Informal contractions are common in everyday English. In this episode, you're going to learn the most common examples so that you can better understand English speakers.

Here are the examples from the episode:

1. Didja do it?
2. I shoulda done it
3. I hafta go
4. Wouldja do it?
5. I dunno
6. Gimme some time
7. Whatcha doing?
8. Doncha wish your…
9. I kinda like it - 
10. Tellem to do it
11. I kinda wanna go soon

Go to https://www.tofluency.com/relax to get the show notes. Thank you for listening!

Learn These Powerful Informal Contractions to Better Understand Everyday English

Get your free book here: https://www.tofluency.com

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn

Our friends, family, and workmates influence us more than we think. The famous quote from Jim Rohn states that we are the average of the five people that we spend most of our time with. Here are some examples:

- If everyone around you eats unhealthily, you will most likely eat bad food too.
- If everyone around you is always complaining and isn’t enjoying life, it will be difficult for you to be carefree and to have fun.
- But, if everyone around you is highly motivated, you are more likely to be motivated too.

As James Clear puts it: “Most of our behaviors are driven by two things: our environment and our beliefs. And environment is perhaps the most powerful of those two because in many cases your environment can shape your beliefs. This is especially true when you consider your environment to include the people who surround you”

How We Can Apply This to Learning English?

It’s hard to do anything on your own for a long time, especially when progress can’t always be seen. Learning English is a long-term journey; a journey full of different challenges. And it’s even more difficult to do what we need to do over the long-term if others aren’t supporting you.

We only have so much willpower [the ability to control our actions]; we need the support of others and to be in a positive environment to achieve our goals. Think about the people that you spend the most time with:

- Are they driven and motivated?
- Are they supportive of your English learning goals?
- Are they the type of people who can achieve a goal such as learning English?

If not, they could be slowing down your progress without you knowing it. They could be affecting you subconsciously and stopping you from doing the things you need to do to reach English fluency.

This might sound quite depressing, but there is good news..

Spend More Time With Those Who Inspire You:

What I don’t suggest is that you leave your family, ditch all your friends, and then only hang around [spend your time with] Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and Barack Obama!

But a great starting point is to hang around with others in person or online who have similar goals and ambitions that you have. For example, I meet up with four other entrepreneurs once a month in my local area, and we chat regularly online too. We all inspire, motivate, and help each other to do the things that we need to do in order to achieve our goals.

I’m also friends with teachers online who are as driven and committed as I am. We inspire each other to keep creating amazing resources for our students and to keep improving as teachers.

Being surrounded by these people has helped me and this website grow tremendously over the past year. And I don’t think that I would be where I am now if I hadn’t taken that step.

So, let’s now take a look at what you can do to improve your circle of influence so that you reach your English learning goals.

As learning English isn’t something that can be achieved in 3 months, you may hear a lot of negative things from other learners, such as:

- English is so hard.
- I’ll never reach fluency.
- My English is terrible and it’s getting worse. I should give up.

What I suggest you do is to ignore these comments, and don’t spend time with these people (when possible). Instead, connect with others who are going to have a positive influence on your English learning. The effect this will have will be huge, and will make a big difference to the progress you make.

You can do this by:

- Following inspiring people on social media (teachers and language learners) and communicating with them in meaningful ways.
- Joining groups with other English learners to discuss your goals and what you are doing to achieve them. Keep the discussion positive, and encourage each other to keep progressing.
- Changing the subject when someone talks about your goals in a negative way.

This is a great starting point, and you will soon notice how being around positive people, both teachers and fellow learners, will have a positive effect on your learning.

7: Are Others Stopping You from English Fluency Success?

Effortless English            

Day of the Dead Audio

Day of the Dead Mini-Story

Do you think you can guess what somebody looks like from the sound of their voice? In this English podcast you can try! We have eight different speakers for you, with Canadian, English and American accents. You’ll practise getting general and detailed information from listening to individuals as well as a conversation between three people. It’s also a good chance to review common ways to describe appearance.

Describing Appearance - Zapp! English Listening 2.9

Listen to the conversation and learn phrasal verbs naturally, in context! Click here for the episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-for-romantic-relationships/

19 - Phrasal Verbs for Romantic Relationships

In this English Advanced lesson, you will learn how to use the "-ate" syllable. The conversation takes the form of a business meeting between a group of people, and is formal for this reason. There's still a lot to know so be sure to check out the lesson notes on EnglishClass101.com: 
http://www.englishclass101.com/2013/06/13/advanced-1-the-english-meeting-that-started-it-all/

Advanced English #1 - The English Meeting that Started it All

Intimacy Vocab

Luke’s English Podcast is an award-winning audio download for learners of English as a foreign language. The podcast started in 2009 and is still going strong. With over 400 audio episodes, transcripts, videos and a special series on phrasal verbs, there is so much for you to use, and it’s all free. The podcast has won 5 awards, received a British Council ELTon nomination and has now been downloaded over 25 million times.

More information here: http://teacherluke.co.uk

1. Introduction

In this episode of the Magoosh IELTS podcast, your teacher Eliot Friesen explains how to use four words all related to the environment:&nbsp;  Pollution Erosion Emissions Sustainable  You'll likely see this vocabulary in the reading passages on your IELTS exam.&nbsp; If you like this lesson, please subscribe for more IELTS Vocabulary lessons! Download the&nbsp;complete list of IELTS Vocabulary words. Learn how to improve your IELTS band score with Magoosh!Use coupon code ieltspodcast to save 20% at ielts.magoosh.com&nbsp; Episode Transcript &nbsp; Welcome to the Magoosh IELTS Vocabulary Podcast. This is Lesson 2. In this episode, we will cover 4 words all related to the environment: Pollution, Erosion, Emissions, and Sustainable. Don’t forget to check out our show notes for a link to your free IELTS vocabulary list containing these words and others, and visit IELTS.Magoosh.com for more great resources to improve your IELTS band score. Let’s get started. I’d like to introduce you to your teacher, Eliot. He is the Magoosh IELTS expert and, here’s a fun fact about Eliot: he’s is a scuba diver who is passionate about ocean conservation! Eliot Intro Hello Magoosh IELTS podcast listeners, welcome to today’s show. I’m Eliot, the IELTS expert from Magoosh. Today, we’re going to look at four words that you are likely to see in the reading passages on your IELTS exam. Now, I did tell you that you don’t need to memorize all of the specialized words that you’ll see in IELTS Reading. However, it is still helpful to look at a few common words from the most common topics in IELTS Reading passages. I’m talking about the environment and life sciences. The IELTS loves these two closely related topics. &nbsp;Below are some environment and life science words that you are likely to see somewhere in the Reading section. Make sure to go to the link in the show notes to get the full list of vocabulary words. The theme for the words in today’s episode is the environment, and the relationship between the environment and humankind. Pollution So let’s get started. The first word on our list is pollution. So let’s start with that one, okay? Pollution, what does it mean? Well, “pollution” describes things from the human world that enter the environment and harm it. Pollution is contamination that makes the environment impure. So one example of pollution is the garbage that we dump into the rivers and oceans. This garbage can release toxic chemicals into the water, killing plants and animals, and destroying ecosystems. Another example of pollution is the smoke that our cars and factories release into the air. In many big cities around the world, the smoke from factories and cars has caused so much air pollution that the air isn’t safe to breath anymore. In these cities, you will see people wearing breathing masks to protect themselves from the pollution in the air. When humans put harmful things into the environment, it damages the environment. That’s pollution. Erosion The next word is erosion. So “erosion” is when dirt or sand gets removed from the surface of the earth by wind or water. When dirt washes or blows away, plants die off, and ecosystems change. Erosion is what we call this process of soil being worn away, causing changes in the environment.&nbsp; One example of natural erosion is the Grand Canyon in Arizona. This giant gorge was formed by the Colorado River wearing down the rock over many centuries. The erosion caused by the river is what created the beautiful canyon we see today. Not all erosion is natural. Human activities can also often lead to erosion. When humans cut down trees, the soil beneath the trees is exposed. Without the trees to stop the wind, or the roots to hold the soil together, erosion will take place much more quickly. This is one way in which humans are responsible for erosion. When the soil is worn away nothing can grow there anymore. So that’s erosion. Emissions The next word...

IELTS English Vocabulary 2: Environment | IELTS Listening | IELTS Speaking | IELTS Reading | IELTS Test Prep

In episode 24 of the IELTS VIP podcast I look at the 80/20 rule and how this relates to your IELTS preparation.

I will look at what you should prioritise during your preparation and how you can identify these weaknesses.

Episode 24: How to Prioritise and Take Action

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