English Podcast with Tommy

Murder! Intrigue! Backstabbing!

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All these have something in common in today's episode!

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Rafaela from @english.rafaela brings us the hit TV series How To Get Away With Murder!

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Generally speaking TV series will help you improve your English because of the specific vocabulary available - whether that be crime series, reality Tv or anything.

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Rafaela told us that she is a big fan of crime series and this one is one of her favourites.

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So what is it about? It follows law students who are hired at Annelise Keating's (played by Viola Davis) law firm. All the students, from different backgrounds, help Keating defend different people.

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Nevertheless, the characters are not as 'normal' as they all seem.

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So let's jump to it! Let's listen to this episode and also watch this TV series and improve your English.

The performing arts and English are not something, at first glance, you would expect to associate with each other.

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Even less so, musicals and English! Nevertheless, Rebekah from @englishparati explains to us how we can use the magic of musicals to improve your English.

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Rebekah tells us that her first experience of musicals was when she was a young girl when she watched Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. And from that day onwards, Rebekah became a big fan of this performing art. Rebekah loves the music, the costumes, the actors, and the lights from all musicals.

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Does Rebekah have a favourite musical? Well, some of her favourite musicals include The Phantom Of The Opera and Miss Saigon.

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So how do we get to learn and improve our English with musicals? There are lot of ways including improving your listening skills, your acting skills (if you are more of an actor), or your vocabulary skills.

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Come and join us and let's take your English to the next level with the magic of musicals!

Roots, heritage and culture are three words that some people would never associate with the world of the English language.

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BUT! And it's very important to mention, these words are very important when we talk about the English-speaking world.

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In her debut episode, Kay from @sincerelyteachingenglish and @diasporaenglishlearning talks in detail about how these words have an impact on the English language and how it is perceived.

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Did you know, for example, that in the USA there are many different types of English. And all of these different types of Englishes are all influenced by roots - where we come from, heritage - where our family comes from and culture - the customs we have.

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What is also important is that you, as learners, and we, as teachers, look at English as a vibrant language with many influences from all over the world.

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Come and deep dive into an episode about three important words that have a major impact on the language of English.

What do politics, activism and teaching all have in common?

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Well, not much really, until you look at the wonderful teacher we have today, who is here on her debut.

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Yes, Gabi from @gabifroeselt is someone who likes to mix politics, her political activism and teaching all together.

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And you might be asking your how exactly she does this. Well, that's a good question. To start with, it is important to look at the background that our esteemed guest comes from. First, she comes from a background of activists, her parents were against the Brazilian dictatorship in the 60s and 70s. This obviously would later have an effect on her view on life.

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Politics in the classroom is something that Gabi brings effortlessly into the classroom with newspaper articles and many other things.

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So how about dipping your toes into the politics, activism and teaching with Gabi Froes in her debut episode!

Reading, reading, reading. It's so important!

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But lots of us, including this podcaster, in the past at least, don't like to read.

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So why don't boys like to read? What is the reason behind this and how can we change this?

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Generally the stigma says that men and boys hate reading because they find books boring compared to computer games and other more active things. Kimberlie from @phrasedllc even tells us, though, that despite being a very active boy, her son will still be able to tell her everything she has read word for word. Impressive stuff!

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But this does not mean that boys are actually not interested, it's just the way boys are!

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Unfortunately boys of BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) backgrounds will suffer even more than other boys.

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Nevertheless, we need to ask the question of what we can do.

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Let your boys be active while reading, let them pick something else up while you're reading, because they are just processing information in their own way.

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So, next time you pick up a book and start reading, enjoy reading, because your kids, even boys, are enjoying it just as much as you are!

It's time strike a pose!

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Well, perhaps not, but let's just continue on this.

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This episode is really not about posing for a photo, but it could be.

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Irene from @all_about_english_with_irene from Costa Rica talks to us about a TV series called Pose. It gives us a lot of insight into transgender people, which is very stigmatised

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Pose is based in the late 80s and early 90s in New York City, the 'Big Apple'. The series focuses on the LGBTQIA+ and people of Afro-American heritage and other heritages at that time.

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In her home country of Costa Rica, this series was welcomed very much by all communities. Nevertheless, unfortunately, there are certain things that still need to be changed.

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The Spotify playlist for this series goes through the who's who of the late 80s and 90s music scene.

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In terms of English learning, you should be of a B1+ level, due to the language which is being used from the late 80s and early 90s. Words such as 'house' - is used to talk about a chosen family.

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So how about striking a pose and make sure you come and listen to this episode, as well as watching this episode.

Did you know that board games can help you improve your English?

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No, I don't mean the classic board games like chess or Ludo. I mean something a little different.

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YES! Board games can help you improve your English! But how?

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Well, according to Zdenek @teacherzdenek there is a specific type of board game that he likes, that'll be Clank.

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This game, a deck builder, takes you on an adventure through dungeons and other obstacles. This is what Zdenek, likes when he is not a teacher.

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But the teacher side of Zdenek likes to play games which are communicative. These could include games like Cluedo, the famous whodunnit game.

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So what are we saying here? The simple point is, as learners, to get a game in which you are communicating with each other in the English language and you are actively using the English language.

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So, get yourselves your favourite board game: Cluedo, Catan this evening and play with some friends. And remember: enjoy it as well!

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Let us know below what board games you like playing!

Music can be such an amazing thing to help you improve your language skills. But how?!

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In her debut episode Yasna from @pronunciation_with_miss.oh tells us about the story how a school girl, who once hated English, became someone who fell in love with this amazing language, through the power of music!

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Yes! With the help of the legendary Colombian singer Shakira, Yasna fell in love. But it all started when Shakira started penning and singing her songs in English. Yasna explains that she was forced into looking up Shakira's lyrics in English and translating them into Spanish (her native language) with the help of a pocket dictionary. The most important part of the story, is that Yasna only translated the main message of the lyrics. And that is what you should do as well!

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So why should I use music to improve my language skills? Well, Yana's great example, of how when her favourite singer started singing English, Yasna used this as the reason to go and enjoy Shakira's songs. It was a mindset shift for Yasna and you can use it as well!

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So, all aboard the music express and take your language skills to the next station and level, just like Yasna did in this amazing story and episode!

Reading is one of the key components of learning. And many learners, in my experience, really hate picking up books.

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So what better way to discover your love for reading in English with the power of a wonderful website.

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Yes, this week Yara from @inglescomyara has brought a gift to all English learners, who want to improve their reading skills in a different way.

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Yara explains to us that with this website we can not just improve our reading skills, but also our listening skills and writing as well.

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The beauty of this website is that we find lots of books with audio versions. Furthermore, they are also sorted according to the level these books.

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So, it's now time for you to potentially take your English to next level with this podcast episode and also the beauty of this amazing website!

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P.S.: if you have used this website, tell us about your favourite book!

Reading is so important, especially when learning a language.

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But what is it about reading that boys do not like? Kimberlie from @phrasedllc tells us about the reasons why boys do not like reading.

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The biggest stigma that we see is that girls believe that reading is meant for them, whereas boys think it is something that is uncool. We also hear from Kimberlie that the typical stereotype for boys is to be loud and productive, whereas we believe reading is something we need to do quietly.

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So what can we do to get boys to fall in love with books? Reading books doesn't necessarily have to be 'reading a book', per se. We can put an audiobook on, while we're in the car, we could even deliberately leave books in a trail and see which books are picked up.

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Why not tune into this eye-opening episode and find out how you can help your children fall in love with books!