This week we're looking at a little known grammar point called 'intensifiers'. These words are used to intensify adjectives and adverbs. I have covered this subject before in a little more detail in Episode 90, so feel free to head back to that episode for more. In this episode we're focusing on just two intensifiers: So and Too.These two words are very common in English, and I think more so now because we are often emphasising things, and this is what these words are for...its all in the name😉So, what's the problem? The most common problem I hear my students make is using Too, when they should be using So. This might seem simple, but since they are often used close together, it's not always clear what the difference is. So, what's the difference? So is used to notice something, it is neutral. Too is often used to complain about something, it tends to be negative.Examples from our episode:I saw too many electric cars - complainingI saw so many electric cars - noticingShakespeare is too hard, it's so old. - complaint about difficulty, commenting on the reasonShakespeare is so hard it's too old. - commenting on the difficulty, complaining about the ageRemember we can (and often do) emphasise both of these words! So that's not the thing to help you decide which to use. Try to notice when you're using them first. After doing this for a while it will be easier to notice when you make a mistake and start fixing it. #emmaseslenglish #english #englishgrammar #englishspeaking #englishlearning

Welcome to Emma's ESL English! 🌟
Today, we're diving into a very common English mistake: "I'm stressful about English." 😬
If you've ever said this—or felt it!—this episode is for you.

We'll explore:

• Why "I'm stressful about English" is incorrect

• The difference between stressed, stressful, and stressed out

• Useful alternatives like “tense,” “under pressure,” “anxious,” and more

• How native speakers actually talk about feeling stress

✅ Correct Example Sentences:

• I’m stressed about English.

• English is stressful.

• I’m stressed out about my test.

• English is stressing me out.

We’ll also look at nuanced vocabulary such as:
anxious, frazzled, nervous, tense, upset, exhausted, troubled, rundown, under pressure, and more.

🧠 Learning English can be overwhelming, but understanding how to talk about stress the right way makes it a lot easier. Stick around for clear explanations and examples!

💬 Let me know in the comments:
What English topic stresses you out?

📌 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and turn on the bell for more ESL lessons with Emma.

#ESL #LearnEnglish #EnglishMistakes #StressedVsStressful #EnglishGrammar #EnglishTips #SpeakEnglish #EnglishForBeginners #EmmaESLEnglish

This week I'm reading a short excerpt from Dr Martin Luther King Jr's Letter from Birmingham Jail. Written on April 16th 1963 and addressed to 'My Dear Fellow Clergymen'.

I do get quite political in this episode, certainly less neutral than I generally aim to be on this podcast. I also talk about current situations in America and the UK that are gravely concerning. I hope you don't mind me taking the time to talk about this. I hope you share my perspective, but understand that the world is a complicated place and we can't all agree on everything.

I wanted to read this letter because it points out the problem when normal every day people don't want to deal with change. The acceptance of the status quo, even as it worsens life for everyday people, can be the most dangerous thing, for everyone. I think there's a lot we can learn from leaders like Dr King so it's always worth spending time with their words.

Note: I'm not suggesting this applies to any of you, especially since I know many of my listeners are living in countries like the UK and America. But I do think it's important to discuss and for all of us to consider what is important to us, and what are the values we most aspire to live, in these difficult times.

There was a lot of difficult vocabulary in this excerpt. I hope I managed to explain it enough so you could get the gist, but I've included the vocabulary below as well, I hope it helps.

Vocabulary

irony - something that seems deliberately opposite to what we expect, and as such can be found funny

status quo - the 'normal' situation

condescending - to look down on someone

polarized - to be at opposite extremes of an argument

aided - helped

suppressed - pushed down, avoided, prevented from being seen

advocate - support and encourage

gravely - seriously

'great stumbling block' - stumbling block is an idiom and this means something in our way, preventing progress

'absence of tension' - lack of trouble

paternalistically - like a father, but condescending

'mythical concept of time' - not realistic or true

'lukewarm acceptance' - not enthusiastic

bewildering - confusing

'outright rejection' - a complete, obvious 'no'

'dangerously structured dams' - a stumbling block

plight - situation (usually difficult or negative)

boil - a large ugly, often infected, spot on the body

This week we're continuing our story about China's great expedition to discover the world.

As I mentioned last week, everything comes from Gavin Menzies 2003 book: 1421 The Year China Discovered The World.

In addition you can find more evidence and what's still happening by checking the two websites here:⁠https://www.gavinmenzies.net/china/book-1421/⁠⁠https://www.1421foundation.org/

I have to apologise to my Chinese listeners for the pronunciation, unfortunately the book is only in English and I couldn't find the Chinese pronunciation for most of the characters.

In addition, I wanted to note that at the end of this episode I have an emphatic little speech, remember, I am saying this from the perspective of a British national, a citizen of the British Empire. If you don't come from a colonizing country, feel free to skip it. For those of us who do come from colonizing countries I do think that this is an important moment for introspection.

Vocabulary

JingDe Zhen - this is the name of a Chinese city, famous for centuries (and still now) for it's porcelain

Uruapan - a city in Mexico

Michoacan - a Mexican state and ancient people

Reinvigorated - Suddenly got more energy

Limped up - usually 'limp' is used when we can't walk normally, but we can also use it when transport is struggling to get somewhere

Shunned - to not be accepted, to be turned away and avoided

Venetian - Niccolo De Conti was the man who brought the maps to Venice, Portugal and Spain. He was from Venice originally and turned to Islam when he married his wife. He was a merchant. Venetian is the word used to describe people from Venice.

Colossus - describing something very large

Bogus - something that is false, a lie or fake

False pretenses - a common co-location meaning someone did something but they lied about what they were doing or why they were doing it

Posterity - for remembering in the future, for recorded history

Circulatory - related to the circulation of something, in this case the way air and water move around the planet

Xenophobia - prejudice or fear of people from other countries

Zealot - someone who is fanatical, obsessed in pursuit of their ideals, could be religious, political or other.

Barbaric - in English we think of a barbarian as a really violent terrible person, so this describes behaviour we think of as violent and terrible.

Cinders - when something is burned so much we can only see the black ash

Folly - a lack of good sense, foolishness

Latitude - measuring the planet from north to south

Longitude - identifying where we are on the planet east to west

#emmaseslenglish #1421 #chinesehistory #englishlisteningpractise

This week we're heading to China for an adventure story. I read this book last year and it was so good, but I couldn't figure out how to share it with you.

Recently I started using the Chinese App Red Note (XiaoHongShu) and doing short form videos there, I decided to tell this story. Once I had the base of the story I decided to see if I could adjust it for you too.

These two episodes are really English Listening episodes. I hope you will find the story interesting, it's possible you've never heard it before (if you have heard it or read the book, please drop me a comment to let me know).

The book is called 1421: The Year China Discovered The World and it was written by a British submarine captain called Gavin Menzies in 2003.

In today's episode I'll tell you about the writer, some main characters and the first part of the story. Next week we'll finish the trip and find out why this story isn't well known.

For more information about the evidence from the book and what Gavin did next you can check out the following two websites:https://www.gavinmenzies.net/china/book-1421/https://www.1421foundation.org/

There is some tricky vocabulary in this episode.

Eunuch - a man who has been castrated (formed an important and powerful group in China during this period)

Concubine - a woman who is kept but not married, in this case it also refers to the women who were kept on the boats, we don't know really anything about them though so whether this was by choice or not, we don't know.

Hustle and bustle - a common English term used to describe a busy place

Thriving hub - a successful centre of action

Accolade - some kind of award or privilege

Outskirts - the edge of a town or city

Rudder - the part at the back of the boat that helps direct the boat in the right direction

Scurvy - a common illness on board long ship journeys in the old days. Comes from a lack of Vitamin C.

Cartographer - Someone who's job is to draw maps

#emmaseslenglish #english #learnenglish #englishlistening #1421

Have you ever wondered how language shapes the way we see the world? In this episode of Emma’s ESL English, we explore an eye-opening story about the Zulu language—which has 39 words for “green”—and what that reveals about the deep connection between language and culture.

• 🌍 Discover how learning Chinese changed my perception of reality
• 🧠 Understand how different languages reflect different worldviews
• 📖 Learn why English may not always be the richest language to describe nature
• 🔤 Hear how older languages like Zulu express concepts we can’t even translate

Whether you’re learning English, teaching it, or just love exploring linguistics and cultural diversity, this video will expand your understanding of what it means to think in a language.

👇 Tell me in the comments:
What’s your native language, and how does it change the way you think compared to English?
👍 Like, Subscribe, and hit the 🔔 to support more thought-provoking ESL content.

📘 The book was written by Richard D Lewis, a leading scholar in the Intercultural sector, he started off as an English teacher travelling and living around the world. He also speaks 12 languages!The book is 'When cultures collide, leading across cultures.'VocabularyPhilology - the study of the structure, historical development, and relationships of a language or languagesSavannah - a large, usually flat, grass area with minimal treesOur tongue is seen as poverty stricken - meaning our language is seen as being without very much variety or choice - poverty stricken is a common phrase used to describe people or countries who are struggling with poverty.Finely wrought - carefully made or forgedCausation - the cause of thingsFamiliarizing - the process of becoming familiar with somethingTaboo - subjects or ideas that are not culturally acceptable to discussStraightjacket - a commonly used piece of equipment to limit movement. In this case being used to describe the limitations of languageStereoscopic - stereo means with two or more sources. We have stereo sound and mono sound, the first has two or more speakers, the second only one. In this case stereoscopic refers to our vision being from two eyes.#emmaseslenglish #englishlisteningpractice #englishreading #culture

Welcome back! I hope you all had a great holiday period, Happy New Year! 🥳

In Episode 218 we covered how to review your year, this is an important step, don't miss it. I know it can feel frustrating or even cringy to review the year, but we need to understand what worked and what didn't so we can improve next year.

So here we are, 2025, or almost. Happy New Year! 🥳🥂

Take some time over the next couple of weeks to figure out what worked well last year and how you want to move forward with your English in 2025. Are you going to change your textbook? Find some new reading material? Or perhaps get a teacher?

Check out episodes 152, 164, 181 and 183 for more tips on tests, goal setting and planning.

Work out some priorities and some achievable goals and get them down on paper.

I'm taking January off so I'll be back in February to see how you get on.

Any questions, just put them in the comments.

Good luck!

#emmaseslenglish

This week I have something a little different for you. Last year my family and I went to Castle Howard. This is an English country home in Yorkshire that puts on a special Christmas display every year. They take a story and decorate the house with that theme. Last year the story was JM Barrie's Peter Pan.

Wow! Here we are again, at the end of the year!

For those of you who have been with me for a while, you will know what's coming, review and plan.

In this episode I'll give you some tips and thoughts on how to review your year in English.

This is an important step. So many language learners feel like they're not making any progress. It's important to take a little time to recognise how much work you've put in and any progress you've made. Honestly, even if you feel like you haven't made any progress, take time to recognise all the hard work you've put in (and yes, I'm counting watching TV shows and movies with subtitles as hard work 😉).

Let me know how you get on in the comments.