Espresso English Podcast

Today I'll teach you 10 English expressions with the words "easy" and "hard." These individual words have simple definitions, but when they are used in idioms, the expression might have a different meaning than you expect. You'll learn what it means when we say "easy does it" and "hard pass," as well as "he got off easy" and "that's hard to swallow." Take the lesson to find out what these idioms mean! How can you learn idioms like these more effectively? My 300+ English Idioms Course can help you! Each lesson follows this format: First, you’ll see an example of the idiom in context and you’ll try to guess what it means. Then, you’ll learn the correct meaning of each idiom from my explanation and examples. Finally, you can practice using the idioms with quizzes and short answer exercises. The best part is that you can send in your answers to the exercises - I and my assistant teacher will check them to make sure you understand the idioms and are using them correctly. You can sign up and start learning today

Do you know when to use "of" vs. "from" in English?  Using the wrong preposition is a very common mistake. Many other languages have just one word for both "of" and "from," but in English we use these two words in several different ways. Learning English grammar can seem like an impossible task... but I want to help you do it step by step! That's why I have grammar products for all levels of English learners: Basic & Intermediate English Grammar E-Books Advanced English Grammar Course My students who have these e-books and courses love the easy-to-understand lessons and practical examples and exercises. If you're having difficulty with grammar, or if you want to build your confidence in using English correctly, check out the e-books and course.

Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb + preposition, like get up and find out. Phrasal verbs often have specific meanings that may not be obvious from the words themselves. In today's lesson, I'll explain four phrasal verbs that students have asked me about recently: hook up, plug away, ward off, and whip up. These are just a few of the THOUSANDS of phrasal verbs we have in the English language - and we use them every day! You can learn more than 500 phrasal verbs in the Phrasal Verbs in Conversation Course. This is an easy and fun way to learn phrasal verbs in context and put them into practice in your own English.

Spoken English has a lot of little expressions that are used frequently by native speakers - and some of these expressions are so similar that you might accidentally mix them up. Two such expressions are "give you peace of mind" and "give someone a piece of your mind" - they sound almost the same, but they are in fact very different. I hope this lesson has helped make these expressions clear! As always, try to put the phrases into practice by creating your own examples. If you want to learn hundreds more phrases that native English speakers use in everyday life, you can join my Everyday English Speaking Courses. They are based on dialogues, and very useful for improving your spoken English.

A lot of English learners get confused about the words food, dish, meal, and cuisine. These all refer to the general topic of eating, but there are some important differences in how we use each one. In today’s lesson, I’ll explain when to use these words so that you’ll understand them clearly. If you enjoy my explanations and you want to learn more, then you'll love my e-book, 600+ Confusing English Words Explained! This e-book will teach you the distinctions among "families" of words (like ache, pain, and hurt; critic, critical, criticism, and critique) as well as words that look or seem similar, but are actually different (explore and exploit, interfere and intervene, raise and rise).

Are you ready for some pronunciation practice? In today's lesson we're going to work on pronouncing English words starting with DR-. There are two small but important details that you need to know in order for your pronunciation of these words to sound good - click on the lesson to learn, listen, and repeat! If you want to train all the different sounds in English and improve your pronunciation, you can sign up for my pronunciation and shadowing courses. There's a discount if you join both courses together.

Today's question comes from a student who was watching a movie. In this movie, one character said to another, "Get lost," so the student is asking what this expression means in context. Today, I'll explain this phrase and also teach you some other informal expressions with the word "get," such as get a grip, get off my case, get bent out of shape, and more. That's just a small sampling of the many colorful informal expressions that we have in the English language using the word "get." In order to remember these phrases better, I suggest trying to write your own sentences with them! If you want to add more interesting expressions to your own English, join my 300+ English Idioms Course. Not only will you learn a lot of common idioms, but you'll also practice them with quizzes and short-answer exercises that you can send in for correction and feedback.

Today I have a special guest - his name is Ben, and he's an expert in IELTS test preparation. He'll share some top strategies for each section of the IELTS exam, so if you're preparing for the IELTS test - or if you've taken it before but you want to increase your score - listen carefully to this episode and put the tips into practice.

Today I'm going to teach you three pairs of confusing words that have the prefix IN-. In many words, IN- means the opposite or "not": independent = NOT dependent incorrect = NOT correct However, there are some exceptions that might be confusing, and you'll learn three of them in this lesson: invaluable, infamous, and inflammable. I hope this lesson has helped clarify the meanings of these confusing words. The English language has a lot of words that seem similar, but are actually different - and many English learners make mistakes with them. That's why I wrote the e-book 600+ Confusing English Words Explained - to help you understand these words clearly, so you can use them confidently! What will you learn in this e-book? Click here to see the full list of confusing words in the book.

Someone asked me if there's a difference between finish and finish up. The answer is no - there's no difference in meaning. Finish up is just more informal. But is this the case for every verb / phrasal verb? No! In today's lesson you'll learn the small differences between show and show off, follow and follow up, and several more verb and phrasal verb pairs. There are certainly a lot of little details to remember when it comes to phrasal verbs. That's why it's so important to learn phrasal verbs in context - when you learn how phrasal verbs are used in real situations, it's much more effective than trying to memorize lists of definitions. You can learn this way inside my Phrasal Verbs in Conversation Course! Not only will you learn more than 500 phrasal verbs through the dialogues in the lessons, but you'll also put them into practice with quizzes and exercises.

I’ve heard a lot of students' speaking samples in my courses, and today I’d like to address a few of the pronunciation mistakes that I’ve been correcting. First of all, don’t feel bad if you make a pronunciation mistake! It’s really easy to do this in English, especially because we have so many similar sounds and so many words that are pronounced differently from the way they’re written. So if you mess up a word – don’t be embarrassed, it’s not the end of the world. I can usually understand what you were trying to say. Let's practice together so that you can improve your English pronunciation! When it comes to pronunciation, practice makes perfect. You need to repeat English words many times in order to learn to say them easily and naturally. It's also important to have someone correct any mistakes, so that you don't form bad pronunciation habits. You can get both practice and evaluation inside my courses - American English Pronunciation and Shadowing with Shayna. These courses have lots of exercises to

If you watch TV and movies in English, you'll probably see a lot of new words and expressions that might not come up in your regular English study. Sometimes it’s hard to understand what certain phrases mean, so students write to me and ask for clarification. In today’s lesson, I’ll explain ten phrases from TV shows and movies that students have asked me about recently. If you ever come across a phrase that you can’t figure out, feel free to e-mail me and ask me what it means, and I’ll do my best to explain it! Informal spoken English – like the kind you hear in movies and native speakers’ conversations – is full of expressions that English textbooks often don’t teach So how can you learn these expressions WITHOUT getting confused and lost? One way is to join my Everyday English Speaking Course - Level 2! This course teaches you informal phrases, idioms, and slang in the context of conversations. It's a great way to improve your comprehension and learn a lot of surprising new expressions. Speaking Level

Today's lesson will teach you 33 collocations and expressions about decisions. Collocations are combinations of words that native English speakers use naturally. Learning these word combinations makes it easier to put together your ideas in English, so that you can express yourself better. You'll also learn some informal expressions, like "a tough call," "in a quandary," and "the lesser of two evils." Click on the lesson to learn! One major difficulty for English learners is often knowing how to put words together. How can you know if you're using the right word or expression? Learning collocations helps give you the "building blocks" for better sentences in English. That's why I wrote the e-book 1000 Collocations in 10 Minutes a Day - to teach you which words go together naturally. Each of the 50 short lessons in the e-book is accompanied by a quiz to help you practice and review. You can learn a lot in just a few minutes every day!

Here's a free sample lesson from my NEW Current Events English Course! Today I'll teach you 20 words and expressions from a recent news article about social entrepreneurs who are changing the world. Original article: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/04/15/712653034/no-fake-drugs-more-jobs-for-youth-end-child-sexual-abuse-online-a-vision-for-203 After you watch the video, download the vocabulary exercise to review and practice what you learned. If you enjoyed this lesson and want to get 30 more lessons like this, you can join the Current Events English Course to get daily lessons starting May 1. You'll learn more than 500 words and expressions inside this course - and all the lessons are based on topics that are relevant today. Remember, the course starts May 1, and that is also the last day to join. I hope to see you inside!

Join the course: https://www.espressoenglish.net/current-events-english-course One common suggestion given to English learners is to read or watch the news in English. This is a good idea, because you can learn how to talk about current events and relevant topics. But there’s one BIG problem – If you’re reading or watching the news and there are words or expressions you don’t know, this can make it hard or even impossible to understand everything else. You might miss the main points and lose track of the story, all because of the vocabulary you’re lacking. That’s really frustrating. Wouldn’t it be great to have a teacher or friend who can help guide you through an article and explain any words / expressions that are new to you? Then you could expand your vocabulary and understand the news more confidently. I’m here to help you! In May I'm creating the Current Events English Course, 2019 edition. In this course, I’ll teach you English from real news articles on current topics. I’ll explain the new vocabu

I received a great question from a student: Is it possible to use ‘to’ followed by the ‘ing’ form? For example, “I'm looking forward to seeing you.” Normally we use to + the base form (ex. "I want to order pizza.") However, there are some specific words in English after which we use to + ING, and I'm going to tell you about them in today's lesson! English grammar can be quite difficult with all the rules and exceptions! You can learn, study, and practice inside my Advanced English Grammar Course. I'll explain the grammar clearly and help you put it into practice with quizzes. There's also an option to get corrections and feedback on your writing.

April 1 is an informal holiday known as April Fools' Day! People celebrate by playing jokes and trying to trick people in funny and harmless ways. You might be wondering about this word "fool" - how is it used in English? I'll teach you all about it in today's lesson. Don't be fooled by confusing English words! There are a lot of them, and they can be very tricky to understand and use correctly. You can get clear explanations and examples inside my e-book, 600+ Confusing English Words Explained. It will help you understand the differences between similar words like farther and further, interfere and intervene, sensible and sensitive, and many more words with which English learners often make mistakes.

Do you know what to say in English in case of an emergency? In the moment, you might panic and not be able to think of the words – so it’s good to learn and practice them beforehand. In today's lesson you'll learn how to talk about various medical emergencies, accidents, and other dangers. If you want to expand your vocabulary even more, join my Vocabulary Builder Courses to learn more than 1000 useful English words with pictures and examples. There's a discount when you buy Level 1 and Level 2 of the course together!

Today I want to teach you about a tricky little grammar mistake that I see a lot of students making when using the verbs see, watch, and hear. You'll also learn how the sentence changes when we add the word "that." This was just one small grammar point... but there's a lot more grammar to learn! If you're looking for a detailed course to help you master English grammar, check out my Advanced English Grammar Course. It has 45 lessons with quizzes to help you review and practice - as well as the option to get correction and feedback on your writing.

Do you have a hard time finding the right phrase to use in your business letters and e-mails? Today you'll learn 30 phrases for business correspondence. If you want to speak English more confidently at work, join my Business English Course! You'll learn phrases for everyday professional situations, as well as lots of vocabulary for marketing, finance, entrepreneurship, and more. There are even several lessons on idioms that are often used in the business world.