More Than English Podcast

Jesse is going to talk about one of his favorite things... Challenges. He is going to discuss what challenges are and give you specific tasks to challenge yourself this week to improve your English and improve in any area.  He will also look at and teach 4 EXPRESSIONS: The more <A>, the more <B> Just for the sake of _____ A pay-off (n) To make something from scratch All of this and more in this episode of the More Than English Podcast. Let's go! For more information and resources visit sweedacademy.com

In today's episode, Jesse is giving you 5 specific methods to improve your English fluency.  These tips and tricks are common problems and barriers that many learners of languages face. You may be doing some of these tricks, and you may not be doing others. If you incorporate at least one of these tricks to your English learning, you will notice improvement and be more confident in your English progress. As with each episode, Jesse will dissect and explore some of the natural expressions and vocabulary that he uses as he's speaking. These will help you grow even deeper in your English fluency. As always, find episode notes and more material at sweedacademy.com.

80% of New Year's Resolutions fail by February. How are yours coming along? If you've failed, no problem! The problem isn't you... the problem is New Year's Resolutions are set up for failure.  In this episode of the More Than English Podcast, Jesse will share a useful alternative to making New Year's Resolutions THAT WORKS!! New Year's Resolutions fail because they are a proposed sudden change in your life simply because the calendar says 1/1, and there is often no back-up plan. If you fall down in this, it's hard mentally to get back up. With this alternative, you will be able to look at the end of the year as your objective and continue to keep moving forward to reach your objective. For more information and episode notes, visit sweedacademy.com

Happy New Year! Are you looking for a new job this year? Jesse wants to share one of his favorite articles to do with students who he helps prepare their CV for a new job. Did you know that the average time an employer takes to look at the resume of a potential candidate is 6.25 SECONDS! That's not much time to make a powerful impact! The article we're working from is from Forbes.com and it is called 'The Best and Worst Words to Use on Your Resume'.  https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/03/17/the-best-and-worst-words-to-use-on-your-resume/#78d6066348cf  In this episode, we will take a look through the list, explain some of the words and examine why they are on the list of either BEST or WORST words. Jesse will also teach some new expressions to help with your English fluency. For more information and resources, visit sweedacademy.com Find your English CV or resumé, and get ready to make some changes and make it more powerful for your future employers because it's not just English, it's more

If I were to ask you what the best question is, what would you say? Of course it depends on the information you're looking for. But, in this episode, Jesse explores what the he feels is the best question and the reason for it being the best question.  We will look at different reasons and contexts we can use this question to make it the best. Before listening to this episode, if you're reading this, please answer this question for yourself. What is the best question and why? As with every episode, Jesse will explain some new vocabulary and expressions to improve your English fluency as well. This isn't just English, it's more than English. Let's go! For more notes and materials, visit sweedacademy.com

Do you know what the key to improving at a language... or anything else is? Time and times. You need time to perfect your skill, and you need repetition of doing it correctly. This is the key to improvement. In today's episode, Jesse discusses this idea and shares some insight from his own life and path about how he's applying this to his progress. You will also be able to learn valuable expressions and phrases to become more fluent in English. Share this with somebody who is learning something new. For show notes and other material, visit sweedacademy.com

Do you have a 'high English level', but you have a difficult time with your listening? It can be frustrating, right? Why is English listening to a foreign language so difficult? In today's episode, Jesse will explain strategic steps that you can take to improve your listening comprehension. Jesse will give you three tasks to do next time you're listening to an interview, a Ted talk, a YouTube video, or any other thing that you want to listen to. Follow this advice and these tasks and improve your foreign language listening immediately. Episode notes and more material at sweedacademy.com

What's the difference between a reason and an excuse? Sometimes, we HAVE reasons for not doing what we need to do, and sometimes we MAKE excuses. If we understand the difference, it can help us be more productive in our day. In this episode, Jesse is going to explore this questions and share his opinion about the difference. Do you agree with him? Share your comments and your opinion. Find episode notes and more resources at sweedacademy.com

Do you have ten minutes a day to practice or improve something? At the end of six days, you will have practiced an hour. We can all find ten minutes a day to practice something. First, decide something to improve. Second, make 10 minutes a day to CONSISTENTLY practice this thing. Next, once you are consistently practicing this thing every day, figure out specific areas to work on at this skill. Follow these steps, and you will absolutely improve in this skill and as a person. Find more information and show notes at sweedacademy.com

Learning language isn't much different than learning a sport, an instrument, or how to do anything. Repetition repetition repetition. You will perform how you practice. In this episode, Jesse talks about studying English in a different way. Focus on the muscle memory with your brain and your mouth to get used to doing it the right way. Jesse gives some tips and examples for you to practice this on your own or with your teacher. If you would like to study with Jesse, visit sweedacademy.com and sign up for a lesson. Also, visit sweedacademy.com/podcast for episode notes.

Happy Halloween! It's Halloween at the time of recording this, and it's a time for strange and spooky stories. Something strange and spooky happened to me a few years ago, and I want to share this story with you on this episode. I will tell you about the time I saw a ghost in my room, what I did, and how it felt to experience this thing. Listen for new vocabulary and expressions during my story and use them in your stories. For episode notes and more visit sweedacademy.com/podcast

I have to fix what I said last week. I tried doing what I asked you to do, and I realized a way to make it BETTER! Follow me and create ONE goal for yourself and plans of action. Last week, I had assigned you to write three goals for yourself... however, after doing that assignment MYSELF, I realized that creating three goals might be too much to as of ourselves. Instead, focus on ONE goal and plans of action to accomplish that goal. Your goal should be: - specific - you can check off yes/no if you did it - concrete - include an amount or time frame - realistic Jesse talks about this and more in this episode of the More Than English Podcast. Visit sweedacademy.com/podcast for show notes and more.

I would like to take you through a typical first lesson with one of my students. Typically, for a first lesson, we look at your goals. Let's look at your goals. I will teach you how to set goals, and how to use English to make a plan to accomplish those goals. This is going to be an interactive episode, so I'd like you to get a pen and a piece of paper to get ready to write down your goals. Also, take a photo of your goals and tag me on Instagram @SweedAcademy You don't have to make 3 goals. If you only have one goal, do these exercises for that goal! For extra materials, visit sweedacademy.com

Let's talk about the most common thing that holds learners back from learning something new or improving something... self-belief. In other words, CONFIDENCE. If you believe you can or you believe you can't, you're right. This is what I want to talk with you about today. I will share a story of a student and help you in your confidence because believe it or not, you know more than you think you know. You're better than you think you are. You can do more than you think you can. Visit sweedacademy.com for show notes.

It's always important to get off to a good start and make a good first impression. However, starting a conversation is often very difficult and makes us nervous. In this episode, I want to share some strategy, tips, and expressions to use when you want to start a conversation with somebody. After the episode, we will have an English lesson and look at the expressions, vocabulary, pronunciation, and some grammar from this episode. Learn these, practice these, and use these next time you want to start a new conversation. Go to sweedacademy.com/podcast for episode notes and a listening quiz.

Do you feel like you're not improving in your English? There are many complicated parts of English that students find very difficult. Maybe you're studying grammar, vocabulary, phrasal verbs, expressions, verb tenses, and other details in English. In this episode, Jesse teaches you a trick to try when you get stuck with your English and you feel like you're not improving. The secret is... Less is More. Focus on only one grammar point, vocabulary, or expression that you're having trouble with and become obsessed with that for one week. Jesse will go into further detail with this in this episode. Visit sweedacademy.com/podcast for episode notes and a listening quiz.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 is "The Long Turn", or as many students say it, "The Hell Turn." I asked Dr. Peter Crosthwaite to share tips and advice to be successful on this part of the speaking exam. He will give you study tips to prepare for the exam, advice and things to say, and some common mistakes to be careful for and not do or say on your speaking exam. If you are preparing for a speaking exam, this advice is a must listen. At Sweed Academy, you will see a listening quiz to go with the conversation. At the end of our conversation, we have natural English conversation and banter that will really help your REAL English listening. As always, after the episode, we have a Visit https://www.sweedacademy.com/podcast for notes and a listening quiz.

In Part 2 of my interview with Dr. Peter Croswaithe, we talk about his specialty... IELTS Writing and Speaking. He gives some POWERFUL tips to be successful in your IELTS Writing and Speaking exams. Note: We don't talk about specific expressions or 'templates' to use. We talk about overall strategy and tips. We talk about: - Basic Strategy - Pronunciation and Accents - Vocabulary and Expressions And then you'll have a vocabulary lesson. Go to https://www.sweedacademy.com/podcast for the vocabulary and a listening quiz.

This is Part 1 of a 3-part interview with Dr. Peter Crosthwaite. He is a doctor of linguistics, former IELT examiner, and currently a lecturer at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. In this episode, we have a conversation about the strange intricacies of English, and tricks to handle the True/ False/ Not Given part of the IELTS reading exam. We also find out what Peter's favorite WrestleMania Moment is. If you are preparing for an IELTS exam, the next three episodes (Ep. 23, 24, and 25) are for you. We will discuss IELTS writing preparation and IELTS speaking tips that will change your IELTS approach. We talk about general exam advice and T/F/NG tips. Below, you will be able to see key vocabulary and expressions as well as a space for you to take notes from the conversation. Episode notes at sweedacademy.com/podcast Support us at https://www.patreon.com/SweedAcademy

Get a pen and paper or your voice recorder ready because this episode will be interactive. Jesse will guide you through the Proust Personality Test to go deep into getting to know yourself even better. Answer these 35 questions honestly for yourself either orally or written, and you will surprise yourself. You will also learn some new vocabulary and have practice forming questions in English. Show notes: sweedacademy.com/podcast