Level B2 (approx. band 5.5-6.5) · Academic and General Training Some learners avoid phrasal verbs completely, so their Speaking sounds stiff: "I discovered that the meeting was postponed." Others memorise colourful idioms and drop them in everywhere: "It was raining cats and dogs, but it was a piece of cake." Both lose marks for different reasons. This episode shows you which phrasal verbs make Speaking natural, which formal verbs replace them in Writing, and why memorised idioms usually hurt more than they help. In this episode: • What a phrasal verb is • High-frequency phrasal verbs for speaking • Formal equivalents for writing • Idioms: when they help and when they hurt • Model • Language bridge • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key points: • a phrasal verb is one unit of meaning, and pronouns go in the middle of separable ones. • in Speaking, these verbs sound natural and fluent; learn each with one sentence about your life. • in Speaking, use natural phrasal verbs; in Writing, prefer the formal partner unless the phrasal verb is neutral. • natural idioms help in Speaking; forced or memorised ones hurt. IELTS Complete Course: a self-study podcast from A1 to C2 for Academic and General Training. Listen, pause and answer, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair. Independent course, not affiliated with the IELTS test owners.