English from all angles! In this episode, Drew discusses the differences among the words “dot,” “point” and “period.” “Dot” is used for referring to Internet domains; “point” is for expressing decimals and “period” is a punctuation mark. The words dot, point and period refer to Internet domains, decimals and punctuation, respectively, but each word has so many more meanings. When you learn a new word, look it up to see what other uses it has and start putting it into practice. This way, it will quickly form part of your day-to-day vocabulary.

English from all angles! Why are you going to give a presentation? This is the first question you need to ask yourself. It aligns your goals and lays out the design and purpose of your speech. From there, the keys to giving a successful speech require adapting it to your audience, developing your message, determining audiovisuals, practicing your delivery and anticipating your audience’s response. Some people may tell you they “wing it” (that is, to improvise and do it without preparation) when it comes to delivering a presentation. However, if the presentation is successful, that’s never really the case. If you take the time to ensure that you cover the steps that Drew provides in this podcast for preparing your next presentation, you can’t go wrong.

English from all angles! It’s best not to care what others think about your English. If you care what other people think about how you speak English, it could discourage you from practicing it and, consequently, prevent you from improving. Therefore, when somebody criticizes your English – and even when somebody compliments you on it – it’s best to be indifferent towards what they think. In other words, what other people think about your English is none of your business. In this episode, Drew explains the difference between “I don’t care” and “ I don’t mind.” When learning English, not caring what other people think about how you speak will actually benefit you. Everybody makes mistakes; as long as you’re making an effort, you’ll improve. Besides, most likely the reason why somebody would criticize your English is because they’re jealous of how well you speak it. Go for it!

English from all angles! With today’s technology, there’s no excuse for a typo. There are two primary factors that have led to the increased occurrence of typos: haste and carelessness. With a spell check feature available in every word processing program, there’s no excuse for having a typo in your written work. (Even so, you should still proofread what you’ve written!). And typos reflect very poorly on you and your organization. Why do we see so many typos in the press? It seems like everybody is in such a hurry that nobody checks their written work anymore. Check and then double-check your work so that you don’t become a victim of the terrible typo!

English from all angles! If you’re exhausted from running errands, from running like a chicken with its head cut off or from simply running around, most likely you’re running out of gas or even running on empty. This episode looks at a few expressions that use the word “run.”

Along with learning expressions with the word “run,” Drew stresses the importance of learning and using (over and over!) one phrasal verb per day. Also, Drew explains woods vs. forest and biking vs. cycling.

English from all angles! Signatures: they can be forged, illegible, recognizable and artistic. A signature is a handwritten example of your name. This podcast looks at how signatures are used (and misused!), explains the difference between the verbs “review” and “revise” and gives advice on pronouncing acronyms. Find out why we use the term “John Hancock” for the word “signature.” Also, avoid making mistakes when pronouncing acronyms, like CEO, and…imitate, imitate, imitate.

English from all angles! Format has a big impact on a magazine’s layout. Our kitchen layout affects the way we cook. Our office layout affects how we work. Since most publishing companies allow you to subscribe to both print and digital versions of their magazines, preference for one format over the other depends a lot on the content’s layout. Layout is the key idea here. The way pictures, photographs, text and ads are distributed, or laid out, has a big impact on how we read a magazine. The layout of practically anything –our car’s dashboard, our computer’s keyboard or our home’s furniture – plays a significant role in the way we interact with it.

English from all angles! Find out what’s stopping you from using your killer vocabulary. You know all the key words in your field, and tons of expressions and slang too. However, there’s one small problem. Your killer vocabulary is rendered useless because you can’t understand the context in English. Fix that by training your ear to recognize your vocabulary when used by native speakers. When I communicate with you, English language learners, speaking slowly and clearly allows you to maximize your arsenal of words. Why? Because you understand the context and therefore you’re able to make of the most of your vocabulary. The challenge arises when you can’t make sense of what’s being said. Take full advantage or your ability to speak by taking full advantage of your ability to understand.

English from all angles! Avoid complexity and you’ll communicate more effectively. This episode highlights the importance of clarity and simplicity when communicating in English, or any language for that matter. Don’t fall into the trap of using complex words, jargon or acronyms in order to sound expert and sophisticated. More often than not, it confuses your message instead of clarifying it. It’s not easy being simple; truthfully, it’s challenging. It’s much easier to complicate something - design, architecture or fashion - than to simplify it, make it look spectacular and give it optimal performance. Make the extra effort to simply your message in order to effectively communicate in English.

English from all angles! Use play-on-words to enhance your vocabulary and increase your English level. Depending on people’s accents, the same word in English can be pronounced differently. By detecting the differences you’ll improve your listening compression. In American English, the words “petal” and “pedal” sound exactly the same. Drew teaches the expression “pain in the neck” (and says that he will sometimes be one) so that you can become a better English speaker. He also discusses the sayings “spring to life” and “spring has sprung.”