Espresso English Podcast

Do you often feel nervous when speaking English? Today I'm going to tell you  my top tips for improving your confidence  when speaking English. First, I'll give you three reasons why it's important to improve your confidence about your English. Then, I'll teach you three mental exercises and three physical exercises that will help you speak English more confidently! If you do these things, then yo...

Every year I like to teach a lesson on new words that have been added to the dictionary recently. The English language is always changing and evolving, and we're always creating new words or new meanings for existing words. Today you're going to learn  10 new words and definitions  that were added to the dictionary in the past year. These are just a few of hundreds of new words that have been adde...

It's just a couple days away from Christmas, which is a major holiday in the United States. So in today's lesson I'm going to teach you about the difference between the words  holiday and vacation. English learners often ask me about this, and it's a little tricky! Now put it into practice! What's your favorite holiday? Describe it in English. What did you do on your last vacation? Write about it...

Today's lesson is about common mistakes, but first I want to say one thing:  Please don't let the fear of errors stop you from speaking English!   It's MUCH more important to communicate and practice your speaking, even if it's not perfect. However, one of the fastest ways to correct your English errors is to focus on avoiding the most common mistakes - and  I'll teach you 5 in this lesson. In my...

If you have difficulties in listening to and understanding English, you're not alone. This is one of the most common problems for English learners. It's frustrating and embarrassing when you can't understand, but in this lesson I'm going to explain why it's so difficult and teach you  how to improve your listening skills. You can also improve your listening skills by joining my  Listening Course ,...

Today I'm going to explain the difference between  LATER and LATTER.  These words are only different by one letter, but they have different meanings and they're pronounced differently, too. That's all for now! If you want more, you can find lots of great explanations inside my  600+ Confusing Words E-Book. Thanks for joining me for today's lesson, and I'll talk to you later :-)

After last week's lesson on common informal phrases, a lot of students e-mailed me saying, "please make more lessons like this!" So today I'll teach you more: You'll  learn informal spoken expressions  like "No hard feelings," "Join the club," and "Just my luck!" (that last one might be different from what you expect...) Let me know if you have any questions about these phrases - or if you have an...

There are lots of little phrases that native English speakers use in daily life. But if you don't live in an English-speaking country, then you don't have the chance to hear these expressions - except maybe in movies or TV shows. So today I'll teach you  8 common informal phrases  that you might not find in textbooks - and I'll give you examples of situations in which we use them. Do you want to l...

Today's lesson is  all about the expression "gonna"  and when you CAN and CAN'T use it. I'll also tell you about "gonna go" - is this correct? Listen to the lesson to find out. I hope this lesson has been helpful! If you want to learn more from me,  come check out my courses , where I can teach you about conversational English, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, phrasal verbs, idioms, business En...

Today's  quick pronunciation tip  involves a very common verb: the word "say." You might be surprised that there's slightly different pronunciation in the different forms of this word. In this lesson I'm going to ask you to repeat after me, because the best way to practice pronunciation is for YOU to say the words and sentences out loud, not just watch me say them  :-) You can get a LOT more pronu...

Students often ask me if we can use idioms and slang in professional situations - and the answer is "it depends." Some expressions are not appropriate for the workplace, but there are many that you can use in conversations among co-workers and less formal emails. Today you'll learn  15 English idioms & phrasal verbs you CAN use at work. There are several more lessons about business idioms inside o...

The words  experience and experiment  might be the same in some languages... but in English they are different, and I often see students confuse them. Both of these words can be both nouns and verbs. Let's see how exactly they are used. Want more? Check out my e-book,  600+ Confusing English Words Explained , for lots of lessons that will help make these differences clear to you. Also, if you are...

Today I want to answer a question that is important for everyone who is studying English. Many of my students say, "I study grammar a lot and I understand it in theory. But when I speak, I can't think of the grammar in the moment, or it takes too long to remember the rules. So  how can I use grammar correctly when speaking English? " This is a great question! It's true that when you're speaking th...

When you're studying English, I recommend focusing on learning phrases and not just individual words. When you only study individual words, it's hard to put them together into a phrase - but when you study phrases, then it's much easier for you to use the whole phrase when speaking. The problem is that sometimes you might hear or see a phrase that doesn't seem to make sense. This often happens wit...

Today I'll teach you about some  common English-learning mistakes  that I've observed among the hundreds of students whom I've worked with. This lesson is going to be a little different because it's not about fixing specific words or phrases; instead, it's about correcting typical problems that language learners tend to have in the way they approach studying. In some ways, these are the most impor...

Today's lesson is all about  spelling mistakes  involving adding an extra letter to a word, or accidentally removing a letter from a word. There are so many words in English where these errors can happen, but again I'm going to focus on the most common ones. If you are looking for a quick way to check and correct your spelling and grammar, I recommend  Grammarly  - it's a free online tool! If you...

Remember that mistakes are an opportunity to learn - and today you'll learn from the mistakes of other students like you. Today's lesson  focuses on errors that I and my teaching team have found frequently when correcting students' homework. Maybe you've made some of these errors in the past, and now you know how to avoid them! But maybe you're making different mistakes, and you want someone to ch...

In this lesson we're going to look at  7 common pronunciation mistakes  in words with confusing combinations of letters.. A lot of students ask me about rules, like how do we know when the letter e sounds like ee vs. eh, or when the letter g sounds like juh (general) vs. guh (get). Although there are some trends in English spelling / pronunciation, there are so many complications and exceptions th...

This month I'm going to teach you about some common errors in English. These are mistakes that I've observed and corrected frequently during my years of helping English learners improve their skills. Today's lesson focuses on  common errors with adjectives and adverbs. Do you want to get correction on YOUR English? Join one of our courses that includes teacher feedback! Here are the options: Advan...

Here in the U.S., we're in the middle of summer - the hottest part of the year! Today you'll learn some English vocabulary related to summer and hot weather, with pictures to help you remember the words. Expanding your vocabulary is so important because the more words you know, the better you can express yourself in English. Inside my Vocabulary Builder Courses , you'll learn and practice 1000+ us...

A gerund is a word that looks like a verb, but functions as a noun in the sentence. Gerunds are formed by using the -ING form of the verb - reading, swimming, studying, etc. - but when it comes to grammar, they act as nouns. Here are some common ways to use gerunds in English - and some practice sentences so you can use them yourself! You can study grammar for hours, but can you actually use gramm...

The word spot has a few different meanings in English. The word spot has a few different meanings in English. Here are the three most common: as a noun, a spot is a mark that is a different color. A leopard has spots. as a noun, a spot is a place, location, or area. This is a great spot for camping. as a verb, spot is an informal way to talk about seeing or detecting. He spotted an eagle in the sk...

Are you ready to practice your pronunciation? Today we're going to work on three very common words in English: where, were, and we're - individually and in sentences. To get the most benefit out of this lesson, don't just watch... instead, actually repeat everything after me! When it comes to pronunciation, practice makes perfect! If you keep working on it - especially by listening to a native spe...

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...

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 Eng...