Introduction

04/11/19 • 3 min

5 Listeners

(Note that the podcast begins as "The English With Michael Podcast", but later on changes to "The Level Up English Podcast")
Hello and welcome to The Level Up English.
Hello and welcome to the first-ever episode.
This is an introductory episode so I thought I could take some time to tell you about who I am and what to expect from this podcast.
So my name is Michael Lavers. I'm an online ESL teacher - that is, people learning English as a Second Language.
I'm from a city called Plymouth in the United Kingdom.
I have taught thousands of lessons online with students from all around the world, all difference countries, from ages 4 to 80.
But maybe we could talk about why I want to make a podcast.
I love helping people improve their English, but, there's only so much I can do in one day. I have a lot of questions online, on my website, on social media, asking for help, but unfortunately I can't help everyone.
So I thought a podcast would be a great way to reach more people and, hopefully, help people improve their English, and also British English.
I love podcasts! I listen to several hours of podcasts every day, so I think it's a really good way to learn no matter how busy you are.
I'm really passionate about helping people and I think podcasts are a good way to do that.
So let's talk about what you can expect in this podcast.
A usual episode might include me:

answering your questions
providing some advice on how to learn English
maybe sometimes we can talk about grammar and vocabulary (but in a fun way)
in the future I may do some interviews as well (I've never done that before so we'll have to see how it goes, but that's something I would be very interested in trying)

Each podcast with the podcast notes and all the resources will be available on my website at ewmichael.com/podcast (Note: this will redirect to my new website)
If you have any questions for me that you'd like me to answer, or any ideas for future episodes, please let me know and I'll be happy to answer.
So thank you vert much for coming to check out my podcast and I'm looking forward to learning together.
Go to https://levelupenglish.school/podcast for more resources and information!------------------
Website: levelupenglish.school
Email: [email protected]Instagram: @englishwithmichaelFacebook: /englishwithmichaelYoutube: /englishwithmichaelPersonal website: ewmichael.com

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answering your questions
providing some advice on how to learn English
maybe sometimes we can talk about grammar and vocabulary (but in a fun way)
in the future I may do some interviews as well (I've never done that before so we'll have to see how it goes, but that's something I would be very interested in trying)

Next Episode

#1 How to Get a British Accent

What you can do to get a British accent.
Show notes page - https://levelupenglish.school/podcast1
Become a Level Up Member - https://levelupenglish.school

Transcript - https://levelupenglish.school/transcripts (Members Only)

How to Learn British Pronunciation

Introduction

There are countless British accents in England, let alone in the whole world.
Don’t worry too much about accents. Everyone has one (even native speakers) and it should be a badge of pride to show where you come from.
However: Reasons to want a British accent:
- To be more respected at work
- To stop being treated like an outsider
- To impress your friends!

British accents have a few things in common which we’ll look at later

General Advice

Get the foundations right when you start so you don’t cement your mistakes, but change will come over time.
Watch lots of British TV shows, movies, and of course podcasts
Talk with native speakers and try to mimic their pronunciation
Getting a teacher would be even better because they can correct your mistakes
It takes a long time, and many people don’t begin to develop their accent fully until they reach an advanced level, don’t give up!

Specific Advice

Shadowing - repeat words from phrases you hear. Pay attention to vowel sounds.
Watch your mouth in a mirror
Pay attention to your tongue position
- L - tongue touches top teeth
- R - tongue moves back in mouth, not touching

Learn stress

I recommend https://forvo.com/ for pronunciation and https://www.merriam-webster.com/ for a dictionary.

PreSENT / PREsent
SUSpect / susPECT
Record yourself and listen back

Specific Sounds

T sound - Very strong
- Butter, Better
R sound - Not so strong
- Car, Park, Hair, Hard, Ear

American vs British

AdvertIZEment (USA) / AdverTISSment (UK)
The ILE sound is different. MoBLE (USA) / MoBILE (UK)
Words ending in "ation". Organisation

I recommend this poem called The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité

This poem shows the irregularities in English pronunciation. Try it for fun! It's very difficult though.

Recap: Having an imperfect accent isn’t the end of the world. We each have our own and should be proud of it. However, there's nothing wrong with wanting to improve, so I hope this helped.