The Level Up English Podcast

I just came back from a trip to Japan where I cycled the 80km Shimanami Kaido trail that connects two of the main islands by a group of small islands and bridges. It was a beautiful experience, and in this episode I share an overview of the trip.

You'll hear some funny stories and mistakes, as well as some reflections on language learning and using it in the country while travelling.

It's more of a casual episode, but I hop...

Shower thoughts are basically deep thoughts that tend to come to us when we're in the shower, or at other times in the day free from distractions. 

In this episode, I go through a few funny thoughts, and a few deep and philosophical ones I've gathered and find interesting to think about. Hopefully you'll enjoy hearing them too!

Make sure to listen carefully to the vocabulary I mention throughout the episode. The full l...

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of a top English learning podcast? 

In this episode, I chat with Luke from Luke's English Podcast about the challenges and joys of content creation.

We discuss: filming outdoors and dealing with self-consciousness, balancing YouTube's algorithm with quality educational content, audio vs video podcasting, audience capture and staying authentic, Luke's 16+ years of podcasting ...

"The more you know, the more you realise you don't know"

This is an example of a well-known proverb (that is so true for language learning too, by the way) and in this episode, we'll be looking at several proverbs, quotes, maxims, and aphorisms that contain some wisdom or rule for living a better life.

We'll be learning a few key terms and also exploring the vocabulary within each proverb, while exploring the...

Sentences that are too short and simple is an issue that all language learners face. We can say what we want, but we don't sound natural because all of our sentences sound like children.

In this episode, we're going to practise extending sentences and making more natural phrases using Relative Clauses. I spend just 5 minutes reviewing the grammar, and then delve into a casual chat where I share my answers to a few question...

It's great to have goals, but what's the point of having them if we never actually achieve them?

Or maybe you do eventually get there, but wouldn't it be nice if we could get there faster and more efficiently?

In this episode, I talk about SMART goals and give examples of how you can make your goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. I give examples from my own goals in life, and also relate it...

This is an episode I'm excited for because we'll be looking at a group of words that have gone through a similar history; namely, they have all had quite a drastic change in their meanings over time.

Many words we use today in English such as 'terrific' or 'fond' used to have almost completely opposite meanings! 

In this episode, I explore why these changes took place, share both the old and new meanings...

Rayhan is back for his second appearance on the podcast since Episode 144, about 4 years ago, to talk about a range of topics from getting better at small talk, self-improvement, the origins of the universe, spirituality, and more! 

Ray teaches on Preply, and you can also find him on Instagram, as well as his course and membership site Elevate English.

Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast342

Get access to coaching, ...

As you may know, politeness in English - especially in British English - is a very important thing. Learners often struggle to keep up with the confusing grammar and long sentences, so in this episode, I break down a few key phrases that you can start using today to make your questions and requests sound more polite.

I go through each phrase one by one and explain how we use it, give an example anecdote from my own life where I coul...

In this episode, I mix a serious topic with some fun where I talk about my reverse culture shock returning to the UK after one year while trying to answer the question why so many people are deciding to leave the UK and move elsewhere in the world.

Despite being British, seeing my own country from the outside gave me some interesting realisations, so I share a lot of them in today's episode. 

This episode might have you thinking...

Inspired by a viral video of a Chinese boy doing his English homework, I thought I'd make an episode where I list 10 common mistakes that language learners make and what you should avoid.

To be clear, I'm sure that boy will master English one day, and my comments were more of a criticism of language education in schools. The video simply reminded me of some of the mistakes I've made along the way.

With that in mind, wh...

Today we have a conversation between Anna Connelly and me on the topic of overcoming shyness. 

This was originally an episode we record on Anna's podcast, Confident Business English, where Anna was mostly interviewing me about my experiences with feeling shy and my tips for the audience. Listening back to this one, I actually felt quite inspired, and I really hope that by re-sharing this today, you'll feel the same too.

We ...

I've been teaching English online for almost 10 years now, and over that time I've picked up quite a lot of patterns and similarities between all my students. 

In this episode, I share 11 life lessons and other interesting things that I've learnt from my students, my lessons, and running an online teaching business. 

This is actually a previously-recorded episode from the Level Up English Private podcast feed. It'...

Have you ever wondered what it's like to cycle through Bangkok?

That's exactly what I'm doing in today's episode. I'm taking the podcast to the streets and I'm riding my bicycle across the city while avoiding stray dogs, and sharing my views on life in Bangkok.

I mostly talk about the things I like and dislike about living here, and some ways in which the UK might be better. I hope you enjoy it!

This was ...

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.

Show notes page - https://levelupen...

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 out of the workplace.

Don't forge...

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 used when advertising or talking abou...

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 positive ones too. I'll also be...

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 are why we have a hard time making de...