Practising English

Today I'm talking about the imperatives and lots of examples I translate from Spanish from my experience at my MOT test. I also talk about the parts of the car and related verbs we use when driving a car. To see the transcript of this podcast, please go to: https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-67.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising Englis...

After the shock of finding Jane in the same guest house where they are staying, Isabel makes a plan to trap her at Shakespeare's Birthplace... This is chapter 12 from the book The Tudor Conspiracy by M.A. Bilbrough. A book for B1 students studying towards B2 English level. This book can be purchased to listen along with these podcasts at https://mabilbrough.com To view the comprehension quest...

Hello, and today, I'm going to talk about quantifiers ! Now, when we talk about quantifiers, we refer to those little words that we use, such as some , and any , little , a few , much and many . In this episode, I'm just going to talk about some and any . Now, I think it's more useful if we think of some and any when we talk about plurals as just the plural of a or an . So if I have...

English for intermediate level students studying for B1 and B2 exams. Today I'm continuing with my description of the verb ' to get' with the meanings: get your car fixed, get talking to someone, get to do something, get into, get the top off, get the phone and it gets my goat! You can see the transcript at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-64.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with...

The Tudor Conspiracy is a reader for B1 learners of English studying towards B2 level English. In chapter 11, Isabel and Philip are hiding out in a guest house close to Stratford-upon-Avon. Then Isabel discovers there is something very sinister about the room next to hers... Questions and answers on the text at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-63.htm If you are interested in following the...

Podcasts for learners of English at intermediate levels. Today I'm continuing with my description of the verb ' to get ' with the meanings: find, fetch, arrive, reach, illnesses and taking a boat down the river. See the transcript at: https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-62.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: h...

In this episode of podcasts for intermediate level students learning English, I'll talk about one of the most common verbs in the English language - the verb to get . As a learner, you may find you prefer to use other verbs instead of get - it's easier to do so! But if you wanr to sound more like a native speaker, the verb to get should probably substitute most of those more formal verbs...

Podcast version of the graded reader The Tudor Conspiracy by M.A. Bilbrough to help B1 students progress to B2 level English. In this week's episode we learn how Isabel and Philip escape being killed by the strange woman with a gun, Jane. They find shelter in a guest house but for how long can they stay out of danger...?  https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-60.htm The book can be purcha...

Hello, and today, I'm going to interview my daughter. My daughter is 11 years old. And we're going to talk about her school. This is good B1 language about school subjects, school terminology and the school routine. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm My NEW book: " B1 Engli...

Podcasts for learning and practising English for intermediate level students. Today I'm talking about the language we use when we're playing cards . I'll talk a little about the history, where cards came from and the language we need to talk about playing cards with friends or family. Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts:...

The Tudor Conspiracy is a reader for B1 students studying for B2 level English. In this chapter Isabel and Philip, who now believe the quarto to be a fake, visit the Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare was christened. They don't know, however, they are being followed and the person who is following them is determined to get the quarto back. You can buy the book from any Amazon platform......

Help with understanding the different tenses and aspects in English. Here, I explain in simple language and with examples the past perfect (she had already left). I explain its structure and why we use past perfect and compare it to past simple. For the transcript, go to: https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-56.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practis...

Following on from the podcasts on zero and first conditionals , second and third conditional , we now look at the circumstances when we mix conditionals . This happens when we make references to both past and present in the same sentence. This podcast explores mixed conditional clauses and offers simple to understand examples for the various cases when we use them. See transcript at https://www.pr...

This is chapter 8 from my book, The Tudor Conspiracy, which is a reader for B1 students studying for B2 English level exams. In this chapter, Isabel and Philip visit David Buddle's laboratory where they find out some surprising and worrying news about the newly discovered play by Shakespeare. You can find out more about this book at my website: https://mabilbrough.com and for more podcasts fo...

Part of a series of B1 level talks on the grammar, structure and use of the conditionals in English. This is the third conditional. Learn what the phrases 'spilt milk' and 'water under the bridge' mean. Offers lots of example sentences and the full transcript can be read at: https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-53.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about...

Grammar study for B1 level English. Today I'm continuing with the series of conditional studies. The last one was episode 22 on the zero and first conditionals and today we're looking briefly at the main points of the second conditional - If I were a rich man... You can find the audioscript to this podcast at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-52.htm . Contact Mike Bilbrough with...

The continuing story of The Tudor Conspiracy for B1 students studying for B2 level English. Available in book form and now these weekly audio podcasts. Isabel and Philip drive on to Stratford-upon-Avon. When they arrive, they decide to have lunch before going to see David Buddle but an unexpected visitor turns up at the restaurant, and Isabel and Philip have to react quickly.  Contact Mike Bilbrou...

This podcast is about words which go with comparatives so that we can add more precision to what we mean. So the words that we're using are words like not quite , slightly , almost , easily , a good deal , far ...  I don't think they make much sense on their own. So I'm going to put them together. And it will be clearer then what I'm trying to explain to you, in fact, it will b...

In this episode, I talk about the different genres of books and give some examples I have on my bookshelves. I explore the language associated with books : the different types of book, the parts of a book, what we do with a book and the language of commercialization of books. Useful language to complete your knowledge on the correct way of expressing ideas when talking about literatures or your re...

This is the continuing story of The Tudor Conspiracy - a reader for B1 students studying for B2. In this chapter, Isabel and Philip decide to head for Stratford-upon-Avon to meet the antique book authenticator while some people in the dark shadows of the Bodleian Library are making sinister plans. See audioscript at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-48.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a que...

B2 level podcast story listening - talking about ability in the past and useful vocabulary explained before the story begins. Verbs like: manage to, be able to, which we use for certain single events in the past instead of the auxiliary could. See transcript at:  https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-47.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising Engli...

Help with IELTS, Cambridge B2, C1 speaking exams, phrases and expressions talking about the question of how sport influences our lives . I bring in lots of useful language for students to copy and learn in preparation for their speaking exams. For transcript, go to - https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-46.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising E...

This is the continuing story of the Tudor Conspiracy - a reader for B1 students studying for B2. In this chapter, Isabel and Philip set out for Oxford and the Bodleian library. They meet the librarians there but one, in particular, reacts in a strange way when she hears what Isabel and Philip are looking for. https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-45.htm Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question o...

A look at how to write the story for Cambridge Preliminary writing exam practice part 2 and in this case the story-writing option. I look at the use relative pronouns and how to use them in the story so as to make your text more interesting and impress the examiners, who will give you more marks. I'll finish the episode with another story of Nasreddin and I'll use relative clauses for yo...

English is a language we call a stress-timed language . Perhaps it's unusual, because many other European languages are syllable-timed , especially Latin-based languages, like Spanish and Italian, for example. I'm going to explain and give examples of what a stress-timed language is. I'm also going to read you a poem . It's by a poet called Robert Southey, who was a poet in the...