Espresso English Podcast

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 yours so that you can speak more clearly, confidently, and correctly. My American English Pronunciation Course is a great way to train your pronunciation, make it better, and also receive an evaluation at the end of the course!

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 you’d like to learn more common idiomatic expressions, my 300+ Idioms Course can teach you in a way that’s easy and fun, and helps you put them into practice. Each lesson in the course includes short answer questions that help you use the idioms you’ve learned, and then you can send in your answers for feedback and correction.

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! Please don’t feel bad if you’ve been making some of these spelling mistakes – like I said at the beginning, these are mistakes that even native English speakers make because English spelling is tricky. Mistakes are an opportunity to learn and improve, and you can do exactly that inside my 200 Common Errors in English Course. I’ll teach you the WRONG way to say things and the RIGHT way to say them, so that you can speak and write more confidently and more correctly in English.

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 and over. You'll learn 1,000+ high-level English words AND how to put them together in ways that sound natural. This helps you sound more sophisticated when you speak and write in English :-)

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 Course. In addition to 45 lessons teaching you grammar in great detail, you also have the option to add teacher feedback – you can practice your writing and get it corrected by the Espresso English teaching team. This is really for the most dedicated English learners and it’s super valuable to get personalized feedback – so I hope we’ll see you inside that course!

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 letters and combinations of letters have multiple different pronunciations, and you can’t know which one to use just by reading the word; you need to hear the word. That’s why listening and repeating is so important. You can improve your pronunciation fast inside my American English Pronunciation Course – we’ll learn and practice all the sounds of the language, helping you to make the differences between similar sounds and avoid pronunciation mistakes. This course will help you speak English more clearly, confidently, and

Do you know the difference between business and busyness? They're pronounced differently... ...and they mean different things! Let's learn them in this quick lesson. If you need to use English in your job or career, I can help you speak more confidently when you join my Business English Course! It will teach you what to say in lots of professional situations like interviews, meetings, phone calls, and much more. The lessons are very practical - full of useful words and phrases that native English speakers often use at work.

Today I’m going to explain two phrases in English – one is saying “something speaks for itself” and the other is telling someone “speak for yourself.” These are very different, and I’ll teach them to you by using examples of situations where we’d use these expressions. To learn a lot more common English phrases for daily situations, you can join our Everyday English Speaking Courses – these will teach you so many of the expressions and phrases that native English speakers use all the time. The lessons in those courses will help you improve your speaking and your ability to have natural-sounding conversations in English :-)

This lesson is a quick tip to help you avoid mistakes that can make your English sound unnatural. I’ll explain them and tell you what you should say instead.   Don't say "today morning"!   I’ve noticed this error in a lot of student homework.   Many of our courses at Espresso English include homework that you can send in and get feedback and correction on your answers – one of those is our Advanced Grammar Course.

Do you know what it means to "run interference," "jump the gun," and "show someone the ropes"? Today you'll learn these expressions and more idioms from sports! If you're looking for a fun and easy way to learn more than 300 idioms in English, check out our Idioms Course.

Today you’re going to learn the difference between the words human and humane. These are different by only one letter, but they’re pronounced differently and are used in different ways. By the way, if you want to learn a LOT more confusing word pairs like this, check out my e-book 600+ Confusing Words Explained! Inside that e-book, I’ll help you understand confusing English words easily and clearly.

Today I'm sharing my top 8 tips for improving your writing in English :-) Even when you know a lot of English words, it can be really hard to form good sentences and write well. But when you put these strategies into practice, you’ll be able to improve so that you can write confidently in English. We have two courses where you can get your writing evaluated! Our Advanced Grammar Course and our Reading Course both have the option to include writing tasks with teacher feedback – so at the end of each lesson, there’s a question or topic and you’ll write your response. Then, send it to our teaching team, and we’ll reply with comments, corrections, and suggestions for making your writing even better. Students LOVE this feedback, because the it helps you fix any mistakes or bad habits and bring your writing up to a higher level. If you’re serious about improving your writing, join those courses and select the version with teacher feedback. I hope you’ll put all 8 tips from this lesson into practice!

Your pronunciation is one of the first things other people notice about your English. If you have nice, clear pronunciation, you'll make a good impression. But if your pronunciation is difficult for others to understand, then it will be very hard to communicate - and frustrating, too! The good news is that you CAN improve your pronunciation with practice - by using my top 5 tips for getting better pronunciation :-) To practice and improve your pronunciation FAST, you can join my American English Pronunciation Course! - https://www.espressoenglish.net/american-english-pronunciation-course/ It will help you reach your goal of speaking clear, correct, and confident English. You'll learn and practice all the sounds of American English, and also work on connecting words and phrases together for more natural speaking.

Does this ever happen to you? You study and study and learn lots of new vocabulary... ...but then when you want to use it, you can't think of the words! How can you make sure you don't forget the vocabulary you're learning? Here's one simple thing you can start doing today to remember vocabulary better! Improving your vocabulary can take a long time because there are SO MANY words to learn in the English language. You can accelerate the process by joining my Vocabulary Builder Courses! - https://www.espressoenglish.net/vocabulary-builder-course There are two levels, and you'll learn 1,000+ words inside each one. It's a fast, focused way to expand your vocabulary quickly.

I always ask new students what their biggest difficulty is in English... ...and the #1 difficulty is speaking. Many, many English learners have a really hard time with it! So today I'm sending you my top 10 strategies for improving your speaking. Check them out and make sure to put them into practice! Now you know HOW to improve your speaking... ...but how can you learn exactly WHAT to say? You can learn tons of useful phrases and expressions inside my Everyday English Speaking Courses! These courses are designed to improve your speaking fast by teaching you what native English speakers say in daily life. When you know what to say, then you can speak more confidently. I hope to see you inside Everyday English Speaking :-) ⭐ Everyday English Speaking Course: https://www.espressoenglish.net/everyday-english-speaking-course

Today I wanted to clarify the difference between the words CON-tent, con-TENT, and contents, since it can be really hard to figure out. The English language is full of words like these, and I’ve collected a lot of them inside my e-book, 600+ Confusing English words Explained. Like the title says, the e-book will explain them to you so that you’ll understand when to use one word and when to use the other one. So you don’t have to be confused, instead you can use those words confidently! ⭐ 600+ Confusing Words Explained E-Book: https://www.espressoenglish.net/600-confusing-english-words-explained

Chance can mean a possibility (which could be good or bad) or an opportunity (which has a more positive connotation) and we use it in combination with lots of other words. Let's learn 30 collocations with CHANCE. These are all words that go together naturally with the word chance. When you learn these common combinations of words, then it’s easier to put them together so that your speaking sounds natural (and not a little "strange.") Come get your copy of the 1000 collocations e-book to learn even more! This is one of our most popular e-books because the lessons are really quick, so it’s easy to make progress fast. ⭐ 1000 Collocations E-Book: https://www.espressoenglish.net/1000-english-collocations-in-10-minutes-a-day/

Today we’re going to focus on how to use two small but very common words in English – even and ever. I'll show you how to use them correctly, with lots of examples. It’s important to be able to use these words correctly so that your grammar sounds good and you can avoid mistakes. I know a lot of you are worried about mistakes or nervous about making them, and that’s why I created a course on 200 common errors in English. You can check to see if you’ve been making any of the mistakes in there... ...and more importantly, the course will help you fix them and say things the right way, so you can speak and write more confidently! ⭐ 200 Common Errors in English Course: https://www.espressoenglish.net/200-common-errors-in-english-course/

You probably know that an English word ends in -E, the -E is usually silent; we don’t pronounce it - like in the words date, cheese, fine, spoke, and rude. But there are a few exceptions! Many of these words came into English from other languages and so they don’t follow the typical trend of a silent E at the end. Repeat after me to learn 12 words in which we DO pronounce the final -E. I know that English pronunciation can be SO confusing with all these exceptions to the rules! If you want to improve your pronunciation fast, come join my American English Pronunciation Course. Inside it, we’ll do lots of practice so that you can master the sounds of the language and say them clearly. And when you can pronounce things clearly, you’ll be able to speak English more confidently. I hope you’ve enjoyed today's lesson and learned something new!

Do you want to learn more than 1000 advanced vocabulary words, so you can speak and write like a master of the English language? Keep listening, because this course is for you. ⭐ Advanced Vocabulary & Collocations Course: https://www.espressoenglish.net/advanced-vocabulary-and-collocations-course/ ✔️ Save $15 with discount code ROCKET If you’ve been studying English for a while, then you already have enough English to communicate. Your English is fine for most situations… but you might feel like your vocabulary is just a little too “simple.” You want to express yourself more fluently, without using the same basic words over and over. Maybe you’ve tried reading a lot to build your vocabulary, but progress is slow. You might read a whole article and only learn a couple new words. And most English-learning apps and online lessons are too easy for you because they teach words you already know. What if you could learn 1,000 advanced words in the next few weeks – by studying just a few minutes a day? You can d