Proper English

In this episode, we’re starting a journey into a topic that always gets a conversation going - the weather! We’re concentrating on words associated with the rain this week, and, appropriately, the Idiom of the Week is ‘a storm in a teacup’.

This podcast uses these sounds from Freesound:

Long Birds Forest Ambience.wav by Motion_S | License: Attribution

Thunderstorm 3.WAV by Sandermotions | License: Creative Commons 0

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This week, we’re talking about the pronunciation of some contractions in English - specifically those associated with the verb ‘to be’ and the modal verb ‘will’. The Idiom of the Week is ‘Bob’s your uncle’.

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This week, we’re back with more phrasal verbs - this time we’re looking at the ones you might use in your place of work. The Idiom of the Week is ‘Burning the midnight oil.’

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This week, we’re all about sport, whether it’s played on a pitch, a field, a court or a track! The Idiom of the Week has a sporting flavour, too: ‘The ball is in your court.’

Sound effects in this episode were obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com - apart from the tennis match which is a public domain recording, courtesy of https://freesound.org/s/114052/.

Like us on Facebook (properenglish2019), and follow us on Twitter (@properenglish4). Oh, and if you have a burning English grammar-related question, why not ask us on Instagram (properenglish2019), and we'll do our best to answer!

Greetings! In this episode, we’re talking about the different ways we English say hello to each other every day - and this week’s idiom is perhaps not to be taken too seriously - in fact, you can ‘take it with a pinch of salt’!

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In this episode, we’re returning to food, and talking about the lovely sweet things we have at the end of a meal - rather appropriately, this week’s idiom is ‘Having a sweet tooth’.

Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/properenglish2019), and follow us on Twitter (@properenglish4) or Tumblr (properenglish). Oh, and if you have a burning English grammar-related question, why not ask us on Instagram (@properenglish2019), and we'll do our best to answer!

We’re in Italy! So, in this episode, we're looking at all the Italian words that have been incorporated into the English language. The Idiom of the week is ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do.’

Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/properenglish2019), and follow us on Twitter (@properenglish4) or Tumblr (properenglish). Oh, and if you have a burning English grammar-related question, why not ask us on Instagram (@properenglish2019), and we'll do our best to answer!

This podcast uses these sounds from freesound:

Train Announcement in Italian and English by SoundExciting — https://freesound.org/s/428401/ — License: Attribution

italian restaurant ambient.wav by extrafonia — https://freesound.org/s/321626/ — Creative Commons Universal

In this episode, we’re trying something a little different - we’re just having an unscripted chat about a few of our favourite things! The Idiom of the Week is ‘The grass is always greener’.

PS Dave has since discovered that after a lifetime of thinking Terry Gilliam is Canadian, it turns out he was born in the States. Dave feels very silly indeed.

Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/properenglish2019), and follow us on Twitter (@properenglish4) or Tumblr (properenglish). Oh, and if you have a burning English grammar-related question, why not ask us on Instagram (@properenglish2019), and we'll do our best to answer!

In this episode, we’re tidying up - talking about a few of the little challenges learners frequently puzzle over in English grammar and pronunciation - the ‘Idiom of the week’ is ‘The best thing since sliced bread.’

Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/properenglish2019), and follow us on Twitter (@properenglish4) or Tumblr (properenglish). Oh, and if you have a burning English grammar-related question, why not ask us on Instagram (@properenglish2019), and we'll do our best to answer!

This week, we're all about modal verbs - should, could, shall - and all the rest. The Idiom of the week is 'To set your teeth on edge.'

Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/properenglish2019), and follow us on Twitter (@properenglish4) or Tumblr (properenglish). Oh, and if you have a burning English grammar-related question, why not ask us on Instagram (@properenglish2019), and we'll do our best to answer!

This podcast uses a few sounds from Freesound:

cutting.wav by techyactor15 -- https://freesound.org/s/382713/ -- License: Creative Commons 0