Practising English

In today's podcast, I'm going to show you how to use present perfect , and that if you avoid present perfect, you may lose points in your Cambridge exam , especially at B1 level and above. I'm going to play some extracts from my stories here on Practising English as examples of present perfect use.  I include the transcript so you can listen and read. See transcript at https://www.p...

In this final part of the story (see part 1 at Podcast 160 ), Simon prepares for his part in the play, and life seems to be getting better for him - but will everything happen the way Simon imagined? Lots of B1 adjectives to listen for about personality:  alike, uninterested, embarrassed, ashamed, uncomfortable, charmimg, shy, stressed, nervous, serious, confident. Enjoy the story! Contact Mike Bi...

Part 1 of this B1-level short story with vocabulary about the theatre. In this first part, Simon Willoughby is a very shy man but is attracted towards Phillipa, but Phillipa is also a member of the local amateur dramatics group... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1...

Short story called The Fool on the Hill for B1 learners of English. Useful personality adjectives and other vocabulary at B1 level. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to P...

The second and final part of the short story "Who was Sidney Peabody?". Listen for the adverbs I use in this story. The language is for B1-level students studying for Cambridge PET exam or similar. https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-158.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact....

Part 1 of this story about someone who performed a miracle - or did he? B1 English study. Words for calculating: plus, minus, divide by, multiply by. Part 2 of this story on Sunday May 7th. https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-157.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: &...

Vocabulary about climate change for B1-level students. The Great Dying refers to a time millions of years ago when the Earth warmed so much that most animal and plant life could no longer exist. I include a short story about the next Great Dying. Let's work together so this will never happen. https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-156.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry a...

Use of adjectives and adverbs in your B1 stories. A short story about a an English boy and a French girl and what happened when they met. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Nee...

A B1 short story about a walk on the white cliffs of Dover. Vocabulary to describe the countryside and the weather. https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-154.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Wo...

Today, I'm talking about useful cognates at B1 level. Useful, because they can be used in the Cambridge Preliminary or First exams instead of repeating words like 'fantastic' or 'great'. There's a story for the B1 writing at the end - even though it's longer than the usual 100 words! Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practisin...

This episode is for B1 students with lots of useful language to talk about describing a house. It's an extract from a short story by O. Henry set in New York at the beginning of the 20th century.  I also give you some tips on how you can quickly increase your B1 word power by using vocabulary in the writing and speaking parts of the Preliminary Cambridge exam which is easily learnt. Contact M...

After Twenty Years was, originally, a short story by the US writer O. Henry. I've completely re-written the story for B1-level English students with lots of useful language at the B1 level. I also talk about the different words we use to talk about crime... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/con...

A B1 story about an island in the sea and a young girl's hopes and dreams for the future. B1 English with useful expressions about the sea and about learning. For more help with studying towards a B2 level, get my book The Tudor Conspiracy at https://amzn.to/33Axu2N For more help with your B1 and B2 level English study, visit my website at https://www.practisingenglish.com/ Contact Mike Bilbr...

Today, to celebrate Epiphany, I'm going to release the audio version of my book for children learning English - Carlos and his English, The level is at A1 to A2. I invite you to buy this brightly illustrated book (written and illustrated by myself, M. A. Bilbrough) for your children or a younger member of your family as much of the story will be better understood when the pictures are seen. I...

As we approach Christmas, we think more about being generous and being kind to others. This is a short story about generosity. This is a B1-level podcast for learners of English. For more help with your English, visit https://www.practisingenglish.com/ Also, check out my book for B1 students working towards B2 - The Tudor Conspiracy at https://mabilbrough.com/ Contact Mike Bilbrough with a questio...

Continuation of the study of six more idioms at B2 level. Some are hidden in a story that you must listen to and find. The six idioms in the podcast are: have an eye for something can't keep/take your eyes off somebody/something look somebody in the eye be a piece of cake take your breath away cross your mind Check your answers at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-147.htm Also, check...

A study of six idioms at B2 level. Each one is hidden in a story that you must listen to and find out which it is. The six idioms are: break the ice break sb's heart be a pain to lose track be over the moon from out of nowhere Check your answers at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-146.htm Also, check out my book for B1 students working towards B2 - The Tudor Conspiracy at https://mab...

This is a B1-level story with a few surprises. There are lots of useful B1 level words in it, and, as usual, I'll explain some key words before we start. If you would like to read one of my full-length stories, and you're a B1-level student studying for B2, you could buy buy my book The Tudor Conspiracy... https://amzn.to/33Axu2N For more exercises to improve your English, visit my websi...

This is a story about a family. There's quite a lot going on in this family but that's not very obvious unless you listen very carefully. The story is told from the point of view of a six-year-old boy and his ten-year-old sister. I've written this story for B1 students with lots of B1 language all the way through. As usual, I'll explain some key words before I start. Come to ww...

There is a place off the west coast of Scotland called the Inchcape Rock and on that rock many, many years ago there used to be a bell to tell the ships of the danger. This is a story about that rock and about pirates. It's a B1 level story with lots of useful B1 vocabulary. Come to www.practisingenglish.com to listen to more stories like this. You can also buy my book for B1 students: The Tu...

This is a B1-level story that I wrote based on a poem by Robert Southey. It's a story about terrible things and revenge. It has lots of verbs especially that are at B1 level and essential to study. Come over to www.practisingenglish.com to see more exercises to learn English or see my book The Tudor Conspiracy for B1 to B2 level students. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry abou...

This is a B1 session on clothes. I did a session on buying clothes at podcast 96 but this one looks at important B1 vocabulary describing clothes and talking about different parts of articles of clothing. Come over to www.practisingenglish.com for more English help... Here we go... Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.pract...

After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, I wanted to write a few lines about what she meant to me and to so many other people from the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. This is a B1 and B2 level podcast and there's a short poem at the end. Visit my site www.practisingenglish.com for more help for B1 and b2 level students. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertisi...

And welcome to www. PractisingEnglish.com , where I'm going to tell you another story. Now, the story today, I suppose you could say it's about identity, our self-identity. It's very important to know who we are, the part we play, our role in society. Usually, perhaps that is defined by the job we do, or what we do with other people, how we behave. It's important to know who we...

Welcome back to Part Two of the story, which I started last week, called The Spaceman .  I think the story has a message. And the message is about addiction. It's not about addiction to drugs or addiction to alcohol, or smoking. Listen to the story and think what is the addiction which is referred to here.  So I'm going to continue then, with the exciting part two of the Spaceman. Here w...