Emma's ESL English

Today we have a grammar class about time. You can learn what these expressions mean and how to use them. We will be covering time expressions: to take time to make time to have time to find time to keep time to do time to be on time to be in time It's a busy episode! Remember all the examples are available written down below. Today's Expressions: Take the time/take time If we take time to...

On today's podcast we're looking at some confusing grammar. Something, Anything, Nothing and Everything seem like they might be used the same way, but this is English! And that would be too easy! Let's start with the core word: ' any' 'every' 'no' , and 'some' are all called qualifiers. They say how much or how many we are talking about of something, but...

Today we are celebrating Maya Angelou's birthday. Maya was a famous Black American writer, poet, speaker, actor. civil rights activist and so many things in her life, including professor. Today we're going to read one of her most famous poems: 'Still I rise.' I would suggest you take some time to go and listen to Maya read this poem, she has a wonderful voice and her reading is fil...

Today we're talking about people who aren't generous with their money or who would rather keep their money to themselves than give you any! As I mentioned on the podcast, it's quite rude to use most of these words so I wouldn't advise using them. In terms of grading, 'tightarse' is definitely the worst, probably followed by 'skinflint' and then 'tightfisted'...

This week on the podcast we're looking at idioms and vocabulary that we use to talk about money. Today we're talking about spending money. These often mention money or purses, places where money is kept. Tomorrow we're talking about people who aren't generous with their money. Can you think of any other phrases like this? Or are there any you've heard that were confusing? Vocab...

Today on the podcast we're celebrating Star Trek's Captain of the Enterprise, Captain James T Kirk.  I'll talk a little bit about the show and share some quotes from the show. You will also see an unexpected appearance of Tommy the cat in this episode. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to sit in the sun or not. There isn't much vocabulary today, it's just a fun episode.  Voc...

Today, in celebration of the International Day of Forests, I was reading from Elif Shafak's new book The Island of Missing Trees . This book is based both in Cyprus and the UK and covers a couple of different times. One of the main characters of the story is a Fig tree, brought over from Cyprus. In addition, I mentioned Peter Wohlleben's book, The Hidden Life of Trees . This book is writte...

In today's episode we're continuing to look at different internet newspaper sources you could use to help you learn English. We're trying to understand what you should look for to make sure you're choosing the right source for you. This includes making sure you don't feel overwhelmed by the article (because it's too hard or has too much new vocabulary) and today we're c...

In today's episode we're looking at lots of articles about the same story. The goal is to figure out how we can identify good learning sources for English quickly and easily. We will consider the source, the vocabulary, the tone of the writing, the grammar and the purpose of the writing. In today's episode I mention many different articles. You can find them all in the links below. The...

Happy International Women's Day! In this episode I'll go into why I wanted to do these three readings for International Women's Day and what I think the value of learning English. I talk a little bit about my frustrations with our modern world and how I think English can help and I get a bit motivational (I hope!). I am always impressed by how much time and effort my students have put...

In today's episode I'm reading a poem called Uomini Cadranno, Italian for 'Men will fall' written by Seema Begum when she was 14. This poem considers the patriarchal society and the reality that within the patriarchy men push women down and hurt women and children so that they can progress. You can watch Seema read her poem in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmHOZNU1RIg...

Welcome to part 2 (there are 4) of our International Women's Day celebration. In this episode I'll read a short excerpt from Reni Eddo-Lodge's book 'Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race.' Reni is an award winning British journalist, author and podcaster who's writing has a focus on feminism and structural racism. The book began as a blog post and after r...

This is episode one of our 4 part International Women's Day celebrations. In this episode I will be reading an excerpt from Jane Goodall's book 'Reason for Hope'.  We are listening to Jane's thoughts on compassion and love.  Jane is a world-recognised expert on Chimpanzee behaviour. She began as a young woman sent out to Africa to study wild chimpanzees. At 88 she is still very...

This episode is a little different to normal. This month is Black History Month in America, in the UK Black History Month is October. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to four Black American musicians. All four were active at around the same time. All four were active in the American Civil Rights Movement and all four had their own, major impact on music. I managed to figure out h...

Today is Pancake Day in the UK, otherwise known a Shrove Tuesday. This is the day before Ash Wednesday, or the beginning of lent. Traditionally people made pancakes to try to use up all the things in their cupboard before lent. In this episode we'll talk a little about the religious days that Pancake day is a part of. Then we'll look at the ingredients for pancakes. We'll look at the d...

Today I will read a short excerpt from Jane Austen's book, Persuasion. This is the love letter that Captain Wentworth writes to Anne Elliot after he guesses that maybe they feel the same way. I'll also give you a little summary of the story. While it might be a little difficult for you to set on and read the book yourself, there are plenty of movie adaptations you can watch instead. I'...

Happy Valentine's Day!! I hope you're having a lovely day, whether you have someone special, or you bought yourself chocolate!  Today I wanted to talk a little bit about the history of Valentine's Day and then look at how we celebrate it in modern times.  It might give you some insight and ideas if you have an English romantic partner. We'll find out a little more about where the E...

Today we are reading the William Wordsworth poem 'Daffodils' or 'I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud'. Why? This is one of the most famous British poets and this is his most famous and most loved English poem. If you're coming to the UK or have any interest in British culture, this poem is one you MUST know. Don't worry if poetry isn't interesting to you, or this kind of poetr...

Dorothy and William Wordsworth lived in Grasmere and later Rydal, villages in the Lake District National Park, which is near my home. William is one of the most famous British Romantic poets. Today and tomorrow we will look at both of their attempts to capture the same scene. While walking along Ullswater in the Lake District the brother and sister came across some daffodils. They were both captiv...

On today's episode we're learning lots of phrases and idioms using the word 'heart'.  Many of these idioms are very common and some can be used as phrases alone or to describe people. I hope you find them useful.   See you next week. Today's Vocabulary 'Don't take it to heart' - If someone says this to you they mean 'don't take it too seriously' or '...

Being able to express your opinion is a really important skill if you're going to be working with Western Native Speakers. I've noticed a lot of my Korean and Japanese students struggle to express their opinions simply this isn't a skill that's appreciated in their own culture. But if you can't express your opinion in English you're going to struggle in every business meeti...

Today is Burns Night. This is a big night in Scotland when the Scottish poet Robert Burns is celebrated.  In this episode I'll give you some history about Burns, I'll tell you a bit about how Burns Night is celebrated and I'll read a little excerpt from Robert Burns' poem Tam O'Shanter. I'll put the translated version of the poem in the subtitles of the YouTube video.  If y...

In this episode we're looking at a group of idioms that you can use when you need to ask for a change or to explain to someone that there is the possibility of negotiation. You might be negotiating something or asking someone to change their behaviour or change their mind. Many of these idioms can be used in a business or public setting during negotiations or meetings. See you tomorrow! Vocabu...

Do you struggle to understand WHEN or WHY someone is being sarcastic? Do you wish you could be more sarcastic, but don't know what to say? Then this episode is for you! I'll explain everything and We'll look at some common phrases you might hear when someone is being sarcastic. British people are quite famous (or infamous😬) for their sarcasm, so I have quite a lot of experience.😎 The...

This is the final episode looking at the vocabulary from Terry Pratchett's Witches Abroad. In episode 100 I read a segment from the book in which Granny Weatherwax (an older witch) beats three men at cards. As the scene proceeds the main male player gets angrier and angrier and the language he uses to describe Granny gets worse and worse.  In this episode we'll review the wide variety of v...