Practising English

And today I'm going to talk to you about extreme adjectives. And also about the adverbs that qualify them or that go with them. So what do I mean by extreme adjectives? Well, we could divide the adjectives into two groups. Those adjectives which are gradable, we say, by gradable, we mean that those adjectives can be less or more. 

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For very young learners (from 8-10), I recommend my picture reader book for children learning A1 to A2 English. It comes with a fully dramatised audio version: https://amzn.to/46TCWvv

Oxford Bookworm Graded Readers: Read stories at your level to improve your English. I recommend Oxford Bookworms as the best series of books for learners: https://amzn.to/4r7YVHg

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning ...

Hello. And today I'm going to talk about two verbs go and come. Now, they're very common and very simple verbs, aren't they? Well, they do have complications in their use for learners of English. Let's talk about them.

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My NEW book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam" is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge exams).
To read more about my book, click here (you can access it from any Amazon platform):
https://amzn.to/46AVFe9

Learners studying towards B2 level will be interested in my B1 to B2 reader: The Tudor Conspiracy (includes audio version) https://amzn.to/4gPsj0i

For very young learners (from 8-10), I recommend my picture reader book for children learning A1 to A2 English. It comes with a fully dramatised audio version: https://amzn.to/46TCWvv

Oxford Bookworm Graded Readers: Read stories at your level to improve your English. I recommend Oxford Bookworms as the best series of books for learners: https://amzn.to/4r7YVHg

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning ...

Today, I'm going to talk about language around the bicycle. When you get on your bicycle, you say you push off, you push off and you start pedalling. Isn't it lovely to go out on your bicycle on a sunny day, when it's not too hot, not too cold? At the moment, I'm cycling along the river - along by the side of the river. 

Now, I think the first thing we could talk about is the all the different parts of the bicycle. Okay, of course it's got two wheels. And the wheels have tyres, TYRES, which are inflated. That gives you a nice, soft ride. So you ride a bicycle, you get on your bicycle, and you ride a bicycle. Sometimes if you have an accident, you can fall off your bicycle.

Okay, talking about the tyres. Sometimes if you're unlucky, you can ride over something sharp and get a puncture, and the tyre deflates. And you have to get off your bike and fix your puncture. Or if you don't have a puncture repair kit, then you have to push your bicycle home. 

So, the wheels have spokes which are those long, thin spaghetti like things which given rigidity to the wheel. And the front wheel is held in the front forks which are two long metal parts which run down from the frame and the front wheel is inserted into the forks. 

Now the frame of the bicycle itself. There are different types, but often we talk about a gentleman's bike and the lady's bike and the gentleman's bike has a crossbar, which is a horizontal bar running from the top of the forks to the saddle or the seat of the bicycle, where you sit - on the saddle. And a lady's bike traditionally doesn't have that crossbar. So they don't have to, ladies don't have to lift up their leg to get over the saddle when they push off. 

Now, then, of course, to make the bike go along, you have to pedal and like many English words, it can be the noun, the thing or the verb. So you pedal along - you pedal, you turn the pedals and that drives a chain, which drives the back wheel. And probably you will have gears. And those gears, what they do is to allow you to go faster or slower. Go up hills. When you want to go up the hill, for example, what you'll do is to put it into a low gear, a low gear when you go downhill, or you want to go fast on the straight and you put it into a high gear. 

Right, the thing that you hold on to, to steer the bicycle is the handlebars. And on the handlebars, there are brakes, hopefully, the front brake and the back brake, which help to slow down the bicycle or stop it altogether. It's a good idea to check your brakes and make sure they're always working. So you don't have an accident and fall off your bike.

Okay. And also on the handlebars, you've got the gear change, which is a switch or a lever, which you move to change the gears of the bicycle. So that's about it. I also usually bring along a pump, a bicycle pump to pump up the tyres if they get a little low to stop them going flat.

Right, well, that's about it. Oh, one thing I forgot to mention, which is very important on your bicycle is the bell. Okay, that's all I'm going to say today on the subject of cycling. I'm going to have a nice long cycle now along the river. Enjoy myself. 

Test time. Right. So here are seven words that I mentioned about the bicycle. Do you remember what they were? The first one is part of a wheel, which you inflate with a pump and it gives you a softer ride. 

The word is tyres.

Number two. This is what happens when the tyre has a hole and the air comes out of the tyre. What is it called? 

A puncture.

Number three. This is what you need if you have a puncture. W

Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm

My NEW book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam" is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge exams).
To read more about my book, click here (you can access it from any Amazon platform):
https://amzn.to/46AVFe9

Learners studying towards B2 level will be interested in my B1 to B2 reader: The Tudor Conspiracy (includes audio version) https://amzn.to/4gPsj0i

For very young learners (from 8-10), I recommend my picture reader book for children learning A1 to A2 English. It comes with a fully dramatised audio version: https://amzn.to/46TCWvv

Oxford Bookworm Graded Readers: Read stories at your level to improve your English. I recommend Oxford Bookworms as the best series of books for learners: https://amzn.to/4r7YVHg

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning ...

Hello, and today I'm going to talk about the difference between formal and informal English. Now, it's very important to be able to distinguish between formal and informal English. Why? Well, if we are being too informal in circumstances which require more formality, well, we could get ourselves into trouble. And the other way around as well. If we are too formal with people who are expecting us to be much more informal, well, then we may sound a little bit pompous. 

Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm

My NEW book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam" is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge exams).
To read more about my book, click here (you can access it from any Amazon platform):
https://amzn.to/46AVFe9

Learners studying towards B2 level will be interested in my B1 to B2 reader: The Tudor Conspiracy (includes audio version) https://amzn.to/4gPsj0i

For very young learners (from 8-10), I recommend my picture reader book for children learning A1 to A2 English. It comes with a fully dramatised audio version: https://amzn.to/46TCWvv

Oxford Bookworm Graded Readers: Read stories at your level to improve your English. I recommend Oxford Bookworms as the best series of books for learners: https://amzn.to/4r7YVHg

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning ...

Montague Pilkinson was flying over the desert one day when the engine of his little plane suddenly broke down. It made that sort of noise as engines do when they start to go wrong. The plane then suddenly started to drop out of the sky - nose first, down, down down it went...

Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm

My NEW book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam" is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge exams).
To read more about my book, click here (you can access it from any Amazon platform):
https://amzn.to/46AVFe9

Learners studying towards B2 level will be interested in my B1 to B2 reader: The Tudor Conspiracy (includes audio version) https://amzn.to/4gPsj0i

For very young learners (from 8-10), I recommend my picture reader book for children learning A1 to A2 English. It comes with a fully dramatised audio version: https://amzn.to/46TCWvv

Oxford Bookworm Graded Readers: Read stories at your level to improve your English. I recommend Oxford Bookworms as the best series of books for learners: https://amzn.to/4r7YVHg

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning ...

Hello, and today, I'm going to talk to you about hypothesizing in English, or making hypotheses. So what do we mean by hypothesize? Well, it means that we talk about things that we would like to be true, but they seem impossible. So they're similar in a way to conditional sentences, like the second conditional.
https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-11.htm

Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm

My NEW book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam" is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge exams).
To read more about my book, click here (you can access it from any Amazon platform):
https://amzn.to/46AVFe9

Learners studying towards B2 level will be interested in my B1 to B2 reader: The Tudor Conspiracy (includes audio version) https://amzn.to/4gPsj0i

For very young learners (from 8-10), I recommend my picture reader book for children learning A1 to A2 English. It comes with a fully dramatised audio version: https://amzn.to/46TCWvv

Oxford Bookworm Graded Readers: Read stories at your level to improve your English. I recommend Oxford Bookworms as the best series of books for learners: https://amzn.to/4r7YVHg

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning ...

And today we're going to talk about very large numbers, how to use them. And also an interesting article about outer space. Now, when we talk about numbers, I mean, large numbers, hundreds, thousands, millions, [billions] and trillions. Well, we usually use them in the singular. So we say a million, or 1 million, 2 million, two million five hundred thousand, several million. So we don't put the s on the end of these large numbers. 

Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm

My NEW book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam" is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge exams).
To read more about my book, click here (you can access it from any Amazon platform):
https://amzn.to/46AVFe9

Learners studying towards B2 level will be interested in my B1 to B2 reader: The Tudor Conspiracy (includes audio version) https://amzn.to/4gPsj0i

For very young learners (from 8-10), I recommend my picture reader book for children learning A1 to A2 English. It comes with a fully dramatised audio version: https://amzn.to/46TCWvv

Oxford Bookworm Graded Readers: Read stories at your level to improve your English. I recommend Oxford Bookworms as the best series of books for learners: https://amzn.to/4r7YVHg

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning ...

We usually use the past continuous with words, like when, or as or while. So we often say, while she was coming home, a friend greeted her in the street. Or, as she was coming home, a friend greeted her in the street, or when she was coming home, a friend greeted her in the street.

Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm

My NEW book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam" is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge exams).
To read more about my book, click here (you can access it from any Amazon platform):
https://amzn.to/46AVFe9

Learners studying towards B2 level will be interested in my B1 to B2 reader: The Tudor Conspiracy (includes audio version) https://amzn.to/4gPsj0i

For very young learners (from 8-10), I recommend my picture reader book for children learning A1 to A2 English. It comes with a fully dramatised audio version: https://amzn.to/46TCWvv

Oxford Bookworm Graded Readers: Read stories at your level to improve your English. I recommend Oxford Bookworms as the best series of books for learners: https://amzn.to/4r7YVHg

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning ...

What is reported speech? What "to report" means is to say something that has been said before. So really what we're doing is we're repeating something that somebody said earlier. And that's what reported speech is - we're reporting what we can call direct speech. Today, I'll discuss using questions, adverbs and imperatives with reported speech.  See transcript at: https://www.practisingenglish.com/practising-english-8.htm

Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm

My NEW book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam" is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge exams).
To read more about my book, click here (you can access it from any Amazon platform):
https://amzn.to/46AVFe9

Learners studying towards B2 level will be interested in my B1 to B2 reader: The Tudor Conspiracy (includes audio version) https://amzn.to/4gPsj0i

For very young learners (from 8-10), I recommend my picture reader book for children learning A1 to A2 English. It comes with a fully dramatised audio version: https://amzn.to/46TCWvv

Oxford Bookworm Graded Readers: Read stories at your level to improve your English. I recommend Oxford Bookworms as the best series of books for learners: https://amzn.to/4r7YVHg

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning ...

Short story in intermediate English for enjoyment and learning. In the middle of the village, there is a church in the square. And the church is called Santa María, or St. Mary's. Now, when we were there, somebody told us that the bells of the church clock were rung by this little old lady from the first hour in the morning, until the evening. Now, what was also a little bit of strange, we thought, was that apparently, she was deaf...
See transcript at https://www.practisingenglish.com/practising-english-7.htm

Contact Mike Bilbrough with a question or enquiry about advertising on Practising English Podcasts: https://www.practisingenglish.com/contact.htm

My NEW book: "B1 English Vocabulary Builder - 22 Short Stories for Learning the Words and Phrases Students Need to Pass the B1 Exam" is now available! This book gives the learner enough vocabulary to pass any B1 exam (special help for Cambridge exams).
To read more about my book, click here (you can access it from any Amazon platform):
https://amzn.to/46AVFe9

Learners studying towards B2 level will be interested in my B1 to B2 reader: The Tudor Conspiracy (includes audio version) https://amzn.to/4gPsj0i

For very young learners (from 8-10), I recommend my picture reader book for children learning A1 to A2 English. It comes with a fully dramatised audio version: https://amzn.to/46TCWvv

Oxford Bookworm Graded Readers: Read stories at your level to improve your English. I recommend Oxford Bookworms as the best series of books for learners: https://amzn.to/4r7YVHg

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, free grammar help and exercises and other English learning ...