Espresso English Podcast

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.