulations ON or FOR your anniversary”? Listen to the lesson to find out :-) When you’re learning English, it can be hard to feel like you’ve really mastered the grammar of the language. There are so many rules, so many exceptions, and the grammar might be very different from how it works in your native language. At Espresso English we’ve got something to help you at every level: Our Basic & Intermediate Gr...
Apr 20, 2022•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today let's expand your vocabulary by learning 20 different words for lights - from lamps to lighthouses to lightning (which you shouldn't get confused with lighting). As you learn each word, repeat it after me to practice your pronunciation. Do you ever have trouble remembering the English vocabulary words you learn? It's very common. In fact, lots of students write to me asking what to do about this problem. I have several tips, but one important thing to think about is how you originally lear...
Apr 13, 2022•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast English has some interesting expressions with the word “business” – and many of them AREN'T related to work. Today you'll learn 10 expressions with "business" : funny business [someone] means business [do something] like nobody's business make it your business [to do something] ... and more! If you are learning English for work, my Business English Course will teach you the phrases and vocabulary you need. You'll learn what to say in interviews, meetings, negotiations, phone calls, presentations...
Mar 30, 2022•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mistakes are part of language learning... and part of life! Remember that with the word mistake, we always say: “I made a mistake” and never “I did a mistake.” But what are some DIFFERENT phrases native English speakers use to admit mistakes and promise to resolve them ? That's what we'll learn in today's lesson. Inside my Everyday English Speaking Courses, you can learn phrases for lots of different situations in everyday life. And if you’d like to focus on correcting mistakes you might be maki...
Mar 23, 2022•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Compound words are made of two words together, forming a new word with a new meaning. For example: bathroom = A room where you can take a bath mailbox = A box in which you receive mail toothbrush = A brush that you use on your teeth Let’s improve your English vocabulary and practice your pronunciation with these compound words around the house. How many of these things do you have in your home? When you expand your vocabulary, you will be able to express yourself better in English because you wo...
Mar 16, 2022•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast The pronunciation of many English words sounds different from the way they appear to be written. Some English words have "disappearing or dropped syllables" - reductions or eliminations of sounds in the middle of the word. One example is the word favorite - we don't pronounce it FAV-o-rit with three syllables. Instead, we say it more like FAV-rit - the "o" syllable disappears. In today's lesson, you're going to practice pronouncing some of the most common English words that tend to have dropped ...
Mar 09, 2022•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast ⭐ Watch the video: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-challenge-day-5/ ✔️ Download the worksheet: https://www.espressoenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Phrasal%20Verbs%20Challenge%20-%20Day%205%20Review%20Practice.pdf Today is the FINAL DAY of our phrasal verbs challenge. We’ve covered a lot this week, but there are still many more phrasal verbs to learn! You can do that inside my Phrasal Verbs in Conversation Course . The lessons in that course teach phrasal verbs through dialog...
Feb 25, 2022•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast ⭐ Watch the video: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-challenge-day-4/ ✔️ Download the worksheet: https://www.espressoenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Phrasal%20Verbs%20Challenge%20-%20Day%204%20Review%20Practice.pdf Welcome to day 4 of our phrasal verbs challenge – we’ve been flying through these phrasal verbs, learning 10 a day, every day. I hope you’re enjoying the quizzes; they’re an interesting and challenging way to learn these phrasal verbs because they make you look more...
Feb 24, 2022•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast ⭐ Watch the video: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-challenge-day-3 ✔️ Download the worksheet: https://www.espressoenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Phrasal%20Verbs%20Challenge%20-%20Day%203%20Review%20Practice.pdf It’s day 3 of our phrasal verbs challenge and today we’ll learn 10 more interesting phrasal verbs through a quiz where you’ll have to guess what each one means. Do your best – good luck! Phrasal verbs are important to learn, because we use them so often in everyday s...
Feb 23, 2022•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast ⭐ Watch the video: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-challenge-day-2 ✔️ Download the worksheet: https://www.espressoenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Phrasal%20Verbs%20Challenge%20-%20Day%202%20Review%20Practice.pdf Welcome to day 2 of our phrasal verbs challenge, where we’re learning 50 phrasal verbs in 5 days by looking at them in context. As a reminder, these lessons are quiz-style, and I’d highly encourage you to try your best to figure out each phrasal verb from the sentenc...
Feb 22, 2022•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast ⭐ Watch the video: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-challenge-day-1 ✔️ Download the worksheet: https://www.espressoenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Phrasal%20Verbs%20Challenge%20-%20Day%201%20Review%20Practice.pdf Today is the first day of our phrasal verb challenge! Over the next 5 days, we’re going to learn 50 phrasal verbs through quiz-based lessons. Here’s how it works: I’ll show you a sentence with a phrasal verb, and give you three choices for what that phrasal verb mean...
Feb 21, 2022•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Intransitive phrasal verbs examples: https://www.espressoenglish.net/intransitive-phrasal-verbs-in-english/ Separable phrasal verbs examples: https://www.espressoenglish.net/separable-phrasal-verbs-in-english/ Inseparable phrasal verbs examples: https://www.espressoenglish.net/inseparable-phrasal-verbs-in-english/ ✔️ Read the lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-in-english/ Did you know that there are different types of phrasal verbs in English? Phrasal verbs can be... tran...
Feb 17, 2022•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Next week we're doing a FREE "Phrasal Verbs Challenge" – and you're invited! Phrasal verbs are combinations of verbs + prepositions like take off, set apart, crack up, and break out - they are very common in English, and they have meanings that aren't always easy to know. In the 5-day "Phrasal Verbs Challenge" you'll learn 50 phrasal verbs fast through fun, quiz-based lessons. The challenge will run from Feb. 21-25 and the challenge videos will be published on this channel – make sure you’re sub...
Feb 14, 2022•1 min•Transcript available on Metacast In today’s lesson we’re going to practice our pronunciation and learn when to use the words proof and prove, belief and believe. These pairs of words are different by only one sound. Their meanings are closely related, but their grammar is different. If you want to take it to the next level, try to use each one of these words in your own sentence. And make sure to check out my American English Pronunciation Course , where we practice all the different sounds in the language. You even get an eval...
Feb 09, 2022•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast When a person asks you a question in English, it's hard to give a quick answer . How can you reply to questions faster? One way is to learn some of the typical responses to common questions - and in today's lesson you'll learn 100 answers to common English questions! If you want to improve your English speaking ability for situations in daily life, join my Everyday English Speaking Course. The lessons in this course are based on conversations - with topics like traveling, shopping, restaurants, ...
Feb 02, 2022•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast ⭐ 600+ Confusing Words Explained E-Book: https://www.espressoenglish.net/600-confusing-english-words-explained ✔️ Read the lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/confusing-words-in-english-wish-and-hope/ Today I’m going to explain the difference between wish and hope and how to use these words correctly in English – with lots of examples. I hope you put this into practice so that you remember the difference and you don’t mix up these two words like a lot of English learners do. For more le...
Jan 26, 2022•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast You know that "right" and "wrong" are the same as "correct" and "incorrect" respectively. These words are also used in a lot of informal expressions and idioms in English - let's learn 10 of them! One of the hardest things about learning English is not being sure if what you're saying and writing is right or wrong... And one of the great things about many Espresso English courses is that they include opportunities for feedback and correction from our teaching team! Feedback on short answers: Voc...
Jan 19, 2022•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we have a great question from a student who asked about the difference between the words lifetime, lifelong, and lifespan. These words all seem to refer to the time period of someone’s life, but we use them in different ways in English. You might have a lot of questions like this one, about the difference between English words that seem very similar or even identical – and you’ll find a lot of answers inside my e-book, 600+ Confusing English Words Explained. The lessons have easy-to-unders...
Jan 12, 2022•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and happy 2022 ! It's a great time to make plans for the goals you want to achieve in the new year :-) Do you have a plan for improving your English this year? If you DON'T have a plan ... you won't know what to study you won't feel like you're making progress you'll lose motivation But if you DO have a plan for your English learning ... it's easier to study consistently you'll know exactly what to learn next you'll be confident that your English is improving day by day! When you join my C...
Jan 05, 2022•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever missed your flight? (Remember that in English we say "I missed my flight" and not "I lost my flight") Today we’ll learn some phrases you can use to talk about bad travel experiences and problems that can happen on a trip. I hope you don’t experience any of these things if you have a trip in the near future… but if you do, now you know some English expressions for describing them. When you’re in a difficult or stressful situation, it can be even harder to speak English while you’re ...
Dec 22, 2021•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s lesson is on two phrasal verbs – take back and taken aback. These look quite similar, but they have very different meanings, and I’ll explain them with examples. I think it’s helpful to learn phrasal verbs in context, inside sentences, in situations where we’d really use them. That’s the strategy we use inside my Phrasal Verbs in Conversation Course . It's an easy and effective way to learn the phrasal verbs that are so common in English! 👉 Learn more inside the Phrasal Verbs in Convers...
Dec 08, 2021•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast In English, we use the word “please” to make requests and orders more polite – but have you ever considered where exactly to put the word “please” in your sentence? In today’s lesson I’ll show you several correct places to put the word “please” as well as a couple that sound unnatural, which you should avoid. "Please" is a word we use every day, so we want to use it correctly. It’s really important to know the most common words and phrases so that you can be more confident speaking English in da...
Nov 24, 2021•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast No matter how much you like your job, there are always a few things to complain about. In today’s lesson we’ll use five sample sentences to learn phrases and expressions for talking about negative points at work. Are any of these complaints true for you presently? Or maybe you’ve experienced these things in the past. Try to write a sentence or two putting some of the expressions we learned into practice. Remember to come check out my Business English Course . In addition to the lessons focusing ...
Nov 17, 2021•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s lesson is going to be a challenge even for me... We’re working on 10 tongue twisters - short phrases that are very difficult to pronounce, even for native English speakers! I like tongue twisters because they’re a fun way to train ourselves to develop very precise pronunciation, and if you can learn to pronounce a tongue twister well, then regular English sentences will probably feel a lot easier by comparison. English pronunciation is really tricky, and I’d love to help you improve your...
Nov 10, 2021•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast In today’s lesson we’ll learn 10 idiomatic expressions with the word LIFE , including: - can't for the life of me - lead a charmed life - put their lives on the line - have a new lease on life - not on your life ...and more! Remember that idioms are short phrases that can’t be translated literally word by word; instead, you need to know the meaning of the whole expression. If you really want to remember the idioms from today’s lesson even better, try putting them in your own example sentence! If...
Nov 03, 2021•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast English spelling can be a real challenge. Because of the way the English language has changed over time, there are LOTS of irregularities and exceptions in the spelling. Although it's difficult, it's important to learn to spell correctly because it gives a bad impression when there are spelling mistakes in your written English. Today you'll learn 15 common spelling mistakes that even native English speakers often make - so you can be aware of them, avoid them, and spell these words correctly! Pl...
Oct 20, 2021•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today let’s expand your vocabulary by learning 40 interesting collocations (combinations of words) with the key words comment, conversation, and speech. This is a free sample lesson from our newest course - Advanced Vocabulary and Collocations - so if you like the lesson, join the course to get more! Do you want to take your vocabulary from "average" to "amazing"? The Advanced Vocabulary and Collocations Course will help you express yourself more fluently, without using the same basic words over...
Oct 13, 2021•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s lesson is a quick tip about a small difference that could really mix you up – do you attend English class, or attend to English class? Watch the lesson to find out! (I'll also explain when to use call vs. call to) It’s in these tiny little details where English learners – even more advanced ones – often make mistakes. And that’s why it’s so important to get some feedback and correction on your writing from a native English speaker. You can get that inside our Advanced English Grammar Cou...
Sep 29, 2021•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Let's practice pronunciation together! We'll work on pairs of words with confusing pronunciation - in which the same combinations of letters are pronounced differently. One very frustrating thing about the English language is that the pronunciation is irregular. There aren’t strict pronunciation rules that you could memorize and always know exactly how words are pronounced – it’s just not possible. There ARE some pronunciation patterns… but there are also exceptions to those patterns! Some lette...
Sep 22, 2021•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
