Intermediate

Podcasts and articles for learners at the intermediate level

Real English Conversations: The pre-Google Dark Ages

How did we ever get along without Google? Lori and Michael about how much they depend on the Internet in their daily lives. In this completely unplanned and spontaneous conversation, they use quite a few phrasal verbs. These phrasal verbs and additional idiomatic expressions are highlighted in the vocabulary notes. As always, you can find the full transcript and vocabulary notes at www.BetterAtEnglish.com.

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Real English Conversations: TV adverts, advertisements and commercials

In today’s episode, Michael and I exchange some opinions about television, particularly with respect to commercials and advertising. In this conversation we discover some differences between British and American English vocabulary, and use some everyday phrasal verbs.

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Real English Conversations: The customer is always right, right?

Have you ever had to deal with unpleasant customers? Lori and her British pal Michael compare working in an office with working at home, and talk about how difficult it can be to put up with rude treatment from nasty customers when you work in a job providing service. As usual, they end up touching upon some of the differences between British and American English vocabulary.

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Real English conversations: pumping up in the buff

In the previous episode I had wanted to talk to Michael about about a gym in Holland that offers its clients an unusual way to exercise. But we got sidetracked talking about dogs and chick magnets. Luckily, this time we are back on track talking about gyms, a topic that brings up some idioms and slang related to fitness, exercise, and human bodies.

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Real English Conversations: Cultural differences (part 2 of 3)

This is the second in a three part series in which Michael and Lori discuss some of the differences between their British and American English dialects. This edition takes up right where they left off in part one, so if you are a new listener you might want to go back and listen to part one before you listen to part two. In this podcast, they focus on some pronunciation differences between British and American English, as well as one potentially embarrassing difference in vocabulary.

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Real English Conversations: Cultural differences (part 1 of 3)

Michael and Lori discuss how native speakers use fillers such as “umm” and “uh” and “mmm hmm” in conversations, and how these fillers are not always the same in different cultures. This is the first part of a series of three: in parts two and three they go on to discuss some rather amusing pronunciation and vocabulary differences between British and American English.

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001 – Noisy Neighbors – Real English Conversations

Today’s conversation is between me and my friend Michael. We discuss my annoying neighbor and his habit of playing a very irritating song at very high volume, usually on Friday and Saturday evenings. I’m pretty sure it’s a live version, too, so it’s much longer than the original, thus extending my torture.

My best guess is that he plays it to get himself in the party mood. Here in Sweden, people usually “party” at home, that is,…

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