As an annual tradition here on the podcast, let's talk about New Year Resolutions! I'll be talking about how 2024 went for me - looking at work goals, personal goals, and bucket list goals.

I then move onto looking ahead to 2025 and plan for the year ahead. A lot can change, but I'm discussing some goals I have for the upcoming year with the goal of enjoying the year and learning more.

Head to the comments below and join in with the conversation by sharing your own reviews and goals.

Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast305

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In this episode, we'll be going around the world to 5 different countries and looking at their different Christmas traditions. While doing this, I'll be sharing one expression with each one that you can use in daily conversations at any time of the year.

I also talk a little bit about the differences in my experience between Christmas in Thailand and the UK.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast304

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Today I'm joined by Emma (Adventure into English) for a conversation about group vs solo activities. Emma has been helping with the group classes at Level Up English for some time now, so it's an appropriate topic for today.

We start by discussing some Would You Rather questions for activities that can be done as a group or on your own.

We then move onto some English expressions around the topic of groups and working together. These are expressions you can use in your daily life, and I quiz Emma on using these in her replies. See if you can join in the game too!

Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast303

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Mental Health is something we should all take seriously and I believe there's a lot of crossover between language learning and having a healthy mindset.

This was a request from a listener to cover this topic. Although I am of course, not a professional, I do love the topic, so I share 18 different methods that I used to improve my own mental health and bring happiness into my life. I hope you find some of them useful too.

Of course, as always, I mention loads of fantastic English words and phrases related to this topic that you can use in your daily life too.

Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast302

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You may know that British people are famous for using the word 'sorry' all the time.

In this episode, I talk about this habit and how much truth is behind it, but I also share the different situations in which we would say 'sorry' in the UK - and maybe more generally in the English-speaking world too.

Sorry is so much more than a word used when you make a mistake and it can have many different meanings.

There are also many different ways to apologise and say you're sorry depending on how serious the situation is, so in the second half of this episode, I cover these different phrases.

Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast301

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In Episode 300 of the podcast, Akari from the Nihongo For You podcast joins me today for a chat about teaching languages, moving abroad, and learning English.

In the second half of the episode, we talk about life experiences where I ask Akari questions using the present perfect tense about things she has done before. It's a great opportunity to practice the grammar and see it used in the context of a regular conversation.

Perhaps you could also answer along at home and practice for yourself?

If you're learning or thinking about learning Japanese, don't forget to check out Akari's website and podcast too.

Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast300

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In my last episode, I spoke about my cycling trip to Taiwan. While there, I had a lot of time alone to think to myself with no distractions. In this episode today, I'm going to share some of the things I was thinking about.

One of these was the idea of Hedonic Adaptation (also known as the Hedonic Treadmill). This is something that we all face as humans and might just be the key to understanding how to be happy and content.

It's a really useful topic when it comes to being happy with what you have and not always feeling bad about what you don't - such as feeling bad for not being good enough at English.

Let's find out more.

Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast299

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I took 2 weeks off in October to ride a bicycle around the whole of Taiwan. It was over 1000km and took about 2 weeks to complete. Along the way, I had both good and bad experiences and there's a lot I'd love to share!

I also filmed a lot of videos of my cycle, so if you'd like to see, you can watch this episode on YouTube - The Level Up English Podcast.

This is perhaps the longest solo episode I've ever recorded, but throughout the episode, I talk about the good and the bad, what I did day by day, how I prepared for the trip, and my experience talking in Chinese with people there.

Along the way, I also mention a lot of useful vocabulary which will be useful for you as English learners. Hope you enjoy!

Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast298

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The Comparison Trap is when we get stuck comparing our lives to other people and feeling worse as a result.

It's a common problem in language learning, and this is something that I often experience too since I was inspired to make this episode after a moment of comparison made me feel worse.

We often compare ourselves to others in many ways, such as income, appearance, skills, and on social media.

In this episode, I cover all of these topics while sharing some useful comparative grammar structures to improve your spoken English.

Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast297

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Curiosity is an important thing to practice to be better English language learners and enjoy your life more.

When we start learning a language, we’re naturally very open and curious to learning new things. It can be an amazing feeling when you’re really into something and you’re looking up every little detail.

However, along the way, we naturally get more complacent and we begin to take things for granted. This curiosity fades into daily habits and routines.

Curiosity makes language learning so much more enjoyable more also helps you progress faster. That’s the idea behind today’s episode.

Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast296

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