The Clark and Miller English Podcast

Want to improve your listening skills AND enjoy movies? Want to join a community of other English learners who love films and TV series? Then Cara's your go-to! In this episode, I talk to Cara Leopold, an expert on listening skills and using movies and TV series to improve listening skills, share ideas in English and make sense of the world. We talk about: - how to improve your listening skills an...

Let me ask you two questions: How many books have you started to read in English? And how many books have you finished in English? I bet the answers to these questions aren't the same. So why do we give up on books so easily? Well, it's usually for one of these reasons: 1. You've chosen a book that's too difficult. 2. You’ve chosen a book that’s not very interesting to you. 3. You’re a strong visu...

A New Year's ramble and 10 natural English expressions. This episode is in two parts: In part one, I talk naturally and without a script. This is your chance to listen to ungraded, natural English (and my weird innermost thoughts). In part two, I talk you through 10 of the most interesting natural English phrases, idioms, pronunciation strategies and communication strategies I used in part one. In...

A conversation with former Harvard professor Lawrence Weinstein about how the future can limit our power, how using the active can empower us, how the past tense can make us stronger, a man being strangled by a giant paragraph and much, much more. About a month ago, I was lucky enough to receive a forward copy of Lawrence's book, "Grammar for a Full Life: How the Way We Shape a Sentence Can Limit...

Here's something you might be doing without realising it: You might be putting too many flashing lights and flags in your English sentences. But how? With word order! The order that we choose to put words in a sentence in English can subtly (and not so subtly) change the meaning by emphasising certain words. Check out this Clark and Miller English podcast episode to find out how you might be empha...

What is the point of Business English? What is Business English? Does it even exist? In this fascinating chat with Shanthi Cumaraswamy Streat, you can find out ... - why "removing the language" can make you better at communicating in a business setting, - how a quick pause can make you a stronger communicator, - how to deal with small talk (especially if you're an introvert), - why learning a lang...

Why are "a" and "the" like a stock market dance? What are "the cat rules"? Join me on my "hot take" on English articles and how we use them to invite people into our world and build relationships. In this episode I talk about: - how the grammar we use depends on what the other person knows, and why this is like a "stock market dance"; - what "the cat rules" are, and why they show us more than just...

A fascinating conversation with the wonderfully engaging and enthusiastic Ariel Goodbody, teaching expert and presenter of the Easy Stories in English podcast. In this interview, we talk about: - how Ariel started Easy Stories in English; - Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) - how to teach phrases rather than grammar; - how TPRS has a lot in common with Dogme and lexical...

An interview with the amazing polyglot Lindsay from Lindsay Does Languages. I talk to Lindsay about: - How she got into learning languages; How food (and specifically bread) is a great motivator for learning languages; - 3 tips for overcoming the dreaded "intermediate plateau"; - 3 tips for learning a new language. Join us and pick up some great strategies for learning English.

Conversations can be hard sometimes – even in your first language. In this episode, I take a look at strategies to start, finish and keep alive a conversation in English. You'll never need to die of "awkward silence" again.

Sometimes your own culture can surprise you. After a couple of years away from the UK, I got some serious culture shock when I came back to visit. Pick up some advanced English phrases from the story of my trip. This is a full English listening lesson with phrases to download (from www.clarkandmiller.com/english-podcast), descriptions of the phrases and the opportunity to listen to the story twice...

In this episode, I chat with Christian Saunders from Canguro English about language teaching methods, including: - Some obscure methods from the 19th century, - Superstitious pigeons (no, really), - The problem with testing and why we should burn the exams, - Whether Dogme is a problem without a solution, - What we can learn from the ancient Greeks, ... and much, much more. I really enjoyed this c...

Remember when studying was fun? When things were new and interesting? Well, you CAN enjoy studying again. The trick is NOT to make a study plan. Make a study menu instead. In this podcast episode, I give you some basic first steps to create your own self-study menu and get you enjoying it all again.

Sure, it's important to tell the truth and to make yourself clear, right? But what about comedy and sarcasm? What about using language to form closer relationships? In this episode, I chat with a French teacher and PhD student in musicology, about how we "break the communication rules" in order to communicate better. Learn how, by "flouting Grice's maxims," we use language in so many more ways tha...

In this episode we explore the world of auxiliary verbs and how high-level English speakers use them all the time. Sometimes they make the language more efficient. But it gets better! You can use them to sound witty, to put people down, to bond with people and to play with words. Check out how auxiliary verbs work in each of these different situations.

Quick – answer this question: Why do we use the past simple tense? Did you say, “Er … to talk about the past, obviously”? Then how do you explain sentences like: “I wish I knew.” or “What was your name again?” But … but … these sentences aren’t about the past! What’s going on? You know what this means? It’s time to look at English verbs in a different way.

Some places can definitely surprise you. And Cambridge was no exception for me. In this podcast I describe my experience going to Cambridge for the first time and why it was such a strange place. You get the chance to hear 25 advanced, everyday English phrases in their natural context.

In this episode I have a very involved chat with Hugh Dellar, coursebook writer, teacher trainer, teacher and all-round nice guy. We cover a lot of ground ranging from dealing with racism and homophobia in the classroom to 3 useful tips to help you learn English

What on Earth is an ergative verb? How can I recognize one? Do I need them? There are some verbs in English that don't work in way you might think. In this podcast, we'll take a dive into the weird, but useful, world of ergative verbs in English. These verbs are very handy if in these situations: 1. When the subject isn't important (but the passive sounds wrong) 2. When things do things to themsel...

Impress your friends at parties with these WEIRD but totally grammatically correct sentences. Even better, learn how they work and get a better insight into advanced English grammar and vocabulary. Can you understand these sentences: "Put a bigger space between giraffe and and and and and avocado"? "Peter, where Paul had had had, had had had had, 'had had' had pleased the teacher more."? "Buffalo...

"Say" and "Tell" are not all they seem to be! Join Gabriel with an interesting look at the very different personalities behind these two simple, everyday words.