Did you know that in more formal English, we tend to avoid using two-word verbs like ask for, throw away, and give out? These are very common in everyday spoken English, but we typically use slightly more formal words when writing professionally. Today you'll learn how to transform10 informal sentences into more formal ones that are appropriate in business English. If you're learning English for your career, then you'll find my Business English course very helpful! You can join for 50% off until...
Feb 27, 2023•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’ll learn some common mistakes with the words a, an, and the. These are some of the most frequently used words, so you want to be sure you’re using them correctly. I’ll teach you about 5 mistakes English learners often make. If you want to fix your English mistakes fast, come join my course about 200 Common Errors in English. When you learn how to avoid mistakes, then you can speak and write more confidently!...
Feb 22, 2023•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’re coming up to Valentine’s day on February 14th in the U.S. This holiday celebrates love and romance, so today’s lesson will teach you 20 essential words and phrases for talking about love and relationships. I’ve divided today’s vocabulary into three groups – starting a romantic relationship, being in a relationship, and ending a relationship. When you want to expand your vocabulary, it’s very effective to learn groups of words like we’re doing today. This keeps the vocabulary more organized...
Feb 14, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I’m answering a question from student who asked about the difference between device (spelled with a C) and devise (spelled with an S). Let's learn together! English has lots of words like this – different by just one letter, or just one small sound. I’d love to help you learn even more confusing words, so that you can use them correctly without mixing them up and saying the wrong thing. 600+ Confusing English Words Explained will teach you these words clearly, so that you can speak and wri...
Feb 08, 2023•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I’ll teach you 10 different ways to say “I’m busy.” Many of us have busy lives these days, and that’s why I make my lessons “short and sweet,” so you can learn lots of English in little time.Today I’ll teach you 10 different ways to say “I’m busy.” Many of us have busy lives these days, and that’s why I make my lessons “short and sweet,” so you can learn lots of English in little time. I designed my Complete Program the same way – it includes more than 600 lessons, and each one takes just ...
Jan 25, 2023•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I’d like you to consider this question: Is your English unbalanced? If something is unbalanced, it means it is not equal, it is not even. There is more in one part, and less in another part. What does it mean for your English to be unbalanced? Learning a language has many different aspects: Reading Writing Listening Speaking Grammar Vocabulary If you are strong in some areas , but weak in others , your English is unbalanced. Some students read a lot - even advanced texts - but they can't u...
Jan 18, 2023•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Let’s talk about goals! The English word "goal" has both a sports meaning and a non-sports meaning – and today we’ll learn 20 common collocations (combinations of words) with "goal." I want to help you reach your goal of becoming fluent in English! That’s why I created a Complete Program of courses and e-books that will help you improve all your skills - from speaking and listening to grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and much more. January is the best time to join because you get the best pri...
Jan 18, 2023•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast In today’s lesson you’ll learn the sentence structures we use for talking about plans and goals, hopes and dreams – with lots of examples. But first let me ask you: 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 co...
Jan 11, 2023•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Many people make special plans and goals at this time of year, and we call these "new year’s resolutions." In today’s lesson we’ll learn lots of different phrases for them. Now is the time to set your English-learning goals! If you’re looking for a step-by-step program that will help you make real progress towards fluency all year long, come join the Complete Espresso English Program. In the month of January, you can get ALL the courses and e-books in the program for the best possible monthly pr...
Jan 04, 2023•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast When learning another language, it's easy to make the mistake of being a little bit rude, since you might not be aware of the phrases that are considered " polite " or "impolite" by native speakers. I’m sure you already know to say “Please”, “Thank you,” and “Excuse me” – but today I’ll teach you 15 more ways to make your English sound more polite. Polite English is especially important if you're learning English for your job or career. You want to have good relationships with coworkers, make a ...
Dec 14, 2022•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Do you ever notice that we use the word “said” a lot? He said this, she said that, then I said something else. Now there’s nothing wrong with the word “said,” it’s perfectly fine – but the English language has TONS of other options. Today we’re going to learn 40 words you can use instead of “said” – and as you will see, each one adds some extra meaning. If you want to expand your vocabulary even further beyond basic words, then you’ll love my Advanced Vocabulary and Collocations Course ! The les...
Dec 07, 2022•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I’m going to explain why we never say “more better.” English learners sometimes say things like, “My English is getting more better” – but it’s ALWAYS incorrect. Take the lesson to learn the right way to express comparatives! I hope this helps make things clear! If you already understand this well and you’re ready for a more advanced study of grammar, come join my Advanced English Grammar Course , where we go into much more detail on grammar topics that will help you master the English lan...
Nov 23, 2022•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Once I asked my students, “What are the most difficult English words for you to pronounce?” and I got a lot of great answers! Today we’re going to practice 15 words that English learners often find hard to say. I’ll say each one once slowly, once at normal speed, and then I’ll say an example sentence – so listen and repeat after me each time. Did you know that you can improve your pronunciation a LOT in the next 30 days when you join my American English Pronunciation Course ? By doing a lesson a...
Nov 16, 2022•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast The verb “be” is one of the most common words in the English language – but it has different forms, like be, being, and been . Do you know when to use each one correctly? I’ll explain it today, with plenty of examples! If you’re looking for simple, clear, step-by-step grammar lessons, check out my Basic & Intermediate Grammar E-Books. They’ll teach you essential English grammar so that you can use it confidently without mistakes. Each lesson in the e-books also has a quiz for practice, and they ...
Nov 09, 2022•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I’m answering a question from a student who asked how to use the phrases “I couldn’t agree more” and “I couldn’t care less” – so today I’ll explain them by using a couple of mini-dialogues. When you’re learning English phrases, it’s so helpful to learn them in context – that way you can see how people use them, and understand the phrases better. That’s why the lessons in my Everyday English Speaking Courses are based on conversations! First you read/listen to a conversation, and then you l...
Nov 02, 2022•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I want to help you avoid a very common mistake that lots of people make – and that is writing the word “grammar” like this: G-R-A-M-M-E-R. There’s actually NO “e” in the word grammar; the correct spelling is G-R-A-M-M-A-R. But when we speak, we pronounce it like “er” – grammer , not gram-MAR – so that’s why people often misspell it with -er. It’s an understandable error. There are actually lots of words in English that end with -ar or -or in an unstressed syllable, and we pronounce them mo...
Oct 19, 2022•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I’m going to teach you 10 English idioms for talking about problems and difficulties. Speaking of problems, idioms like these can be a problem when you’re learning English! When you’re watching TV or listening to a native speaker talk, you’ll often hear idioms and they’re hard to understand because you can’t translate them word-for-word; you have to know the meaning of the whole expression. My course called 300+ idioms in 30 days will teach you tons of common idioms in a way that’s especia...
Oct 12, 2022•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we have a GREAT question from a student who asked: “Which is correct: if I was… or if I were…? ” The answer is that we use BOTH in English, but in different situations! I’ll give you some good examples to make it clear. Try to practice this right away by writing two sentences – one with “if I were” and one with “if I was” – to help you remember when to use each one correctly! Do you sometimes find yourself frustrated by English grammar? The problem might be that nobody has explained it to ...
Sep 28, 2022•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’re going to learn some very practical phrases that native English speakers use for making invitations and responding to them - whether you want to accept the invitation (say yes) or decline the invitation (say no). When you know the phrases that native English speakers use, then you can use them confidently without worrying if your English sounds strange or wrong. That’s why I created the Everyday English Speaking Courses – to help you learn real phrases and expressions for daily life! ...
Sep 21, 2022•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's the goal that every English learner dreams of... being FLUENT in English! But what's the fastest way to get there? Today, I'm going to tell you my opinion and response to this question.
Sep 08, 2022•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you're working on improving your spoken English, you might have a problem with pauses . Maybe you start a sentence, but you hesitate because you're not sure how exactly to express your thought in English. You know how to say it in your native language, but you're just not sure how to translate it. This is really annoying because even though you can speak some English, you feel slow and incomplete - you definitely don't feel like you're fluent. Today you're going to learn how to eliminate paus...
Sep 07, 2022•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Yesterday you learned how you can get fluent faster by focusing on learning phrases, NOT on memorizing individual words or grammar rules. But there's another problem that might be holding you back from becoming fluent. That problem is not being confident in your English. Here are three simple ways you can increase your confidence to speak English.
Sep 06, 2022•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Over the next four days, I'm going to share with you my best tips for improving your English speaking . Let's get started! Here's one reason it can be hard to speak English. You might know a good number of English words... but then it's difficult to put them together into sentences when you speak. First of all, it's a LOT of work to put together an entire sentence word by word. It takes a lot of time, and it makes your speaking slow. Second, a lot of questions come into your mind: Am I using the...
Sep 05, 2022•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast A collocation is two or more words that go together naturally. Learning collocations is essential for making your English sound fluent and natural! Today we'll learn 50 English collocations with the words big, great, large, deep, strong, and heavy. These words all seem rather similar, but they are used in DIFFERENT combinations of words. WOW, those were a LOT of collocations – are you ready to see how well you learned them? Click here to take a quiz! It’s so important to practice and review what...
Aug 31, 2022•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Are you ready to practice your pronunciation with some longer words? The ones we’ll practice today all have 5 syllables – like the word vocabulary: vo- CA -bu-la-ry I’ll say each word twice – once a little more slowly with some separation between the syllables, and then once at normal speed. Repeat after me both times. To improve your pronunciation FAST, join my Pronunciation & Shadowing Courses . My pronunciation course will train you to pronounce all the sounds in the English language clearly ...
Aug 24, 2022•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast When writing letters and e-mails in business English, it's really important to avoid mistakes - which can make your writing look unprofessional. Today you'll learn about 10 common mistakes in business English writing . I'll explain why they are wrong and how to correct them. If you want to learn the phrases that native English speakers use for business English letters, e-mails, interviews, meetings, presentations, negotiations, and more – check out my Business English Course! The 40 lessons insi...
Aug 17, 2022•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’re going to do a vocabulary with pictures lesson to help you learn 20 words for shapes in English , both two-dimensional and three-dimensional ones. You’ll learn both the noun form (the name of the shape itself) and the adjective form (how to describe something else with this shape) – in some cases those are the same, and in other cases they’re different. Have you ever wanted to say something in English, but you just couldn’t think of the right word? That’s a vocabulary problem, and it ...
Aug 10, 2022•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Come along, come across, come off, come on, come out, come over, come up... Phrasal verbs like these can be easy to confuse because they all seem so similar! Today we’re going to learn 1 0 phrasal verbs with the word “come,” and I’ll give you an example sentence for each one to show you how it’s used in English. I challenge you to try writing your own sentences with each of these phrasal verbs – because when you use them yourself, that’s when you really start to remember them better so that they...
Jul 27, 2022•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Right now it’s summer, and it’s hot as blazes! (= the weather is extremely hot). This inspired me to teach you 15 English words and expressions with “hot.” Some of these are idioms – short phrases or expressions that you can’t understand literally, you can’t translate them word for word to get their meaning – instead, you have to know the meaning of the whole phrase. Your own language has idioms, too... and lots of them are probably different from the ones we use in English! That’s why I created...
Jul 20, 2022•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you had to talk with a doctor in English , would you know what to say? In today’s lesson you’ll learn phrases and vocabulary for talking about medical problems. Now you’re a bit better-equipped to talk to a doctor in English if you ever need to someday – but there’s a lot more to learn! In order to be fluent and CONFIDENT in English, you have to be comfortable speaking English in many different situations in day-to-day life. My Everyday English Speaking Course will teach you the phrases you n...
Jul 13, 2022•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
