🎙️ Why Perfectionism Kills Your IELTS Fluency — and What to Do in 3 Seconds.

I’ve seen it hundreds of times — students who know all the grammar, all the phrases, yet freeze the moment they have to speak. Their voice tightens, their mind goes blank, and all that knowledge disappears.

In this episode, I talk about why that happens — and why perfectionism is the real enemy of fluency. I’ll share a story from one of my students, explain what’s going on in your head when you start overthinking, and show you a simple 3-second shift that helps you sound calm, confident, and real — even in front of an examiner.

If you’ve ever felt that your English suddenly “dies” when you need it most, this episode will help you bring it back to life.

Stay till the end — I’ve got a small bonus for you and a way to get personal feedback after the episode.

#IELTS speaking #Fluent English #Spoken English confidence #Nofear

IELTS-SPEAKING 8-9 BAND IS POSSIBLE. DAILY SPEAKING PRACTICE PART 1,2 & 3. Listen daily.

The Inner Game of IELTS -  Why Perfectionism Kills Your Fluency and how to fix it in 3 steps.

Pronouns are a big issue for me in English, but not in Thai. Why is that? Let's find out together in this episode and do some quizzes on how some of the pronouns are spelt!
คำสรรพนามเป็นปัญหาใหญ่ของเค้กในภาษาอังกฤษ แต่ไม่มีปัญหาเลยในภาษาไทย ทำไมน้าาาา มาหาคำตอบพร้อมกันในอีพีนี้ และทำควิซว่า คำสรรพนามบางคำสะกดยังไงในภาษาไทยนะคะ

TalkaCake

คำสรรพนามในภาษาไทย Pronouns in Thai

Stop confusing "Shitte-iru" and "Wakatta"! 💡
Have you ever said "Shitte-imasu" when you actually meant "I understand"? Or have you accidentally sounded a bit rude by saying "Shiranai"?
In this episode, Maiko Sensei — a professional Japanese teacher with over 450 lessons of experience — breaks down the tricky difference between "Knowing" and "Understanding."
What you’ll learn in this episode:
Data vs. Puzzle: The simple "Brain Hack" to choose the right word every time.
The "Make Sense" moment: Why "Wakatta" is your best friend when learning new things.
Interactive Quiz: Test your skills with two real-life scenarios!
Danger Zone: Why saying "Shiranai" to a friend (or a crush!) might cause a big misunderstanding. 💔

If you want to sound more natural and avoid awkward silences, this episode is for you. Let's make Japanese make sense together!


HONTO NO NIHONGO with Maiko

Ep4: Do you KNOW or do you UNDERSTAND?

昔は日本語の色は「赤」（red)、「青」(blue)、「白」(white)、「黒」(black)の４色しかなかったそうなんです。そして、この4色に「黄色」(yellow)と「茶色」(brown)の2色を合わせた6色が、古くから日本語で使われていた伝統的な色名とされています。
さて、この６色は　最後に「い」をつけると　形容詞になり、物の色を表現できます。
例えば、「赤い車」、「青い海」、「白い雪」「黒い髪」などですね。そして「黄色い花」、「茶色い馬」などと言うことができます。
では　この６色以外の色の形容詞は　どういいますか？例えば、greenの緑は「緑い」とは言いません。
その他の色は　○○色の　ということができますよ。
例えば、　greenの緑は「緑色の」となります。
「緑色の野菜」「ピンク色のTシャツ」「水色の傘」などですね！

ただ、例外もあって、赤、青、白、黒、なども　「赤色の靴」、「青色のかばん」などのように言うこともできます。


Japanese culture ♪

色を表す形容詞　color adjective 

Fao nos cuenta cómo es invitado por primera vez a un festival musical y encuentra un país rico en cultura y música, deslumbrando por la majestuosidad de la cultura Teotihuacán. 

Ritmos del mundo

#19 Mexico

Reading of the short story "A Beleza Total" ("The Total Beauty") by the Brazilian modernist writer and poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade. 

In this episode, we work on textual interpretation and vocabulary, with the indication of tenses for some of the verbs contained in the text.

Practice your listening and (why not) your reading as well by grabbing a copy of this modernist text (easily found on Google) while listening to this special episode.

Verb tenses mentioned in the vocabulary section: 

* Pretérito Perfeito
* Pretérito Imperfeito
* Pretérito-mais-que-perfeito

Target audience: Portuguese Students from B1 Level 
Length: ~6 minutes

Music used in the podcast
Song: Brazilian Sunsets, by Ketsa
Source: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/
Free to use with attribution

Braziliant

Reading "A Beleza Total", by Carlos Drummond de Andrade

In this episode you are going to find out how  to refuse and not to spoil good relationships with your significant ones.



Excellent at English with Kate K

Business english: excuses and polite inquiries: part 1

Transcript + Exercises → https://espanolparati.notion.site/Mi-personalidad-ser-ed9a3e835dea4c41b7f7030416a2437d
Do the exercises in the transcript to get the most out of every episode!
