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Is learning a foreign language as easy as some want us to believe? What are the consequences of thinking that you can learn a language without effort? Listen to find out, and while doing so, learn a few useful words and expressions.

You can download the transcript of this episode here.

EASY or DIFFICULT - expressions introduced in the recording: 

EFFORTLESS: Something that is effortless is done easily and well.

A PIECE OF CAKE: If you think something is very easy to do, you can say it is a piece of cake. It is often used to stop people feeling worried about doing something they have to do.

MASTERY: If you show mastery of a skill, you show that you have acquired it completely and have no difficulty doing something.

DAUNTING: A task that is daunting makes you feel  afraid or less confident.

PLAIN SAILING: If you say that a task was plain sailing, you mean that it was very easy.

BREAK SWEAT: If you break sweat, you use a lot of effort.

PUT EFFORT INTO SOMETHING: If put effort into something, you use physical or mental energy to do it.

Other interesting words and expressions used in the recording: 

• to get round to something - to find time to do something
• a procrastinator - someone who often puts off doing things
• to spread a lie - to tell a lie to a lot of people
• to boost one's motivation - to make one's motivation stronger
• a big fat lie - a complete lie
• comprehensible - that can be understood by somebody
• simultaneously - happening at the same time
• to come up with something - to produce, think, invent something
• to be encoded - to be changed into a from that could be processed (e.g by a brain, or computer)
• to be embedded - to be fixed firmly into something
• to lie through one's teeth - to say something that is completely untrue
• to serve a purpose - to have a specific goal
• the waters turn up to be rough - the situation proves to be difficult
• grit - courage and determination that makes it possible for somebody to continue doing something difficult or unpleasant for a long time
• perseverance - the quality of keeping trying to achieve a particular aim despite difficulties
• language aptitude - natural ability to learn a language 
• to develop a growth mindset - to try to learn the skill through dedication and hard work; focusing on getting pleasure from the effort put into the task rather than from the future goal

Takeaway 1: Learning a foreign language is not easy.

Takeaway 2: Learners of a foreign language should focus less on achieving their long term goals, but instead develop a growth mindset, which will allow them to get pleasure from hard work.

Link to Andrew Huberman's video on the subject.

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Three-part Phrasal Verbs are made of a verb, a particle and a preposition. In this episode you'll learn a few of them.

You can download the transcript of this episode here.

The list of three-part phrasal verbs introduced in the recording: 

• get round to sth, 
• get sth over with, 
• feel up to sth, go in for sth,
• look forward to, 
• put up with sth, 
• talk down to sb.

GET ROUND TO: When you get round to doing something you finally do what you have delayed doing or have been too busy to do.

GET OVER WITH: If you want to get something unpleasant over with, you want to do it or finish experiencing it quickly, since you cannot avoid it.

FEEL UP TO: When you don't feel up to something, you don't have enough strength or energy to do it or deal with it.

GO IN FOR: If you go in for a particular activity, you decide to do it as a hobby or interest. It can also mean choosing something as your job.

LOOK FORWARD TO: If you look forward to something, you want it to happen because you think you will enjoy it.

PUT UP WITH: If you put up with something, you tolerate or accept it, even though you find it unpleasant or unsatisfactory.

TALK DOWN TO: If someone talks down to you, they talk to you in a way that shows they treat you as if you are not very intelligent or very important.

Other interesting words and expressions used in the recording: 

• to stick in your memory, 
• procrastination, 
• a mundane task, 
• a mere formality, 
• chores, 
• formalities, 
• paperwork, 
• to have a pint, 
• to drag yourself out of bed, 
• to hand in one's notice

Takeaway 1: Try learning phrasal verbs in the context of a story.

Takeaway 2: Don't finish every email with: "I'm looking forward to hearing from you." Use alternatives, such as:  

• "Let me know what you think." 
• "Keep me posted." 
• "I hope to hear from you soon." 
• "Please keep me informed of any developments." 
• "I'm eagerly awaiting your response." 
• "Your prompt response would be appreciated." 

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Robert Lewandowski's failed penalty kick can teach us a few things about learning a foreign language. You can find out what in this episode.

This episode has been prepared with new features: a transcript and timestamps. This is why, you won’t  find here the usual list of words and expressions used in the recording, but you can still find all the words and expressions in the transcript. You can read and download the transcript here.

Please let me know if you find this new format useful. My email address is [email protected].

Research links:

Link to Sian's Beilock's book
Link to Malcolm Gladwell's article on choking: The Art of Failure
Link to Sian's Beilock's TED Talk

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Inflation  is one of the words that we can often hear these days. In this episode I'm looking at many collections with the word inflation, and share some insights how these collocations are influenced by the way we see inflation as a violent criminal, an illness, something that is out of control, and something that moves.

Inflation is a PERSON:

•  Our biggest ENEMY right now is inflation.
• Inflation could ROB many people OF their savings.
• The Turkish currency is being DESTROYED by inflation.
• Inflation has PINNED us TO the wall.  (If you pin someone to the wall you press them against the wall so they are unable to move).
• Inflation has ATTACKED the foundation of our economy.
• Inflation has OUTWITTED the best economic minds in the world.  (If you outwit someone, you defeat them or gain advantage over them because you are smarter than them.)
• Inflation is EATING UP our profits.
• Inflation can ATTACK us, HURT us, STEAL from us.
• We FIGTH, BEAT inflation, PROTECT people FROM inflation.
• the BATTLE AGAINST inflation / the FIGHT AGAINST inflation

Inflation is an ILLNESS:

•  a BOUT of inflation (A bout is a an attack or period of illness) PL: atak

Inflation is something OUT OF CONTROL:

•  a GALLOPING inflation 
• a RUNAWAY inflation (A runaway car or horse is not under the control of its driver or rider.) PL: niekontrolowana inflacja
• a RAGING inflation (A raging storm or a raging emotion can't be controlled.)
• to BRING/GET/KEEP inflation UNDER CONTROL
• to KEEP inflation IN CHECK (to keep something under control so that it doesn't spread or get worse.) PL: hamować, powstrzymywać inflację
• to CURB inflation (When you curb something, you limit it because it's bad.) PL: ograniczać / hamować inflację

Inflation is MOVING:

•  Inflation can RISE / SOAR / REACH a certain level
• Inflation can FALL/DROP
• Inflation can ACCELERATE
• Wages can't KEEP PACE WITH / KEEP UP WITH / OUTPACE inflation.
• a SPIRALLING INFLATION (inflation that is rising very quickly) PL:  inflcja wzrastająca w szybkim tempie

Other inflation phrases:

• (about inflation) to PLATEAU OUT  (to stay at a steady level after a period of rising) PL: ustabilizować się
• to FUEL inflation (to make the inflation worse) PL: napędzać inflację

Other words and expressions used in this episode:

• a bunch of something  (a large amount of something or a large number of something) PL: mnóstwo czegoś
• a thug  (a violent person, especially criminal) PL: zbir, oprych, łobuz
• an adversary  (an opponent, a person that somebody is opposed to and competing with an argument or a battle) PL: przeciwnik, adwersarz

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Phrasal Verbs are a challenge to learners of English. They are difficult to master, but learning them is definitely worth the effort. In this episode, which is the first one in the series about Phrasal Verbs,  I recommend looking at them not as a random combinations of verbs and particles, but trying to discover what lies behind such combinations. To illustrate this, we will discover and practise how UP is used in Phrasal Verbs to stress the idea of completing or finishing something.

Sentences used as examples:

COME IN
What time does your train come in?
Short skirts are coming in.

COME ROUND
It took me a long time to come round.

Meanings of come round:
1. to come to a place, especially somebody's home, to visit for a short time
2. to change your opinion
3. to become conscious again

Phrasal Verbs with UP:

• tidy up
• drink up
• eat up
• heat up
• pack up
• dry up
• use up
• heal up

Other words and expressions in this episode:

• the sheer number of something  (The word sheer is used to stress that the size, amount of something is huge. In here, the very number of Phrasal Verbs is huge.) PL: sama liczba / sama ilość czegoś
• daunting  (Something that is daunting makes you feel slightly afraid or worried about dealing with it.) PL: zniechęcający, przytłaczający
• ambiguous  (If you describe something as ambiguous, you mean that it is unclear or confusing because it can be understood in a few ways.) PL: wieloznaczny, dwuznaczny
• random  (If something is random, it doesn't show any pattern or rule.) PL: przypadkowy, losowy

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We've got autumn. A colder weather has settled in, so it is time to revise some expressions about illnesses and their symptoms, but doing it out of context would be dead boring, so listen to what a recent study says about the link between working from home and taking time off work because of sickness.

Expressions about illness and its symptoms:

•  to feel under the weather / to feel off colour (When you feel under the weather or off colour, you feel slightly ill.) PL: czuć się kiepsko
• a sore throat (When you have a sore throat, you feel pain your throat) PL: bolące gardło
• a splitting headache (a very strong headache) PL: straszny bbl głowy
• to come down with a cold (When you are coming down with a cold, you start to feel symptoms of an illness that is not serious.)  PL: zachorować na coś
• to take a sick day / to call in sick / to phone in sick (When you take a sick day you don't go to work because you are ill.) PL: wziąć zwolnienie z pracy ze względu na chorobę
• a sick note (a document from a doctor confirming that you can't work because you are ill.) PL: zwolnienie lekarskie
• to sniffle / to have the sniffles (to have a cold) PL: być przeziębionym
• cough (one of the symptoms of a cold, when you force out air suddenly and noisily through your throat) PL: kaszel
• to feel dizzy (If you feel dizzy, you feel that you are losing your balance and are about to fall.) PL: mieć zawroty głowy
• to pass out (If you pass out, you faint or collapse.) PL: stracić przytomność, zemdleć

Other words and expressions you might want to learn:

• to face a dilemma (When you face a dilemma, you need to choose one of two options.) PL: stanąć przed dylematem
• in the good old days  (at the time when you things were better than now) PL: w dawnych lepszych czasach
• a no-brainer  (a problem that is easy to solve) PL: jasna sprawa; prosty problem do rozwiązania
• to binge on something  (When you binge on something you use too much of it.) PL: robić coś nieustannie, bez przerwy, na okrągło
• to expose someone to something (to put someone in a situation where they are not protected from something harmful or unpleasant); PL: wystawiać kogoś na coś szkodliwego
• wrapped (up) in a blanket (covered with a blanket); PL: owinięty kocem
• countless Zoom meetings (too many Zoom meetings to be counted); PL: niezliczone spotkania na Zoomie
• to raise the bar (to set a new, higher standard for something); PL: podwyższyć poprzeczkę
• to be out of the game (to no longer have a chance of succeeding in something)  PL: wypaść z gry
• a bit of common sense (a small amant of ability to think about things in a practical way and make sensible decisions) PL: odrobina zdrowego rozsądku

Link to the article this podcast is based on: It is becoming harder to take off a sick day (The Economist - 13 October 2022)

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Is the Netflix hit drama series a historical account or a fictitious story? With the fifth season of the The Crown scheduled for release on the 9th of November, the question returns. What's more, there are important voices criticising the new season for being particularly unkind towards the royal family and the late queen.  While listening to me talking about this controversy, you will learn three adjectives ending with the -ous suffix and hopefully become more confident talking about the topic.

Three adjectives with -ous suffix introduced in the recording:

• malicious (When you describe words or actions as malicious, you know they were said or done with intention to harm people, their reputation, or make them embarrassed or upset.) PL: złośliwe, nikczemne, w złym zamiarze
• vicious (A vicious person is violent and cruel; a vicious comment or action is intended to upset someone.) PL: złośliwe, nikczeme, złośliwe, nienawistne
• invidious (If you describe your situation, task or job as invidious, you want to say that it is unpleasant because it will probably make you unpopular.) PL: niewdzięczna

Other words and expressions used in the recording worth you attention:

• the barrel-load of nonsense (a lot of untrue or silly things) PL: sterta bzdur
• to abdicate  (If a king or queen abdicates, he or she gives up being king or queen); PL: abdykować
• to throw a child into care  (If children are thrown into care, they are taken away from their parents because they can't look after them properly) - umieścić dziecko w ośrodku opiekuńczo-wychowawczym
•  to slur  (If someone slurs, their speech is not clear because they don't pronounce each word clearly, usually when they are drunk, ill, or sleepy. ); PL: bełkotać niezrozumiale 
• a dysfunctional family (A dysfunctional family is one that is not functioning normally or properly); PL: dysfunkcyjna rodzina
• the breakdown of someone's marriage (the end of someone's marriage); PL: rozpad małżeństwa
• to be under a barrage of criticism (When you are under a barrage of criticism, a lot of people criticise you); PL: być pod nawałem krytyki
• a disclaimer (A disclaimer is a statement in which a person or company says that they are not responsible for something, in this case, that Netflix is not responsible for presenting the truth); PL: dementi, sprostowanie
• to vilify someone (If you are vilified by someone, they say or write very unpleasant things about you.)  PL: oszkalować kogoś
• a lucrative deal (a profitable transaction) PL: lukratywny, intratny interes
• events from the distant past (events from long ago) PL: wydarzenia z dalekiej przeszłości
• contemporary events (events from the present time) PL: współczesne, bieżące wydarzenia

In case you didn't understand Prince Charles's words because of my bad imitation of his way of speaking, here's the quote: "If we were an ordinary family and social services came to visit, they would have us thrown into care and you into jail." A good example of the second conditional structure! (Sorry, couldn't help reminding you -  teacher's habit :-)

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Learning collocations is a great way to expand your vocabulary. We can do it more effectively understanding how metaphors work in everyday language.

Words and expressions used in the recording:

• pay off (If something pays off, it is brings good results)' PL: opłacać się
• to learn collocations one by one (to learn collocations separately, not together); PL: jeden po drugim / jedna po drugiej
• It could be argued that ...  (There is evidence to believe that something is true); PL: można twierdzić / utrzymywać, że
• to grasp an object  (to take an object and hold it in your hand very firmly); chwycić coś
•  to grasp an idea  (to understand an idea); PL: pojąć / zrozumieć ideę 
• to live by something (When you live by a principle or a belief, you follow it in your life); PL: żyć zgodnie z czymś
• It's slipped my mind (I've forgotten to do something); PL: Wypadło mi to z głowy.
• to cram for the exam (to learn as much as possible in a short time just before you take the exam); PL: wkuwać do egzaminu
• to encapsulate something (to represent the most important aspects of something); PL: zawierać coś

Sentences used as examples of how expressions about money could be used about time:

• You're wasting my time!
• This application will save me hours.
• I don't have enough time to spare for watching Netflix.
• How do you spend your weekends?
• I've invested a lot of money in your education, and you want to become an influencer!
• I lost a lot of time looking for the right dress.
• We are running out of time.
• That flat tyre cost me an hour.
• You need to budget your time.
• It will be worth your while to participate in the meeting.
• Our government is living on borrowed time.

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W czasie pandemii Japończyków nie trzeba było specjalnie nakłaniać do noszenia maseczek ochronnych. Zwyczaj osłaniania ust był w Japonii dobrze zakorzeniony na długo przed  wybuchem Covid-19.  Okazuje się, że po pandemii, wielu mieszkańców kraju kwitnącej wiśni nie tylko boryka się z powikłaniami po przebytej grypie, ale  również uzależnieniem od noszenia maseczek ochronnych. W tym odcinku mówię o tym, czego dowiedziałem się na ten temat z artykułu opublikowanego w The Economist. Przy okazji przedstawiam w nim wyrażenia związane z nawykami, przyzwyczajeniami i nie tylko.

Link do artykułu : Cover Story (6 Oct, 2022)

Słowa i wyrażenia, które usłyszysz w nagraniu. Tutaj możesz pobrać pełną listę do wydrukowania.

• to crack on with something (If you want to crack on to something, you want to quickly move on to doing something.)
• stylish, fancy, trendy (All theses words mean that something is fashionable and attractive.)
• of all people (If you add the phrase 'of all people' after a name, you want to say that you are surprised that it is this very person who did or does something.)
• to overcome addiction (When you overcome addiction, you win against addiction.)
• to kick the habit (When you kick the habit, you stop doing something harmful.) 
• to rush something (When you rush something, you do it quickly without thinking about it carefully.)
• to take a lot of courage to do something (If you say that something takes a lot of courage, it needs some effort.)
• to ditch something (When you ditch masks, you stop wearing them.)
• to precede something (If one event precedes another, it happens before it.)
• to be allergic to pollen (When you are allergic to pollen you become ill when you are in contact with pollen.)
• hay fever (If someone is suffering from hay fever, they sneeze and their eyes itch, because they are allergic to grass or flowers.)
• to have the sniffles (If you have the sniffles you suffer from a slight cold.)
• enforce the mask mandate (When the government enforces the mask mandate, they impose the law that makes people wear a mask.)
• to embrace something (If you embrace something, you accept it.)
• regardless of medical advice or rules (If people do something regardless of medical advice or rules, they do it even when medical advice or rules tell them not to do so.)
• social conformity (Social conformity means behaving in the same way as most other people.)
• to buck the trend (When you buck the trend, you oppose or resist it.)
• to follow the trend (When you follow the trend, you imitate others who set the trend.)
• individualistic (Someone who is individualistic likes to think and do things in their own way instead of imitating others)
• to conform (If you conform, you behave in the way that you are expected or supposed to behave.)
• a defect (A defect is a fault or imperfection)
• spots (Spots are small,  coloured areas on the surface of your skin.)
• crooked teeth  (not straight teeth)
• wrinkled skin (full of lines because of old age or some damage to the skin)
• to get away with something (When you get away with something, you are not punished for it.)
• a fraud (someone who is dishonest)

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W tym odcinku podzielę się informacjami jakie uzyskałem od moich słuchaczek o zamawianiu i konsumpcji wody mineralnej w różnych krajach Europy.  
Opowiem również jak brak doświadczenia w zamawianiu wody mineralnej po angielsku w polskich restauracjach i hotelach sprawił, że przegrałem w zakładzie butelkę wódki. 
Dowiesz się również, że "z gazem czy bez", przetłumaczone bezpośrednio na angielski nie jest, wbrew pozorom, najlepszym pytaniem jakie kelner lub kelnerka może zadać klientowi.

Słowa i wyrażenia, które usłyszysz w nagraniu:

• a definite proof  - niezbity dowód
• to take something for granted - przyjąć coś za pewnik
• by default - z automatu
• to object  - zaprotestować
• to take effort - wymagać wysiłku
• a six-pack of water - zgrzewka wody
• to encounter a problem - napotkać problem
• a tap - kran
• tap water - woda z kranu, kranówka
• to make a bet - założyć się
• to offer a bet - zaproponować zakład
• to accept a bet - przyjąć zakład
• to lose a bet - przegrać zakład
• to run a workshop - prowadzić warsztaty
• flatuence - wzdęcie
• ubiquity of something - wszechobecność czegoś
• The hospitality industry - branża hotelarska i restauracyjna
• The staple vocabulary of foreign visitors to Poland - podstawowe słownictwo obcokrajowców odwiedzających Polskę

No i na koniec, najważniejsze:

• sparkling / fizzy / carbonated water  - woda gazowana
• still / flat water  - woda niegazowana

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