black socks
Elementary
Jay

Black Socks Never Get Dirty Song – an English jazz chant

Black Socks Never Get Dirty is a fun jazz chant to practice English pronunciation. You have to say a different number of words in each line but maintain the same rhythm. It’s also a great illustration of how English is a stress timed language. Click here for more information on English rhythm and stress timing. Jay, you need to put these socks in the wash. But they’re black. So? Black socks never get dirty, the

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August 22, 2016 2 Comments
superstitions
Intermediate
Jay

Superstitions, Friday the 13th and Stevie Wonder

Do you believe in superstitions? Are you superstitious? Here are two videos that that explore this topic in English, so make sure you scroll down to see the second one too. The first video is a story about what happened to Jay one Friday 13th and the second video is a song by the wonderful Stevie Wonder. And the song comes with a puzzle. How many different superstitious events and objects can you spot in

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August 22, 2016 No Comments
competitive games
Intermediate
Jay

Road Trip to Cape May – competitive games

Come on a road trip with us and learn some of the English expressions we use for competitive games. Who will win the game miniature golf? Jay or Vicki? Transcript We’re going on a road trip and you’re coming with us. So we’ve just bought some gas and it cost…. How much, Jay? Thirty one dollars to fill the tank. Thirty one dollars. That seems ridiculously cheap to me. What about you? But it’s still

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August 22, 2016 No Comments
How are you
Intermediate
Jay

How are you? How NOT to reply to this common English greeting

‘How are you?’ is a common English greeting, but what’s an appropriate reply? Is it polite to give a full and honest answer? Probably not. Watch what happens when Jay answers the question fully and truthfully. Usually the best reply is ‘Fine thanks’ or ‘Good’. How are you? Video Transcript Oh hi Kathy, how are you? Hi Vicki. Fine thanks, and you? Great. Hey everyone. How are you? Well, I only slept about six hours

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August 22, 2016 1 Comment
small talk
Intermediate
Jay

Small Talk about the Weather – a Funny Elevator Conversation

Do you find small talk hard in English? Would you talk to a stranger who asked you questions an elevator? Here’s a funny English elevator conversation. It’s based on a story my dentist told me about something that happened to him. Video transcript Hello Kathy. I can’t believe it’s still raining. Yeah, it’s terrible. Really bad. When’s it going to stop? The forecast is not good. Is it going to affect your plans? Well, I

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August 22, 2016 No Comments
by and to Business English Prepositions
Intermediate
Jay

By & To: Business English prepositions that cause mistakes

If you’re learning business English prepositions can be VERY important. This lesson is about the way we use the prepositions by and to to describe trends, numbers and figures. There are situations where you could translate both by and to with a single preposition in many languages, but in English, their meanings are different. Watch this video to fix a common mistake. We have lots more videos about tricky English prepositions. Click the links below

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August 22, 2016 No Comments
happy words
Intermediate
Jay

Happy words! Ways to Say You’re Happy in English

Looking for happy words? Here are some different ways to say you’re happy in English. Why are we happy in this video? Well, we were winners in the YouTube NextUP 2016 competition. Watch the video and we’ll tell you about it. To see two of the videos we made while we were at the YouTube studios in New York, Click these links: English Rhythm and beatboxing How to learn an accent – tips from an

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August 22, 2016 No Comments
trip
Intermediate
Jay

Travel, Trip and Journey (countable and uncountable nouns)

Travel, trip and journey – do you know how to use these words in English? It’s not straightforward so learners often make mistakes. In this videos you’ll learn that travel is usually an uncountable noun and that we don’t usually use it as a verb. You’ll also learn when to use the words trip and journey. This video will help you fix the most common mistakes. Click here if you’re planning a trip to see

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August 21, 2016 4 Comments
abbreviations
Intermediate
Jay

British Abbreviations. Learn about English short forms

There are abbreviations in British English that Americans don’t use – words like brolly and chippie. I wonder if you know them? This video is about some differences in British and American abbreviations and you’ll learn some common British short forms. We made this video after the collaboration we did with other ESL YouTubers for the World Story-Telling Day Project. Click here to see the story we made for World Story-Telling Day Click here to learn

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August 21, 2016 No Comments
story-telling day
Intermediate
Jay

World Story-Telling Day 2016 – an ESL collaboration

Don’t you love a good story? That’s why we were excited to collaborate with some other YouTube English teachers and take part in the World Story-Telling Day Project. Watch the video to learn how our story works. Video transcript Today is World Storytelling Day, a day of global celebration of the art of storytelling. Many people all over the world are getting together to listen to and tell stories in lots of different languages. So

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August 21, 2016 1 Comment

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