Claim OwnershipBite-sized English
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© Mathew Rideout
Description
Learn English in bite-sized pieces. With each daily episode, Matt will take you through a large variety of topics to help improve your listening and speaking bit by bit. Each episode will also feature some small goal or homework so you can apply the material in your day to day life.
42 Episodes
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In this episode, we will be kicking off a new series exploring the wide variety of prefixes available in English. Today we will be learning about pre- and post-.
Words uses in this lesson:
Postscript
Preview
Postgraduate
Postmortem
Predict
Preempt
Pre-workout
Post-workout
Pregame
Postgame
Preschool
Email your assignment submissions to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com!
These two homonyms are very different in meaning, but are both very useful! In this episode Matt covers the means of the words, and some common phrases you might encounter:
peace and quiet
peace out
peace in our time
falling to peaces
piece of cake
bits and pieces
piecing something together
For today's assignment, I want you to describe the pieces of something. How would you describe it as pieces rather than parts? Try to avoid food and challenge yourself to come up with another thing that has "pieces."
Leave a comment or email to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com.
Matt walks through just a few alternate ways of saying thank you.
There is no assignment for today, but do send questions to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com
Matt talks about a few tips when talking to native English speakers, watching a film, and flashcards.
We finish our week on the conditional with the third and perhaps most complicated of the three. Matt talks about the differences between "could have" "should have" and "would have."
All questions and assignments can be sent to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com or via Twitter @bitesizedengpod.
2Matt continues talking about the conditional phrasings, covering the hypothetical or second conditional. Used to talk about unlikely or impossible situations, this is a very common phrasing in English.
All questions and comments can be sent to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com.
Matt covers some basic phrases and adverbs we use to determine how likely something is to happen. The phrases he talks about are:
will definitely
will probably
likely to
may well / might
not likely to
probably won't
definitely won't
Send all questions and assignments to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com.
Matt goes over six different phrases using the word game.
The phrases:
-fair game
-zero-sum game
-game plan
-waiting game
-I'm game
-a whole new ball game
Matt talks about some (but certainly not all!) of the phrases that we use that contains the word ball. The phrases that he discusses are:
-on the ball
-keep your eye on the ball / take your eye off the ball
-have a ball
-the ball is in your court
-a curve ball
-drop the ball / fumble the ball
Please be sure to send all questions to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com!
Matt goes through some basic tips when we are tackling reading comprehension in our English proficiency tests. He discusses some places to find some extra practice like: BBC News, CNN News, CBC News, The Economist, The New Scientist, and the askhistorians and askscientists subreddits on reddit.com.
If you have any questions, comments, or critiques for Matt, fire him an email at bitesizedenglish@gmail.com
Matt wraps up his short topic on the passive voice with two more tenses, the present perfect and the future form.
Present perfect: have/has + been + past participle
Future form: will + be + past participle
Be sure to practice converting or changing active sentences into the passive voice to develop your skills in the passive voice. Matt is happy to help read and comment on your sentences at bitesizedenglish@gmail.com.
Matt sits down with his long time student, Cecelia, for a quick chat about some interesting topics. They discuss the environment, animals, and Beijing's bikes.
Vocabulary:
QR code
apex predators
refraction
rainbows
Today we continue our discussion on the passive voice using the present tenses. We form the simple with am/is/are + past participle and we form the continuous with am/is/are + being + past participle.
Send your practice sentences to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com.
Matt begins his week talking about the passive voice with one of the more important tenses of the passive: past simple. We use it to describe some of the major achievements in human history all the way to minor happenings in day to day life.
Please direct all questions and homework to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com or @bitesizedengpod.
Matt summarises some of the complicated history between France and England, and how that has impacted the English language in very dramatic ways. He also covers a few French words and phrases that we use in day to day English:
-touche
-bon voyage
-mousse
-carte blanche
-entree
-cul-de-sac
Be sure to submit your questions to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com or on Twitter @bitesizedengpod!
Matt talks about some important tips we can focus on when we are writing persuasive essays, especially for tests or in a classroom setting. He does introduce a few new words/phrases: anecdotal, infrastructure, stay on topic, rack your brain.
Direct questions and comments to bitesizedenglish@gmail or on Twitter @bitesizedengpod.
Matt covers some of the trickier uncountable nouns that caused some confusion for submitted answers. He talks about words like news, meats, paper, money (and currencies), and grass.
If there are any more nouns you are not sure of, please do send your questions to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com.
Today Matt covers the main quantifiers we use in English with countable and uncountable nouns. We practice some of them with examples, and highlight some of the related quantifiers that are interchangable or similar but slightly different.
Send your assignment to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com and Matt will be happy to help!
Matt talks us through countable and uncountable nouns. He covers some important basic points like general rules, basic quantifiers, and some key irregularities. Check in tomorrow for more detail on quantifiers.
Send your assignment to bitesizedenglish@gmail.com or Tweet at Matt @bitesizedengpod!
Matt talks about the various words we use when talking about the habit of smoking.
Vocabulary:
cigarettes, tobacco, cigars, pipe, smoking, butts, second-hand smoke, inhale, addicted to, quit, cold turkey, wean off
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