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 discuss some ways to learn English and why it's not as simple as you might think. I'm sure you'll lea ..read more

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 writing to friends. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast265 Support the ..read more

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 this conversation. Where to find Clare Podcast - Smart English Coach Website - english-at-home.co ..read more

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 Support the show Sign Up for Free Lessons - https://www.levelupenglish.school/#freelessons Join Level Up English - https://courses.levelupeng ..read more

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! Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast262 Support the show Sign Up for ..read more

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/podcast261 Support the show Sign Up for Free Lessons - https://www.levelupengl ..read more

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 time about travel, language learning, and self-improvement, but this was cut out of the episode. I ..read more

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 Support the show Sign Up for Free Lessons - https://www.levelupenglish.school/#freelessons Join Level Up English - ht ..read more

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 episode. Don't forget to join in the conversation on the show notes page below. Show not ..read more

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 experience.  We delve into topics around meditation and mindfulness, and also why learning a languag ..read more