Tag: Hangouts

Intermediate
Jay

12 British and American English word differences

Here’s another in our series with Super Agent Awesome on British and American English word differences. We’ll look at differences like rain boots and wellies and dumpster and skip and say what we’d call different things in British and American English. Some of the other words we explore in this video include rain coats and macs, frosting and icing, shaker and pot, drywall and plasterboard, anchors and rawlplugs, dessert and pudding, sherbet and sorbet. British

Read More »
Intermediate
Jay

How to handle a complaint – Business English

The customer is always right, or are they? In this video you’ll see two versions of a conversation where a customer makes a complaint. The first is a bad model and the second a good one. We’ll use them to compare the English we use to handle complaints. Here are the top takeaways:1. Saying sorry matters.You can say sorry when you don’t hear something and want someone to repeat: ‘Sorry?’It can be an apology where

Read More »
Intermediate
Jay

6 interesting English idioms and the stories behind them. (Set 2)

Learn some interesting English idioms and the stories that lie behind them.We’ll show you what they mean and also how to use them in action. In this video you’ll learn about these common English idioms: put your best foot forward burn the midnight oil spill the beans born with a silver spoon in your mouth be on- get off your high horse win hands down If you enjoyed this video, you’ll like the first in

Read More »
Business English Phrasal Verbs
Intermediate
Jay

12 Useful Business English Phrasal Verbs

In this video you’ll learn 12 useful English phrasal verbs. You’ll hear them all in lots of contexts, but they’re particularly useful for business English conversations.Here are the verbs:turn someone downtake onsnowed underhand overtake overback outfill someone inrun something by/past someonezero in onfigure something outpush back onspell out Click here to learn some phrasal verbs we use to talk about computers and technologyClick here to learn some common separable phrasal verbsClick here to learn some

Read More »
Intermediate
Jay

Colloquial English: 14 useful phrases you should know (set five)

How’s your colloquial English? Maybe your grammar is great, but what about your spoken English? Does it sound natural and conversational? Here’s the 5th video in our series on colloquial English. We’ll show you how to common conversational phrases like: Go for it!You bet!not have a cluenot have the foggiest (idea)Don’t hold your breath.Just say the word.No can do.The thing is …That’s more like it.Cheer up!It’s not the end of the world.These things happen.Tell you

Read More »
Intermediate
Jay

6 interesting English idioms and the stories behind them. (Set 1)

This is the first in a series of videos about some interesting English idioms and the stories that lie behind them.We’ll show you what they mean and also show you how to use them in action. In this video you’ll learn about these common English idioms: heard it through the grapevine reading the riot act mad as a hatter cut to the chase one for the road dressed to nines This is the first in

Read More »
Intermediate
Jay

How good is your English? Quiz 7

Can you spot 7 common English mistakes? You’ll need to identify the correct sentences before the clock stops ticking. Then we’ll explain what’s wrong and show you examples of the correct English in action. We’ll also direct you to videos if you want more help with grammar and vocabulary. In this video we look at: hair vs a hair (uncountable and countable nouns) history vs. story historical vs. historic wait for wait vs. expect bring

Read More »
Intermediate
Jay

Where we spent the pandemic – SEVY Awards 2021

Every year we ask members of the Simple English Videos channel to rise to a speaking challenge and share a video where they’re speaking English with the world. This year we asked our viewers where they spent the COVID-19 pandemic and what they did. We were blown away with their responses. So join us on a journey around the world. Common themes emerge: the importance of food and a quiet and peaceful room, isolation, bedrooms

Read More »
Intermediate
Jay

9 really useful English three-word phrasal verbs (transitive verbs)

See some three-word English phrasal verbs in action. Yes, three-words, not two! Most phrasal verbs are made up verb and another small word – a particle. But some phrasal verbs have three words – a verb and two particles. In this video lesson you’ll learn nine common ones: look forward to get away with come up with get round to feel up to come down with get out of put up with grow out of

Read More »
Intermediate
Jay

Your Invitation to be in a YouTube Video!

Can you rise to an English speaking challenge? Make a short video where you’re speaking in English, and we’ll share it with the world. Here’s how it works: 1. You make a short video of yourself speaking in English – just a few sentences. Tell us where you have spent the pandemic. 2. You upload the video and send us a link where we can download it. 3. We put your videos into one longer

Read More »

Social Media