Conversation & Pronunciation: Learn English with The Rachel's English Podcast

American slang is used a lot by young people in the US. If you don't know the terms, it can be very hard to join in the conversation, even for native speakers. In today's episode, Rachel and David discuss when to use slang, as well as the terms: slay, crush, kill, destroy, salty, coming in clutch, fly, low-key, sick, extra, done, fam/family, lit, dope, woke, shade/ to throw shade. Bonus: we discuss how to order your Philly cheesesteak! :)

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 sample of what is covered: meaning of ‘economically depressed’, what preposition to use with ‘proud’, the phrase ‘having said that’, the terms ‘introvert’ and ‘extrovert’, the idiom ‘green thumb’, and much more.

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 benefits of studying mouth positions. Rachel talks about the EW as in FEW diphthong, and how sometimes it’s not a diphthong.

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 becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable, and how to engage native speakers to help you learn.

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 phrasal verbs, idioms, and interesting vocabulary words that come up naturally in conversation. This includes: the phrasal verb 'tuck away', the term 'byob', the phrase 'guilty pleasure', 'come along for the ride', and more.