Conversation & Pronunciation: Learn English with The Rachel's English Podcast
Study English conversation skills with one of YouTube's most popular English as a Second (or third!) Language teachers, Rachel of Rachel's English. Most beneficial for intermediate to advanced students, Rachel's specialty is the nuance and musicality of spoken English. Learn about English stress, sounds, and melodies, in addition to American slang, idioms, phrasal verbs, vocabulary, common phrases, culture, and more! Each episode is a CONVERSATION, so join the conversation now and learn how to communicate naturally in English.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 31 minutes
- Episodes
- 25
- Years Active
- 2017
025: New Year's Resolutions
Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? Today we discuss the kinds of resolutions we make, and discuss tips on how to keep them. Learn what a SMART goal is, and learn the idioms and interesting vocabular…
024: The Best Present You've Ever Gotten
Today we talk about the best present we’ve ever gotten, and define interesting words, terms, and phrases that come up in natural conversation. Learn the phrases ‘freaking out’, ‘big deal’, ‘to be up …
023: Conversations: Describe a Recent Situation that Made you Crack Up
David and I ask each other questions to get the conversation going – then we stop when we use an idiom, phrasal verb, or challenging vocabulary word and explain it. You’ll learn and these words and …
022: Phrases for being Polite in American English
When we were in Italy recently, we often struggled with knowing the polite way to phrase a request or ask for something. We could get the point across, but we lacked nuance with the language. Today…
021: Our Experience Being Non-Native Speakers
Today we reflect on our trip to Italy and what is was like being non-native speakers. We discuss how we picked up language there, and how it felt not being able to fully communicate. We talk about be…
020: Letting Go of Inhibitions and Embodying a New Language
Today we listen to a conversation that we recorded in Italy with my sister- and brother-in-law as we discuss what it means to be in another country, trying to speak a new language. We talk about leav…
019: Conversations: What are some of the Great Things about Living in Philadelphia?
Today we study casual English conversation as David and I ask each other questions like: Think back 10 years. What's something that has changed about your personality? As we speak, we pick out the ph…
018: Taking the IELTS Speaking Test - Interview with Eliot Friesen of Magoosh
The IELTS exam tests your proficiency in English, and today we sit down with IELTS expert Eliot Fresien of Magoosh. He has created a training program to help students prepare, and today we discuss in…
017: Conversations: What's the Most Challenging Job you've Ever Had?
Today David and I ask each other a series of questions to get the conversation going. Then we stop ourselves as idioms, phrasal verbs, or interesting vocabulary words come up in conversation. A sampl…
016: Friendships in America
Today we answer questions about making with Americans—and growing friendships with Americans. Is it normal to have good friends of both sexes? Do Americans avoid talking about the difficulties in lif…
015: Diphthongs
Today we do a deep-dive into the American English diphthongs. How many are there, and why doesn’t everyone agree with the number? We discuss the different spellings of the diphthongs, as well as the …
014: Conversations: Name an Embarrassing Moment you've had as an Adult
Today David and I ask each other a series of questions to get the conversation going, then we stop ourselves as idioms, phrasal verbs, or interesting vocabulary words come up in conversation. A samp…
013: Interview with Brooke Kandel-Cisco on Teaching ESL Teachers
David and I sit down with Butler University professor Brooke Kandel-Cisco to discuss teaching English as a Second Language. We talk about the standards for teaching non-native students in the US and…
012: Family Relationships and Idioms
This week’s episode is a companion to the vocabulary builder video published on YouTube and the website. We discuss more complicated family relationships as well as lots of idioms that use family re…
011: Vowels, Part 2
In Part 2 of the Vowels series, we discuss the remaining vowels in English: EH [ɛ], UR [ɜ], OO [u], UH [ʊ], another UH [ʌ], and the Schwa [ə]. We discuss one of the main differences between British…
010: Vowels, Part 1
David and I discuss five of the 11 vowels of American English, and go over the various ways each sound can be spelled. This leads to discussions of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and spel…
009: Rural Juror - Your Pronunciation Questions Answered
David and I answer your questions from YouTube. How is ACTUAL actually pronounced? Is it okay to use American idioms and slang during the IELTS speaking test? How do you pronounce 'goal' vs. 'go'?…
008: Food Idioms! Small Peanuts, White on Rice and so much more!
David and I cover just some of the MANY idioms that are in use in daily English conversation -- some of those relating to food: Icing on the cake, have your cake and eat it too, not my cup of tea, a…
007: Interview with an American Adult Learning English AGAIN - Dave Valiulis
In this episode, I interview stroke survivor Dave Valiulis. There's a lot to learn about mastering an accent from someone who had to relearn a language as an adult. Dave gives great tips for retrai…
006: Pig vs. Pick, How to Understand People from all over the World, and more
I answer your pressing questions on English pronunciation, how to understand people from all over the world, the Flap T, and more, with the help of my amazing sidekick (and husband!) David.