Easy English: Learn English with everyday conversations

by Isi & Mitch

New103: Conversations About FriendshipNovember 2, 2026 · 18 min

Episodes: 104
Released: every two weeks
Latest episode: Nov 2, 2026

About the podcast

Get to know and learn English with Isi & Mitch; a bi-national couple in the UK. We talk all things British including pubs, small talk, music, food, the stiff upper lip and the bloody weather! We love to hear from our listeners and answer your questions on the English language or British life and culture. This is the authentic way to learn the language with day-to-day conversations and getting to know Isi & Mitch a little bit better. Become a member and we’ll give you interactive transcripts and bonus content for each episode at www.easyenglish.fm/membership!

Episodes 104

103: Conversations About Friendship
November 2, 202618 min
Isi and Mitch discuss what the most important factors are to being and finding a good friend. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes …
Show notes
Isi and Mitch discuss what the most important factors are to being and finding a good friend.
Interactive Transcript
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Show Notes
- Improve your confidence and fluency speaking English with us!: Join the Conversation Membership
Transcript
Isi:
[0:23] Hello!
Mitch:
[0:25] Hello everybody, welcome to the Easy English Podcast. Isi...
Isi:
[0:29] You just missed another little pre-talk about Manchester United. You can maybe put it in, I think we were recording already.
Mitch:
[0:38] Maybe, I want to know if there are any United fans watching Easy English?
Isi:
[0:41] Yeah, write to Mitch, not to me.
Mitch:
[0:43] I need emotional support for how bad we are these days.
Isi:
[0:46] Okay, let's start.
Mitch:
[0:47] Okay. The real topic. Um... what is it!?
Isi:
[0:50] We're talking about friendships.
Mitch:
[0:53] Ah Manchester United friends.
Isi:
[0:56] We're talking about friendships, because we did talk about friends before, specifically about... - Making friends. - How to find friends, make friends. - Yeah! - And if you have watched that... was it a video podcast? I think watched? No? - Listened. - Listened, listened anyway. Then, you might have heard that I said; oh we need to do a podcast just about friendships, because we were always going down with, when we talked about how to get to know people, we were always going down into this friendship; what are friendships? What are our friend's root? So I said we do another one and this is about friends.
Isi:
[1:32] My first question is; what is the most important thing about friendships?
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102: How to be Indirect in Conversations
October 6, 202617 min
Easy English listener Paloma sends in a message and Isi and Mitch announce new call days and time for their group conversation calls before discussing 10 ways you can be indirect, when speaking in English …
Show notes
Easy English listener Paloma sends in a message and Isi and Mitch announce new call days and time for their group conversation calls before discussing 10 ways you can be indirect, when speaking in English.
Interactive Transcript
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Show Notes
- Improve your confidence and fluency speaking English with us!: Join the Conversation Membership
Transcript
Mitch:
[0:23] Hiya, everybody. Welcome to the Easy English Podcast. We're just coming down...
Isi:
[0:30] I never know what my position is in this. Okay, let's go. Let's not do too long of babbling.
Mitch:
[0:35] Okay.
Isi:
[0:36] Blah-blah-ing. Do you say blah-blah?
Mitch:
[0:37] I just wanted to say that, you know, we're celebrating still because, one, we reached our 100th episode just recently, and what followed then was... - Podcast episode. - Podcast episode. What followed then, was we also hit 250,000 subscribers on YoTube. So I just want to say thank you if you're one of those subscribers and if not... - Thank you. - Why the hell not?
Isi:
[0:59] It's a good number isn't it? It's nice. I think we have a question or a message.
Mitch:
[1:03] Yeah so, we actually had someone send in a message some weeks ago, and I'm sorry for not playing it directly, because we had episode 100 and we played some messages and yours came in just a little bit too late, but not too late for us to play it now. So here is a message from Paloma
Isi:
[1:20] Paloma, what a beautiful name.
Mitch:
[1:21] Nice name. - Yeah.
Paloma:
[1:22] Hi guys, how are you today? I hope you're hving a great day. Well, my name is Paloma, I'm Argentinian and I am living in Italy, right now. And, Ijust wanted to say thank you, because I love your content, I am a... let's say a fan of languages, I am studying, also, Italian, because I am living here, in Italy. I also speak English, and I am initiating, lets say with French... yep. Because, I love languages, but I don't hhave much time to... to study, you know. But, I want to tell you that I am an English teacher... yeah, I am an English teacher. But I am teaching English to students who speak Spanish, because that's my mother tongue and... nothing. I use, a lot, you content to practise and to take expressions... British expressions, even though I don't speak in a British way... real British way, but anyway, I do my best. thank you so much and have a nice day again, bye!
Isi:
[2:38] Very nice. So, Paloma, I directly thought her English is so good.
Mitch:
[2:43] It's really good. I thought she sounded a bit Scottish at one point.
Isi:
[2:46] I thought at the very beginning that she was a native, yeah. That makes sense now. You're an English teacher. You know your stuff.
Mitch:
[2:54] You've got some influences in your accent there, some British influence.
Isi:
[3:01] Okay, so it wasn't even a question. Thank you so much for, first of all, letting us know that you like our content and that you use it in your teaching lessons. That's really, really cool. And it really helps us, just to receive those messages because it makes all our work worth it.
Mitch:
[3:19] Absolutely. It's amazing to get those little nuggets of joy that people get from using our resources, basically. Because, we have no way of knowing unless you tell us how you like it, if you even like it.
Isi:
[3:33] It would really help us... I know we have asked this at the very beginning of doing YouTube, of doing podcasts. And you probably are not used to people creating content, asking this anymore. But I recently thought about it, that it would be really, really important to us, if we have more interactivity on YouTube, through comments, likes, subscribes, for our podcast, for example, on Spotify. It really helps. And you can also review our podcast on Spotify, for example, and on other podcast apps as well. And, I would like to add another thing, because we have just recently, last week, changed our membership. You maybe know that we have a Conversation Membership where people, once a week, until now, in our online pub on 'Zoom' could speak to us, to each other, practise their conversation skills. And we really saw, during the past years, how we have some members that are there for years, they improved their english, massively! We had one call a week, a pub call, on 'Zoom'' our online "pub", and we were like; we have to do this more, we have to give more people the chance to join, from different locations in the world, so different times. And we have to make it possible that you can practise with us, several times a week, so that you, within weeks, can improve your conversation skills. So now, we have, instead of one, four calls a week, on Tuesdays and on Thursdays we have a morning call, British time and an evening call. You can all check it out on our website.
Mitch:
[5:13] Or, by clicking the link up here.
Isi:
[5:15] There. And yeah, join us if you wanna go next level with your English. If you say like; I have quite a good level of English, it's fine. I can communicate, but I want to understand my new boss, I want to land that job where you have to speak English. I want to move to an English-speaking country. I want to talk to my international friends. Or, I just love English. We have seen the success. We actually have done it ourselves. Like, I moved here to the UK and I had a good level of English, but the natural... I don't want to praise myself, but the natural comfort of speaking English, of understanding the dialects, and accents and to feel really comfortable, also to just go out, go to the supermarket, have small talk, have good conversation. That came here. And I know it only came from speaking. Getting outthere and speaking. You do the same with German right now.
Mitch:
[6:13] Yeah, I see it with learning German. That when I'm in Germany and I'm kind of in that, I have the opportunity to speak it and I'm listening to it on a very regular basis, that my German, my level increases, dramatically. And when I'm back home, I'm just like on apps. Whilst apps and watching videos online is very good, half of the battle is the confidence to really speak it and this is where our calls are so vital, because whether or not you're making mistakes, it doesn't matter because, making mistakes is part of learning anything and language and English is no different. And our calls are perfect for that, we welcome mistakes, we encourage learning by making mistakes. And if you are also feeling very nervous, there's no pressure like you have in these one-on-one conversations, to speak. You can listen and everyone's there trying to achieve the same goal.
Isi:
[7:05] And along the way, you meet amazing people, maybe make friends from around the world, if you want to.
Mitch:
[7:10] Really around the world
Isi:
[7:11] Yeah, it's amazing. So, take the chance, practise with us several times a week and level-up your English within the next weeks, months. Get better, reach your next goal.
Mitch:
[7:26] Exactly. If you're interested, then click the link that's on the screen right now, easyenglish.video/membership and we're even offering a seven-day free trial of our Conversation Membership. So in theory, that's four calls you can come to for free, to see how you like it, if you fit in, if you're confident enough and we're very welcoming. We're a very welcoming bunch; us and our conversation members.
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101: Making New Friends
September 14, 202617 min
Making friends is hard, especially the older you get. So Isi guides you... and Mitch through the different ways, modern and old that you can make new friends. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get …
Show notes
Making friends is hard, especially the older you get. So Isi guides you... and Mitch through the different ways, modern and old that you can make new friends.
Interactive Transcript
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Show Notes
Improve your confidence and fluency speaking English with us!: Join the Conversation Membership
Transcript Intro
Mitch:
[0:26] Welcome to the Easy English Podcast, the hangover from episode 100. - 101. - 101, we're into the... into a new century of podcasting, but with the same ethos, to help you improve your conversational English.
Isi:
[0:50] You do sound very unmotivated. I have a good topic for us, though.
Mitch:
[0:55] Yeah, you're at the steering wheel today, right?
Isi:
[0:58] Yes. It's a topic that is interesting and important for everyone. Maybe only those people that hate humans a lot. They will not like it now.
Mitch:
[1:09] Good build-up.
Isi:
[1:11] It's important for everyone, because we're talking, today, about how to make friends.
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100: We Answer YOUR Questions...
September 7, 202624 min
We did it... 100 episodes! All thanks to your support, so what better way to celebrate than to answer some of your questions. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and …
Show notes
We did it... 100 episodes!
All thanks to your support, so what better way to celebrate than to answer some of your questions.
Interactive Transcript
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Show Notes
Try 7 days of our Conversation Membership... for free: The Conversation Membership
Transcript Intro
Isi:
[0:22] Hello!
Mitch:
[0:24] Hi everybody! Exciting times.
Isi:
[0:28] And why is it exciting? Because this is episode... podcast episode.
Mitch:
[0:34] Podcast episode.
Isi:
[0:35] Not video, podcast episode 100. And we didn't even train this. Rehearse this. 100, this is insane. It feels more and less, with so many things in life that's what it is right? It feels like, longer and shorter, more and less. But It's a nice number, 100.
Mitch:
[0:57] A great milestone to reach. - Not the last one. - Won't be the last 100 we reach. But um... as a way to celebrate it and also to say thank you, we reached out and asked you to send us some of your messages. So, that's why we're here today. You wrote in to... on our YouTube channel, you sent us emails and you also sent us voice messages. So we're gonna read them out. - Let's go. - Should I play an audio message? - Yes. - Okay, here is a message from Paskali Safari, for us.
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99: Everyday Conversations with Neighbours Easy English Podcast
August 24, 202620 min
Find your ideal English teacher on italki 🎉 Use the code ENGLISH4 for €5 off your first class (minimum €10): https://go.italki.com/english4 Isi and Mitch show you different, everyday conversations and small …
Show notes
Find your ideal English teacher on italki 🎉 Use the code ENGLISH4 for €5 off your first class (minimum €10): https://go.italki.com/english4
Isi and Mitch show you different, everyday conversations and small talk topics with neighbours.
Interactive Transcript
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Show Notes
Find your ideal English teacher on italki 🎉 Use the code ENGLISH4 for €5 off your first class (minimum €10): https://go.italki.com/english4
Transcript Intro
Isi:
[0:22] Hello.
Mitch:
[0:23] Hi, everybody.
Isi:
[0:25] Welcome to another episode. But now I am doing this. Oh, no.
Mitch:
[0:28] You're doing it.
Isi:
[0:29] Oh, no. Well, let's not do this.
Mitch:
[0:32] I pointed at you.
Isi:
[0:32] It's Easy English Podcast. We're starting now.
Mitch:
[0:37] Wow, what a surprise.
Isi:
[0:38] Whoever listened before knows that I got a bit annoyed that, not annoyed, I thought it was actually, now we talk about it even longer, that Mitch always says, welcome to the Easy English Podcast.
Mitch:
[0:48] Every episode.
Isi:
[0:50] When you actually probably know that it's the Easy English Podcast you're listening to.
Mitch:
[0:53] I just want to be formal, like you're opening your front door to somebody.
Isi:
[0:57] Yeah, but you're wasting people's time, and now I'm wasting people's time. So we start now.
Mitch:
[1:02] What are we talking about today? You're taking control again.
Isi:
[1:05] Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about another conversational topic. We have just talked about, if you listened to our last podcast, about flatmate conversations; living with people in houses or flats, in the UK. It's now, you would think it's similar, but it's not. We will, today, talk about small talk with neighbours.
Isi:
[1:37] Those people you might not know that well. They might live up your street, 10 houses up your street, and you just know them from, you know; "hiya, lovely today, huh?" Like, that kind of conversation. And this kind of small talk, I will say as an expat living in the UK, is very important.
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98: Living with Animals
August 17, 202621 min
Get to know Isi and Mitch with their feelings and opinions about the modern relationship between humans and animals and how they co-exist today Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive …
Show notes
Get to know Isi and Mitch with their feelings and opinions about the modern relationship between humans and animals and how they co-exist today
Interactive Transcript
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Transcript Intro
Mitch:
[0:23] Hi everybody, welcome to another episode of the Easy English Podcast. Thank you for tuning in. Do people tune in these days?
Isi:
[0:33] We are such boomers. We're not boomers, though. The new boomers are millennials.
Mitch:
[0:39] But to say tune in sounds cool, but nobody tunes in.
Isi:
[0:43] Tune in on Saturday.
Mitch:
[0:45] Thanks for typing in that URL code.
Isi:
[0:48] Okay, now how do I get to my topic?
Mitch:
[0:50] Well, actually, you mentioned a good way, because if you are a regular listener, you'd have heard our relationship test episode. One of the questions are; what's something that Isi likes to speak about, on a regular basis?
Isi:
[1:05] You did it wrong, you said music, which is actually true though.
Mitch:
[1:08] I said music or Nola. - Yeah, I love it all. - So I got half a point, because...
Isi:
[1:12] Nola is actually number one.
Mitch:
[1:13] But Nola opens up a whole topic of animals and like, you said, animal welfare. - Yes. - Which is an important part of your life.
Isi:
[1:22] Very important for me.
Mitch:
[1:24] The consideration of animal welfare.
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97: Living with Housemates in the UK | Part 2
August 3, 202619 min
Part 2 of Mitch and Isi's discussion about living with people in the UK vs Germany... this time they share their dreaded bathroom experiences. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive …
Show notes
Part 2 of Mitch and Isi's discussion about living with people in the UK vs Germany... this time they share their dreaded bathroom experiences.
Interactive Transcript
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Transcript Intro
Isi:

[0:22] Hello.
Mitch:

[0:23] Hi, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Easy English Podcast. We're back at it with Isi's episode today, a part two-a of co-living? Flatmates? - housemates, flatmate conversations.
Isi:

[0:40] Yes. I directly want to... No, let's start a bit easier. We're not going to the bathroom directly. If you didn't listen to part one, do that first.
Mitch:

[0:52] Yes, we covered the kitchen, as part of living with other people.
Isi:

[0:57] We covered broken things, and we covered the first day in the flat.
Mitch:

[1:02] Food, cleaning, the whole thing. Oh yeah, introductions, icebreakers.
Isi:

[1:08] I now want to talk about the 'quiet vs the loud flatmate'.
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96: Living with Housemates in the UK
July 20, 202621 min
Mitch & Isi compare their experiences with this week's cultural topic of living with strangers or... co-living. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for …
Show notes
Mitch & Isi compare their experiences with this week's cultural topic of living with strangers or... co-living.
Interactive Transcript
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Transcript Intro
Mitch:

[0:22] Welcome to the Easy English Podcast.
Isi:

[0:26] Hello!
Mitch:

[0:26] Today...
Isi:

[0:28] I chose the topic again.
Mitch:

[0:30] Again. Taking the driver's seat.
Isi:

[0:33] You give me too much power.
Mitch:

[0:34] I'm constantly the passenger now.
Isi:

[0:38] You can leave us a message if that's a good thing. Maybe my topics are boring as hell.
Mitch:

[0:43] No, yest... the last one with couples was really good.
Isi:

[0:47] Well, now, I wanted to talk about something that we both have experiences with, where we can share some insight, not only into our experiences with it, mine will be from Germany and yours from the UK, but also, you can share some things about how that is working in the UK, because it's a bit different to how it's in Germany, I think. And that is, living together with flat, or housemates.
Mitch:

[1:15] Co-living.
Isi:

[1:16] Co-living, which is a big thing in the UK, at least when you study, but even afterwards.
Mitch:

[1:23] Yeah, especially if you are kind of a young professional, trying to climb the job ladder.
Isi:

[1:29] Or you live in London then it's all your life. - Or if you live in London, then you live with random people until you're 95. - Actually that sounds quite nice. So what I want to do, and we might make out of this, two podcasts, because I have a lot of topics. - Great. - I would like to go through different situations that you will face, while living together, with other people. And I thought we could, we can change it a bit. But first of all, I would like us to talk about it, if we have experience with that. How that was, share some personal stories. You can obviously share the British perspective. There's obviously a lot of new vocabulary that you can learn around living with people. Something that not in every country is common, but in lots of countries. Or maybe you come to the UK and you will live with somebody. And you are well prepared after this podcast, we hope. Or you don't want to do it any more.
Mitch:

[2:27] Yeah, you're put off completely.
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95: 10 Different Ways to Say 'SORRY'
July 6, 202611 min
Isi tests Mitch's knowledge with practical examples of using the word 'sorry' for different, everyday scenarios. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for …
Show notes
Isi tests Mitch's knowledge with practical examples of using the word 'sorry' for different, everyday scenarios.
Interactive Transcript
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Transcript Intro
Mitch & Isi:

[0:24] Hello again. - Hi everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Easy English Podcast, also available on YouTube. So if you want to quickly head over and watch us discuss different types of 'sorry's in the UK, then head over to YouTube now, to our YouTube channel. Youtube, YouTube Youtube. - You know that you also, are just talking to the YouTube viewers. And if you're watching on YouTube, hello. - You set it into the camera? - Oh yeah.
Mitch & Isi:

[0:50] So today we're discussing also British people's most used, maybe not favourite, but is, maybe you say overused in the UK, but for good reason. - You hear it all the time. And we will show you many different ways to use the word 'sorry'.
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94: Conversations on USA Stereotypes | Ft. Justin
June 22, 202625 min
Justin from Texas is back... this time he is fact-checking Isi and Mitch's experiences, comparisons and stereotypes of the United States. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive …
Show notes
Justin from Texas is back... this time he is fact-checking Isi and Mitch's experiences, comparisons and stereotypes of the United States.
Interactive Transcript
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Transcript
Intro
Mitch:
[0:22] Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Easy English Podcast.
Isi:
[0:26] Good morning.
Mitch:
[0:27] Good morning in the morning. We're loaded up on coffee as we have a part two of an episode that we made recently. We're reintroducing you to our correspondent from the United States. Justin is back.
Justin:
[0:44] Hello, hello.
Isi:
[0:46] Hi. Well, he's corresponding from Berlin., I would say.
Justin:
[0:51] But originally from. - Yeah. - The United States, Texas to be specific, if those don't know. I usually always say that I’m from Texas, I never really say I’m from the United States, it's very interesting when people ask; "where are you from?" I always just say Texas.
Isi:
[1:05] That is very interesting.
Justin:
[1:06] I guess I expect people to know Texas and most times people do. But I like to represent Texas more than I like to represent the United States of America.
Isi:
[1:15] Okay, and how... what do you think... like I do know Texas, I guess, from the... I haven't been, but from the... a bit from the stereotypes more like the cowboy stereotypes.
Mitch:
[1:26] Beyonce!
Justin:
[1:27] Yeah, Beyonce.
Isi:
[1:28] And the heat.
Justin:
[1:29] And The Cowboys. Yes, all those things are very... all of those things are very much correct.
Mitch:
[1:34] Have you ever said yee-haw in a non-cliched way?
Justin:
[1:38] No, but I do say howdy all the time. Howdy is my favorite... howdy is my favorite introduction.
Mitch:
[1:45] Wow, like Woody from 'Toy Story'.
Justin:
[1:49] Yeah, howdy.
Isi:
[1:50] How would you describe a Texan within like a few sentences.
Mitch:
[1:54] That's a good question.
Justin:
[1:55] That's a good question. I would describe a Texan as a soulful, country...
Isi:
[2:04] Soulful that's nice
Mitch:
[2:05] I like that too.
Justin:
[2:06] Soulful, country, cowboy.
Mitch:
[2:08] Wow.
Isi:
[2:09] A soulful, country, cowboy.
Justin:
[2:12] At least that's how I describe myself.
Isi:
[2:13] So, I was once only in the U.S but like for five weeks or so. Which is 10 years ago, oh god. And it was with Easy German, we did a tour, a great tour from New York via some like countryside, Virginia to Colorado and from Colorado with a car to California so, a really really cool tour. But what we did on the way is a lot of videos about being in the U.S and we did this video about like, where we shared our three things that we like, three things that we don't like, or things that would surprise us. And I literally found the list that I wrote back then on the road trip, can you imagine? - Exciting. - Yeah. And I was a bit surprised myself, what I wrote down. But I thought I'd share it.
Mitch:
[3:00] Yes so Isi's gonna... you're gonna read some of those out and I'm gonna... I also have been like, recently and then a long time ago um and there's some things which I sort of always kept in my mind, like experiences, stories and little notes I'd sort of, mentally made.
Isi:
[3:16] So, should I start?
Justin:
[3:18] Yes, I'm excited to hear.
Mitch:
[3:21] And Justin, maybe you can go into it, explain why, these cultural phenomenons, or whatever Isi is going to say, and maybe because you have an inside eye from all three places, can sort of, compare your experiences.
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93: We Tested Our Relationship… | Easy English Conversation
June 8, 202618 min
Mitch & Isi take a quiz to test their relationship... Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership Transcript …
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Mitch & Isi take a quiz to test their relationship...
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Transcript
Mitch & Isi:
[0:23] So, hello. - Hi. Hi. - Hi. Welcome to the Easy English Podcast. But... - But today as a video podcast. So, if you're listening, now, on a podcast app, you can also switch over to YouTube, where it's already out and watch it, as a video. But you don't need to. We will explain everything. You don't need to see our lovely faces. I prepared today's episode. - Wow. I'm nervous. - I think we thought about this topic, because it's an episode about us... - Oh god. - being a couple. - Usually we only speak about British culture and other people, but now we're talking... - Sometimes about us. - a little bit about us. We're opening up to you guys now, so be kind. - I prepared us a game where we have to, both answer questions the way that we think our partner, the other one, would answer. - A test of my knowledge of you. - So, the first is a little warm-up, with favourites. Do you know my favourites? - I hope so. I think so. - Okay. - I do.
Mitch & Isi:
[1:34] What's my favourite food?
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92: Passing the IELTS English Speaking Test | Part 2
May 25, 202623 min
Listen to part 2 of the podcast where Isi and Mitch give advice on how to pass an English speaking test, based around the IELTS test. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts …
Show notes
Listen to part 2 of the podcast where Isi and Mitch give advice on how to pass an English speaking test, based around the IELTS test.
Interactive Transcript
Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
Transcript
Intro
Mitch:
[0:23] Hello everybody, welcome to another episode of the Easy English Podcast.
Mitch:
[0:28] This week's episode is a bit different, as we're carrying on from our part one of easy taking the IELTS test. What is it you ask? Let me tell you. It's one of the most popular English exams in the world. And you can take it to help you to study abroad, to work internationally, you might have to take it for your immigration or visa status and it's mainly just a way to prove your English level, officially. Now the IELTS stands for the 'International English Language Testing System', and last time you heard from us, Isi was taking it and there are three parts to this test and in the first episode, we covered part one, which were simple questions and at the very end I asked her part two question which is the main task, asking her to describe a place she enjoys visiting in the UK. If you didn't listen to it in episode one, then that's coming up next and if you did listen to it, maybe you just want to skip ahead a little bit, to hear my analysis of how well she did. And then afterwards, she'll be taking part three; the discussion task, asking her, what the benefits are of living in another country. I hope you all enjoy this episode, and you'll hear from me at the end.
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91: How to Pass an English Speaking Test (IELTS) | Part 1
April 27, 202624 min
Find your ideal English teacher on italki 🎉 Use the code english3 for €5 off your first class (minimum €10): https://go.italki.com/english3 This week, Mitch and Isi guide you and give advice on how to pass an …
Show notes
Find your ideal English teacher on italki 🎉 Use the code english3 for €5 off your first class (minimum €10): https://go.italki.com/english3
This week, Mitch and Isi guide you and give advice on how to pass an English speaking test, based around the IELTS test.
Interactive Transcript
Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
Show Notes
Find your ideal English teacher on italki 🎉 Use the code ENGLISH3 for €5 off your first class (minimum €10): https://go.italki.com/english3
Transcript
Intro
Mitch:
[0:22] Hello. Hi, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Easy English Podcast. Today, we want to try something a little bit different. We're not going to be discussing so much cultural topics. We're actually going to be focusing on something which is going to help you, the Easy English listener, maybe even English learner. We're going to be taking a mock or a test.
Isi:
[0:52] Oh I'm taking a test probably.
Mitch:
[0:54] A test, test, a mock...
Mitch:
[0:56] I have the feeling this podcast is only about me taking tests.
Mitch:
[1:00] You're the guinea pig in the Easy English Podcast. - In your world. - In my world. But we're going to be taking a fake IELTS speaking test. And for those of you who don't know the IELTS it stands for the International English Language Testing System. It's one of the most popular English exams you can take in the world. Perhaps some of you who are listening are thinking about taking it, are about to take it, and are maybe nervous about taking it and would like a bit of help, a bit of backing, a bit of support. So for those of you who don't know about the IELTS, you would take this test, usually, to help you with studying abroad maybe, if you're going to study in the UK, Australia, Canada, if you maybe want to work internationally, your company might suggest you take it, or even require you take it, or maybe even for immigration or for your visa, they might suggest for maybe your citizenship or something.
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90: How to Start a Conversation in English
April 20, 202622 min
Mitch and Isi give you advice on things you shouldn't do, things you should do when making conversations with strangers in English in different, everyday scenarios. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English …
Show notes
Mitch and Isi give you advice on things you shouldn't do, things you should do when making conversations with strangers in English in different, everyday scenarios.
Interactive Transcript
Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
Transcript
Intro
Mitch:
[0:22] Welcome aboard the HMS Easy English.
Isi:
[0:27] Her Majesty's sail.
Mitch:
[0:29] Her Majesty's ship.
Isi:
[0:30] Why are we on a ship?
Mitch:
[0:32] I don't know, because people are on a journey with us when they listen to the Easy English Podcast. And if we had to pick any mode of transport, we'd pick a boat.
Isi:
[0:40] I just realised that I didn't have this peach tea. Little fun fact for that.
Mitch:
[0:45] Fun fact.
Isi:
[0:46] For months and months.
Mitch:
[0:48] Fun fact.
Isi:
[0:49] I think I got a bit sick of it. I love a certain peach tea from Germany that we always bring to England.
Mitch:
[0:54] Oh yeah, you do. That has nothing to do with today's episode. Today's episode, we're going to be talking about introductions, specifically, how to start conversations in English and when in England or in the UK, because starting conversations is always quite difficult, in these in different scenarios, right?
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89: 10 Everyday English Contractions
March 31, 202619 min
Mitch and Isi give you 10 useful English contractions to help you sound like a native speaker! They also update you on a new, Asia-friendly 'Zoom' conversation call time. Interactive Transcript Support Easy …
Show notes
Mitch and Isi give you 10 useful English contractions to help you sound like a native speaker! They also update you on a new, Asia-friendly 'Zoom' conversation call time.
Interactive Transcript
Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
Show Notes
Register your interest in our Asia-Friendly conversation call here: Click Here
Transcript
Intro
Mitch:
[0:22] Hiya, podcast peeps.
Isi:
[0:25] Hello.
Mitch:
[0:25] Welcome to another episode of the Easy English Podcast. Just in case you didn't know what you're...
Isi:
[0:32] What's your alarm for?
Mitch:
[0:34] That the laundry's done. Okay.
Isi:
[0:37] We're both eating sweeties.
Mitch:
[0:39] Mm-hmm. I'm eating a chocolate bar that is based on the stars, the Milky Way. I just said the name of the actual chocolate bar. So I'm eating a chocolate based on a space-themed chocolate.
Isi:
[0:55] We cannot make advertisement. There are also other really great...
Mitch:
[0:58] Space-themed chocolate bars.
Isi:
[1:00] Yeah, like Mars. They're probably all from the...
Mitch:
[1:02] Don't say Mars. Don't say the name.
Isi:
[1:04] You just said Milky Way.
Mitch:
[1:05] Oh yeah, sure. Yours is based on the planet.
Isi:
[1:07] Mars is the planet.
Mitch:
[1:08] Are there any other space...
Isi:
[1:09] We need to name them all now so that we don't do advertisement.
Mitch:
[1:11] Space-themed chocolate.
Isi:
[1:12] They're all yummy, yummy. Kinderriegel.
Mitch:
[1:13] Uranus. Oh God, what's going on? So in today's episode, we've got a few subjects to cover. The first thing I want to do, part of our 'Topic of the Week', is I realised, when making a lot of these street interviews, that there are a lot of informal contractions that people and myself are saying. And I sort of, thought it'd be good to sort of, do a rundown of maybe, 10 that you will commonly hear, that are very useful for you to try to pick up, try to integrate into your English vocabulary, into your English speaking. So I'm going to read them out and Isi, maybe you're going to tell me what two words are being contracted into one or what three words or... I think these are all mostly two words though.
Isi:
[1:55] This is always a test of my English knowledge, isn't it?
Mitch:
[1:57] A little bit, yeah. But you'll get them all, for sure.
Topic of the Week
Mitch:
[2:07] Okay, the first one, and it's almost the same as this infamous 'bottle of water'. It's got the same sort of feel to it. Do you know what I mean?
Isi:
[2:18] Do you know what I mean?
Mitch:
[2:20] Exactly. Do you say, are you able to do this? Are you doing it in your everyday speaking?
Isi:
[2:25] Yeah, but it's even shorter.
Mitch:
[2:26] What?
Isi:
[2:27] Do you know what I mean?
Mitch:
[2:28] Do you know what I mean? Do you know what I mean? Do you know what I mean? And that's a very common one that people say. And it will almost be like a reflex kind of thing, you'll say when making a point. Like, maths is boring, do you know what I mean? Okay, next one. Probs. It is a contraction, but only of one word.
Isi:
[2:48] Probably.
Mitch:
[2:49] Probably. So how would we use this in a sentence? Mitch, is the laundry done? Probs. A classic one, which you like to use. You alright?
Isi:
[3:00] Are you alright.
Mitch:
[3:01] And you're not even saying the 'are' at the beginning.
Isi:
[3:03] No.
Mitch:
[3:06] Are you all right?
Isi:
[3:07] All right.
Mitch:
[3:08] Which can be used as a question or even just a sort of, a greeting.
Isi:
[3:12] All right, all right.
Mitch:
[3:13] You all right? And then the other person would respond.
Isi:
[3:16] Yeah, all right.
Mitch:
[3:17] Yeah, you all right? You all right, mate? Tomoz.
Isi:
[3:21] Tomorrow.
Mitch:
[3:22] Is shortening for tomorrow. Okay, here's ones that are very common that you should be using if you really want to sound like a native speaker, because everyone's using those. Those previous ones are kind of, quite informal. These ones are almost so commonly used, that they've almost become formal contractions. Dunno.
Isi:
[3:44] I don't know.
Mitch:
[3:45] I don't know. Dunno. I don't know. I don't know. What do you think?
Isi:
[3:49] What do you think?
Mitch:
[3:50] Dunno. What do you think? Gonna.
Isi:
[3:54] I'm going to.
Mitch:
[3:55] I'm going to. I'm going to. I'm going to go get the laundry in a bit. What are you going to do?
Isi:
[4:00] I'm going to go to the doctors.
Mitch:
[4:02] Nice. That is all very true statements we're saying.
Isi:
[4:05] For today.
Mitch:
[4:06] Wanna.
Isi:
[4:08] I want to.
Mitch:
[4:09] I don't wanna go get the laundry, how about you?
Isi:
[4:14] I don't wanna go to the doctors.
Mitch:
[4:16] Got... gotta or gotta. a lot of people say gotta.
Isi:
[4:20] Like, gotcha?
Mitch:
[4:21] g-o-t-t-a gotta.
Isi:
[4:25] I have to, I got to.
Mitch:
[4:27] Yeah, but I got to get the laundry.
Isi:
[4:30] But you would probably more say; I have to get the laundry than I got to get the laundry.
Mitch:
[4:34] I got to get, got to get.
Isi:
[4:35] Got to get, got to get.
Mitch:
[4:36] I got to get, got to get, got to get through this. I got to get through this. Lemme.
Isi:
[4:43] Let me.
Mitch:
[4:44] Yeah, like the singer from Motorhead. Let me go get the laundry, please. Or let me avoid the laundry duties for this week. Gimme. - Give me. - Gimme some peace of mind. Gimme shelter. Oh yeah is that... yeah the Rolling Stones song; 'Gimme Shelter'. - Yep. - Kinda. - Kind of. - It's kind of, yeah. Lemme, kinda, is spelt the same way as the singer from Motorhead but there's no 'I' at the end it's just l-e-m-m-e.
Isi:
[5:20] lemme kinda tell you how I'm gonna... - Wow! - Blah, blah, blah.
Mitch:
[5:24] We can make an Easy English contraction song. I don't know what I'm gonna wanna get a lemme, give me kinda.
Isi:
[5:32] Shoulda, shoulda, woulda.
Mitch:
[5:34] Yeah, shoulda, woulda, coulda.
Isi:
[5:36] Shoulda, woulda, coulda.
Mitch:
[5:37] Sounds like you're doing an Eminem really fast rap. I shoulda, woulda, coulda, coulda. And then sorta.
Isi:
[5:43] Sort of?
Mitch:
[5:44] Sort of. I sorta like doing the laundry, to be honest.
Isi:
[5:49] Do you? It's a lie, guys. No one likes to do the laundry. Do you like to do the laundry
Mitch:
[5:53] Not really uh outta.
Isi:
[5:56] I'm out of love set me free this is what did you.
Mitch:
[6:05] Misery.
Easy English Updates
Mitch:
[6:16] As you may or may not know, every Tuesday, we are hosting an online conversation call for our Conversation Members, which are a group of people from all around the world, who are looking to improve their English conversational skills. So they're speaking and listening. I truly believe that the best way to improve your speaking and listening skills is just by doing it, and speaking and dusting off those cobwebs and overcoming those nerves to speak. because making mistakes is the best way for you to understand and to learn and to progress with your English speaking skills. This is absolutely the perfect place to come if you're feeling a bit nervous, or you just want to sort of shake off some cobwebs and dust which has settled on your English speaking level, that maybe you stopped doing when you left school or maybe you got a bit overwhelmed with your New Year's resolution and you stopped suddenly.
Mitch:
[7:13] We're offering one free group class as part of our seven-day free trial of the Conversation Membership and the reason why this is part of our Easy English Updates is, at the moment we have, like I said this class at 18:15 in British time but that doesn't allow for people that are living in Asia, so we would like to, in the summer, open up our first ever Easy English call which is going to be at a time which is friendly for Asia. So we're looking at doing it at 10:15am in England, which will equate to 15:45am in India, 18:15am in China, and 19:15am in Japan and Korea. And if you're interested in us starting this call, we would really appreciate it if you would click the link in the show notes of this podcast and that will also take you to a time conversion website, which will show you exactly what time the pub call will be at in your country. And by clicking this link, we'll be given a notification that you are interested in joining this call when we start it in summer. So if you are, like I said, looking to improve your English speaking skills in a nerve-free and inclusive way, where there's no pressure and we're going to learn all through making mistakes, then join our Easy English Conversation membership with a seven-day free trial by going to easyenglish.video/membership. It will be in the show notes, click the link and we're looking forward to greeting you and welcoming you into our conversation calls. Now back to the episode.
Mitch's Movie Club
Mitch:
[9:01] As part of this topic, we'd like to speak about a movie that we both watched and give it a review and really recommend it. Because we, last week, watched a movie on 'Netflix' called 'Materialists'.
Isi:
[9:14] Are we now making an advertisement?
Mitch:
[9:17] No. Well, we're recommending a good movie, which I think would be very nice for any of you, anyone over the age of 18, I think it's for 16, to watch.
Isi:
[9:27] Did you think it was 16? There's some harder topics.
Mitch:
[9:31] There's some harsh language, some sexual references.
Isi:
[9:34] There's also sexual assault, so that should probably be for...
Mitch:
[9:38] Yeah, so we would like to recommend a movie to all you adults listening to this podcast. We watched a movie called 'Materialists' last week, didn't we?
Isi:
[9:48] Yep.
Mitch:
[9:48] What style would you say this movie is?
Isi:
[9:50] I'm not a movie person. I thought, I think it was advertised as a rom-com.
Mitch:
[9:59] Which means? It's another good contraction.
Isi:
[10:00] Romantic comedy but I would say it's not
Mitch:
[10:03] I would say it is.
Isi:
[10:04] I think it's a rom drama if that is a category.
Mitch:
[10:07] Nice. But there was comedy. It's dark comedy. Okay, let's put it that way. It's very like.
Isi:
[10:12] No I don't mean it's not funny, but it's like it's... I don't mean it's too dark to be funny, I mean it's too not funny to be funny.
Mitch:
[10:20] Right. Yeah okay. But there are funny moments but that's just it's kind of quite real I'd say, it's kind of like, quite a realistic comedy, realistic drama, realistic romance.
Isi:
[10:31] Yeah. I... yeah yeah, and I really like the cinematic style which you have to talk about because I have no idea how they're called. But it's like, it's very like, first of all the look is very New York, I would say, but in a realistic New York way, not like sparkly New York. - Yeah right. - But like, big city, bit greyish, normal colours in a nice way you have the feeling you watch, yeah, a realistic um scenery and the whole movie is quite slow paced, but in an interesting way. I like slow paced movies when you really get like into it and you completely are there, I think I not once got up. I really enjoyed the whole thing. It was not predictable, but not too much and I like that it was the you know, other rom-coms are; something funny happens, something bad happens, and then something really nice happens and yay. And this is like very subtle movements, some bad things happen, definitely. That's why it's probably should be 16 or 18, but there's like, it's like little waves, nice waves that you go with I would say.
Mitch:
[11:42] But can I say that there is something about it, because the rom-com has, people like rom-coms because they're predictable, right? You know that it's going to be like; two people meet, at some point there's going to be a twist, and they're going to fall out But you know the end there will be love at the end, that's the whole point of a rom-com right?
Isi:
[12:01] There's love at the end.
Mitch:
[12:02] And this has... is that, if you made it into a package. But there's always... there's something about this movie where you're never quite... there's parts where you're like, I don't know what's gonna happen next. You know there's gonna have to be something that happens, but in this movie, because there are two love interests for the Dakota Johnson who's the...
Isi:
[12:21] For the Dakota Johnson.
Mitch:
[12:22] For the Dakota Johnson, the protagonist of the movie. But you're never quite sure what the twist is going to be and because this movie is not so glitz and glamour and sparkly, how dark it's going to get or how big the twist is going to be. I wasn't sure if maybe one of the two love interests wouldn't make it or if she would even make it at one point. There were some really uneasy feelings with this movie. And this movie is produced by my favourite production company, A24. Because A24 is kind of known for being kind of a bit like highbrow movie-making.
Isi:
[12:56] You said at the beginning of the film, oh, this is an A24 film, so it might be quite dark. And I was like, no, Netflix advertises it to be like very rom-com. That's why I thought I want to watch it. And then you were like, nah, it will be a bit different. And you were right. And then actually the entering scene is very like odd, not odd. looks very like why is this the scene to start with. They're like in a cave, not they are not. Like, they're a cave a cave man and a cave woman in a cave, long long time ago, having a date. - Yeah. - Anyway, that is I was like; huh! And then you were like...
Mitch:
[13:33] You were like; I think this movie's not right, Netflix has put us into the wrong movie.
Isi:
[13:37] Yeah, and then you were like; no that's A24.
Mitch:
[13:42] There's a lot of mo... a lot of metaphor metaphorical kind of things going on, right? At the beginning, and sort of foreshadowing what will happen in the film a little bit.
Isi:
[13:51] Yeah and it's nicely written
Mitch:
[13:54] Would you... do you want to give a little synopsis? Can you summarise the whole movie, what it's about in like two sentences
Isi:
[14:00] You want to spoil that
Mitch:
[14:01] No, don't spoil it but like what what's the kind of overall.
Isi:
[14:04] Um.. - theme of the movie. - The main character she's a... - The Dakota Johnsonhe Dakota the Dakota Johnson is a how are they called? - A matchmaker. - A matchmaker. So she, well for high profile people.
Mitch:
[14:20] Oh yeah right, a bit like Raya, but a matchmaking version of Raya.
Isi:
[14:23] Rich New Yorkers and she matches... well she has clients that look for love are looking for love and she matches them and puts them on dates and kind of is a bit like a therapist as well meets with them, motivates them to go into it, because often they're like having problems to open up to other people or so. Which also goes very wrong in the movie. I wouldn't say that because I think that's like a part that you don't want to know before.
Mitch:
[14:52] Yeah.
Isi:
[14:53] In a dark way. Not in a... Oh, it goes wrong. They hate each other.
Mitch:
[14:57] But also like the realities of modern dating maybe. The anonymous modern dating.
Isi:
[15:02] Yeah. She meets... a guy. - Pedro Pascal. - At a wedding of one of her clients. - Oh yeah. - And he's very into her, they begin dating , she cannot really believe that he's into her, but she doesn't really fall in love with him, because there is her old love interest, ex-boyfriend.
Mitch:
[15:24] Chris Evans; Captain America.
Isi:
[15:26] I didn't know anybody before I mean Dakota Johnson I've heard of um who is the opposite, he's like an upcoming... not really upcoming, he's like a struggling theatre actor. - Yeah. - Trying to make it in york living in a shared flat, having like doesn't have much money. Pedro Pascal is a mega mega mega mega mega rich guy.
Mitch:
[15:50] He's like, a nepo-baby isn't he
Isi:
[15:52] Yeah I think, what was his penthouse 18 million or 20 million? Like, mega rich. Anyway, so it's also all about that she always thought she's quite superficial and she wants to go for the same that all her clients ask for; rich, tall, handsome.
Mitch:
[16:11] It's all about the height of men.
Isi:
[16:13] Yeah that's also a thing but then yeah, You will see what the end will be.
Mitch:
[16:18] The height of men and the age of the woman is like a horrendously honest, but true theme in this movie. The men are always like, I need under 27. She's like, okay, we have this 29-year-old woman, maybe. He's like, that's basically 30 for me. And he's like a 50-year-old guy. He's like, she needs to be, he doesn't care about, yeah, that's the theme of the title of the movie, Materialists. But it's funny but very true. Like it's a really sort of, honest, mirror image of today's world of dating, right?
Isi:
[16:52] Yeah. You would hope it's different already, but it's not.
Mitch:
[16:55] Right.
Isi:
[16:55] Let me tell you.
Mitch:
[16:56] Is that what it is? Is it a bit of a kick in the face of modern dating, this movie?
Isi:
[17:01] Yeah. But all how we describe it sounds very predictable and pretentious. And I think it's not.
Mitch:
[17:07] Yeah. It sounds like that movie 'Hitch' with Will Smith.
Isi:
[17:11] It's done really, really nicely.
Mitch:
[17:13] It is, yeah. Yeah it definitely takes... it laughs at itself this movie and that one thing that I really liked about it, is that even though it's a rom-com and you know it's probably going to happen at the end, throughout the whole movie you're there's a very uneasy feeling about everything. There's a very there's a bit of reality sort of lingering in this sort of Hollywood movie which you'd be like, oh no something's gonna happen. It's too real for there not to be something real. And yeah, it does happen right? Lots of real things happen. So there's your movie review for this week, go watch it and let us know what you think and you'll also be picking up on lots of American English while you're watching it and some very good acting. Okay, that's the end of the podcast, thank you very much for listening and for you podcast Aftershow listeners who are, Podcast Members of our membership we're going to carry on speaking for a little bit longer about some behind the scenes Easy English things and I'm also going to read a British joke to you. - Oh no. - It's a good one you'll love it, you can remember... - That's what you always say. - Say it to all of your friends. Okay anyway, thank you for listening to this week's podcast. - Thank you. - See you
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88: UK vs US | ft. Justin from Easy Languages
March 23, 202622 min
Justin, an American from Texas and Easy Languages family member joins us to talk about money, driving on the left, the Royal Family, plus culture shocks and strange similarities between Brits and people from …
Show notes
Justin, an American from Texas and Easy Languages family member joins us to talk about money, driving on the left, the Royal Family, plus culture shocks and strange similarities between Brits and people from the United States
Interactive Transcript
Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
Transcript
Intro
Mitch:
[0:23] Hello, everybody.
Isi:
[0:24] Hello.
Mitch:
[0:25] Welcome to another episode of the Easy English Podcast. Isi, we have an exciting episode today, right?
Isi:
[0:33] Yes.
Mitch:
[0:35] Why is that?
Isi:
[0:36] We have a guest from our Easy Languages family. And, it will be exciting and interesting. Maybe we let our guests introduce themselves.
Mitch:
[0:49] Yes, greetings to our mystery guest. Who are you
Justin:
[0:54] Hello hello, my name is Justin, and I am a part of the Easy Languages family. I've been with Easy Languages for over four years now, which is beautiful, amazing. - Wow. - Yes. - And I'm really... yeah, I'm really excited to be on this Easy English podcast, because my native language is English. I grew up in the United States, in Houston, Texas, to be specific. But I also lived in Manchester, UK for a bit of time, around nine months, I want to say. And yeah, there are definitely a lot of differences. Some of them I kind of yearn to go back for, if I'm being honest.
Mitch:
[1:40] Wow, amazing. That's a good introduction. And you're a really amazing guest to have on to do these comparisons and contrasts, I guess. Can I ask a question before we start, Justin?
Justin:
[1:53] Yeah, go ahead.
Mitch:
[1:53] Can you name us some famous people from where you're from? Where in Texas were you from again?
Justin:
[1:59] I'm from Houston, Texas. And the most famous person that I will always represent is Beyoncé.
Mitch:
[2:03] Oh, really!?
Justin:
[2:04] Beyoncé is from Houston, Texas. Yes. So is all of the Destiny's Child. Some younger artists that I know. Post Malone is from Texas.
Mitch:
[2:14] Really? Wow!
Justin:
[2:15] Yes. But... Khaled, if you know that artist.
Isi:
[2:20] Yeah.
Mitch:
[2:21] DJ Khaled?
Justin:
[2:22] Not that one. The one that made that like breezy song. I forgot what it's called.
Mitch:
[2:29] Is Dolly Parton from Texas?
Justin:
[2:31] I was thinking about that, but I think she's from Tennessee.
Mitch:
[2:35] Because with Texas, it comes with a stereotype of people that look a bit like Dolly Parton in my mind. That's what I always think of.
Justin:
[2:42] I mean, they do exist. - Cowboy hats, cowboy boots. - The "bless your heart", type of people. Bless your heart, darling. Those people exist for sure.
Mitch:
[2:51] Pumpkin pie, people.
Justin:
[2:54] Matthew McConaughey. He's from Texas.
Mitch:
[2:57] Wow. All right, all right, all right.
Justin:
[3:00] Yes. He actually was a professor at the United... at the University of Texas in Austin.
Mitch:
[3:07] Wow. From Matthew McConaughey to Liam Gallagher, you went from. But this is great. This is already good. I'm already sort of getting a sense for the cultural comparisons that we're going to get. So, I believe you've prepared a list of certain contrasts and similarities for our 'Topic of the Week', right?
Justin:
[3:31] Yes.
Mitch:
[3:32] Okay, let's get started with that.
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87: How to Keep a Conversation Going in English
March 9, 202620 min
Find your ideal English teacher on italki 🎉 Use the code ENGLISH2026 for €5 off your first class (minimum €10): https://go.italki.com/english2 Isi and Mitch give you 5 (and a half) tips and tricks for keeping …
Show notes
Find your ideal English teacher on italki 🎉 Use the code ENGLISH2026 for €5 off your first class (minimum €10): https://go.italki.com/english2
Isi and Mitch give you 5 (and a half) tips and tricks for keeping the conversation not only going, but flowing if you're a non-native English speaker trying to improve your conversation skills
Interactive Transcript
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Show Notes
Find your ideal English teacher on italki 🎉 Use the code ENGLISH2026 for €5 off your first class (minimum €10): https://go.italki.com/english2
Transcript
Intro
Mitch:
[0:22] Hello everybody.
Isi:
[0:24] Hello.
Mitch:
[0:24] Greetings from sunny Germany, sunny Münster.
Isi:
[0:29] It's so nice. Winter's over.
Mitch:
[0:31] Yeah, newsflash. Winter for us, at least, is over.
Isi:
[0:35] It's 17 or 18 degrees today.
Mitch:
[0:37] Wow.
Isi:
[0:38] It's absolute spring.
Mitch:
[0:40] The worst thing about that is now we're stuck inside doing a podcast.
Isi:
[0:43] Yeah, but only for now. And then we do nothing else today and just lie in the sun.
Mitch:
[0:48] For you guys, we sacrificed the sunny weather to make up a 20-minute podcast. Today, Isi, you have no idea what we're talking about today.
Isi:
[0:58] Nope.
Mitch:
[0:58] This is a very interesting topic, actually, one that I've wanted to do for a while, and it's taken me a while to conjure five points, the most important points. Today, we're talking about how you guys can keep a conversation going in English. So I've come up with five little tips and tricks and you'll be able to help out with this as well Isi, because you obviously learnt English and you speak in English to English people. There's five points I have, five little tips and tricks to help you keep a conversation flowing, because you're obviously trying to manage your English speaking and you, maybe feel a bit nervous, maybe a bit anxious speaking English and so then, also having to think about topics and how to easily, keep the conversation flowing so they're doing some talking as well and you're able to feel confident in asking these questions, using these tips.
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86: 5 Ways to Survive a British Pub
March 2, 202616 min
Mitch and Isi give you 5 common scenarios in a British pub and give you advice, vocabulary and conversational tips to help you, not just survive... but thrive! In a traditional pub in the UK. Interactive …
Show notes
Mitch and Isi give you 5 common scenarios in a British pub and give you advice, vocabulary and conversational tips to help you, not just survive... but thrive! In a traditional pub in the UK.
Interactive Transcript
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Show Notes
Improve your English conversation skills: Start your 7-day free trial of our Conversation Membership
Transcript
Intro
Mitch:
[0:23] Okay, hello, welcome to the Easy English Podcast.
Isi:
[0:27] Hi, hi.
Mitch:
[0:29] I just want to let you guys know that if you're currently listening to this, then you should know that you can also watch it on our YouTube channel.
Isi:
[0:37] But you don't need to.
Mitch:
[0:39] You don't need to for this one.
Isi:
[0:39] You don't need to see our faces.
Mitch:
[0:41] No, there shouldn't be many pictures or images that you should have to see for this. But if you want to see our reactions and faces, then feel free to pop on over. - Our tired faces. - Our tired, exhausted faces, then head on over to our YouTube channel. because today we're doing an episode uh about everyday common scenarios that will happen when you visit a British pub the pup an easy uh semi-professional pub goer now now that you have been in the UK for some time that makes me a professional publishing actually uh you will answer these five scenarios what you should do um phrases and vocabulary that you'll hear that you'll need to use and sort of cultural rules that are unwritten uh in the UK in Britain okay,
Topic of the Week
Mitch:
[1:41] So let's start with number one. I wrote them down on my phone. So the first one, you go to the pub with a British acquaintance. And you both walk up to the bar and I'll play the bartender and I ask, Hello. I look at you. What can I get you? In this moment, what do you do? What phrases would you use? What can I get you?
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85: EU to the UK – Why You MUST Travel by Boat!
February 11, 202622 min
Mitch and Isi will give you their honest pros & cons list, advice & knowledge. And overall, try to convince you to travel to the UK by boat. Our new, Asia-friendly, conversation call - 10:15 GMT (15:45 in India …
Show notes
Mitch and Isi will give you their honest pros & cons list, advice & knowledge. And overall, try to convince you to travel to the UK by boat.
Our new, Asia-friendly, conversation call - 10:15 GMT (15:45 in India / 18:15 in China & 19:15 in Japan & Korea) every Tuesday will start if 10 people email me - [email protected] with the phrase "I'm in".
Interactive Transcript
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Transcript
Intro
Mitch:
[0:22] Hello, everybody.
Isi:
[0:24] Hello.
Mitch:
[0:24] Long time no hear. Usually you say long time no see, but you don't see us. So long time no hear.
Isi:
[0:32] Sometimes you see us.
Mitch:
[0:33] Sometimes. So today, as you can see from the title of this podcast, Isi and I are proficient travellers by boat, when it comes to going between the UK and the EU, as it is now. - Yes, by ferry. - By ferry, which is the name of the big ship. And so we wanted to convince you and give you a bit of a pros, mostly prose, but some cons, list of why it is better to travel to the UK by ferry and give you some hints, tips, advice, because I think, when you're thinking of travelling to the UK the main thing you're always thinking of is Calais to Dover. But there's a huge extensive network of connections, all around Europe that can bring you to the UK by boat.
Isi:
[1:26] I think most people think about flying here, probably.
Mitch:
[1:29] Exactly. But I want, or we would like to give you a rundown of why it's actually better to travel by ferry.
Isi:
[1:35] Is that true?
Mitch:
[1:36] I think so.
Isi:
[1:38] Environmentally. Well, I've not compared the emissions of a ferry to a plane.
Mitch:
[1:45] Yeah, there will be a pros and cons list.
Isi:
[1:49] Don't... uh yeah, sorry.
Mitch:
[1:51] But before we go into that, I want to go into our section, our regular section of Unhelpful Advice, because we have a message. - Oh
Unhelpful Advice
Message:
[2:11] Hello, I wanted to talk English, but I'm shy. And I want you to help me, so I can speak English, for a long time, because I need to.
Mitch:
[2:29] Thank you for your message. So it sounds like you are someone who is very actively trying to learn English, but you're quite shy, which is understandable. I'm also trying to learn German, and I'm very nervous and shy about speaking German to people.
Isi:
[2:44] Even with me.
Mitch:
[2:45] Even to my wife. So the best way to learn English, one, is to watch our YouTube videos, to listen to our podcasts, to surround yourself in the English world.
Isi:
[2:59] Watch English films, series, listen to news, radio.
Mitch:
[3:05] Mm-hmm. - Podcasts. - Yeah.
Isi:
[3:08] And when you have that level of comprehension... listening comprehension, reading comprehension.
Mitch:
[3:14] Then speaking is your next level.
Isi:
[3:17] Or at the same time, but it's easier when you already have a... have a certain level of understanding I guess.
Mitch:
[3:23] Another way that we can help you, alongside our videos and podcasts is through our membership.This message gives me a good reason to mention that we also have something called the Conversation Membership which is great for any of you that want to improve your speaking and listening skills.
Mitch:
[3:38] And currently, we have a conversation call which starts at 18:15 in British time. And it happens every Tuesday night, 18:15. One thing that we realised is that we have lots of people from Asia listening and watching our videos. And we want to support your English speaking and listening skills. And so we're thinking about opening a conversation membership time for the Asian world. So, we would have our conversation calls at 10.15 in the UK, which in Japan and Korea would be 19:15, in China would be 18:15, and in India would be 15:45, I believe. The reason it's at 18:15, 19:15 is to allow for you to finish work, drive home and you have 15 minutes between that to sit down prepare yourself and jump in the call, join Isi, and I and other members who are all trying to improve their English speaking & listening skills. If you are interested in joining our Asia-friendly conversation call at 18:15, 19: 15 time, then what we'd like to ask you to do is to write to me on my email address, which is [email protected] and just write the words, "I'm in". Once we get 10 people who are interested in doing this call, this Asia-friendly call, then we will start it and it will be a regular thing, every Tuesday night for you.
Mitch:
[5:07] And maybe you can join. We even offer a seven-day free trial of our Conversation Membership. So if you're a bit nervous or you don't know, am I B1, am I B2, am I even C1? Come give it a go with our seven-day free trial. See how you fit in. You'll be welcomed by myself, by Isi, and by loads of our other lovely conversation members, who are there and ready to welcome you. To become a Conversation Member or to check out our membership, you just have to go to easyenglish.video/membership. Okay, back to the episode.
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84: What Brits Say vs What They REALLY Mean
January 26, 202621 min
Isi and Mitch give you 10 everyday sayings that British people use - and what they really mean... Go to https://go.italki.com/english2026 to get 5€ off your first italki lesson with our code ENGLISH when you …
Show notes
Isi and Mitch give you 10 everyday sayings that British people use - and what they really mean...
Go to https://go.italki.com/english2026 to get 5€ off your first italki lesson with our code ENGLISH when you spend at least 10 €.
Interactive Transcript
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Transcript
Intro
Mitch
[0:22]Hi everybody, welcome to the Easy English Podcast. Long time, no see. It's been a while.
Isi
[0:29]I think we said we leave this welcome.
Mitch
[0:34]I'm still petitioning for it.
Isi
[0:37]Okay, hello.
Mitch
[0:40]So, today we're back in Brighton, from Münster. And as we've come over, I've already started noticing certain things, that us Brits do quite differently to the rest of Europe. And, one thing that we do, which is probably useful for you guys, whether you are coming to the UK as a tourist, whether you want to move to the UK, or maybe you're just working for a company and there are certain Brits there, maybe your boss is a British person, or your colleagues. Or maybe you just want to... - Your boss. - Your a boss.
Isi
[1:18]Your boss is a British person. That sounded a bit like, intimidating.
Mitch
[1:20]Yeah exactly
Isi
[1:22]But don't be. British bosses, hopefully, are all nice.
Mitch
[1:25]Well, funny you say that. Because, maybe your boss says certain things and the reaction or action, afterwards, is very different from what they're saying. Isi, you bring this up quite a lot, that Brits like to say things, which don't exactly reflect what they mean.
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83: American English vs British English
January 5, 202619 min
In our Easy English Updates, we announce our 'Kick-Off 2026 Challenge' on Monday to improve your English, every day for 14 days. Isi and Mitch then give you 10 everyday word pronunciations that reveal if you're …
Show notes
In our Easy English Updates, we announce our 'Kick-Off 2026 Challenge' on Monday to improve your English, every day for 14 days.
Isi and Mitch then give you 10 everyday word pronunciations that reveal if you're speaking either American or British English, but for we answer a question from Hanan and then Mitch tells a very British joke.
Interactive Transcript
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Transcript
Intro
Isi:
[0:22] Hello.
Mitch:
[0:23] Hi, welcome to the Easy English Podcast. The winter version. Winter has come. We're currently in your parents' basement and it's freezing cold.
Isi:
[0:35] Hence the jackets. It's cold down here.
Mitch:
[0:37] Yeah. So, today we're going to show you some of the differences between the British English and American English pronunciation. We're giving you 10 words which you'll be using every day, that you'll need every day. Depending on how you pronounce these, we can sort of figure out, whether you are, or whether you are speaking with American English pronunciation or British English pronunciation. - Oh dear. - Yeah. But, before we get into that, we have quite a nice surprise, that we've already revealed a bit about in some videos and earlier podcasts, don't we Isi? We have a kickstart to our 2026 Easy English year.
Easy English Updates
Isi:
[1:23] Yeah, we have, well, you said it already, the 'Kick-Off 2026 Challenge', which means we give you challenges to improve your English, every day, for a continuous 14 days. So every morning, get a challenge. You have to write something. Maybe make an audio message if you can. You don't need to. You can also write everything, share something, maybe write a letter to your boss, complain about something, apply for a job. It will be like personal, reflective things, but also business English to have you, basically, every day improve your English. We know from past experiences, that if you do those challenges, really every day, that this really boosts your language learning experience. So we are excited. 5th of January, we start for 14 days, come join us. If you become a member, on easyenglish.video/membership you can join us with any membership you're in, it all happens on our Discord server. What else do we need to say
Mitch:
[2:25] That's it you did explain it very well. It's an intensive, every day, for 14 days, English challenge to level up and improve your English. Get going where you left off and yeah, like Isi said, join any one of our membership levels, we have three different types and all of those gets you access to our Discord server, where Isi and I will be posting each and every day, the challenges for you. Let's go to our Topic of the Week.
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82: England vs Germany - the Christmas Special
December 16, 202523 min
This week, we announce our 14-day challange in the new year for you to kick-start your 2026 and improve your English. Is also opens an early Christmas present from Mitch on the podcast and they compare the …
Show notes
This week, we announce our 14-day challange in the new year for you to kick-start your 2026 and improve your English. Is also opens an early Christmas present from Mitch on the podcast and they compare the differences and similarities of Christmas time in the UK and Germany, before Mitch tells a couple of Christmas-themed jokes... Merry Christmas!
Interactive Transcript
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Transcript
Intro
Isi:
[0:23] Good morning!
Mitch:
[0:25] Merry Christmas!
Isi:
[0:27] It's not Christmas yet. - It's not Christmas yet. T'was the night before Christmas.
Isi:
[0:32] It's also not the night before Christmas.
Mitch:
[0:35] But, this is the Easy English Christmas Special.
Isi:
[0:41] Oh, it sounds like Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, but not as exciting.
Mitch:
[0:47] And we have a couple of Christmassy features, including me gifting Isi her first early Christmas gift.
Isi:
[0:55] Yes?
Mitch:
[0:56] From Santa Mitch.
Isi:
[0:58] Oh, not real Santa. He's not yet around the house, is he? Oh, I'm excited. Why?
Mitch:
[1:07] Because you've been a very good person this year and the elves told me.
Isi:
[1:13] To give you an early one. Okay.
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81: 10 Useful Idioms for English Conversations
December 1, 202516 min
Isi guesses and explains 10 commonly used idioms in conversations, while Mitch explains where they came from. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for …
Show notes
Isi guesses and explains 10 commonly used idioms in conversations, while Mitch explains where they came from.
Interactive Transcript
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Show Notes
- Watch the episode on YouTube: 10 Useful Idioms for English Conversations (Easy English 216)
Transcript
Mitch:
[0:22] So, today, we want to bring you an episode introducing everyday English idioms. And, what I've done is I've compiled some images for isi to look at and we're going to describe them for you audio listeners. And for you YouTube watchers/viewers, we're going to look at these images, and try to distinguish what the idiom is and what it means. Make sense?
Isi:
[0:52] Yeah, let's start.
Mitch:
[0:53] Let's start.
Isi:
[0:54] I have questions.
Mitch:
[0:55] Okay, so here is number one, everyday English idiom. What are you thinking?
Isi:
[1:03] Instead of a head, that person has a bowl of baked beans, as a head.
Mitch:
[1:09] Baked beans, very English. So?
Isi:
[1:13] Do you have a bean head?
Mitch:
[1:15] No.
Isi:
[1:15] You're a bean hat.
Mitch:
[1:16] A bean head, no. A bean head.
Isi:
[1:19] Could that mean that you're like, an idiot? Yeah, no?
Mitch:
[1:23] A bean head. Yeah, like a tiny brain. But no, that's not the idiom. this is an.. - Stew... you are... stew? - No, you know this idiom you use it a lot, actually. Or I use it a lot... - His head is farting? - Yeah, that's the correct idiom.
Isi:
[1:38] They're all in his body
Mitch:
[1:39] Imagine that the beans are filling up from his... up through his legs. - Full of beans! - He is...
Isi:
[1:46] That's a weird picture for it, though. Did you find that, for 'full of beans'? Did chat ChatGPT do this for you
Mitch:
[1:51] I made all these images on an AI image generator.
Isi:
[1:55] That's 'full of beans'
Mitch:
[1:57] That is the best way I could describe 'full of beans'. Okay, tell me then, what does 'full of beans' mean, and when would you use it?
Isi:
[2:05] Um... you would describe a person or yourself.
Mitch:
[2:10] Yeah.
Isi:
[2:11] I think you don't really say it about yourself.
Mitch:
[2:13] No.
Isi:
[2:14] More about others. - Yeah. - If someone is in a very good mood, very active, busy, maybe a bit like, dancing around.
Mitch:
[2:24] Exactly.
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80: Scottish Facts, Slang and Phrases.
November 19, 202525 min
Mitch and Isi find out facts, slang and phrases from Scotland. The duo then answer Marianne's question about British TV shows before Mitch reads out a few classic British jokes. Interactive Transcript Support …
Show notes
Mitch and Isi find out facts, slang and phrases from Scotland. The duo then answer Marianne's question about British TV shows before Mitch reads out a few classic British jokes.
Interactive Transcript
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Show Notes
- Mitch & Janusz's jokes video: British Jokes (Easy English 168)
Transcript
Intro
Mitch:
[0:23] We've hit a milestone as well. I just... I didn't even notice. We're on episode 80.
Isi:
[0:30] When is 100?
Mitch:
[0:32] Next year sometime. Well, as it's the milestone, we'd like to say welcome to the Easy English Podcast, episode 80.
Isi:
[0:42] Whoop, whoop.
Mitch:
[0:43] Wow. 80 episodes. Crazy. And welcome to any new people who have just discovered us.
Isi:
[0:50] Hello.
Mitch:
[0:51] Today, we've got a few topics and a brand new topic, which I'd like to make a continuous topic, that appears in every episode. But our main 'Topic of the Week' is a subject which was requested, in the last podcast by Marcel, from the Swiss-German border.
Isi:
[1:14] Scotland. - What?
Mitch:
[1:17] Oh yeah! - Scotland's not on the Swiss-German border.
Isi:
[1:21] But, wasn't that the topic.
Mitch:
[1:22] Yeah, so Marcel asked for us to talk about Scotland. And, one issue we have with that is... we have been to Scotland right? - We have been... - But we don't know that much. - several times. - Yeah, several times, but we still didn't really know that much. - No. - So I did a bit of research and I’m gonna sort of, enlighten all of us, because a lot of these things I was like, what? Wow, that's amazing. There's so much interesting stuff about Scotland. And we also have an 'Unhelpful Advice' question, from another listener, who sent in a voice message. And then at the end, we have our new brand new section, 'British Jokes'.
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79: Brighton to France: 5 Culture Shocks
October 28, 202518 min
The pace of life, food habits, market days and more... Mitch and Isi talk about the culture shocks they discovered during their time in the south west of France Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and …
Show notes
The pace of life, food habits, market days and more... Mitch and Isi talk about the culture shocks they discovered during their time in the south west of France
Interactive Transcript
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Transcript
Mitch:
[0:23] Did you see this? They think they have a video now of... did you see that the Louvre was robbed?
Isi:
[0:29] Yeah, I didn't hear much about it. I saw this video as well.
Mitch:
[0:31] And they didn't have any... oh, you saw it? They think someone filmed two people escaping down a mechanical ladder, with the jewels, because they have no video footage from inside the Louvre. Sounds like such a...
Isi:
[0:43] Why don't they have videos in the Louvre?
Mitch:
[0:45] They do, but they said that there's the one place where they didn't have footage was exactly the place where they came in and stole it, which is like...
Isi:
[0:52] Which they probably knew.
Mitch:
[0:53] Inside job, maybe.
Isi:
[0:55] I mean, they can research that.
Mitch:
[0:56] I guess they scouted out for a while. But, funny that we speak about the Louvre being burgled because...
Isi:
[1:04] Did you say already we started this podcast? Oh, you don't anymore. Did we just... went in like this, now?
Mitch:
[1:11] We just start cas... casually.
Isi:
[1:13] Oh, our talk about the Louvre was already on podcast?
Mitch:
[1:17] Not you blowing your nose, though. I'll cut that bit out.
Isi:
[1:20] Good.
Mitch:
[1:22] This is a soft entry, we call it.
Isi:
[1:25] Okay, cool.
Mitch:
[1:28] But today, that links in with our topic today, because, we just returned back from France, and I thought we could talk about some key differences, between not, the UK and France, but very specific, I thought we could bring up differences between our two lives we have just been living, between Brighton and the south of France, specifically the Dordogne region, where we were living for some time.
Isi:
[1:58] Yes.
Mitch:
[1:58] And I've got five points, that I sort of, have realised are very different, between our lifestyle here and our lifestyle back then, when we were living in the south of France.
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78: The Secret Rules of British Life Nobody Tells You
October 20, 202519 min
Crossing on a red light? Table service in a pub? Bus, supermarket and London Underground ettiquette? Mitch tests Isi with 5 very British scenarios to see if she knows the unwritten rules of British life …
Show notes
Crossing on a red light? Table service in a pub? Bus, supermarket and London Underground ettiquette? Mitch tests Isi with 5 very British scenarios to see if she knows the unwritten rules of British life.
Interactive Transcript
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Transcript
Intro
Isi:
[0:22] Hello!
Mitch:
[0:24] Hello! Welcome to the Easy English Podcast.
Isi:
[0:28] I'm pro-leaving this out next time. We should... please leave your comment on Spotify, or your other favourite apps. On Spotify you can leave a comment and say, stop telling us which podcast we are listening to.
Mitch:
[0:43] What did I say at the beginning now? Hello!
Isi:
[0:46] How are you? Without an answer, but that's very English.
Mitch:
[0:51] It is very English.
Isi:
[0:52] Alright. - Alright, mate. - Alright.
Mitch:
[0:54] Alright. So today, we're going to be playing a little scenario game with you. - As usual. - As usual, putting you to the test. And proposing five situations, that will happen to you, in the UK and will happen to you in the UK, if you come. Let's call them 'unwritten rules of the UK'.
Isi:
[1:15] The first one is already an odd one then. There's no should or shouldn't in that one. well basically there's a should.
Mitch:
[1:21] Hold your horses. we'll get on to that in a minute. I just want to quickly say, that if you're listening to this podcast, on your podcast app, you should be made aware, that this podcast is also available as a video on YouTube and we're going to be showing some pictures, in-between Isi and I, of these sort of proposed scenarios.
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77: A German Ranks Traditional British Food
October 6, 202520 min
Come play along as Isi ranks traditional British food, such as the full English breakfast, Sunday roast dinner, crumpets ans the famous fish & chips. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get …
Show notes
Come play along as Isi ranks traditional British food, such as the full English breakfast, Sunday roast dinner, crumpets ans the famous fish & chips.
Interactive Transcript
Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
Transcript
Mitch:
[0:22] Hello.
Isi:
[0:24] Hi.
Mitch:
[0:25] Welcome to the Easy English Podcast.
Isi:
[0:29] How long will we say this? Always?
Mitch:
[0:31] Always. Forever.
Isi:
[0:33] It takes five good seconds of our podcast.
Mitch:
[0:37] That just took five good seconds, saying that. So today, our main Topic of the Week we'll be ranking the best and worst British foods.
Isi:
[0:50] It's very fitting, because we just had one of the best ones, last night.
Mitch:
[0:55] What did we have last night?
Isi:
[0:56] A Sunday roast, by Mitch's mum. That was really nice.
Mitch:
[1:01] And we're going to be ranking them by this chart, which you can see in the middle of us. And their ranking goes from 'God tier' to 'top tier', 'mid tier', 'low tier' and 'crap tier'.
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76: 7 Strong Accents From the UK
September 23, 202517 min
Improve your English listening skills as Isi tries to guess where these 7 strong accents from the UK are from... Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for …
Show notes
Improve your English listening skills as Isi tries to guess where these 7 strong accents from the UK are from...
Interactive Transcript
Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
Transcript
Intro
Mitch:
[0:22] Hiya everybody, welcome to the Easy English Podcast.
Isi:
[0:27] Hello.
Mitch:
[0:28] I'm overdoing my enthusiasm I feel, because we are in a low energy state. We've just come back from Berlin and we both caught the dreaded Corona.
Isi:
[0:44] Dreaded.
Mitch:
[0:45] So, we've been a little bit under the weather. So, I'm going to try to infuse some extra energy to the podcast, right Isi?
Isi:
[0:54] Please. I don't have it today.
Mitch:
[0:56] Aww... but before we carry on actually, because we have just come back from Berlin and we met lots of really nice people, it wasn't anything to do with Easy English we were actually there for the Easy German Summer School. But we met loads of you who were also Easy English Podcast listeners, so huge shout-out!
Isi:
[1:17] Shout-out to everyone. And we also did a new episode for Easy English.
Mitch:
[1:21] We also made an episode in Berlin, about Berlin, comparing um... cultural, culture shocks, that we noticed in our time there, the one week we spent, before we caught the dreaded (Co)rona. But that's not what we're discussing today. Today, a little bit of a follow-on from last episode, where Isi tested me on cultural slang words.
Isi:
[1:46] Yes.
Mitch:
[1:46] The reason she did that, was because, we like to play a game now, where she quickly, guesses the accent of a person, when we're in the UK. And she's on fire. She's on a hot streak of victories.
Isi:
[2:02] Well... God, you make me scared.
Mitch:
[2:06] So I searched online and found some... because Brighton is very southern, most of the time. Only rarely do you hear someone from the far reaches of the UK, so I went and found accents from the far reaches of the UK. So we're going to play a little game, maybe you can play along with us, and pause and try to guess yourself, where you think this person's from, and we're going to discuss little hints and tips as to why we think they sound like where they're coming from. Because there are some giveaways in all of these, because they're quite strong, regional accents.
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75: 10 English Slang Words from Outside the UK
September 11, 202518 min
Ballpark figure, shift, chur, keener, a double-double, lekker, togs, thongs, jonesin & craic... do you know these English slang words from outside the UK? Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get …
Show notes
Ballpark figure, shift, chur, keener, a double-double, lekker, togs, thongs, jonesin & craic... do you know these English slang words from outside the UK?
Interactive Transcript
Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
Transcript
Intro
Mitch:
[0:25] I'm nervous.
Isi:
[0:26] Really?
Mitch:
[0:28] Nervously excited.
Isi:
[0:30] Mitch is confused, because he doesn't know what's coming up today.
Mitch:
[0:33] Yeah, I feel like I'm in the hot seat for the first time in a long time.
Isi:
[0:38] So, yeah, I prepared this topic. Mitch doesn't even know it yet. What I thought, actually, it has a little background story. At the moment we play this game, whenever we are somewhere where people are, where I guess if someone has a different accent to our southern British surroundings, I guess where the people are from. Because I would love to master this, and to bring my English to the next level and know when someone is from Australia, the US, Ireland, or Liverpool.
Mitch:
[1:18] You're getting really good at it though. You're quite quick.
Isi:
[1:21] Why did you say though? Wasn't it expected? Actually yesterday, good example, no?
Mitch:
[1:28] Yeah, I just quizzed you... there was someone behind you and I just quizzed you quickly; do you know where they're from? You're just, like a flash, "Ireland." What part of Ireland? "Republic".
Isi:
[1:40] I love Ireland. Yeah, so what I thought is, I would like to, a bit, quiz you, if you know slang words from other British English speaking countries or regions, actually countries, I think, only. Yeah, other countries. Would you like to go for that?
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74: 5 Strange UK Work Habits
September 1, 202520 min
Working holidays, lunch at your desk, small talk at meetings, wild Christmas parties & tea breaks... we discuss 5 strange work habits in the UK. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive …
Show notes
Working holidays, lunch at your desk, small talk at meetings, wild Christmas parties & tea breaks... we discuss 5 strange work habits in the UK.
Interactive Transcript
Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
Transcript
Isi:
[0:22] Hiya!
Mitch:
[0:23] Hiya!
Isi:
[0:24] Hiya!
Mitch:
[0:25] Welcome to Easy English... Welcome to the Easy English Podcast. For those of you listening, you should be made aware, as per usual, that this episode is also available as a video episode on our YouTube channel. Because in this one, I'm going to be showing you some pictures and you might also want to look and watch along, as we identify five work habits that Germans might not understand.
Isi:
[1:03] Oh.
Mitch:
[1:03] And, I've harnessed the power of AI to create some images of typical work scenarios in the UK, which might be a little bit strange, not just for Germans, but for you guys, wherever you're watching from, if it's not in the UK.
Isi:
[1:23] Okay. I don't know what's coming, but I'm prepared for nothing.
Mitch:
[1:31] But, before we go into this week's topic, we have an exciting announcement that we've been working on over the summer, right Isi?
Isi:
[1:42] Yes. We changed our memberships, I think that's the first announcement. And with that, also produced a new trailer on our YouTube channel, so if you're listening, hop over there. If you're on the YouTube channel, click on it here, somewhere. So yeah, there's a new trailer, a very detailed, long trailer, that explains everything about our memberships, about our work, about our content, so please, please watch that. What we can tell now is that we, made our memberships easier and... we had before five memberships, now we have three, and to us they make more sense, then hopefully, to you.
Mitch:
[2:26] Yeah we've defined them a bit more in the areas of Supporter, which is for anyone that wants to help keep our project Easy English running, because at the moment it's currently just myself and Isi, little old us, and our project Easy English is kind of a community funded project, run by you, designed by you, inspired by you and made for you. You know, our podcasts and videos are free to watch and listen to, so becoming a member not only helps you learn with us, but also helps keep our project running. It's just a small amount you pay every month if you were to join the Supporter Membership and in return we'd also invite you to join our Discord server, which is a chat-based app, Is that right?
Isi:
[3:13] Server. Tool.
Mitch:
[3:14] Tool, where you can meet other members like yourself, who are supporting us, who are learning with us. But you can also meet with myself and Isi, and we'll discuss just general topics, get to know each other, and we'll get to say thank you for helping to support Easy English.
Isi:
[3:29] Yeah. I share lots of pictures of Nola.
Mitch:
[3:34] There'll be Nola pictures. There'll be dinner pictures. There'll be holiday pictures, food pictures.
Isi:
[3:38] All my guilty pleasure food. It's on there. So, yeah, for sure. I mean, our Discord is, for us, a place where we daily, meet our Easy English family, and it's a lot of fun. It's like a place where we just daily hang out. It's great.
Mitch:
[3:57] The second membership is the Learner Membership, which has now just combined the Video and Podcast Membership into one. So you're going to get all of the learning material for all of our episodes, whether it be a podcast episode or video episode.
Isi:
[4:10] All in one.
Mitch:
[4:11] Exactly, and you'll also be invited to Discord. And then the final membership is our Conversation Membership, which includes everything we've just said, but adds on our really fun, really relaxed and really useful and helpful conversation calls, which happen every Tuesday. It's a group setting it's online we all create a pub themed background, a bit like what we're doing here in the background and we just chat about topics which will be referenced in videos, we chat about topics that will help you if you're working in English, if you're coming to live in England, or if you're just wanting to surround yourself in the English-speaking world.
Isi:
[4:50] So, if you want to become a member and get more comfortable with your English, learn with us, get to know us, chat with us, be part of our little world, then go to easyenglish.video/membership
Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership

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