Espresso English Podcast
612 episodes - English - Latest episode: 13 days ago - ★★★★★ - 355 ratingsOn the Espresso English podcast, you'll learn English grammar, vocabulary, phrases, idioms, and more. Espresso English lessons are clear and practical, making it easy to learn the language quickly and effectively.
Visit http://www.espressoenglish.net to get English courses and e-books that will help you learn faster!
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Episodes
Top 8 tips to improve your writing in English
July 28, 2021 12:00 - 8 minutes - 8.33 MBToday 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 ...
How's your pronunciation? Here are 5 ways to improve it
July 21, 2021 12:00 - 10 minutes - 10.1 MBYour 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 Ame...
One EASY way to remember English vocabulary better
July 14, 2021 12:00 - 4 minutes - 4.85 MBDoes 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 C...
Top 10 tips to improve your English SPEAKING
July 07, 2021 12:00 - 11 minutes - 11.7 MBI 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 ...
CON-tent, con-TENT, or contents?
June 30, 2021 12:00 - 4 minutes - 4.94 MBToday 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...
30 common collocations with the word CHANCE
June 23, 2021 12:00 - 5 minutes - 5.83 MBChance 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 t...
How to use EVEN and EVER in English
June 16, 2021 12:00 - 6 minutes - 6.71 MBToday 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...
12 words in which we DO pronounce the final "E"
April 21, 2021 12:00 - 8 minutes - 8.18 MBYou 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! ...
NEW Advanced Vocabulary & Collocations Course!
April 07, 2021 12:00 - 3 minutes - 5.55 MBDo 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...
Learn 20 powerful verbs to SUPERCHARGE your vocabulary!
March 31, 2021 12:00 - 12 minutes - 12 MBI hope you’re ready to learn some awesome words! You don’t want to use the same basic English words over and over... instead, you want to use interesting and powerful words to express yourself better. Today I'll teach you 20 verbs that will supercharge your vocabulary. That’s actually a good example – I could say “improve your vocabulary” or “expand your vocabulary” but the word “supercharge” is so much more descriptive; it creates a mental picture of getting a huge boost in vocabul...
How to think directly in English (step by step)
March 24, 2021 12:00 - 7 minutes - 7.24 MBOne HUGE step towards fluency is learning how to think directly in English. This will help you speak with fewer pauses and express yourself better! But many students say... “It’s too hard! “I don’t know enough English words!” “I need to think in my native language and translate.” "I'm not advanced enough to do that." Today I'm going to show you 4 simple steps to help you develop the skill of thinking in English, without translating from your native language. If you practice the...
Learn 20 confusing collocations in English
March 17, 2021 12:00 - 10 minutes - 10.4 MBDo you know the difference between “making trouble” and “taking the trouble”? What about “having fun” and “making fun”? Today I’m going to clarify 20 confusing collocations with the words do, have, make, and take. The meaning often changes depending on which verb is used. If you want to remember these collocations better, I’d encourage you to try writing your own example sentences using each one – this will help establish the differences in your memory. You can learn even more wit...
How to pronounce 50 difficult words in English
March 05, 2021 13:00 - 7 minutes - 7.67 MBWelcome to the final lesson in our pronunciation power-up mini-course! So far we’ve practiced 200 English words for jobs, food/drink, countries, and brand names – and I’ve saved the best for last. The theme of today’s lesson is difficult words to pronounce, so I’ve selected 50 of the words that English learners often find hard to say. If you’re serious about improving your pronunciation and you want to practice more with me, you can join my American English Pronunciation Course, whi...
How to pronounce 50 brand names in English
March 04, 2021 13:00 - 6 minutes - 6.26 MBHi! It's day 4 of our Pronunciation Power-Up Mini-Course, and today's theme is brand names. Nowadays a lot of brands and companies are really big and well-known – so we’re going to practice pronouncing 50 of the biggest and most famous brand names. Remember, in your native language, you might pronounce these exact same names differently – because of the different pronunciation rules of your language. But when you’re in a conversation with an English speaker, you’ll want to modify yo...
How to pronounce 50 countries in English
March 03, 2021 13:00 - 6 minutes - 6.6 MBWelcome to day 3 of our pronunciation power-up mini-course! Today we’re going to practice pronouncing the names of 50 countries in the world. Some of these might be similar to how they’re said in your native language, but others will NOT be the same, so pay close attention to any small pronunciation differences from what you might be used to. I really wish I could do ALL the countries in the world, but unfortunately we don’t have time in this short video – so I just took the top 50 ...
How to pronounce 50 food & drink words in English
March 02, 2021 13:00 - 6 minutes - 7.04 MBHi everyone! It’s day 2 of our pronunciation power-up mini-course, and today we’ll be practicing 50 words for food and drink. Remember - in order to get the most benefit out of these lessons, you need to actually SAY the words yourself. Don’t just watch... speak! Actually, if you want to challenge yourself even more, try listening and repeating with your eyes closed. Why? Because sometimes it’s actually better for you to use ONLY your ears, and NOT your eyes. In English, the way ...
How to pronounce 50 jobs in English
March 01, 2021 13:00 - 6 minutes - 6.9 MBHello and welcome to our Pronunciation Power-Up Mini-Course! We’re going to practice pronouncing 50 words a day for 5 days - a total of 250 words. This will give you a quick boost in your pronunciation. The #1 most important thing is for you to PARTICIPATE in these lessons by listening and repeating the words aloud. There's space in the video for you to say each word immediately after I do. Try to pronounce it exactly the way I did. When you do this, you’re training your mouth...
Free Mini-Course Next Week! - Pronunciation Power-Up
February 24, 2021 13:00 - 48 seconds - 906 KBNext week I'm giving a FREE mini-course called "Pronunciation Power-Up!" In video games, a "power-up" is something that increases your skills quickly - and that's what we're going to do with your pronunciation :-) This 5-day mini-course will help you practice 250 words so you can pronounce them correctly and confidently. The mini-course will run from March 1-5. To get the lessons, just register (again, it's free!) by visiting EspressoEnglish.net/minicourse and entering your e-mail ...
When to use DRANK vs. DRUNK
February 17, 2021 13:00 - 5 minutes - 5.74 MBWhen should you use the word drank and when should you use the word drunk? They are pronounced differently AND used differently! Today you'll learn how to use drank & drunk correctly. To learn more about confusing English words - how to understand them clearly and use them correctly - get my e-book called 600+ Confusing English Words Explained. It covers TONS of words that are often mixed up by English learners. I'll explain these words to you and include examples to make them per...
English slang words for food & drink
February 10, 2021 13:00 - 6 minutes - 7.11 MBLearn 16 American English slang words and expressions about food and drink! Read the slang words and example sentences, listen to the pronunciation and repeat the words and sentences out loud to improve your English speaking. At the end of the lesson, try the quiz to test your understanding of these American slang words. Learn slang & informal English easily with our e-book.
Learn 10 phrasal verbs you probably DON'T know
February 03, 2021 13:00 - 7 minutes - 7.96 MBSome English phrasal verbs are easy to understand, like "give away" or "wake up." But others are hard to figure out - like beef up, fawn over, and wipe out! What do these phrasal verbs mean??? Let's have fun today by learning 10 interesting phrasal verbs! The problem with English textbooks is that they often teach you only the "basic" phrasal verbs like wake up, turn off, and get out - but there are thousands and thousands of interesting phrasal verbs in English, as you can see f...
Best ways to review and remember English
January 28, 2021 13:00 - 8 minutes - 8.99 MBDo you feel like you keep forgetting what you learn in English? Maybe you study words and phrases and grammar… but then it doesn’t stick in your mind, and you can’t seem to remember things when you need to use them. So what can you do about this problem? How can you actually remember what you learn, so that it becomes part of your English and you can use it confidently? I do have some tips to help you review and remember English more effectively - so you can grow and expand your ski...
Review or revise? Let's learn the difference!
January 25, 2021 13:00 - 5 minutes - 6.07 MBToday we’re going to talk about the differences between the words review and revise. They’re used slightly differently in American English vs. British English. But by the end of the lesson you’ll understand clearly when to use each one. There are so many confusing words like this in the English language, and that’s why I wrote a book about them – it’s called 600+ Confusing English Words Explained. Everything in it comes from questions asked by students like you. So if you have a ques...
How to learn English FAST!
January 21, 2021 13:00 - 9 minutes - 9.32 MBSometimes students write to me and say “I need to learn English FAST.” Maybe they have a deadline, like “I’m starting a new job or taking a test two months from now, so I need to be fluent by then” or maybe they just don’t want to waste time; they want to reach their goal of fluency as quickly as possible. Is it possible to reach fluency fast? And how can you do it? I’m going to explain my opinion and give you some tips in today’s lesson. Now go put these 5 tips into practice! ...
Homework vs. Housework
January 18, 2021 13:00 - 5 minutes - 5.76 MBWhat’s the difference between homework and housework? These two words seem practically identical, but they actually have separate meanings and uses. I’ll explain in today’s lesson, so that you can be sure to use the right word. And at the end I’ll also tell you about a common mistake that English learners often make with homework and housework. Now you know the difference between homework and housework – and remember, doing homework is really important for reviewing and practicing w...
5 phrases native English speakers NEVER say!
January 13, 2021 13:00 - 7 minutes - 7.22 MBIf you want to make your English sound more natural, more like a native speaker, then pay close attention to today’s lesson. I’m going to teach you five phrases that English learners often use, but that native English speakers would never say – either because they’re incorrect or because these phrases just don’t sound natural. Remember – I don’t want you feel BAD about these mistakes; I want to help you learn from them instead! As you can see from these examples, these are NOT major,...
"Sorry for my BAD English"
January 06, 2021 13:00 - 7 minutes - 7.81 MBThere are two phrases I hear many students say: "My English is terrible." "Sorry for my BAD English." Have you ever said these things? Be careful, because these two phrases are dangerous to your English learning! Listen to today's lesson to find out why you SHOULDN'T say these phrases... and what you SHOULD say instead. I want to see you both succeed in learning English AND enjoy the process of learning! Another thing that can help you improve your skills and feel confid...
Already vs. all ready, everyday vs. every day, and more!
December 30, 2020 13:00 - 6 minutes - 6 MBToday you’ll learn some common English words that are often misused because they are so similar. The only difference between them is a space, or one letter. The context of the sentences will help you understand how to know whether to use one word or two. Already vs. all ready Sometime vs. some time Anyway vs. any way Everyday vs. every day Everyone vs. every one Apart vs. a part Altogether vs. All together Learn more inside the 600+ Confusing English Words Explained E-Book!
25 collocations with GIVE
December 23, 2020 13:00 - 9 minutes - 9.17 MBDuring this month of December, we have some holidays… and during holidays, many people give gifts to each other. So I thought it would be a good time to learn 25 collocations with GIVE! We’re going to start with some simpler ones and then learn some more that might not be so obvious, or might not mean what you think. Studying collocations is wonderful for learning how to put words together naturally. You can learn collocations fast inside my e-book, 1000 collocations in 10 minutes...
10 Informal English Expressions I’ve Used Recently
December 16, 2020 13:00 - 6 minutes - 7.32 MBNative English speakers use a lot of informal expressions in day-to-day life! Lately, I’ve been paying attention to my own conversations – and today I’ll teach you 10 English expressions I’ve used in recent situations. It's much easier to learn and remember phrases when you can see them in context. But if you don't live in an English-speaking country, where can you find conversations to learn from? You can listen to podcasts and interviews, but they don't explain the expressions you...
Tips for pronouncing WORLD, WORD, WORK
December 09, 2020 13:00 - 5 minutes - 5.24 MBToday I'm going to give you some tips for pronouncing "world" - a lot of students find this very difficult. We'll also practice work and word, since these are two more that English learners have a hard time pronouncing clearly and correctly. Remember, you CAN master these difficult words with practice! If you want to be fluent in English, your pronunciation doesn't have to be "perfect" (there's really no such thing as perfect pronunciation) - but it does need to be CLEAR so that othe...
English phrases with THANK & THANKS
November 25, 2020 13:00 - 6 minutes - 6.44 MBThis week is the holiday of Thanksgiving in the United States... so in today's lesson, you'll learn useful expressions with the word THANK or THANKS :-) I'll also teach you about a couple common mistake - make sure to watch the whole video so you can avoid the errors. If you want to improve your spoken English by learning more REAL phrases that native English speakers use - then join my Everyday English Speaking courses! You'll learn exactly what to say in everyday situations, socia...
Flip out, freak out, piss off, & tick off
November 18, 2020 13:00 - 7 minutes - 7.57 MBA student asked about the following four phrasal verbs: flip out freak out piss off tick off She asked, “Are they all the same? Are they all appropriate to use?” Good questions – I’m going to explain them in today's lesson! Piss off, tick off, flip out, freak out Can you see how it's essential to learn phrasal verbs like these in context, with examples? And it's also very important to put them into practice yourself. You can learn 500 more phrasal verbs in a natural and effe...
Learn and practice 10 beautiful English words
November 11, 2020 13:00 - 7 minutes - 7.57 MBThe English language has a number of words that sound nice and are fun to say! Today I'll teach you 10 words that many people find beautiful - you can learn what they mean and practice pronouncing them in order to expand your vocabulary. If you're working on getting your vocabulary up to a more advanced level, there are 1,000 more words waiting for you inside our Vocabulary Builder Course - Level 2. OK, now get ready to listen and repeat 10 beautiful English words... Which one was ...
16 super-confusing words in English
November 04, 2020 13:00 - 11 minutes - 11.1 MBDo you ever use the wrong word in English? It's a very common problem - and it affects students at all levels, from beginner to intermediate to advanced. These mistakes are especially common when the two words appear very similar - like "interfere" and "intervene" or "relation" and "relationship" - or when they seem to have the same meaning, like "problem" and "trouble" or "staff" and "employees." Today I'm going to teach you the differences between all these super-confusing words I j...
20 different ways to say THANK YOU in English
October 28, 2020 12:00 - 8 minutes - 8.33 MBThis month we’ve been doing a series on different ways to say things in English, in order to help expand your vocabulary and know what to say in lots of situations. Today we’ll cover 20 ways to say "thank you" – phrases for expressing gratitude and appreciation. We’ll start out with some basic ones you probably already know, but keep watching so that you learn some new ones! Thank you so much for joining me; I hope you learned some new phrases today! To continue learning real-life En...
20 different ways to say SORRY in English
October 21, 2020 12:00 - 9 minutes - 9.05 MBToday you're going to learn 20 different ways to say "sorry" in English. Why should you learn all these different expressions? Because they're used in different situations. There are many different times we might want to say "sorry," but we'd use different words depending on whether we spilled some coffee, or hurt someone's feelings, or made a mistake at work. Some of these phrases are more informal and casual, and others are more serious. This means you're not just learning a bunch of...
20 different ways to say NO in English
October 14, 2020 12:00 - 6 minutes - 6.96 MBLast week you learned 20 different ways to say "yes" in English, and today you’ll learn 20 different expressions for "no." These are especially important to learn because we often want to be polite when declining an invitation or request – it sounds a little rude to just say "no." Or maybe you want to add some additional information to the simple answer of "no" – a lot of today’s expressions include extra meaning. This is just a very small sample of the many ways we have to say "no" i...
20 different ways to say YES in English
October 07, 2020 12:00 - 6 minutes - 7.02 MBToday you’re going to learn a lot of different ways to say “yes” in English. But wait – why should you learn these expressions, when you could just use “yes” to keep things simple? There are two good reasons: So that you can understand native English speakers, because we use these expressions all the time. If you only know the word “yes,” then you might be confused when you hear someone say “Why not?” or “Be my guest!” So that you can express your own answers in creative ways. Some...
14 Business English "Buzzwords"
September 30, 2020 12:00 - 4 minutes - 5.01 MBToday you're going to learn 14 business English “buzzwords” – informal expressions that you might hear at work or in a professional context. I'll tell you a little story that will teach you expressions like: push the envelope a shoestring budget streamline pitch an idea the lion's share ...and more There are tons of these informal expressions used in the business world, and my Business English Course includes several lessons about business idioms. You'll also learn practica...
Worse vs. Worst (+ Expressions)
September 23, 2020 12:00 - 6 minutes - 6.62 MBToday I’m going to teach you how to use worse and worst correctly. Even some native English speakers confuse these words! After taking this lesson, you’ll understand the difference clearly - and you'll also learn a few expressions with each one. The opposite of worse is better, and I'm here to help your English get better! You can learn more when you join one of my online courses. At Espresso English, you can improve all your English skills - from grammar to vocabulary, ...
12 advanced vocabulary words for colors
September 16, 2020 12:00 - 5 minutes - 5.47 MBDo you know what color these words describe: maroon, fuchsia, hazel, and ivory? You probably learned simple colors like red, yellow, and blue in your first year of English... but the language has a lot more color words than these basic ones! Today you'll learn 12 interesting vocabulary words for colors. One quick note: Online, you'll often find very long lists of color words - but many of those are NOT in used in everyday English... they are typically used to describe different col...
Mini-Course Lesson 5: 20 ways to use the word SET in English
September 11, 2020 12:00 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MB⭐ Download the worksheet: http://bit.ly/miniexercise5 ✔️ Read the lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/20-different-ways-to-use-the-word-set-in-english/ ❤️ Free sample lessons from my courses: http://bit.ly/EEFreeSamples Hello students! Today is the final day of our mini-course on words with multiple meanings – I hope you’ve been enjoying it. Our multiple-meaning word of the day is SET. You'll learn how it's used as a verb, noun, and adjective. We'll also learn phrasal verbs l...
Mini-Course Lesson 4: 20 ways to use the word CUT in English
September 10, 2020 12:00 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MB⭐ Download the worksheet: http://bit.ly/miniexercise4 ✔️ Read the lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/20-different-ways-to-use-the-word-cut-in-english/ ❤️ SUBSCRIBE to get new lessons on YouTube! http://bit.ly/subscribe2espressoenglish Hi there! It's lesson 4 of our mini-course on words with multiple meanings, and we're going to focus on the word CUT. Today you'll learn 20 ways to use it - from different definitions, to phrasal verbs (cut back, cut off, cut out, etc.) to idio...
Mini-Course Lesson 3: 20 ways to use the word BREAK in English
September 09, 2020 12:00 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MB⭐ Download the worksheet: http://bit.ly/miniexercise3 ✔️ Read the lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/20-different-ways-to-use-the-word-break-in-english/ Hi students! It's day 3 of our mini-course all about words with multiple meanings, and our word today is BREAK. Get ready to learn lots of different ways to use this word in English. 1. The basic and most common definition is to damage something and separate it into pieces. Yesterday I was washing the dishes and I accidentally...
Mini-Course Lesson 2: 20 ways to use the word GET in English
September 08, 2020 12:00 - 12 minutes - 11 MB⭐ Download the worksheet: https://bit.ly/miniexercise2 ✔️ Read the lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/20-different-ways-to-use-the-word-get-in-english/ Hello students, and welcome to day 2 of our mini-course on words with multiple meanings! Yesterday’s word was RUN, and today we’ll focus on GET. Again – a very common word, but one that is extremely versatile – this means it can be used in lots of different ways. You already know the basic meaning of GET, but today you’re goi...
Mini-Course Lesson 1: 25 ways to use the word RUN in English
September 07, 2020 12:00 - 15 minutes - 13.9 MB⭐ Download the worksheet: https://bit.ly/miniexercise1 ✔️ Read the lesson text: https://www.espressoenglish.net/25-different-ways-to-use-the-word-run-in-english/ Hi students! Today is the first day of our 5-day mini-course about English words with multiple meanings. In this mini-course, we’re going to look at 5 VERY common words and learn a total of 100 different ways to use them. This will improve your ability to express yourself in English, because you’ll discover lots of new ways to ...
Free Mini-Course - Words with Multiple Meanings!
September 02, 2020 12:00 - 2 minutes - 2.73 MBToday I want to invite you to join a FREE mini-course starting soon – all about English words with many different meanings and uses. During your English studies, you may have seen lists of the most common English words – they’re simple words that we use VERY frequently, like run, set, play, and so on. You already know what they mean, right? But here’s the problem: These common words have MULTIPLE meanings. In fact, if you check the dictionary, some of these words have hundreds of ...
Agree with, agree on, agree about, agree that, or agree to?
August 26, 2020 12:00 - 6 minutes - 6.96 MBOne place I see a lot of students making mistakes is in using the verb agree. Specifically, which preposition to use after it: Do you agree on something or agree with something or agree to something? We actually use ALL of these in English - but in different situations. So today you'll learn 5 ways to use the verb agree correctly, with example sentences. It's really easy to make these little mistakes when you're learning English, and it's hard to discover and correct your own errors! ...
30 collocations with HAVE
August 19, 2020 12:00 - 8 minutes - 7.81 MBHAVE is one of the most common verbs in English, and we use this word in many different ways! In today's lesson, you'll learn 30 different collocations with have. These are the typical combinations of words that native speakers often use. I'll show you the collocations in example sentences. You can also create your own sentences using these collocations to help you remember them better. A lot of students tell me they know a lot of English words, but they have a hard time putting the ...