English with Kirsty

Today I'm sharing something from my personal experience of learning, but I think it's important.

If you're learning for an exam, you have to know all the material. However, if you're listening to or reading materials to help you learn another language, you don't need to understand every single word. In fact, sometimes it's good when you don't, because this gives you the chance to learn new vocabulary or sentence structures that you haven't come across before.

Find out how I ended up learning whilst observing, and pushing my boundaries by listening to something I thought I wouldn't be able to understand.

Today I'd like to try something different. I've linked to an audio resource about a topic for listening practice, a blog post for reading practice, and some questions to think about.

Basically, I'd like to know what you think about working from home, and what your ideal office would look like. What is important to you? Do you like to be oaroundother people?

The show notes for this episode, where you'll also find the other links, are here:
https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode155

Of course the interviewer cares whether you have the knowledge and skills to do the job, but there are some other things that they might be asking themselves about you too. I talk about 10 possible questions here. You will probably never know how they would answer them, but you can influence them by coming across well and making a good impression in your interview.

My career page is here:
https://englishwithkirsty.com/career
and the show notes are here:
https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode154

We all have things that we often get mixed up, that make us stop and think, or that we often overlook in our own writing. If we know what those things are, it's easier to keep an eye out for them when checking our work. I talk about some of the things that I look out for, as well as ten other examples. Do you have anything to add to the list?

You can find the show notes here:
https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode153

Just a quick episode this week, but if, like one of my students, you aren't sure when to pronounce the ED sound at the end of words as its own separate syllable, this little tip should help you.
Click here for the show notes: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode151

We hear so many people talking about what they are going to do now that the new year has started. To make things a bit different, I thought it might be interesting to make an episode about 10 things that I'm not going to do as a language learner. In this episode, you'll find out what those 10 things are.

I'd love to hear your ideas too, so if you've got anything to add to the list, let me know! What will you not be doing this year?

You can find the show notes page here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode152

In countries where Christmas is celebrated, many of us are preparing for the Christmas and New Year break.

It's a time for celebrating with family and friends, and many of the things that we normally do regularly, such as language learning, are forgotten about until the new year.

However, if you still want to do something for your English during this time, I have some ideas for you.

Check out the show notes here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode150

Learners tend to focus on things like grammar, vocabulary, and whether the email makes sense. Of course, these things are all important,but yu can get all of these things right, and still end up with a bad email.

I explain what I mean in today's podcast episode and give you a couple of questions to ask yourself before hitting that "send" button.

You can find the show notes here:
https://englishwithkirsty.com/episode149

I'm a teacher, but I'm also a learner.

In October, I started a part-time university degree, and I'd like to share a couple of the things that I've learned and strategies that I've developed for those times when I don't understand something.

I'm doing an IT course, and my particular problems are usually related to maths, but these tips can also be applied to learning English.

You can find the show notes here:
https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode148

In episode 57, I talked about how listening to podcasts can help you to learn English. But there are loads of podcasts out there - how do you choose the best ones to help you meet your learning goals? Find out in this episode.

You can find the show notes here:
https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode147

This episode came about because of a question in the Facebook group. I'm talking about different ways to ask for something to be done, and when it's appropriate to use each one.

You can find the show notes here:
https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode146

"Telephone skills are important, but there are times when using the telephone actually makes a job take longer.
I want my business English students to feel confident about using the telephone, but also to decide whether making a phone call is the best way to get a job done. Here are some things to consider.
You can find the show notes page here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode145

Do you have anything else that you would add to this list?
You can find the show notes here:
https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode144

Most of the time we use adverbs to describe verbs, because we're describing how we're doing something:

I slammed the door angrily.
However, if we're describing how someone feels, or how something looks, sounds, or tastes, we use an adjective, because we're describing that thing.
The food tastes delicious - not deliciously
The ring looks expensive - not expensively
I feel happy - not happily

Look can also be followed by an adverb if I say something like
look at these sentences carefully - because it's the way in which I want you to look.
These sentences look difficult - here we need an adjective, because I'm describing how the sentences look to me.

This episode's page on my website can be found here:
https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode143

Whether you're worried about any type of public speaking, or you have concerns specific to speaking publicly in another language, I have some tips to help you!

I work with students from a number of countries. With some I only communicate in English, but when I'm working with German speakers, I can add additional value because I also speak German. Today I'm looking at how it can help if you have a teacher who speaks your language, and what you need to be careful about in this situation. Here are the show notes for today's episode: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode141

In today's episode, I'm talking about job interviews - specifically, 11 things that you should think about if you're giving a presentation as part of a job interview:
Here's where you will find the show notes and other resources:
https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode140

This episode is from my Wise Old Owl series, in which learners ask questions about the English language. Today I'm looking at a vocabulary question.
You can find the show notes here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode139

Today's episode is about 20 things that you shouldn't do if you want to win an argument or come across well in discussions. You can find the blog article or contact me using the show notes page: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode138

Today isn't about teaching you something. I am sharing an experience that I had a couple of weeks ago. I would consider myself to be an advanced learner of German, but a friend showed me that when I'm writing, I know a lot of words in my target language, but I don't sound the same as I do in my native language.
This doesn't happen so much in less formal situations, but when there's more pressure, or you're doing something that you don't do all the time - how well do your natural style and personality come across in your target language? That's the question that I'd like to ask you today!
The show notes and comment form can be found here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode137