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In this interview, I talk to Chris Walker, a long-serving teacher at International House and author of English is a Simple Language. Join us on our quest to “get to the bottom of it all,” examining and uncovering the underlying structures of English, following in the footsteps of Michael Lewis. During this engaging conversation, we ask: “Can we get to the heart of the meaning of modal verbs?” “Can we summarize conditional sentences in a single sentence (or maybe two)?” “Can we divide English grammar into either subjective or objective forms?” But I also ask whether there really is a “Holy Grail of English grammar.” Is there a system behind it all? Is there something that unlocks the way grammar works? Or is it more complicated than that? At the end, and for a bit of a laugh, we also have a look at some badly-written test questions and how they can help you and your students understand these deeper, underlying dynamics at work in the language. Don’t forget to check out Chris’s blog/archive at: www.closelyobserved.com Music: bensound.com

They lied! They all lied to you! Well, some of them did. What am I talking about? I’m talking about the people who told you that “We use ‘some’ for positive sentences and ‘any’ for negative and question sentences.” Sure. We do. But what about: “Would you like some tea?” and “It’s just some kid.”? Find out how “some” and “any” really work...

Have you ever corrected your student for making a "mistake" that you make yourself? In that case, is it a mistake? Are they mistakes when the same features are used by speakers of English in Kachru's outer and even expanding circles of English? In this episode, I check out a fascinating paper by Elina Ranta on student mistakes, innovations and Angloversals. Whatever they are...

In this episode, I talk to my dad, Peter, about slang. We also play a game where I try to guess the meaning of slang terms from the ’40s (his generation), and he tries to guess the meaning of slang terms from the ’90s (my generation). The game was fun, but we also end up talking about all sorts of other things like the Hindi, Arabic and Turkish origins of some English words, how words changed over the years and what a potato is. (It's not what you think.)

A very phrasal verby chat with Rob from English with Rob. We talk about: - the best way to learn phrasal verbs; - our favourite bands and whether auto-tune is evil or a really good idea; - the dreaded pandemic and how we adapted to it (and how we're still adapting to it); - reality TV (and why we don't get it); - how "get" and "be" are cousins; - what stability and certainty in 2022; - capitalism and global warming. (Yep! We went there!)

Free eBook "Learn New Words 5 Times Faster": https://www.clarkandmiller.com/learn-english-fast/ ______ Improve your pronunciation AND your listening skills with these 5 English pronunciation tips. Learn about: 1. Jump to the potato! (stress-timed vs. syllable-timed languages) Is your first language stress-timed or syllable-timed? What does that mean for your English pronunciation? How does it affect the hip-hop in your country? 2. Always contract! It might feel like the smart thing to do. But don't do it! Never "decontract"! Unless you want to really emphasize something. 3. Look out for "tits" and "dits" I'll say no more about this here ... :) 4. Watch out for the difference between "can" and "can't" With a lot of American English pronunciation, "can" and "can't" sometimes sound the same. This hack will give you the skills to understand whether that American guy is saying that you CAN borrow a hundred bucks or whether he's saying you CAN'T borrow a hundred bucks. 5. Look out for "therza" It's more common than you might think ... ______ www.clarkandmiller.com

In this episode, I talk to the super-thoughtful Emma from The Procrastination Podcast and Pronunciation with Emma. And, yes! We talk about swearing in English. Lots of f***ing swearing! Join us in this fascinating conversation and ... - learn some really useful English swearing, - find out which swear words are strong and which ones are weaker, - see how swearing can work as a painkiller, - explore the question "Should English learners learn how to swear? Or is it too vulgar?" So, what are you waiting for, tithead? Let's get going!

Today, I share three of my "hot takes" about English. - Do we ever use "will" with "if" (e.g. “If I will be at the party …”)? When? And when can't we use it? Why? - Why do we use “some” in sentences like “I got some bread”? Do we need it? Can’t we just say “I got bread”? What’s going on with this word? Are there other words like this? Are they really meaningless? And if they are meaningless, why do we keep using them? - Why do we have verbs like "decide" as well as collocations like "make a decision"? Why do we have "run" and "go for a run"? What about “risk” and “take a risk”? What's the difference? Let's take a look at these features of English that are, when you think about it, actually pretty weird. Hopefully, we can uncover some interesting stuff (or at least walk away with some steaming hot takes!).

In this episode, I take a dive into 10 common English proverbs. Wait! What’s a proverb? A proverb is basically an idiom you use to give advice or even share some wisdom. Examples? Well, today we’re looking at: Two’s company, three’s a crowd. Too many cooks spoil the broth. When in Rome, do as the Romans. When it rains, it pours. If it ain't broke, don’t fix it. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Out of sight, out of mind. Don’t cry over spilt milk. If you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Great minds think alike. + a bonus proverb at the end. We also look at how we can shorten these proverbs and how we can replace them with the mega-useful phrase “Well, you know what they say …” Enjoy! :) Music: bensound.com

Should we use L1 in the English classroom? Is there a problem with discrimination against non-native English teachers? Is taking the Cambridge DELTA a good idea? Why is Zdenek's cat so weird ... and it's not even his cat? As an ESL teacher, I'm sure you've asked yourself these questions before. (OK, maybe not the cat one.) In this chat with English teacher Zdenek, we discuss all these things and more. An interview with an ESL teacher, by an ESL teacher for ESL teachers. Enjoy!

It's always the same: The same mistakes. Again and again. Mistakes like: “We’ve got more five tickets left.” “We work four days in a week in August.” “I want that my kids go to a public school.” “Thank you that you helped me.” “His parents made him to do extra classes at the weekend.” “It’s not so big than my city.” But who can help us stop making these small but common mistakes? Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears, that's who! Check out this episode of the Clark and Miller English podcast where we try to answer questions like: - What are we thinking when we use language? - What is pattern grammar? - How can these songs help us correct the same mistakes we've been making FOREVER? And please accept my apologies: These songs will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Music: bensound.com

Have you ever walked away from an English lesson saying, “What?! How?! Why does this language have to be so complicated?!” If you’ve felt like this, you’ve either just walked out of a lesson on reported speech, or you were in the Arabic class by mistake. (Don’t do that again.) But if you're getting frustrated with reported speech and all its stupid rules, there's some good news: It doesn't have to be this way. In this podcast episode, we look at more common, more natural alternatives to reported speech. We also ask why English learners and English teachers can be so obsessed with "good English" and "correct English" and "proper English," why lawyers speak trashy English, and why the English we think we speak isn't the English we really speak. Music: bensound.com Youtube clip courtesy of: Easy English on YouTube

Why is the past tense not the past tense? Why are "done," "swum" and "gone" just adjectives dressing up as verbs so they can get into a "verbs only" party? How do you hide yourself in a sentence that isn't about you? And did you know that the future doesn't exist in English, and we have no way of expressing the future? Let's take a look at the world of philosophical grammar and discover imposters, impossibilities and Schrödinger's adjective, whatever that is ... ... or isn't. Audio credit: Sweet by bensound.com

If you're anything like me, then you love cooking. Also, if you're anything like me, you have a weird fear of frogs and a passion for experimental music. But let's talk about cooking! How often do you find yourself sharing recipes with friends and talking about your latest success in the kitchen? Cooking, like many subjects, comes with its own little collection of vocabulary. In this podcast episode, you'll hear me use this vocabulary in context as I talk about the three main stages of making something yummy: preparation, cooking and serving. Once you get to the end of this, I guarantee you'll feel hungry.

Here's a question for you: Do you need grammar to understand what people are saying? Really? What about this sign I saw in a posh restaurant? "No shirt. No tie. No service." No grammar, right? But we totally understand what's going on here. Interesting, right? Well, there's more. Join me on this deep dive into how we really understand language. (Clue: it's not all about the grammar.) We'll also look at why reduced relative clauses are so weird, how language is just a collection of ideas bunched together and how you can use "theme" and "rheme" to make better presentations, essays and conversations. All stemming from an email from one of our listeners – shout-out to Hannah from Vietnam! (Music in teaser section: Sweet by bensound.com)

A mad, mad story about a live sex show, uncomfortable bars and an elephant walking down the street. In this podcast episode, I talk to Martin from Rock 'n' Roll English about that time he went to Thailand without doing ANY research about the place. Listen to Martin's story and answer the True or False questions. Then listen to us talking about the interesting vocabulary from the story. Vocabulary like: - Is he f**k! - what you had in mind, - getting strange looks, - grin and bear it, - going at it. We also talk about how the internet has changed since 2004 and how much we like swearing. WARNING: There is a lot of swearing in this episode. If you don't like swearing, I'd recommend maybe giving this one a miss. :)

I talk to Luke from Luke’s English Podcast – one of the longest-running ESL podcasts – about one of our favourite topics: comedy. We discuss our favourite British sitcoms and comedians. We also look at how you can improve your communication skills by “keeping things light” and even being weird and surreal. And you also get to hear at least three pirate jokes (and two cheese jokes, too). List of shows and comedians mentioned in this episode: Alan Partridge (also referred to as simply “Partridge”) Monty Python (also referred to as “The Pythons”) The Mighty Boosh The Young Ones The Goon Show The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band The Office Tintin Asterix Hancock’s Half Hour Gimme Gimme Gimme Keeping Up Appearances Only Fools and Horses Blackadder Fawlty Towers One Foot in the Grave The Thick of It Peep Show Phoenix Nights The Day Today Brass Eye Peter Cook and Dudley Moore Have I Got News for You Tommy Cooper Book: The Naked Jape by Jimmy Carr and Lucy Greeves

In this interview, I discuss pragmatics and pragmatic competence with Andreas Grundtvig, author of "English is Context," a new book for teachers and learners about English pragmatics. This is a big one! And we talk about a lot of amazing topics, including: - how gamers now, the gay community in the early twentieth century and London Cockneys evolved their own language ... and why; - why they rap the news in Senegal; - how learning about Grice's maxims can help you see through propaganda; - how to understand people from a particular country beyond the food, the flag and stuff like that; - how to terrorize people ... by being polite! - three things you can do right now to improve your pragmatic competence.

Here's why your English learning journey is just like the Beatles' career. Except without the millions of dollars. Sorry about that! :) In this episode, we look at how the Beatles changed during their ten-year career, how those changes are just like the changes you experience when learning English, and what you need to do to sound mature and wise in English. Mature and wise ... just like "Hey Jude."

An interview with the awesome Krisia Justesen from Lightning English on how you can change your learning mindset. OK, OK ... I know that sounds like abstract advice. But here's the thing: Krisia will talk you through the steps you need to take to start thinking in a way that'll get you learning English more comfortably and more naturally. In this episode, you'll also get the chance to join a free webinar with Krisia, who will talk you through some of her top strategies. We also talk about: - the weird places Krisia worked at (and how I met her); - why students still can't speak after studying English for years; - why focusing on your English can be a problem; - how not to lose your personality in English; - five tips for adding English into your everyday life (number four is brutal).