You need the present perfect to talk about your life experiences and accomplishments. The present perfect is easy to construct (if you already know both regular past participles (https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-116%3A-A-First-Look-at-Consonant-Clusters-id6059877-id821292655?country=us) and irregular past participles (https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-115%3A-Irregular-Past-Participles-A-to-Z-id6059877-id819242381?country=us)), but students often confuse it with other verb tenses, like the past simple or the present simple. Listen to Episode 117 now to learn the construction and uses of this often misunderstood verb tense. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Consonant clusters, for example /bd/, /vd/, and /rdʒd/, are series of consonants pronounced together, without any vowels in them. Consonant clusters are often pronounced so quickly that they seem to be a single sound. You can find consonant clusters in the beginning, middle and end of English words. Consonant clusters at the end of words are critical for understanding and pronouncing the past tense forms of verbs. so everyone clearly understands if the past or present is being spoken of. Listen to Episode 116 to understand if you already master consonant clusters or need to study them more. Listening to Episode 65 (https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-65%3A-Say-it-Right%3A-Final-Voiced-Sounds-id6059877-id715469423?country=us), which discusses voiced and unvoiced sounds, discusses some of the more basic ideas of Episode 116, so consider listening to it first! Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

If you want to learn the present perfect, or the passive voice, then you need to learn the past participle, also known as the third form of the verb. And you especially need to learn the irregular past participles! And the reality is that many students don't know the third forms of irregular verbs well. What can you do to solve these problems? Well, Episode 115 is a great place to start! it will give you the forms you need for a solid base to learn the present perfect and the passive voice. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Let's be direct: if you want to understand the details of what people say in English (instead of just the basics), then you need to learn the 2809 words of the NGSL, or New General Service List, and their different meanings. More episodes with words from the NGSL: Episode 2 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4gAKgnPgNa1MCL0zhrQmRr): The NGSL- 2800 Words For Better English. Episode 11 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4D1djx7gKDYntEoGX8WeTZ): NGSL 1331-1340. 10 Words, 27 Meanings. Episode 62 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/46mXiUG0g9mGl3V3JnRsUt): NGSL 1341-1350. Episode 73 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/6zk3GioaJNYqtcSbu8fYYf): NGSL 1511-1520. Episode 84 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/25U2Yt5LXcCcXjQF0Xkl84?si=c3b9631419ab4c3c): NGSL 1011-105. Note: cover image created by AI. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

English native speakers pronounce words much differently from what students hear in the classroom- DID YOU becomes DIDJA, WHAT'S YOUR becomes WUTCHER, and so on. This style of pronunciation is called chewing gum pronunciation, and it has the biggest effect on the most commonly used words, for example YOU and YOUR. The pronunciation of these two key words completely changes after specific sounds- after /t/, after /d/, and after /z/. Listen to Episode #113 to learn the natural, real-world ways to say these key words so you understand them more easily in your day to day life. For a general view of chewing gum pronunciation, listen to Episode 102 (https://app.ausha.co/app/show/155657/episodes/preview/8500407). Note: the horrific cover image was created by AI. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

What's the biggest mistake English students make? Well, one of them is that they think that each English word has just one or two meanings. In reality, you need to know three, four, or even more functions for each word if you want to speak and understand English at an advanced level, with depth, detail and confidence. Listen to Episode 112 to learn 27 functions of 10 words using 79 example sentences. More episodes with words from the NGSL: Episode 2 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4gAKgnPgNa1MCL0zhrQmRr): The NGSL- 2800 Words For Better English. Episode 11 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4D1djx7gKDYntEoGX8WeTZ): NGSL 1331-1340. 10 Words, 27 Meanings. Episode 62 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/46mXiUG0g9mGl3V3JnRsUt): NGSL 1341-1350. Episode 73 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/6zk3GioaJNYqtcSbu8fYYf): NGSL 1511-1520. Episode 84 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/25U2Yt5LXcCcXjQF0Xkl84?si=c3b9631419ab4c3c): NGSL 1011-105. *The cover image was created using AI. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

I'm not gonna lie- pronouns aren't "sexy" like verbs (and especially irregular verbs!) are. But we use pronouns really ALL THE TIME, and students often overestimate how well they know pronouns. So- listen to Episode #111 to consolidate and deepen your knowledge of this essential and misunderstood part of speech, or category of words. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Everyone knows that phrasal verbs are difficult- "there is little or no connection between the words in a phrasal verb and its meaning", people say. This kind of phrasal verb does exist, but is not super common. In reality, you can usually get an idea of what a phrasal verb means by understanding the words that are in it- especially the base verb. Listen to Episode #110 to understand the difference between these two types of phrasal verbs, and learn ten phrasal to understand native speakers better and speak in a more natural way. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

How well do you know the difference between action verbs and stative verbs? While action verbs talk about classic actions like "walk", "try" or "jump", stative verbs talk about other categories of action, like things you do with your mind ("agree", "remember") or senses ("see", "smell"), or characteristics of things ("weigh", "cost"). Listen to Episode #109 to sharpen your vocabulary and make fewer grammar mistakes! The cover image was generated using AI. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

BLOOD. APPROPRIATE. BLOCK. WARM. COUNT. Most English words have two or more meanings or functions. If you know these meanings or functions, you will understand advanced spoken and written English with greater depth, detail and confidence, and you'll also have a chance to express your ideas in English with more depth, detail and confidence yourself. Listen to Episode #108 to learn 5 important words from the famous New General Service List (https://www.newgeneralservicelist.com/), or NGSL, with 22 functions and 64 example sentences. More episodes with words from the NGSL: Episode 2 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4gAKgnPgNa1MCL0zhrQmRr): The NGSL- 2800 Words For Better English. Episode 11 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4D1djx7gKDYntEoGX8WeTZ): NGSL 1331-1340. 10 Words, 27 Meanings. Episode 62 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/46mXiUG0g9mGl3V3JnRsUt): NGSL 1341-1350. Episode 73 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/6zk3GioaJNYqtcSbu8fYYf): NGSL 1511-1520. Episode 84 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/25U2Yt5LXcCcXjQF0Xkl84?si=c3b9631419ab4c3c): NGSL 1011-105. The cover image was *not* generated using AI. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.