The Level Up English Podcast (Natural British English)

In this episode, we'll be talking about relationship slang. In the modern day of internet and social media, slang is used all the time when it comes to dating, finding a partner, and flirting. I share a handful of slang phrases that have been around for a while, and are likely not going to disappear any time soon. With each one, I give examples, share my opinion, and invite you to do the same...

Rob from the Business English Podcast joins me for a fun discussion about jobs, work, business, and entrepreneurship. We share some cultural experiences both in the UK and abroad, the pros and cons of working for yourself, dream jobs, public speaking confidence, switching off after work, and much more. We also discuss a lot of fantastic and useful English expressions that you can use both in and o...

This is a fun episode where we look at some famous advertising slogans from different companies and analyse why they work so well, but also take from interesting English lessons from each one.  We'll be learning things like alteration, oxymorons, and also some very smart wordplay that makes use of words that have multiple meanings. I'll also be sharing lots of phrases and terms that are...

How do you feel about Mondays? If you're like most people, it's probably your least favourite day of the week. Many of us hate waking up and realising it's Monday, and that means we have to get up early and go to work.  It's a universal feeling, so in this episode, I'll be sharing some common Monday expressions that you can use to express your sad feelings, but always more...

In this episode, we'll be talking about making decisions and the idea of being an indecisive person. I'm sure, like me, this is something that you have also struggled with at least some point in the past, and whether we're talking about life-changing decisions, or simple everyday choices, getting better at deciding on what to do will improve our lives. The main areas I cover today a...

I feel passionate about the topic of priorities because understanding how they work can have a big and positive impact on your life.  Once you decide on what your priorities in life are, every choice you make becomes so much easier. You'll stress less other trivial, small decisions, and you'll start seeing faster progress in your English learning, and any other skills you're working...

Jesús Flórez is originally from Colombia but now resides in the USA, and despite not being a native English speaker, has built up his English to an impressive level of fluency. Jesús focuses a lot on accent since he has put a lot of work into getting a natural American accent.  In the episode today, we discuss a lot about acquiring an English accent and how much effort you should put into that, wh...

This is an episode I've been planning for a long time and I'm quite excited to share. We'll be looking at the origins of 8 different English words and the deep stories behind them.  Each word originally comes from another language or culture, and it was brought into English through fascinating stories that we'll explore in this episode. These are just a few examples of the coun...

In this episode, I'll be going through pairs of confusing quantifiers (and similar pairs), such as So or Such, Many or Much, Fewer or Less?  Some of these are even a struggle for native speakers, so if you can master these, you'll be in a good position with your English and sound much more natural.  For each word, I will give a question for you to answer yourself and I'll do my best...

I recently reailsed that my own screen time is too high and may be causing a lot of health issues and other problems in my life. With that realisation, I decided to make some changes to fix this problem, and it got me thinking: How many other people are facing a similar issue? In this episode, I share the dangers of screen time and how you know if you're using phones and computers too much. I...

Gideon from the popular YouTube channel LetThemTalkTV joins us this week for a casual chat about various topics covered on his channel. Gideon is an English teacher, YouTuber, and founder of LetThemTalk. His YouTube channel, LetThemTalkTV, started in 2012, has amassed over 600,000 subscribers and millions of views, providing valuable lessons on grammar, pronunciation, and the history of the Englis...

With my experience of learning multiple languages at the same time, I revisit my thoughts and advice on this popular question. What are the best ways to approach learning two languages? How do you best manage your time?  I do my best to answer these questions in today's episode while sharing some different examples and methods that suit different people. Show notes page  - https://levelupengl...

Do you look at the past through rose-tinted glasses? Do you feel a sense of nostalgia when looking into the past? In this episode, I explore the meaning and use behind this common expression with examples from my own life and a little bit at the end on the deeper meaning behind this phrase. Show notes page  - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast323 Second Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@English...

Small Talk is something many of us struggle with, and it's a really important part of socialising and using language. In this episode, I share some of my own awkward experiences with small talk, and then go through time tips on how we can all get better at it to improve our conversations and relationships. I then share a few phrases that English learners can use to sound more natural when mak...

Abigail Fulbrook ( weareenglishteachers.com ) joins me for a fascinating chat about a few different topics, including moving to Japan from the UK, what we miss about the UK, learning using AI teachers, other uses of AI, and much more! Abigail Fulbrook has been teaching English for over 15 years. She's worked in the UK, Japan and online. As well as teaching she loves crafting and eating chocol...

We first spoke about this in Episode 281, and now we're returning for a part 2.  Cognitive Biases are ways our brains can trick us into certain beliefs and behaviours without realising, and in this episode, I'll cover a few of them such as the IKEA Effect, the Recency Effect, and the Negativity Bias. They're fascinating to learn, but will also give you some insight to make you a bet...

In today's episode, I share an issue I've been thinking about for a while - finding the balance between speaking up and letting things go. In other words, when things annoy us or seem unjust, should we speak up and say something? Or should we prioritise our mental health and let it go?  I share some of my own views with this and encourage you to get in touch with yours too. I also share...

This is an episode that I've been meaning to make for a while. Let's talk about 'trump' today. In fact, there are many phrases in English that originate from cards and gambling, so this episode looks at some of the common ones and how you can use them in your daily life. As always, I give examples from my own life to help put these phrases in a natural context for you. Show not...

There are many differences in vocabulary between British and American English. Some of these are quite well-known and easy to understand (biscuit and cookie, maybe), but others are a bit more complex. In today's episode, I'm not simply listing these differences. I'm looking at 8 terms that are different in both British and American English, but aren't quite the same in meaning....

Alastair Budge from Leonardo English joined me for a casual chat about a variety of different topics. Alastair has his own podcast called " English Learning for Curious Minds ". In it, he covers all sorts of topics from space mining to population decline, while making content that helps English learners improve. I found this concept so interesting, so I picked a few topics at random to c...

We've now done quite a few episodes on Phrasal Verbs, but this is an important one.  Today, I'll be looking at the differences between separable and inseparable phrasal verbs. This is a very important part of English if you want to sound natural and fluent. As always, I'm not just listing off words in a boring way. I'll be sharing examples of both types while talking about my r...

In this episode, I'll be talking about driving culture in the UK. There are a lot of interesting laws and unwritten rules that are reflective of British culture. So whether you will be driving in the UK or not, I think this will be interesting for you. I share some of the big differences between driving culture in the UK and in Thailand, as well as my own experience taking my driving test whe...

Let's explore the expression "The Grass is Greener on the Other Side". In English, this is used when we view other situations as better than our own. In fact, no matter what we have, we tend to value what we don't have more. I explore the meaning of this expression in some detail, examples from my own life, and also some common ways we all experience this along with some ideas...

Today I'm doing a rare in-person discussion with Teacher Zdenek .  Zdenek has more than 12 years of experience in various settings, primarily teaching English learners of levels B2-C2. He's taught English in the Czech Republic, UK, Ireland and most recently Vietnam.   Zdenek has also moved to Vietnam, and that's why we were able to meet up nearby in Bangkok for a casual discussion....

This is a big habit masterclass episode! We'll be diving into the basics of creating habits, how to keep them going without giving up on your goals, and also how to kick some bad habits that are holding you back. I also give examples of successes and failures based on a lot of my own habit-building experiences.    As you can tell by the length of this episode, this is a topic I'm truly p...