Proper English

This week, we're all about Alison's favourite drink: tea! The Brits love their tea with milk, but should you put it in the cup before or after the tea? And who cares? This week's idiom is 'Not for al…

We're back after a week's break - in this episode, we're all about the collective nouns. Ever wondered what you call a group of apes? Wonder no more, as Ali becomes a contestant on a strange game sho…

This week, we're looking at the perils and pitfalls of translation, and asking: just how accurate are translation apps? We're talking about a number of different idioms this week - and what happens w…

Do you know what the average person spends about 26 years of their life doing? Sleeping, that's what! This week, we're talking about words and phrases associated with sleep. It'll keep you awake at n…

This week, we open by talking about list sentences and conjunctions - but the real subject is the truth about the clever things that famous people have said - can we believe everything that we read? …

This week, we're talking about some more of our favourite things: singers, drinks (regular listeners will already know Ali's favourite drink) and one of Dave's favourite things - poetry! The Idiom of…

This week, we're back on the subject of phrasal verbs - and this time, we're keeping it in the family! This week's featured idiom is 'Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth.'

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We're back with a new season and a rejuvenated logo! This week, especially for our student Joaquim, we're going to tell you all about our holiday! Also, we're chatting about childhood holidays and we…

This week we're talking about cats - the cats we've shared our houses with, and the cat-related vocabulary that we use. We're also looking at the difference between 'In the end' and 'At the end' and …

This week, we're all about… what is it we're all about this week? Ah yes, ways to remember things - from remembering the names of the planets in our Solar System to jogging your memory about the numb…

What did you do at the weekend? We spent some time in the garden, and tidied our garden shed (it needed it). We found quite a lot of garden-related idioms and - we have a new feature: 'Where on earth…

This week, it's Alison's turn to fly solo. Don't worry, Dave'll be back next week! It's all about the traditional English pub in this episode, a little bit of history of some pub names, and consideri…

This week we're taking a look at that peculiarly British tradition - the pub quiz! And we're giving you a chance to take part in our very own Proper English Pub Quiz! The Idiom of the Week is 'Head i…

This week, we return to the theme of names - we're concentrating on the wild and wonderful place names in England this time. The Idiom of the Week under investigation by Davidson and Roberts is 'Off …

This week, Proper English is one year old! To celebrate, we're telling you the story of how this little podcast came into existence, what we've been doing this year, and what we've got in store for y…

This week, we're talking about our names: first names and surnames - how they're spelt and pronounced, where they come from, and what they mean. We're also looking at the the difference between 'soun…

This week, we're talking with Carla, one of our students, about her experiences as a Brazilian living and studying in London. The Idiom of the Week is Carla's take on the words she didn't learn in En…

This week, we're discussing some of the obstacles English language learners face when trying to polish their conversational skills. We'll also be looking at the difference between 'each' and 'every',…

We like to do something different in every episode - this week, we're reciting poetry! We're talking about rhythms and rhyme schemes, alliteration and assonance, and sad subjects and silly verse!

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This week, we're returning to the subject of prepositions - this time around, we're concentrating on the prepositions we use when we talk about time. We're also looking at the difference between 'all…