PoLoop Angielski

Send us Fan Mail Giving employee feedback is becoming tricky with Gen Z's joining the workforce.  Find out why, discover new ideas about performance reviews, and learn many expressions related to evaluating work and collocations with "feedback". Link to The Times article on the topic For more, visit: PoLoop Angielski Blog Drop me a line: jacek@poloopangielski.pl And join us on socia...

Send us Fan Mail Could there be a better way of teaching English tenses? Here is Jacek's ongoing journey and experimentation to answer this question, drawing on research on brain hemispheres, the lexical approach, the relationship between speech and movement, and insights from first language acquisition.  If you are interested in taking part in Jacek's summer course "All Tenses in F...

Send us Fan Mail This episode highlights the cultural differences between non-native speakers and native speakers, particularly the British, when it comes to disagreeing. While non-native speakers tend to be more direct, native speakers prefer a more tentative and polite approach to disagreements. Listen and learn phrases and techniques that can be used to express disagreement in a respectful and...

Send us Fan Mail Drawing inspiration from an article published by The Economist, titled "As it spreads across the world, who owns English," this episode challenges the notion that languages exclusively belong to their country of origin. Link to The Economist article: As it spreads across the world, who owns English? Link to episode transcript .  For more, visit: PoLoop Angielski Blog Dro...

Send us Fan Mail Do you often feel exhausted? Are you trying to fit as many things into your busy schedule, desperately hoping to be left with some time for yourself? Are you worried that your life slips through your fingers? This episode discusses the recent report entitled "Burnt Out Britain" by British think-tank Onward, which challenges common myths about the reasons for our busyness...

Send us Fan Mail Speaking a language is more of a skill than a knowledge-based activity. In this respect, it is similar to dancing or doing sport. In this episode, we'll be developing fluency and confidence in using third-conditional sentences. You'll be guided through a series of exercises that break down the structure into smaller components and gradually put it all together. Link to t...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we are looking at two studies on the psychology of playing chess. Can we use their findings about the thinking processes of chess masters to help us acquire a foreign language? Link to episode transcript. For more, visit: PoLoop Angielski Blog Drop me a line: jacek@poloopangielski.pl And join us on social media: Instagram and   Facebook Would you like me to help y...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Jacek explores the topic of dining alone and its associated stigma . He begins by sharing statistics that reveal how dining alone has become more popular in the UK. Then he retells an anecdote about British comedian Jack Whitehall, who experienced an embarrassing situation while eating on his own in America. Then you will hear the explanation of how the phrase &qu...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, you will learn about toadies a.k.a. suck-ups, brown-nosers, and apple polishers. Toadies are not the slimy creatures that hang out in ponds or feature on a fancy French menu. Toadies are the people who are always kissing up to their bosses. We'll be digging into some fun and colourful terms to describe those suckers and even share a study that claims...

Send us Fan Mail This time Jacek talks about his "relevant today" posts on Instagram, in which he presents expressions related to current news stories. He explains what makes these posts useful and shares some examples of his recent posts. Link to PoLoop Angielski Instagram Profile Link to episode transcript For more, visit: PoLoop Angielski Blog Drop me a line: jacek@poloopangielski.pl...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of the Poloop Angielski Podcast is about banning some words and phrases because they are seen as discriminatory, offensive, or inappropriate. Jacek presents a list of expressions, such as "ballsy," "crazy," "freshman," or "manpower", which to some could be exclusionary or derogative. Does banning words make us more inclusive and...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of PoLoop Angielski Podcast,  Jacek discusses an article from The Economist titled "The Pitfalls of Loving Your Job a Little Too Much" . The podcast explores the positive and negative effects of having a passion for work and shares findings from a study by Harvard Business School which reveals that the importance of passion in the workplace has increased...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of the Poloop Angielski Podcast focuses on the topic of blaming people for their mistakes. Jacek discusses a recent article from the Economist titled "Faulty Reasoning" about the adverse effects of blaming people in a work environment. The discussion provides a good source of business vocabulary and expressions related to blaming people, including phrasal ve...

Send us Fan Mail What trap do polyglots and teachers of foreign languages fall into when advising learners? Should you listen to the advice of those who've mastered a foreign language? What is the right approach when choosing suitable methods of learning? In this episode, I tackle these questions using some insights from Rory Sutherland's book "Alchemy" . You can download the c...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is the continuation of the topic of stress in Phrasal Verbs, so it might be a good idea to listen to Episode 23 first. You can download the complete transcript of this episode here . Phrasal Verbs used in this recording:  put sth on: start wearing something burn down: get destroyed by fire take after sb: look or behave like an older member of the family come down with...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode you will learn about three kinds of two-part Phrasal Verbs (transitive, separable PVs, transitive, inseparable PVs, and intransitive PVs), and how the type influences the position of stress in the phrase. You will also hear examples of many Phrasal Verbs connected with business meetings. You can download the complete transcript of this episode here . Transitive, se...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode you'll find out how chatting with the big guys in the tech industry will soon make me a proud owner of a brand new Tesla! You might also discover a great way to practise English. You can download the complete transcript of this episode here . Some words and phrases used in the recording (in alphabetical order):  awkward: making you feel embarrassed bot: a comp...

Send us Fan Mail When it comes to learning a language, are you a lumper or a splitter? Which approach is better for learners of a foreign language? You can download the complete transcript of this episode here . Key terms used in the recording:  to lump: to put things together in the same group and consider them as the same even though there are differences between them to split: to put similar th...

Send us Fan Mail Let's kick off the new year with a few pieces of advice about the New Year's resolutions. You can download the complete transcript of this episode here . Words and phrases connected to the topic of New Year's resolutions:  A FIRM RESOLUTION : a resolution that is not likely to change TO MAKE A RESOLUTION : to decide to try very hard to do something TO KEEP A RESOLUT...

Send us Fan Mail Verbs sometimes want to act like adjectives or nouns. In order to take on their new role they need the -ing ending. In this episode I expose their clever trick :-) You can download the transcript of this episode here . Phrasal Verbs used in the recording:  FEEL UP TO  sth/doing sth : When you don't feel up to something, you don't have enough strength or energy to do it o...

Send us Fan Mail Is learning a foreign language as easy as some want us to believe? What are the consequences of thinking that you can learn a language without effort? Listen to find out, and while doing so, learn a few useful words and expressions. You can download the transcript of this episode here . EASY or DIFFICULT - expressions introduced in the recording:  EFFORTLESS : Something that is ef...

Send us Fan Mail Three-part Phrasal Verbs are made of a verb, a particle and a preposition. In this episode you'll learn a few of them. You can download the transcript of this episode here . The list of three-part phrasal verbs introduced in the recording:  get round to sth,  get sth over with,  feel up to sth, go in for sth, look forward to,  put up with sth,  talk down to sb. GET ROUND TO :...

Send us Fan Mail Robert Lewandowski's failed penalty kick can teach us a few things about learning a foreign language. You can find out what in this episode. This episode has been prepared with new features: a transcript and timestamps. This is why, you won’t  find here the usual list of words and expressions used in the recording, but you can still find all the words and expressions in the t...

Send us Fan Mail Inflation   is one of the words that we can often hear these days. In this episode I'm looking at many collections with the word inflation, and share some insights how these collocations are influenced by the way we see inflation as a violent criminal, an illness, something that is out of control, and something that moves. Inflation is a PERSON:  Our biggest ENEMY right now i...

Send us Fan Mail Phrasal Verbs are a challenge to learners of English. They are difficult to master, but learning them is definitely worth the effort. In this episode, which is the first one in the series about Phrasal Verbs,  I recommend looking at them not as a random combinations of verbs and particles, but trying to discover what lies behind such combinations. To illustrate this, we will disco...