Want to master English listening? Then you need to learn how English native speakers say words and phrases in real life. Sounds in the most used words change, get mixed up and even disappear. These real-world pronunciations are called CHEWING GUM pronunciations- and native speakers use them all the time. Chewing gum pronunciation is not the only difficulty, though! You also must know the grammar of the most used words, for example if you use a verb with a gerund or an infinitive. Listen to Episode 126 now to learn 6 surprising ways to pronounce the verb NEED. You'll also learn useful rules about sound changes that can help you to understand many chewing gum and strengthen your English listening today. More episodes on chewing gum pronunciation: Episode #125 (https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-125%3A-How-to-Say-%22I%22%3A-Eye%2C-%C9%91%CB%90%2C-%CA%8C%2C-%C9%99%2C-%E2%88%85-id6059877-id837599237?country=us): How to Say "I": Eye, ɑː, ʌ, ə, ∅ Episode 7 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/6xLeNnwGGoQFeisqQApJqK?si=715a5fff00a0419a): The Chewing Gum Accent Episode 18 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/22wdPSovUag2t64udJhpfw?si=09b6fe3136414b3f): More Chewing Gum, Please! Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Wanna master English listening? Then start by learning how native and expert speakers REALLY pronounce the most common words like the pronoun "I". Did you know that "I" in fact has several alternative, or "chewing gum" pronunciations? Even more interesting, these alternative pronunciations blend and mix with common verbs like AM and WILL. Listen to Episode #125 to master these chewing gum pronunciations and grow your intermediate English listening or advanced English listening skills. Note: the cover image was created with the help of AI. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

NGSL vocabulary (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_General_Service_List) is the intermediate and advanced English vocabulary you need to score higher on IELTS (https://ielts.org/) or TOEFL (https://www.ets.org/toefl/test-takers/ibt/about/content.html), and to speak and understand formal English, business English and academic English. If you want to master English, you need to master English vocabulary- and if you already have intermediate English vocabulary, then the NGSL is a great place to start. So how do you master NGSL vocabulary? By exploring the many different meanings or functions of words from the NGSL. Learn many meanings for each word, and you will understand advanced English texts better, and express yourself with greater interest and accuracy. In Episode 123, Tim helps you learn ten words with 29 meanings to help you can take one step forward in your IELTS or TOEFL journey. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Learn NGSL (https://www.newgeneralservicelist.com/) vocabulary to score higher on IELTS and TOEFL, and use business English and academic English with more confidence and greater fluency. There's good news: learning NGSL vocabulary and the different meanings of each NGSL word is a lot of fun! You really can master the New General Service List! In Episode 122, Tim explains 20 meanings of 5 important words from the NGSL: BOTHER, INITIATIVE, DIET, MOTION and GRAY. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Students need to focus more on past participles! Past participles are found in six different grammatical constructions: perfect verb tenses (https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-117%3A-The-Present-Perfect-for-Experiences-id6059877-id823196591?country=us), the passive voice (https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-119%3A-Active-Voice-vs.-Passive-Voice-id6059877-id827414195?country=us), reduced relative clauses, past participial phrases, the modal perfect, and as adjectives. Understand these six uses and you will more easily decode long and complex sentences, especially in advanced texts. Episode 121 reviews and consolidates our work in four of these six constructions, and gives an introductory explanation of two new ones- past participles in the modal perfect and as adjectives. Listen to Episode 121 to finally get a complete picture of how to use this important and underestimated verb form. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

This week, Tim continues and completes his deep analysis of the passive voice, (https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-119%3A-Active-Voice-vs.-Passive-Voice-id6059877-id827414195?country=us) identifying and clarifying six unusual and advanced passive constructions. Three of these constructions (for example, replacing BE with GET) are typical of conversational English, so learning them can help you understand and use everyday language with better accuracy and confidence. The other three constructions are common in written and formal English, and will help you understand the news and intelligent conversation in greater detail. Note: Cover image created with AI. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In English, we have two ways of constructing sentences- the active voice and the passive voice (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_passive_voice). The active voice is the standard, common way to build sentences, while we use the passive voice most commonly in written and academic English. In other words- if you want to understand and use English at an advanced level- then you need the passive voice! Every passive voice sentence includes a past participle. So now is a great time to listen to Episode #115 (https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-115%3A-Irregular-Past-Participles-A-to-Z-id6059877-id819242381?country=us) on irregular past participles, and also Episode #116 (https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-116%3A-A-First-Look-at-Consonant-Clusters-id6059877-id821292655?country=us) on common pronunciation difficulties with regular past participles. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

The internet and textbooks typically use the EXTENSIVE method to explain grammar. This means they use lots of situations and examples to explain each construction. But we also have the rarely used INTENSIVE method, where you learn one construction with deep, intense focus on one example. If you're learning a new construction, the intensive method gives you a single deeply understood sentence to use as a model for understanding other sentences. If you're reviewing or checking, the intensive way makes sure you understand everything in detail, and fixes mistakes in your understanding. Listen to Episode 118, where Tim uses the intensive method with slightly different versions of the same sentence to learn or review an important meaning of the present perfect verb tense in depth and detail. If you have not listened to episodes 115 (https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-115%3A-Irregular-Past-Participles-A-to-Z-id6059877-id819242381?country=us), 116 (https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-116%3A-A-First-Look-at-Consonant-Clusters-id6059877-id821292655?country=us), and 117 (https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-117%3A-The-Present-Perfect-for-Experiences-id6059877-id823196591?country=us) on past participles and the present perfect already- now is the perfect time to do that! Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Ever jumped out of an airplane? How about the Eiffel Tower- have you been there? Or maybe you've done something simple but important, like change the oil in your car? The present perfect, the verb tense of experiences, will help you to talk about important and exciting things you've done in your life. If you've learned 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), then constructing sentences in the present perfect is easy. There is one difficulty, though: students often confuse it with other verb tenses, like the past simple or the present simple. Listen to Episode 117 to learn when to use the present perfect by listening to memorable, situations and deeply explained examples. Photo courtesy of PROskydiving.com (http://PROskydiving.com) via Wikipedia, Ilovechicago.jpg (640×480). (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Ilovechicago.jpg) Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

How are English listening, English grammar and English pronunciation connected? One way is consonant clusters. 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 that everyone can clearly understand 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. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.