The Level Up English Podcast

I recently learnt that not everyone thinks the same way I do. In fact, there are some areas in which our brains differ greatly. For me, this is a fascinating topic. How do I know the green colour you see, is the same as the green colour I see? In this episode, I share a few different ways in which our brains are different, and what this might mean for us living our daily lives, and the implications as language learners. So if you want to learn more about your brain and how it works, listen to this episode, and don't forget to share your own experiences in the comments. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast363 ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The main focus of today's episode is the word 'cringe'. It's a useful word to describe a strong feeling of embarrassment or awkwardness, especially at someone else's behaviour, or memories of your own past behaviour. I'll be sharing a few cringey things from my life, some embarrassing stories, and some everyday things that I find a bit cringe. While chatting, I'll be sharing some useful phrases and expressions too, so you can learn something new with each story. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast362 ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I react to a list of various unpopular opinions (taken from the popular subreddit) looking at some strong views, unusual takes, and some deeper, more philosophical opinions. With each one, I share my views and experiences that are relevant, and also a new English phrase that you can learn and take away from this episode. If you'd like the share your opinions in response, I'd love to hear them! You can do so on the shownotes page below. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast361 ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ivan Doan is a multilingual actor, speaking 6+ languages, of Ukrainian Vietnamese descent working around the world. Ivan joins the Level Up English Podcast today to discuss acting, mistakes when acting, skills and tips to being a good actor and director, improving pronunciation and accent for language learning, favourite TV series and movies, and much more. To connect with Ivan online, click the shownotes page to view all his social links. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast360 ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The question I get asked most often these days is "How can I learn English?" and "What's the best way to learn?" It's clearly a topic that people want to hear about, so my goal today is to finally answer that big question once and for all. I'll be giving advice to people who know some English, but don't know how to make it a daily practice. And also advice for learners who have been studying for a while, but feel like they don't have a clear aim and are not seeing fast improvements. I'll talk about questions to ask yourself before getting started, steps you need to take to see improvements in your English learning, and finally, 11 questions to ask if you are studying but not improving as fast as you'd like. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast359 ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm talking to you from the beaches of Okinawa, Japan, and bringing you an outside episode today. Click the link below if you'd like to watch the video version on YouTube. It's a bit of a chatty episode, but my main topic is Travel Hot Takes. A hot take is a controversial opinion that many people will disagree with, and today I list some of my biggest ones. I'm sure I'm going to anger a few people with these today. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast358 Get access to group classes (and over 500 other study classes) on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

This is the episode I've been excited about for months! In the final episode of the year, I'll be going in detail about what you can do to set goals and become the best version of yourself in 2026.  I'll start by going through my process this year of how you can best do this. It involves writing a review of the good and bad of the previous year, so you can appreciate your successes and think about what could have gone better. We then talk about planning for the year ahead, and break it apart into categories, and then finally set some actionable habits so you can make progress towards these goals. I also spend a lot of time sharing personal details from my own review, so you can see what it looks like, and also learn (and laugh) at my mistakes. Don't forget to click the shownotes link below and use my simple template to write your own review. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast357 Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

This is a continuation of a annual series where I track my language learning progress and draw lessons from the data. The first time was Episode 248, and then again in Episode 306. If you're like me and you love to get nerdy about data and statistics, then you'll get a lot out of this episode. I break down all the categories of how I've spent my time studying over the last year and take some valuable (and hard-to-accept) lessons from it. Even if you don't think tracking appeals to you, you can certainly still learn from the lessons in this episode and end feeling more motivated to improve your English. Click below to track your English learning! Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast356 Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

In this episode, I go through a list of 2nd Conditional questions that encourage me to self reflect and think about how I could improve my life and habits in the new year.  Using this grammar structure is really useful, and I encourage you to answer each question as well. This is a more casual, chatty episode, so if you actually want to learn about the grammar in more detail, Episode 65 might be more useful.  Feel free to share your thoughts or answers in the comments below. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast355 Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

In this episode of the Level Up English Podcast, we dive into the world of sadness - an emotion we all experience, yet often struggle to express clearly in English.  We'll be looking at a few different ways to say you're sad in English, and to keep things happy and optimistic, I also share some ideas on how to be happy in life. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast354 Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

If you're planning on taking the IELTS exam, this episode is a must listen for you. In it, I cover an overview of the exam, and some tips on how to prepare and ace the listening section. I also want to make sure all learners can learn from this episode, so in the second half, I cover some general listening tips and things you can do to level up your listening skills, sharing techniques and motivational tips to encourage you. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast353 Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

Whether you like cats or not, this is the purrfect episode to learn a lot of useful cat-related expressions that you can use to improve your spoken English. I share a list of different expressions, go over the meaning and popularity of each one, and of course give examples from my own life. If you'd like to join in the conversation, go to the comments on the shownotes page. At the end, I also share 4 things we can learn from cats to improve our lives. Do you agree? Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast352 Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

Jesús returns for another episode, but this time we challenge each other with some phrasal verbs from America and Britain. We each have a secret list of 5 phrasal verbs, and our goal is to share one that the other doesn't know. While talking, we discover whether these phrasal verbs are used internationally, or only in one part of the world, and we also share examples from our own lives. Join us and level up your English vocabulary with phrasal verbs. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast351 Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

In this cross-post episode, Lewis and Michael go through some fun conversation questions that involve a lot of British English idioms and slang. While hearing our funny stories, you'll improve your knowledge of spoken English and train your listening. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast350 Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

I just came back from a trip to Japan where I cycled the 80km Shimanami Kaido trail that connects two of the main islands by a group of small islands and bridges. It was a beautiful experience, and in this episode I share an overview of the trip. You'll hear some funny stories and mistakes, as well as some reflections on language learning and using it in the country while travelling. It's more of a casual episode, but I hope you like this style.  Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast349 Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

Shower thoughts are basically deep thoughts that tend to come to us when we're in the shower, or at other times in the day free from distractions.  In this episode, I go through a few funny thoughts, and a few deep and philosophical ones I've gathered and find interesting to think about. Hopefully you'll enjoy hearing them too! Make sure to listen carefully to the vocabulary I mention throughout the episode. The full list of new words will be available on the website for members. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast348 Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of a top English learning podcast?  In this episode, I chat with Luke from Luke's English Podcast about the challenges and joys of content creation. We discuss: filming outdoors and dealing with self-consciousness, balancing YouTube's algorithm with quality educational content, audio vs video podcasting, audience capture and staying authentic, Luke's 16+ years of podcasting wisdom, and future content ideas inspired by creators like GeoWizard. Whether you're a content creator or just curious about the podcasting world, this conversation is full of honest insights and practical advice. Shownotes Page: https://levelupenglish.school/podcast347/ Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

"The more you know, the more you realise you don't know" This is an example of a well-known proverb (that is so true for language learning too, by the way) and in this episode, we'll be looking at several proverbs, quotes, maxims, and aphorisms that contain some wisdom or rule for living a better life. We'll be learning a few key terms and also exploring the vocabulary within each proverb, while exploring the meaning and wisdom behind each one.  Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast346 Get access to coaching, group classes, and 100s of bonus lessons and episodes on Level Up English. ➡️ Become a Member Today: https://www.levelupenglish.school/join/ ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

Sentences that are too short and simple is an issue that all language learners face. We can say what we want, but we don't sound natural because all of our sentences sound like children. In this episode, we're going to practise extending sentences and making more natural phrases using Relative Clauses. I spend just 5 minutes reviewing the grammar, and then delve into a casual chat where I share my answers to a few questions using these patterns, and I invite you to do the same. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast345 ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!

It's great to have goals, but what's the point of having them if we never actually achieve them? Or maybe you do eventually get there, but wouldn't it be nice if we could get there faster and more efficiently? In this episode, I talk about SMART goals and give examples of how you can make your goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. I give examples from my own goals in life, and also relate it to the example of learning English as a goal. Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast344 Asian Uncle Welcome to Asian Uncle, the unfiltered dive into Asia - from the back-alley brothels... Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify ➡️ Join the Free Mini Course - https://www.levelupenglish.school/mini ⭐️ Join Level Up English - https://www.levelupenglish.school Become a member and get: Podcast Transcripts Private Podcast Group Classes Private Coaching And over 500 online lessons!