Follow your curiosity. Find a story, a new idea, or a little slice of someone’s day.
9 videos
Bilingual practiceLearn run out of, covered in and hesitant to through three moments in English with Evie’s spring vlog. Try new situations with timestamped notes and recall practice.
English with EvieBilingual practiceA spring day in the British countryside. Watch the full vlog with bilingual captions or replay a short learning passage.
English with Evie
Bilingual practiceOutfit choices, a favorite drink and delayed gifts. Practice four useful phrases in three short scenes.
Sydney Serena
Bilingual practicePractise pace myself, watered down, a hint of and close second with Sydney Serena’s coffee vlog. Follow timestamped excerpts and test the phrases in new sentences.
Sydney Serena
Bilingual practicePractise on my mind, heading out and Could I have with Sydney Serena’s fall vlog. Replay three real passages, read the context and try the English blanks.
Sydney Serena
Bilingual practiceFix a sweet coffee, then figure out a cooking problem. Two short passages with bilingual captions.
Sydney Serena
Bilingual practiceLearn creature of habit, ended up and put them off through Sydney Serena’s day of trying new things. Listen to real excerpts and practise recalling each phrase.
Sydney Serena
Video & learning notesA small challenge, a fresh start. Listen for the language of habits and change.
Matt Cutts · TED-Ed
Video & learning notesA quick word lesson about another way to use “tell”.
BBC Learning EnglishTry another topic or clear your search.
Pick a video you are curious about, then give a short part of it your full attention. You do not have to understand every word to begin.
TED talks give you a clear topic and a speaker building an idea. Start with a short talk such as Matt Cutts on habits. Listen for phrases that connect examples, explain a reason or introduce a new point.
Daily vlogs put words next to real actions. A food vlog makes it easier to connect ingredients, cooking verbs and descriptions with what you see. Replay a short moment, then describe something from your own day.
Children’s stories and read-aloud videos often repeat words and patterns. Follow the pictures, notice a familiar phrase and try saying it with the narrator’s rhythm. Familiar stories can make a second listen easier.
Listen to a short passage, check its scene, then try the phrase in a new situation.
A café stop before a spring walk. Listen at 3:18–3:35, check the meaning, then listen away from the text.
Three moments from a busy day: change an outfit, revisit a favorite drink and explain a delayed gift.
Listen to one short situation, then use its notes and recall practice.
Listen to one short situation, then use its notes and recall practice.
Start with the coffee experiment at 1:06–1:33, then use Next for the cooking problem at 6:54–7:01.
Listen to one short situation, then use its notes and recall practice.
Hide the answers and recall each phrase from its situation. Each card keeps its meaning, example and note.
We might __________ coffee before the guests arrive.
Have none of a supply left.
We might run out of coffee before the guests arrive.
After might, use the base form run. Keep of before the supply. Running out of coffee describes the coffee becoming unavailable; running out of a room describes leaving a place.
Evie describes a recurring problem with filming on her phone: its storage could fill up. Here would refers to something that sometimes happened in the past.
run out of + something you need
After the walk, my shoes were __________ mud.
Have a substance spread over a surface.
After the walk, my shoes were covered in mud.
Were agrees with the plural shoes; covered describes their state. Covered with also works with mud in this example. Keep the whole preposition phrase together.
Evie describes green moss growing over the old wall. She is describing its visible state.
be covered in + material on a surface
I was __________ ask a question during the meeting.
Unsure or reluctant about doing something.
I was hesitant to ask a question during the meeting.
Was places the feeling in the past. To is followed by the base verb ask. Hesitant describes uncertainty; it does not by itself mean that you refused or never acted.
Evie felt unsure about filming visitors at the show because she did not know whether they wanted to be in her video.
be hesitant to + base verb
You recalled every phrase. Say a sentence about your own day, then come back later.
Hide the answers and recall each phrase from its situation. Each card keeps its meaning, example and note.
I wear black every day. Today, I want to __________.
Make a change from a familiar approach or choice.
I wear black every day. Today, I want to switch it up.
Switch it up fits a change from a familiar choice. To make the change specific, add a sentence explaining it, such as trying a different shirt colour.
Sydney is considering changing the earrings she usually wears. It refers to the choice or habit being discussed; the jewellery story tells you what she wants to change.
want to switch it up
These three songs are __________ this week.
Used, played or chosen regularly for a period of time.
These three songs are on rotation this week.
On rotation can also describe things or songs that you choose repeatedly. The context tells you whether you mean one favourite or a group of choices.
Sydney likes the new drink and expects to order it repeatedly for a while. Here, on rotation emphasises repetition and does not require a fixed schedule for alternating choices.
be on rotation
The show sells out quickly, so I bought the tickets __________.
Before the time when something happens.
I bought the tickets in advance.
In advance describes preparing before a particular event or time. In the new example, the tickets were bought before the show.
Sydney says she usually buys gifts before the occasion. In ends the transcript line at 6:46, and advance starts the line at 6:54, so listen to both lines together to recognise the whole phrase.
buy / book / prepare + something + in advance
My parcel got __________ at the post office.
Delayed or kept somewhere so that the next step cannot happen on time.
My parcel got held up at the post office.
In got held up, got combines with held up to describe a delay. At the post office tells you where the delay happened, but does not explain its internal cause.
Sydney’s gifts did not arrive in time because they were delayed at the post office. Reading held up in isolation makes it easy to lose track of what was delayed and where.
get / be held up at + place
You recalled every phrase. Say a sentence about your own day, then come back later.
Hide the answers and recall each phrase from its situation. Each card keeps its meaning, example and note.
There are five dishes to try, so I need to __________.
Control your speed or effort so you can keep going.
There are five dishes to try, so I need to pace myself.
Use pace after need to. Myself matches I; with you, say pace yourself. This expression is about managing your own pace, not walking back and forth in a room.
Sydney remembers she has several more coffees to taste and should not finish the first drink immediately.
need to + pace myself
The juice tastes __________.
Weaker in flavour because it is diluted, or tasting that way.
The juice tastes watered down.
After tastes, watered down describes the drink. It can express your impression without proving how the drink was made. Water down can also mean weakening an idea, but this scene concerns flavour.
Sydney describes the second coffee as tasting diluted. The following caption says she has just received it, so she is not blaming ice left to melt for a long time.
taste / be + watered down
There is __________ lemon in this cake.
A small, noticeable amount of a flavour or quality.
There is a hint of lemon in this cake.
Keep a and of in the full phrase. Lemon supplies the flavour after of. A hint of is lighter than a strong lemon flavour, but it is not a numerical measurement.
At the last café, Sydney searches for a description and mentions a slight nutty flavour. She is describing taste, not confirming an ingredient list.
a hint of + flavour / quality
The blue mug is my favourite; the green one is a __________.
Second in a ranking, with only a small gap from first.
The blue mug is my favourite; the green one is a close second.
The article a is already in the sentence, so fill only close second. Close describes the small gap, not physical distance. For a tie, say they are tied for first instead.
In her final ranking, Sydney calls Plant Shed a really close second to her favourite. The phrase expresses a narrow preference, not a tie.
be + a close second
You recalled every phrase. Say a sentence about your own day, then come back later.
Hide the answers and recall each phrase from its situation. Each card keeps its meaning, example and note.
That new recipe has been __________ all day.
Something you keep thinking about.
That new recipe has been on my mind all day.
Has been agrees with the singular subject recipe. On my mind describes the continuing thought; it does not specify whether the thought is happy or anxious. Change my to your when talking about the other person.
At breakfast, Sydney says she has been thinking about the bread since going to bed. Here the thought is pleasant anticipation, not necessarily worry.
something + be / have been + on my mind
I'm __________ to the café now.
Leaving or about to leave a place.
I'm heading out to the café now.
Use heading after am in this sentence. To names the destination. Head out can describe leaving without naming a destination; it does not mean moving your head.
Sydney introduces her outfit as she is getting ready to leave for the day. The expression marks the move from being at home to going out.
be heading out + to a place / for an activity
__________ a glass of water, please?
A polite way to request something.
Could I have a glass of water, please?
Could makes the request polite here; it does not place the order in the past. Put the item after have. This reusable request also works for a menu or a receipt.
At the café counter, Sydney orders a pumpkin spiced latte using a question with could. The request is about what she wants now.
Could I have + noun phrase + please?
You recalled every phrase. Say a sentence about your own day, then come back later.
Hide the answers and recall each phrase from its situation. Each card keeps its meaning, example and note.
There is __________ salt in the soup.
More than is suitable for the situation.
There is too much salt in the soup.
Salt is an uncountable noun, so use too much. To describe the taste instead, you can also say The soup is too salty.
Sydney says her coffee was too sweet because there was too much vanilla in it. The expression describes a specific problem with the drink.
too much + uncountable noun
Put the milk and cocoa in a cup, then __________.
Combine the things being discussed.
Put the milk and cocoa in a cup, then mix them together.
Them stands for milk and cocoa. Remembering the things involved helps you understand the whole phrase instead of only recording the isolated verb mix.
Them refers to the two portions of coffee. Liz chooses coffee without sweetener so they can combine it with Sydney’s overly sweet drink.
mix + things + together
I need to __________ how to cook dinner faster.
Find a way to do something or solve a problem by thinking about it.
I need to figure out how to cook dinner faster.
Use the base form figure out after need to. How to cook dinner faster names what you need to find a way to do. This is a new practice sentence, not a direct quote from the vlog.
Sydney has just said that cooking dinner took an hour. She needs another approach because she cannot keep spending that much time on it.
need to figure out how to + action
You recalled every phrase. Say a sentence about your own day, then come back later.
Hide the answers and recall each phrase from its situation. Each card keeps its meaning, example and note.
I'm a __________: I order the same tea every morning.
A person who likes doing familiar things in a regular way.
I'm a creature of habit: I order the same tea every morning.
Keep a before creature when describing one person. The whole expression describes a tendency; it does not literally compare someone to an animal. The earlier reversed word order is a spoken slip.
Sydney describes returning to the same places, then corrects her own word order to creature of habit. Learn the corrected expression.
be + a creature of habit
We __________ at a small café near the station.
Reached a place or result after a sequence of events.
We ended up at a small café near the station.
Use ended for the completed past event. At introduces a place. For an action, use end up + -ing, as in We ended up walking home, not end up to walk.
After the class, Sydney asks someone for a café recommendation and goes to Paper Coffee. The place name continues in the next caption.
end up + at a place / doing something
I have two errands to do, and I don't want to __________.
Delay doing the things already mentioned.
I have two errands to do, and I don't want to put them off.
Them refers to the two errands. With this phrasal verb, a pronoun goes between put and off: put them off, not put off them. The meaning here is postpone an action, not discourage a person.
Sydney has wanted to visit the fashion museum for a long time. She talks about finally doing things she keeps postponing.
put + object / pronoun + off
You recalled every phrase. Say a sentence about your own day, then come back later.
Try something new for 30 days.
Try one small activity every day for a month. Use the video as a listening exercise, then describe a habit you would like to build.