E TO FLUENCY

In this English audio lesson, you're going to learn about a typical day in the life of Dave. And in this short story, you're going to hear over 50 phrasal verbs. After listening to the story, you'll learn what these phrasal verbs mean and I'll give you lots of examples to help you better understand how to use them.

Phrasal verbs are important for being able to speak English fluently and with confidence. So, listen to this episode and take notes!

Want to learn more about this podcast? Go here: https://www.tofluency.com/podcast

50+ English Phrasal Verbs You Need to Know (+ a Fun Story to Help You Learn)

In this episode, I talk about why it's important to embrace difficulty and to get excited when you can't do something. This is how you're going to improve.

Learn more about our methods here:
https://www.tofluency.com

We also go into the difference between deliberate practice and passive learning and I give you my favorite method for learning English fast.

I hope you enjoy it!

Learn English Fast: Why You Need to Do the Hard Things but Still Have Fun

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

In this English lesson, I'm going to go through American vocabulary and Americanisms that seem natural to me now (I'm from the U.K. but live in the U.S.) - listed below.

I'll also go through words and phrases that still sound strange to me.

This is great for you if you want to learn some differences between British and American English.

Want a free English fluency book? Visit our website here: https://www.tofluency.com

Here is the list of the words and expressions used in this episode:

- Soccer
- Diaper / stroller
- Like
- Did you have breakfast yet?
- Can I get…?
- Chips and fries
- Takeout
- Gas and gas station

Words and phrases I still use that are considered British English:
- Couldn't care less (not could!)
- Yoghurt
- Tomato
- Water bottle
- Trolley
- Torch

To find our British and American English conversations, simply search for "English Conversations To Fluency" in your favorite search engine.

American Vocabulary This British English Teacher Now Uses

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?

In episode 8 of the To Fluency Podcast (Learn English with Jack), I talk about the strange reason why I started learning Spanish and the mistakes that I made as a beginner.

I then go through what I would have done differently if I knew what I know now (what a great sentence to learn!).

Enjoy this episode and then, head over to https://www.tofluency.com to get your free book.

Thanks for listening.

8: The Weird Reason I Started Learning Spanish and What I Have Would Have Done Differently

Learn English through Stories: The Wallet.

Go to tofluency.com/wallet to read the story and to get some key vocabulary.

Learn English Through Stories - The Wallet

Learn English through Stories: First Date Disaster

Welcome to this pilot (test) episode of the TF Podcast. In this episode, my wife and I talk about Thanksgiving.

Watch on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp--TdCU9GI

This gives you a great way to listen to a real conversation in both British and American English.

*** LESSON NOTES ***

☆ We're hoping she's going to be quiet - notice that I use 'hope' in the continuous? Learn more about 'hope' here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azx3kbTAI4M

☆ Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Learn more about this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macy%27s_Thanksgiving_Day_Parade

☆ That's what it boils down to - this is a great phrase to mean "the main reason for something."

☆ Put on a parade - to organize a parade (phrasal verb)

☆ It's a pretty big milestone - a significant event

☆ I did not grow up eating that - learn about grow up here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEkUHx5qVP8

☆ Potluck - a party where everyone brings a dish. For Thanksgiving, people are assigned a certain dish

☆ To go back for seconds - to get another plate of food after eating your first

☆ It has a special place in everyone's heart - This means that's it's emotionally important. Learn more here: http://www.phrasemix.com/phrases/something-holds-a-special-place-in-ones-heart

☆ Black Friday has become a huge thing now - this means that Black Friday is important and widespread

☆ I'm a person who leaves it to the last minute - I wait until near the deadline to do something. I use this phrase here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbYNHJHzSNA

☆ I didn't take those days off - I worked those days

☆ It's going to be very difficult to travel with two children - I'm sure you know what this means!

----------

What did you think about this podcast? I hope you enjoyed it. If so, we'll make more episodes soon!

Learn English Podcast - Episode 0 (Pilot) - A Conversation About Thanksgiving

In this English lesson, you're going to learn 52 commonly used phrasal verbs. You're going to do this by watching a typical day in the life of my friend, Dave. Watch the video and see the list of the phrasal verbs below.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpvtm9KngQ8
Learn on my website: https://www.tofluency.com/52-phrasal-verbs/

*** RESOURCES ***

English fluency book:
https://www.tofluency.com/5-step-plan/

To Fluency Program:
https://www.tofluency.com/tfp/

More Phrasal Verb Lessons:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZOJurmtexYoK0ag3zbT8YWKatK3C82Zw

Methods I recommend you follow for English fluency:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZOJurmtexYpQYEvWTJaieyehensaC_eU

*** The 52 Phrasal Verbs ***

Dave’s alarm goes off at 4:30
As soon as he gets up
He turns on the coffee machine
He’s run out of cream
It is time to work out
If they work out in the morning…
He sets off on his 20-mile run
Breathing in the ocean air
As he runs along the oceanfront
He’s running out of energy
He doesn’t give up
He bangs out 100 push-ups
Turns on the shower
Jumps in
Dries himself off
He opens up his computer
Logs into his emails
He turns down 5
He has to iron out a few details
He looks up flights to New York
He doesn’t have time to shop around
He fills out the form
It’s time to get on with writing his presentation
He doesn’t want to put this off until next week
He gave them up a few years ago
He warms up leftover pasta
He digs in
The afternoon is dragging on a bit
He adds in a little
He spends the rest of the afternoon finishing up his presentation
It’s now time to chill out for the rest of the evening
To see if she wants to hang out
He heads out just before 5 and sets off for his friend's house
He’s looking forward to catching up
They grew up together
He’s worried about them growing apart
He pops in for a few minutes
They decide to eat out
So they head out to this new exciting restaurant
He wolfs them down
Sarah only picks at them
They then go through the menu again
And pick out a main meal to share
Sarah then knocks back a couple of very expensive cocktails
He’s trying to cut back on alcohol during the week
They actually run into an old friend from school
They decide to stay out a little bit longer
Dave drops Sarah off at home
He has enough time to write down what he has learned that day
He then turns off the lights
Gets into bed
And passes out immediately

52 Phrasal Verbs Soundcloud

In this English lesson, you're going to learn 43 commonly used phrases related to romance. You're going to do this by watching a video of David and Sarah meeting in a hotel bar.

Get the definitions and watch the video here: https://www.tofluency.com/53-english-phrases-romance

*** RESOURCES ***

English fluency book:
https://www.tofluency.com/5-step-plan/

To Fluency Program:
https://www.tofluency.com/tfp/

52 Phrasal Verbs (similar lesson):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpvtm9KngQ8

Methods I recommend you follow for English fluency:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZOJurmtexYpQYEvWTJaieyehensaC_eU

*** The 43 Phrases ***

- Sitting on her own at a hotel bar
- Sarah has recently broken up with her long-term boyfriend
- David is, let’s say, a little bit of a player
- He likes to chat up women
- He likes to go out on lots of dates
- At the moment he is single too
- He’s checking the football results on his phone
- He starts to check out Sarah
- He likes what he sees
- He finds her very attractive
- He thinks she’s very beautiful
- She has this special aura about her
- To see if she’s noticing him as well
- He’s starting to get a little frustrated
- He’s trying to build up the courage to go over to her
- Finally, he gets up out of his chair
- Walks over to Sarah at the bar
- And makes his move
- This is the first time that she has seen him
- There is instant chemistry
- They flirt with each other straight away
- Although she’s a little hesitant
- She starts to open up about what she does
- This tattoo caused the breakup of her long-term relationship
- He’s happy she’s single
- They’re glancing at each other and flirting a little bit more
- David orders two shots
- They raise their glasses
- He downs it in one
- She needs to go back to her room soon to prepare for her presentation
- He hands over his phone
- He asks her put her number in it 
- He thinks about when he’s going to text her next

E TO FLUENCY

Assad