Struggling with the /th/ sound in English? You're not alone! In this episode, we’ll break down the two types of /th/—voiced and unvoiced—explaining how to position your mouth, common pronunciation mistakes, and easy ways to practice. Whether you mix up think and sink or those and doze, this episode will help you master this tricky sound with clear explanations and practical exercises. Tune in and start speaking with confidence!

 Pronunciation and Accent Reduction with a Focus on North American English

Sink or Think? Those or Doze?  Mastering the TH Consonant

"Run Into... a Surprise!" 

Welcome back to *Phrasal Verbs Gone Wild! 

Today, let’s “run into”… “run into”.
 
To *run into* someone means to meet them by surprise.

Maybe you’re sneaking out for a late-night treat, only to “run into” an ex at the bar.

Awkward.

But it’s not just people—you can also “run into” issues, like “running into” last-minute work emails when you’re ready to unwind.

Basically, whether it’s unexpected people or problems, you never know when you’ll “run into” something.

Catch you next time—and maybe you’ll “run into” me instead!

"Phrasal Verbs Gone Wild!"

Ep.5 "Run Into ... a Surprise!" 

In today's episode we're joined by Krystal, a Chinese student, who has recently moved to London. In the podcast we'll hear what she thinks of the British weather (not as bad as you may think), the cost of living (expensive, but not dear), and why the English you learn at school doesn't always help you when talking with real Londoners. Listen now, as Krystal gives advice to anyone planning on moving to the U.K.. Or book a lesson with Cambridge David, and find out more about the real British life and culture.

Learn English with Cambridge David

Moving to the U.K. - your guide from a Chinese student

Try these tips during awkward silences or when you don't know what else to talk about.

1.   Don't reject your own ideas thinking that they are not worth sharing. When you filter most of your stories and experiences you have fewer topics to talk about. 
 
2.   Don't list your points, instead elaborate on each point using examples or personal experiences. This also gives the opportunity to the listener to add to the topic or share their own experiences making it a two-way conversation.
 
3.   Speak at the right pace. If you speak too fast, you end the conversation very quickly. It’s usually because the listener doesn’t understand you and therefore can’t keep the conversation going.  
 
4.   Learn to ask smart questions to keep the conversation going. Ask open-ended questions such as, “what do you think about …?” with follow-up questions “why do you think …?”. This helps you build up on the information that you received.
 
5.   Practise thinking critically so you always have something to say. When you practice critical thinking and ask yourself counter-questions, you are able to spontaneously think of ideas and form arguments using your background knowledge. You can easily connect the dots and be eloquent while talking to people.
 
6.   Learn a few speech frameworks such as Past - Present - Future, Problem – Solution - Benefit, or other storytelling formats such as ‘the mountain’. When you have a structure, you don’t lose your chain of thoughts and you don’t run into dead ends. Your listeners are also able to understand you better and remember what you said.
 
7.   If you are using a second language to communicate such as English, then simplify your complex thoughts in your native language first and then translate them to English. Lots of times when translation is tough, we give up and change the topic. But this practice helps you make the translation process easy. 
 
If you want to learn more, please book a session with me. 


Sensei Ann

Tips for not running out of things to say

Vamos a explorar una conexión fascinante entre dos temas que aparentemente no tienen ninguna relación: el origen de los nombres de los días de la semana en español y el desarrollo de la medicina moderna

¡Hablemos de salud!

Días de la semana & Medicina moderna

In this episode we will explore the Idioms:

•Water under the bridge

•Written in Stone

•When in Rome

The Jerome Meadows Experience

Learn English with The Alphabet of Idioms: W

In this episode we are going to learn 【I’m busy】in Chinese. 
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As a beginner, there're some vocabularies that you didn't learn before, and native speaker's speed seems too fast to understand. But don't worry, let's do it step by step. 
1st time: listen and catch the words you know already, have a guess about the content.
2nd time: look at the text to check if you guessed it right. 
3rd time: listen one more time, repeat after it.
4th time: practice until you can speak as the normal speed without looking at the text. 
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我的工作很忙。
wǒ de gōng zuò hěn máng 。
My work is very busy.
星期一到星期五我要上班。
xīng qī yī dào xīng qī wǔ wǒ yào shàng bān 。
I need to work from Monday to Friday.
7点前能下班，我就和朋友吃饭。
qī diǎn qián néng xià bān ， wǒ jiù hé péng yǒu chī fàn 。
If I can get off work before 7 o'clock, I will have dinner with my friends.
7点前不能下班，我就不能和朋友吃饭。
qī diǎn qián bù néng xià bān ， wǒ jiù bù néng hé péng yǒu chī fàn 。
If I can't get off work before 7 o'clock, I can't have dinner with my friends.
星期六和星期日我不用上班，可以和朋友见面。
xīng qī liù hé xīng qī rì wǒ bú yòng shàng bān ， kě yǐ hé péng yǒu jiàn miàn 。
I don't have to go to work on Saturdays and Sundays, can meet up with friends.
明天星期六，可是我要加班，不能和朋友见面了。
míng tiān xīng qī liù ， kě shì wǒ yào jiā bān ， bù néng hé péng yǒu jiàn miàn le 。
Tomorrow is Saturday, but I have to work overtime, can't meet my friends.

Yuli's Chinese Channel

我很忙 I‘m busy（Beginner）

En este podcast podrás encontrar diferentes historias y cuentos con los cuales podrás practicar tu comprensión auditiva. Si eres estudiante activo conmigo recuerda escribirme al final de escucharlo para enviarte el test de compresión. Buena suerte. 
In this podcast you can find different stories and stories with which you can practice your listening comprehension. If you are an active student with me, remember to write to me at the end of listening to it so I can send you the compression test. Good luck.