Practising English

This is a story I wrote specially for B1-level learners of English. It contains a lot of B1 language that is useful to learn. The story also contains useful language about English gardens. The story is called The Cucumber... Come over to www.practisingenglish.com podcast 134 to read the audio script and see the answers to the questions... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about adv...

A short story for B1 learners of English. The original title of the story was called The Sleuths. It was a short story by the American writer, O. Henry. I've completely re-written this story to a B1 level so learners of English can enjoy it. To see the podcast audioscript come over to www.practisingenglish.com at podcast 133. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising...

I have a short story for you today. A story by the American writer, O. Henry. He was born in 1862 and died in New York in 1910. He is best known for his short stories. The one I'm going to read to you today I have completely re-written for B2 level English students. Well, there are a few words in there from higher levels but I'm sure if you have B2 English, you'll be able to underst...

There is definitely language that you will find as a visitor to the UK that you won't find in the English language learning textbooks. You need to go to special places to hear terms of endearment. Well, I say special places but you can hear this language anywhere, I suppose: when you're asking the way, when you're getting onto a bus, buying a loaf of bread in a baker's etc. etc...

A visit to the beach in the south of Spain (Cadiz). Typical collocations (words that go together), words and expressions we use to talk about the beach, picnics and a swim in the sea. Come to www.practisingenglish.com (podcast 130) to tead the audio script and a glossary and explanations of the more difficult words. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising...

I've just come back from a short holiday in Scotland . In this podcast I'm going to talk about my stay in the south-west of this country and make some comparisons with where I live in Spain. So some useful comparative and superlative language here and if you come over to www.practisingenglish.com (podcast 129), you can see some of the photos I took. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question...

In this podcast I'm going to talk about part two of the Cambridge English PET or Preliminary writing paper, where you have the option of writing a story. I'm going to read three model stories to you . I'll explain the verb forms, structure and essential vocabulary you'll need to make your story a winner for the exam. Read the stories at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast...

As the season of exams comes to a close at the end of the school year, I'm going to start with another type of podcast - looking at vocabulary of the world around us. In this podcast, I took a walk around my local park - María Luisa Park in Seville, Spain. I talk about all the things you can find there. This will be useful for B1 and B2 students who want to build their vocabulary about variou...

I'm still on the theme of intonation and how important it is to place more emphasis or stress on the meaning words. That is: the nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and negative words especially, while the words which carry less meaning will receive less stress. Words like: prepositions, articles, the verb 'to be' and auxiliary verbs. But today I'm going to demonstrate this rhyth...

I was giving some students a practice speaking test the other day and I noticed something that worried me. All students learn those set phrases for Part 3 and Part 4 of the First Certificate speaking test. You know, those phrases for interacting with your partner. Examples: Yes, I agree with you. I don't agree with you. Etc. The problem was that as I was testing lots of students, I noticed th...

When I was examining some students the other day for First Certificate (FCE) speaking exam, I noticed one thing especially which most students could not do correctly. I'm referring to intonation! If your intonation is poor, you will lose marks. In this podcast, I'm going to offer you a model version of Part 3 of the FCE speaking exam (the collaborative task) which will emphasize the corr...

How long is a piece of string? How long have you been waiting? My goodness! You weren't very long! How long does it take? Not long. The use of 'long' can be a bit confusing but it's a word which expresses quite simple things and everyday language. So, listen on to learn how to use this word correctly! It won't take long! This is for B1 and B2 level students of English. You...

Help and secrets for passing Cambridge First Certificate speaking exam part 2. While you are speaking, both examiners in the room are listening and assessing your spoken language according to some strict criteria. One of the most important criteria is this: are you using simple sentences or are you using complex sentences? Get the written blog on this podcast at practisingenglish.com podcast 122.....

For a student who is still in the pre-intermediate level of English, it's very easy to think that 'will' is what we use to talk about future. To get to a B1 level, it's important to know that there are several ways to talk about future - not just one. Today, I'll look at the three main ways we talk about future in English: the use of 'will', 'going to + infi...

This is a follow-up from podcast 11, which was about ' wish ' and ' if only ' to talk about unreal or unlikely situations. I'm continuing on that theme today because I want to make it clearer about how to use these structures. Some textbooks can be bit confusing, can't they? They're confusing because they often try to put a rule on how to use these words. Do we s...

This is a continuation of podcast 117 , which showed you how to do Part 3 of the Cambridge English exam. In this podcast, I'll show you how to pass Part 4 of the exam and you can hear a model answer by two candidates. If you go to PractisingEnglish.com you can read and copy the audio script for your English notes.  Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practis...

B2 language level podcast for key vocabulary and expressions to talk about travelling by plane. Essentail language for going through check-in, customs and passport control, boarding your plane and flying off to your destination. To see the audio script, please come over to www.practisingenglish.com podcast 118... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising Eng...

This is for B1 level students who are studying for the Cambridge Preliminary English (PET) exam. This is a podcast on advice, strategies and expressions you'll need to pass Part 3 of the speaking test. It also includes a model answer for you to follow and borrow expressions for your own PET speaking test. Come to practisingenglish.com at podcast 117 so you can read and copy the phrases... Con...

Another practice session on the Cambridge PET Preliminary English speaking exam part 2 for students studying for B1 level . This time I'll tell you about how to upgrade your language to B1 level and how to use words and expressions in the test that you learnt in your studies even though they are not very relevant. Come to www. PractisingEnglish.com, podcast 116 to see the picture and the audi...

'Please' and 'thank you' are words you learnt very early in your English studies. But do you know how to use them properly in English? There are also a lot of interesting expressions with these words. This is a B2 level podcast. Listen on and thank your lucky stars you found this podcast! Come over to Practising English to see the written notes on this podcast 115... Contact Mi...

Cambridge B1 Preliminary exam Writing Part 1. How to write the email and lots of useful expressions and help to write the email to help you pass successfully. This is a B1 level podcast with advice and tips for those students of English studying towards the PET exam. Come and visit me at Practising English.com podcast 114 to read the audio script and copy the notes... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a...

Exclusive podcast of the Seville April Fair for B2-level students . I'll be exploring six interesting phrasal verbs and some useful adverbs to use in your Cambridge speaking exams or writing part of the exam, e.g. the article. Come over to Practising English dot com and podcast number 113 to also read the audio script and learn these essential B2 words. Let's go... Contact Mike Bilbrough...

Today I'm going to look at those words 'so' + the adjective or 'such a' + a noun phrase. This is a B1 session. If you look up the meaning of 'such' and 'so' in a dictionary it says that these words mean 'to a great degree'. That means they are used to emphasize the amount or the quality of something. These words can mean 'very', &apo...

Podcast for listening practice for B2 level students. Today I'll be talking about the weather in the UK and the words and expressions we use. These are essential words for all B2 level students studying for the Cambridge FCE exam and similar exams. For the audio script to  this podcast on the weather , pleae go to Practising English at podcast 111... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or...

For B1 students learning English. Today I'm going to talk about the definite article 'the' and mostly about when it should be omitted or left out before certain nouns. There is also a love story which follows this. You can see the answers to the questions I ask and the audio script at Practising English podcast 110... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertisi...