In this week's show I remind you of the importance of resetting your attentional filter to notice key categories of vocabulary in English, including "empty" verbs and binomials. You'll be putting into practice my tips and I've even come up with a scavenger hunt for you to play while listening.

For the complete show notes, including the transcription of the entire episode and the scavenger hunt results, go to https://ethosenglish.com/advancedenglishpodcasts2e3/

Music is from "Strings" by Another Day under a Creative Commons license.

This week I explore key concepts from neuroscience in Daniel J. Levitin's book The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload and how they apply to language learning. Specifically, I explain the concept of the attentional filter as it relates to language learning and how using categories allows us to learn better. I go over last week's tip related to delexicalised verbs as exemplified in news stories on the political situation in the UK and then introduce this week's tip on binomials as a useful category of chunk in everyday English. As always, at the end of the episode I go over key vocabulary with definitions and examples.

Link to show notes with a full transcript.

Music is from "Strings" by Another Day under a Creative Commons license.

What does the recent political and economic turmoil in the UK have to do with improving your English? Listen and find out how to avoid becoming an intellectual zombie. For the shownotes go to https://ethosenglish.com/podcast/ 

Music is from "Strings" by Another Day under a Creative Commons license.

Season 2 is coming soon! Music is from "Strings" by Another Day under a Creative Commons license.

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, thereby depriving women in many parts of the U.S. access to legal abortion. In this episode we look at key vocabulary related to the law as well as discuss the American Supreme Court and new evidence-based studies on abortion. 

Click here for the interactive transcript, including vocabulary flashcards.

In this week's episode I discuss a recent court ruling in the United States on the safety of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the world's most widely-used pesticide and why this coming year is crucial for improving food safety and wildlife protection in the European Union.  

Click here for the interactive transcript and Quizlet flashcard set.

What can London's sewage crisis of the 19th century teach us about our own environmental crisis?

Do we have grounds for optimism? Read the interactive transcript and self-study materials, including Quizlet flashcards by clicking here.

What is eco-anxiety? How we can use art as a way of processing grief caused by climate change? I have a brief chat with the environmental scientist, policy maker - and award-winning mosaic artist - Julie Sperling about the therapeutic value of art and how we can use the principles of ikigai to find ways to do our part in the fight against climate change.

Click here to access the interactive transcript, links and Quizlet sets.

In this episode I look into the concept of ANTS (automatic negative thoughts) and rumination. I discuss three techniques for coping with self-criticism. As it turns out, speaking to ourselves in our second (or third/fourth/etc.) language can help us when dealing with emotionally charged situations. Click here for the interactive transcript and Quizlet self-study materials.

In this episode I delve into key words and phrases to help you talk about a topic that is very common in speaking exams, namely the importance of learning English or another foreign language. This is a very popular topic and one for which you can prepare yourself by learning some key vocabulary that will help you boost your performance. What's more, I explore the idea of educational inequality and how requiring English for professional and academic use has a dark side. Specifically I discuss a BBC article on subtractive bilingualism in Holland.

I also raise the issue of anticipating the kinds of questions you might be asked and how vital it is to avoid superficial answers. The questions you're asked may be boring but your answers shouldn't be!

Go to the episode page for a full interactive transcript and Quizlet flashcards to review all key vocabulary.