Espresso English Podcast

Today I want to clear up some confusion around the words sometime, sometimes, and some time.  Are they all the same? No! These words have different meanings and uses. Take today's lesson to find out how to use each one of them correctly. Lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/sometimes-sometime-or-some-time/  Can you make your own example sentences with all three? It’s important to put what you’re learning into practice! My English courses can help you do that – many of them have quizzes and practice exercises, and in some cases you can send in your answers for evaluation: Short answer exercises with correction: Phrasal Verbs Course, Idioms Course, Vocabulary Builder Courses Writing tasks with correction: Advanced English Grammar Course Speaking tasks with correction: Everyday English Speaking Courses These are extremely valuable opportunities to get direct feedback on your English from a teacher!

Some informal and idiomatic expressions in English just don't seem to make sense. In today’s lesson, I’ll explain four phrases that my students have asked me about: nothing to sneeze at there'll be hell to pay to each his own a far cry from Don’t try to translate or understand these phrases literally – that’s a common mistake among language learners. If you try to understand it word by word, it won’t make sense. Instead, you need to understand each phrase as a whole unit, with a particular meaning. Lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/four-english-expressions-that-dont-seem-to-make-sense/  You can see how each of these expressions is difficult to understand by itself, but easier to learn if you have an example situation where it would be used. This is why I highly recommend learning phrases in context, not just trying to memorize lists of phrases and definitions, and my Everyday English Speaking Course Level 2 can help you do that. The lessons are based on more advanced conversations that are full

There are many English words that have similar spellings and pronunciations, and it’s common for English learners to use the wrong one. Today I’m going to teach you three examples of how small differences can change the meaning of the word completely. We're going to practice these: college / collage / colleague message / massage course / curse Pay close attention to make sure you’re saying and writing these words correctly! Lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/three-spelling-pronunciation-changes-that-completely-change-the-word/  As you can see, a small pronunciation mistake can result in a big change in meaning. This is why it’s important to have good pronunciation in English. Remember that excellent pronunciation isn’t something you can get overnight – it takes lots of practice and training. You can get some of that training in my Pronunciation and Shadowing Courses, which have lots of opportunities to listen and repeat. When you’re confident that your pronunciation is good, you can speak Engli

I’ve just gotten back from a road trip with my family, and I’m going to use this opportunity to teach you some vocabulary for driving and traveling by car. Lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/english-vocabulary-for-a-road-trip/  To learn more vocabulary that’s organized by topic, you can join my Vocabulary Builder Courses, which will teach you hundreds of useful words. Level 1 of the course covers topics like daily life, work & study, travel & entertainment, people & ideas, and society & the world. Level 2 of the course is more advanced and will teach you deeper, more complex, and more colorful vocabulary.

In today’s lesson I’m going to show you six mistakes that real students of mine have made – and you might be making, too! The purpose of this lesson is not to make you feel bad about those mistakes, but instead to learn from them. Lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/six-english-grammar-mistakes-you-might-be-making/ One problem with language learning is that if you make a fairly minor mistake that doesn’t affect communication, native speakers often don’t correct you because they understood what you meant in general and they don’t want to make you feel bad by pointing out an error in your grammar. And then you might go on making the same mistake for months or even years! If you want to get your English corrected, join my Advanced English Grammar Course, which includes writing tasks that you can send me for feedback.

William Shakespeare was a poet and playwright who lived in the 16th century. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the history of the English language. You might know him as the author of the famous “Romeo and Juliet.” Many of the English idioms we use to this day were invented or popularized by Shakespeare – you’ll learn eight of them in this lesson! Lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/eight-english-idioms-from-shakespeare/  To learn more idioms, join my 300+ English Idioms Course.

Today I want to teach you the correct way to say four words that I often hear students mispronouncing or confusing: recipe, receipt, debt, and debit. Listen and repeat to practice your pronunciation, so that you can be confident you're pronouncing these words correctly and not mixing them up! Lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/how-to-pronounce-recipe-receipt-debt-debit/ A lot of English learners want to know the “rules” of English pronunciation, but unfortunately it’s hard to teach any rules since the pronunciation is so irregular. There are some trends and patterns in English pronunciation, but there are SO many exceptions. In my opinion, it’s better to train your pronunciation by listening and repeatingafter a native speaker, not by trying to memorize rules. You can get a lot of listen-and-repeat practice inside my courses on Pronunciation and Shadowing.

Today we’re going to take a closer look at the word TEST – specifically the collocations (common combinations of words) that are often used with “test.” Learning collocations like these can make it easier for you to put together phrases and sentences in English. Lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/english-collocations-with-the-word-test/ You can learn a lot more inside my e-book, which will teach you 1000 collocations in 10 minutes a day. It has short lessons and quizzes that you can easily complete even if you don’t have lots of time to study.

Have you noticed that when you listen to informal English conversations, you hear some expressions that you can't understand? Today I’m going to teach you three casual conversational expressions, what they mean, and how to use them: quite a bit might as well just my luck! Lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/informal-english-quite-a-bit-might-as-well-just-my-luck/ To continue learning lots of informal English from conversations, check out my Everyday English Speaking Course Level 2.  The lessons are based on dialogues that are full of informal expressions, so you can learn them in context. This course is great for upper-intermediate and advanced English learners. It will help you improve your understanding of conversational English and learn a lot of great new expressions that native English speakers use.

In today's lesson I want to clarify the difference between the confusing words careless and carefree. It’s easy to mix them up, but they have quite different meanings and connotations. Lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/careless-or-carefree/ I hope this lesson has helped you understand the difference! For more explanations of confusing words, check out my e-book, 600+ Confusing English Words Explained. It will teach you the differences between similar – but different – words such as averse and adverse, specially and especially, and many more.

Today I want to teach you how to use the word “lack” correctly. I’ve noticed some of my students making a little mistake with this word, so this lesson will help you learn which one to use – “lack” or “lack of.” It’s a very small detail, but it’s important to learn so that your English grammar is correct. Lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/english-grammar-lack-or-lack-of/ These little details of English grammar can be confusing! That’s why I created the Advanced English Grammar Course, to help make the rules of the language clear – and to help you put them into practice.

OUGH is pronounced at least 5 different ways in English! In today’s lesson, I’m going to teach you how to pronounce OUGH in some common words and example sentences. Remember to practice your pronunciation by repeating after me – because the best way to improve your pronunciation is to practice it actively! Lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/how-to-pronounce-ough-in-english/ How can you know which way to pronounce OUGH when you see a new word? Unfortunately, there’s no way to know – you need to look up the word in an audio dictionary or ask a native speaker. That’s one reason English pronunciation is so confusing. It’s essential to have good pronunciation if you want to be fluent in English! I can help you improve your pronunciation even more if you join my American English Pronunciation Course. In addition to the lessons, you’ll also get an evaluation of your pronunciation at the end of the course.