Happy English Podcast (Natural American English)

Hey there! It’s Michael here - and welcome back to English Tips in a Minute from Happy English. I’m here every week with a short, simple tip to help you speak English more naturally and confidently. 

Today, let’s look at a really useful everyday phrase - “take turns.” 
We use take turns when two or more people do something one after another, instead of at the same time.

And there are two patterns. First, is people take turns
Like, We turns cooking dinner.
Or “They took turns driving on the trip.”

You can also say someone takes turns with another person.”
 Like:  “I take turns with my roommate doing the laundry.”
Or: Steve takes turns with Patty walking the dog.
 “We take turns with each other using the computer.”

Lemme know in the comments what you take turns doing, and remember to follow or subscribe so you don’t miss the next Happy English Podcast and next week’s English Tips in a Minute. Hey, thanks for listening - and until next time, keep learning and keep it cool.


The Happy English Podcast
Helping people speak English better since 2014
Over 1,000 episodes • 8 million downloads

📘 Get free weekly English lessons plus instant access to my FREE Vocabulary Workshop.:
https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/free-english-lessons

🎥 Watch video versions of the Happy English Podcast on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@HappyEnglishNY/podcasts

🌐 Learn more about my English lessons and courses
https://www.myhappyenglish.com

We’re going to have a meeting tomorrow. We’re having a meeting tomorrow. Maybe we’ll have a meeting tomorrow. All three of these sentences talk about the future… but they don’t feel exactly the same. So what’s the difference? 

If you’ve ever wondered when to use “going to have,” "having", or “will have,” today’s podcast English lesson is going to make this really clear.


The Happy English Podcast
Helping people speak English better since 2014
Over 1,000 episodes • 8 million downloads

📘 Get free weekly English lessons plus instant access to my FREE Vocabulary Workshop.:
https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/free-english-lessons

🎥 Watch video versions of the Happy English Podcast on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@HappyEnglishNY/podcasts

🌐 Learn more about my English lessons and courses
https://www.myhappyenglish.com

I’m recording this podcast right now. These days, I’m also working on a new pronunciation course. And tomorrow, I’m meeting a friend for coffee. Did you notice something? In all three sentences, I used the present progressive tense. But each one has a different meaning. So what’s going on here?

If you’ve ever wondered why we use “I’m doing” in different ways, today’s podcast English lesson is going to make this really clear.

The Happy English Podcast
Helping people speak English better since 2014
Over 1,000 episodes • 8 million downloads

📘 Get free weekly English lessons plus instant access to my FREE Vocabulary Workshop.:
https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/free-english-lessons

🎥 Watch video versions of the Happy English Podcast on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@HappyEnglishNY/podcasts

🌐 Learn more about my English lessons and courses
https://www.myhappyenglish.com

I wish I had more time. I wish I could travel more. I wish it wasn’t raining today. You’ve probably heard sentences like these before. Do you wish using the word wish wasn't so confusing. Should you say, “I wish I have more time”? Or “I wish I had more time”? And what’s the difference between wish and hope? If you’ve ever wondered about that, today’s podcast English lesson is going to make this really clear.

The Happy English Podcast
Helping people speak English better since 2014
Over 1,000 episodes • 8 million downloads

📘 Get free weekly English lessons plus instant access to my FREE Vocabulary Workshop.:
https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/free-english-lessons

🎥 Watch video versions of the Happy English Podcast on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@HappyEnglishNY/podcasts

🌐 Learn more about my English lessons and courses
https://www.myhappyenglish.com

Hey there! It’s Michael here - and welcome back to Speak Naturally in a Minute from Happy English. I’m here every week with a quick one-point lesson to help you improve your pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation.

Today, let’s talk about another very natural reduction in American English:  “have got to.” In everyday conversation, HAVE GOT TO becomes  “gotta.”

• I've got to go. Becomes  I gotta go.
• You've got to see this. Becomes You gotta see this.
• We've got to hurry. Becomes We gotta hurry.

This is very common in casual, spoken American English.
Let's practice. Repeat after me. 

• I gotta go.
• You gotta see this
• We gotta hurry.

Nice and smooth - gotta
Hey, thanks for listening! And remember to follow and subscribe so you won’t miss the next Happy English Podcast and next week’s Speak Naturally in a Minute. Until next time, keep learning and keep it cool.


The Happy English Podcast
Helping people speak English better since 2014
Over 1,000 episodes • 8 million downloads

📘 Get free weekly English lessons plus instant access to my FREE Vocabulary Workshop.:
https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/free-english-lessons

🎥 Watch video versions of the Happy English Podcast on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@HappyEnglishNY/podcasts

🌐 Learn more about my English lessons and courses
https://www.myhappyenglish.com

Hey there! It’s Michael here — and welcome back to English Tips in a Minute from Happy English. I’m here every week with a short, simple tip to help you speak English more naturally and confidently. 

Today, let’s look at a really common conversational use of the word “head.” In everyday English, we use head or head to to mean go to or move toward a place. It’s a very natural way to talk about going somewhere.

•  You can say things like, “I’m gonna head to the gym.” OR “Let’s head to the pub.”
• You can also use it in the past tense:  “We headed home early.”  or  “After work, I headed to the store.”

This use of head is very common in everyday conversation. So let me know in the comments where you’re gonna head today, and remember to follow or subscribe so you don’t miss the next Happy English Podcast and next week’s English Tips in a Minute. 
 
Hey, thanks for listening — and until next time, keep learning and keep it cool.

The Happy English Podcast
Helping people speak English better since 2014
Over 1,000 episodes • 8 million downloads

📘 Get free weekly English lessons plus instant access to my FREE Vocabulary Workshop.:
https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/free-english-lessons

🎥 Watch video versions of the Happy English Podcast on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@HappyEnglishNY/podcasts

🌐 Learn more about my English lessons and courses
https://www.myhappyenglish.com

I have a dog. I’m having fun. Two very simple sentences, right? But here’s the question… why can we say “I’m having fun,” but we can’t say, “I’m having a dog”? Yeah… that sounds strange. So what’s going on here? Why does have sometimes work in the progressive form, and sometimes not?

If you’ve ever wondered about that, today’s podcast English lesson is going to make this really clear for you.


The Happy English Podcast
Helping people speak English better since 2014
Over 1,000 episodes • 8 million downloads

📘 Get free weekly English lessons plus instant access to my FREE Vocabulary Workshop.:
https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/free-english-lessons

🎥 Watch video versions of the Happy English Podcast on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@HappyEnglishNY/podcasts

🌐 Learn more about my English lessons and courses
https://www.myhappyenglish.com

Both. Such a simple word, right? But when you actually try to use it in conversation… things can get a little tricky. Should you say, “Both of us went”? Or “We both went”? Or maybe… “Both we went”? Yeah… that one doesn’t sound right. So what’s the deal with both? Where do you put it in a sentence? And how do native speakers actually use it in everyday conversation? That’s what we’re going to look at today.

The Happy English Podcast
Helping people speak English better since 2014
Over 1,000 episodes • 8 million downloads

📘 Get free weekly English lessons plus instant access to my FREE Vocabulary Workshop.:
https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/free-english-lessons

🎥 Watch video versions of the Happy English Podcast on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@HappyEnglishNY/podcasts

🌐 Learn more about my English lessons and courses
https://www.myhappyenglish.com

I don’t smoke. Me neither. I don’t drink. I don’t either. Hmm… so which one is it? Either? Or neither? Or maybe a better question is - when should you use either, and when should you use neither? Should you say, “I don’t smoke either”? Or “Me neither”? Or maybe… “I don’t smoke neither”? Yeah… that last one doesn’t sound right. So what’s going on here?

If you’ve ever felt unsure about using either and neither, you’re going to want to listen to this lesson. Because today, we’re going to look at how to use these words naturally in everyday conversation.

The Happy English Podcast
Helping people speak English better since 2014
Over 1,000 episodes • 8 million downloads

📘 Get free weekly English lessons plus instant access to my FREE Vocabulary Workshop.:
https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/free-english-lessons

🎥 Watch video versions of the Happy English Podcast on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@HappyEnglishNY/podcasts

🌐 Learn more about my English lessons and courses
https://www.myhappyenglish.com

Hey there! It’s Michael here - and welcome back to Speak Naturally in a Minute from Happy English. I’m here every week with a quick one-point lesson to help you improve your pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation.

Today, let’s look at another very common reduction in American English:  “want to.”

In everyday conversation, want to becomes wanna.
Do you want to go? becomes Do you wanna go?

I want to eat. → I wanna eat.
They want to leave early. → They wanna leave early.
want to becomes wanna
BUT
wants to becomes wants-tuh: 
I wanna go, You wanna go, she wants-tuh go
Don't use wanna for he, she, or it!!!

Let's practice. Repeat after me. 
I wanna go.
They wanna have it
He wants-tuh do it.
She wants-tuh know why.

Hey, thanks for listening! And remember to follow and subscribe so you won’t miss the next Happy English Podcast and next week’s Speak Naturally in a Minute.

 Until next time, keep learning and keep it cool.


The Happy English Podcast
Helping people speak English better since 2014
Over 1,000 episodes • 8 million downloads

📘 Get free weekly English lessons plus instant access to my FREE Vocabulary Workshop.:
https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/free-english-lessons

🎥 Watch video versions of the Happy English Podcast on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@HappyEnglishNY/podcasts

🌐 Learn more about my English lessons and courses
https://www.myhappyenglish.com