Easy English: Learn English with everyday conversations

Mitch and Isi will give you their honest pros & cons list, advice & knowledge. And overall, try to convince you to travel to the UK by boat.

Our new, Asia-friendly, conversation call - 10:15 GMT (15:45 in India / 18:15 in China & 19:15 in Japan & Korea) every Tuesday will start if 10 people email me - [email protected] with the phrase "I'm in".

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Transcript

Intro

Mitch:

[0:22] Hello, everybody.

Isi:

[0:24] Hello.

Mitch:

[0:24] Long time no hear. Usually you say long time no see, but you don't see us. So long time no hear.

Isi:

[0:32] Sometimes you see us.

Mitch:

[0:33] Sometimes. So today, as you can see from the title of this podcast, Isi and I are proficient travellers by boat, when it comes to going between the UK and the EU, as it is now. - Yes, by ferry. - By ferry, which is the name of the big ship. And so we wanted to convince you and give you a bit of a pros, mostly prose, but some cons, list of why it is better to travel to the UK by ferry and give you some hints, tips, advice, because I think, when you're thinking of travelling to the UK the main thing you're always thinking of is Calais to Dover. But there's a huge extensive network of connections, all around Europe that can bring you to the UK by boat.

Isi:

[1:26] I think most people think about flying here, probably.

Mitch:

[1:29] Exactly. But I want, or we would like to give you a rundown of why it's actually better to travel by ferry.

Isi:

[1:35] Is that true?

Mitch:

[1:36] I think so.

Isi:

[1:38] Environmentally. Well, I've not compared the emissions of a ferry to a plane.

Mitch:

[1:45] Yeah, there will be a pros and cons list.

Isi:

[1:49] Don't... uh yeah, sorry.

Mitch:

[1:51] But before we go into that, I want to go into our section, our regular section of Unhelpful Advice, because we have a message. - Oh

Unhelpful Advice

Message:

[2:11] Hello, I wanted to talk English, but I'm shy. And I want you to help me, so I can speak English, for a long time, because I need to.

Mitch:

[2:29] Thank you for your message. So it sounds like you are someone who is very actively trying to learn English, but you're quite shy, which is understandable. I'm also trying to learn German, and I'm very nervous and shy about speaking German to people.

Isi:

[2:44] Even with me.

Mitch:

[2:45] Even to my wife. So the best way to learn English, one, is to watch our YouTube videos, to listen to our podcasts, to surround yourself in the English world.

Isi:

[2:59] Watch English films, series, listen to news, radio.

Mitch:

[3:05] Mm-hmm. - Podcasts. - Yeah.

Isi:

[3:08] And when you have that level of comprehension... listening comprehension, reading comprehension.

Mitch:

[3:14] Then speaking is your next level.

Isi:

[3:17] Or at the same time, but it's easier when you already have a... have a certain level of understanding I guess.

Mitch:

[3:23] Another way that we can help you, alongside our videos and podcasts is through our membership.This message gives me a good reason to mention that we also have something called the Conversation Membership which is great for any of you that want to improve your speaking and listening skills.

Mitch:

[3:38] And currently, we have a conversation call which starts at 18:15 in British time. And it happens every Tuesday night, 18:15. One thing that we realised is that we have lots of people from Asia listening and watching our videos. And we want to support your English speaking and listening skills. And so we're thinking about opening a conversation membership time for the Asian world. So, we would have our conversation calls at 10.15 in the UK, which in Japan and Korea would be 19:15, in China would be 18:15, and in India would be 15:45, I believe. The reason it's at 18:15, 19:15 is to allow for you to finish work, drive home and you have 15 minutes between that to sit down prepare yourself and jump in the call, join Isi, and I and other members who are all trying to improve their English speaking & listening skills. If you are interested in joining our Asia-friendly conversation call at 18:15, 19: 15 time, then what we'd like to ask you to do is to write to me on my email address, which is [email protected] and just write the words, "I'm in". Once we get 10 people who are interested in doing this call, this Asia-friendly call, then we will start it and it will be a regular thing, every Tuesday night for you.

Mitch:

[5:07] And maybe you can join. We even offer a seven-day free trial of our Conversation Membership. So if you're a bit nervous or you don't know, am I B1, am I B2, am I even C1? Come give it a go with our seven-day free trial. See how you fit in. You'll be welcomed by myself, by Isi, and by loads of our other lovely conversation members, who are there and ready to welcome you. To become a Conversation Member or to check out our membership, you just have to go to easyenglish.video/membership. Okay, back to the episode.

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Isi and Mitch give you 10 everyday sayings that British people use - and what they really mean...

Go to https://go.italki.com/english2026 to get 5€ off your first italki lesson with our code ENGLISH when you spend at least 10 €.

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Transcript

Intro

Mitch

[0:22]Hi everybody, welcome to the Easy English Podcast. Long time, no see. It's been a while.

Isi

[0:29]I think we said we leave this welcome.

Mitch

[0:34]I'm still petitioning for it.

Isi

[0:37]Okay, hello.

Mitch

[0:40]So, today we're back in Brighton, from Münster. And as we've come over, I've already started noticing certain things, that us Brits do quite differently to the rest of Europe. And, one thing that we do, which is probably useful for you guys, whether you are coming to the UK as a tourist, whether you want to move to the UK, or maybe you're just working for a company and there are certain Brits there, maybe your boss is a British person, or your colleagues. Or maybe you just want to... - Your boss. - Your a boss.

Isi

[1:18]Your boss is a British person. That sounded a bit like, intimidating.

Mitch

[1:20]Yeah exactly

Isi

[1:22]But don't be. British bosses, hopefully, are all nice.

Mitch

[1:25]Well, funny you say that. Because, maybe your boss says certain things and the reaction or action, afterwards, is very different from what they're saying. Isi, you bring this up quite a lot, that Brits like to say things, which don't exactly reflect what they mean.

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In our Easy English Updates, we announce our 'Kick-Off 2026 Challenge' on Monday to improve your English, every day for 14 days.

Isi and Mitch then give you 10 everyday word pronunciations that reveal if you're speaking either American or British English, but for we answer a question from Hanan and then Mitch tells a very British joke.

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Transcript

Intro

Isi:

[0:22] Hello.

Mitch:

[0:23] Hi, welcome to the Easy English Podcast. The winter version. Winter has come. We're currently in your parents' basement and it's freezing cold.

Isi:

[0:35] Hence the jackets. It's cold down here.

Mitch:

[0:37] Yeah. So, today we're going to show you some of the differences between the British English and American English pronunciation. We're giving you 10 words which you'll be using every day, that you'll need every day. Depending on how you pronounce these, we can sort of figure out, whether you are, or whether you are speaking with American English pronunciation or British English pronunciation. - Oh dear. - Yeah. But, before we get into that, we have quite a nice surprise, that we've already revealed a bit about in some videos and earlier podcasts, don't we Isi? We have a kickstart to our 2026 Easy English year.

Easy English Updates

Isi:

[1:23] Yeah, we have, well, you said it already, the 'Kick-Off 2026 Challenge', which means we give you challenges to improve your English, every day, for a continuous 14 days. So every morning, get a challenge. You have to write something. Maybe make an audio message if you can. You don't need to. You can also write everything, share something, maybe write a letter to your boss, complain about something, apply for a job. It will be like personal, reflective things, but also business English to have you, basically, every day improve your English. We know from past experiences, that if you do those challenges, really every day, that this really boosts your language learning experience. So we are excited. 5th of January, we start for 14 days, come join us. If you become a member, on easyenglish.video/membership you can join us with any membership you're in, it all happens on our Discord server. What else do we need to say

Mitch:

[2:25] That's it you did explain it very well. It's an intensive, every day, for 14 days, English challenge to level up and improve your English. Get going where you left off and yeah, like Isi said, join any one of our membership levels, we have three different types and all of those gets you access to our Discord server, where Isi and I will be posting each and every day, the challenges for you. Let's go to our Topic of the Week.

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This week, we announce our 14-day challange in the new year for you to kick-start your 2026 and improve your English. Is also opens an early Christmas present from Mitch on the podcast and they compare the differences and similarities of Christmas time in the UK and Germany, before Mitch tells a couple of Christmas-themed jokes... Merry Christmas!

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Transcript

Intro

Isi:

[0:23] Good morning!

Mitch:

[0:25] Merry Christmas!

Isi:

[0:27] It's not Christmas yet. - It's not Christmas yet. T'was the night before Christmas.

Isi:

[0:32] It's also not the night before Christmas.

Mitch:

[0:35] But, this is the Easy English Christmas Special.

Isi:

[0:41] Oh, it sounds like Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, but not as exciting.

Mitch:

[0:47] And we have a couple of Christmassy features, including me gifting Isi her first early Christmas gift.

Isi:

[0:55] Yes?

Mitch:

[0:56] From Santa Mitch.

Isi:

[0:58] Oh, not real Santa. He's not yet around the house, is he? Oh, I'm excited. Why?

Mitch:

[1:07] Because you've been a very good person this year and the elves told me.

Isi:

[1:13] To give you an early one. Okay.

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Isi guesses and explains 10 commonly used idioms in conversations, while Mitch explains where they came from.

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Show Notes

Watch the episode on YouTube: 10 Useful Idioms for English Conversations (Easy English 216)

Transcript

Mitch:

[0:22] So, today, we want to bring you an episode introducing everyday English idioms. And, what I've done is I've compiled some images for isi to look at and we're going to describe them for you audio listeners. And for you YouTube watchers/viewers, we're going to look at these images, and try to distinguish what the idiom is and what it means. Make sense?

Isi:

[0:52] Yeah, let's start.

Mitch:

[0:53] Let's start.

Isi:

[0:54] I have questions.

Mitch:

[0:55] Okay, so here is number one, everyday English idiom. What are you thinking?

Isi:

[1:03] Instead of a head, that person has a bowl of baked beans, as a head.

Mitch:

[1:09] Baked beans, very English. So?

Isi:

[1:13] Do you have a bean head?

Mitch:

[1:15] No.

Isi:

[1:15] You're a bean hat.

Mitch:

[1:16] A bean head, no. A bean head.

Isi:

[1:19] Could that mean that you're like, an idiot? Yeah, no?

Mitch:

[1:23] A bean head. Yeah, like a tiny brain. But no, that's not the idiom. this is an.. - Stew... you are... stew? - No, you know this idiom you use it a lot, actually. Or I use it a lot... - His head is farting? - Yeah, that's the correct idiom.

Isi:

[1:38] They're all in his body

Mitch:

[1:39] Imagine that the beans are filling up from his... up through his legs. - Full of beans! - He is...

Isi:

[1:46] That's a weird picture for it, though. Did you find that, for 'full of beans'? Did chat ChatGPT do this for you

Mitch:

[1:51] I made all these images on an AI image generator.

Isi:

[1:55] That's 'full of beans'

Mitch:

[1:57] That is the best way I could describe 'full of beans'. Okay, tell me then, what does 'full of beans' mean, and when would you use it?

Isi:

[2:05] Um... you would describe a person or yourself.

Mitch:

[2:10] Yeah.

Isi:

[2:11] I think you don't really say it about yourself.

Mitch:

[2:13] No.

Isi:

[2:14] More about others. - Yeah. - If someone is in a very good mood, very active, busy, maybe a bit like, dancing around.

Mitch:

[2:24] Exactly.

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