Come back to http://www.allearsenglish.com/305 and tell us what change you are going to make after today's episode Get our FREE IELTS CHEAT SHEET: http://www.allearsenglish.com/evaluation Today you’ll find out why staying in the same place will never get you to where you want to go and how to make an effective change quickly and easily. Here it today’s quote: “To get something you never had you have to do something you never did.” -Unknown “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” -Tony Robbins It’s so easy to get into a habit but we have to step back and ask ourselves if our habits are creating the results that we want. Time goes by fast. We often realize that we have been doing the same thing for years and we haven’t achieved our goals. Here are some examples of our goals: * Michelle’s new goal: She wants to build upper body strength. How is she working towards the goal? She is using resistance bands at her home a few times every week. * Lindsay’s new goal: She wants to deepen her meditation practice. She has started going to her meditation center every morning. What about you? What are you going to change after listening to today’s episode? What change do you want to create in your life? Tell us in the comments below Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Come back and tell us what your dating deal breakers are! http://www.allearsenglish.com/303 Get our FREE IELTS CHEAT SHEET: http://www.allearsenglish.com/evaluation Today we have our dating consultant, Jessica Coyle, back on the show! Today Jessica is back to talk about the concept of chemistry in dating in urban US culture. Jessica is going to tell us how to know if we actually have chemistry with someone. Chemistry: A magnetic pull between two people where you seem to understand the other person and something is different about that person to you. Two different types of chemistry: * Slow burn chemistry: You start out as friends and then chemistry and attraction gradually builds over time. Features of the other person that seemed strange or unattractive initially start to become endearing and attractive. * Quick chemistry/limerance: This is more of an infatuation. Jessica thinks that online dating and set ups reward this type of attraction. These connections can be really intense at first and then can fizzle out and not end well. At the same time, sometimes these attractions can work in the long run. What about in your culture? What are your deal breakers when it comes to dating? In your culture, how much influence do your parents and family have when it comes to your choice of a partner? Here are some dating vocabulary words that we talked about today: * Limerance * Lukewarm feelings * Slow burn chemistry * Quirks (personality and physical) * Deal breakers * Red Flag Jessica Coyle has been teaching English since 2007. She received her Master’s in TESOL in 2013, finishing with a professional project researching the use of improvisational comedy teaching techniques to teach English as a second language. She has studied and performed improv comedy all over Korea, China, Canada and the United States. How to find Jessica Online: Her dating blog: https://hopefuldisasters.wordpress.com/ Let us know your thoughts on this topic. What are your deal breakers? How important is chemistry when it comes to dating in your home culture? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Get our FREE IELTS CHEAT SHEET: http://www.allearsenglish.com/evaluation Come back to this episode and write a sample sentence- we'll tell you if you're correct: http:/www.allearsenglish.com/303 Are you STILL making this English mistake? We hear a lot of intermediate learners still getting confused between “I would like” and “I like” in English. Today you’ll get two examples of how to solve this mistake. 1) “Do you like coffee?” This means do you enjoy coffee? 2) “Would you like a coffee?” This means that someone is inviting you to have a coffee or is offering you a coffee. Listen to the role plays in the episode to hear how Lindsay and Michelle use “Do you like” versus “Would you like.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Come back and let us know your thoughts on this: http://www.allearsenglish.com/302 Get our FREE IELTS Cheat Sheet: http://www.allearsenglish.com/evaluation Today we have a special guest on the show! Our guest will challenge your assumption that SPEAKING is the most important part of learning English. Julian sees learning languages as a simple, two-step process: Step 1: Learn the language that we need for our specific situation Step 1: Apply the language and use it Julian’s 3 Tips- How to Keep it Practical: * Try to do many different kinds of things in the language: English is a process. Spend time with it. You can’t HAVE it. You can’t GET it. You need to constantly maintain it. Julian says that there is no difference between “experiencing” the language and “learning” the language, as far as your brain is concerned. By experiencing the language in many different ways, we can acquire chunks of English which will help us to sound more native-like. You should try to encounter the language through reading, speaking, listening, writing, etc. Get a more well-rounded experience of the language instead of just focusing on speaking. * Try to get a balance between intensive activity and relaxed exposure: Some of your work should be deliberate, focused, practical, intensive study. At the same time, some of your work should be a more relaxed encounter with the language. You need to take it in in a way that is enjoyable and easy. You could try listening to music in the language or watching TV. The key is getting a balance between the two forms of learning. * Focus on things which are useful to YOU: Exclude things that aren’t useful to you. Don’t bother to learn things that you won’t need to use. According to Julian, we don’t become fluent in English. We become fluent in specific topics such as cooking, law, politics, art, etc. Choose your focus and pursue English in that area. Drop the idea of becoming “fluent” in English in general. Julian’s Bio: Our guest today is an English teacher from England, living in Japan. He is the father of three bilingual children, is halfway through a PhD program in Psycholinguistics and used his insight about language learning to go from speaking poor Japanese in 2008 to being a translator in 2010. Our guest today is Julian from DoingEnglish.com What do you think? Have you focused down on one specific area of English learning? What area are you focusing on? Let us know in the comments! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Get our IELTS CHEAT SHEET HERE: http://www.allearsenglish.com/evaluation Most people think that forgiveness is weakness but today we’ll challenge your perspective with an awesome quote! Do you have any enemies? Do you have any “frenemies”? Here is today’s quote for a Deep Thoughts Thursday: “Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much.” – Oscar Wilde What does this quote mean? This quote is somewhat “cheeky” and it says that if we want to annoy our enemies even more, we can forgive them. Also, the quote is telling us that it’s better for us to forgive. It helps us lead healthier lives. When you have an enemy you carry a lot of negative energy around and it takes up space in your body and in your brain. According to Mayoclinic.org, the benefits of forgiveness include: * Stronger immune system * Less anxiety * Lower blood pressure A few great vocabulary words from today’s episode: * Frenemy: “Friend” + “enemy”= someone that you care about and you are there for them but you can’t get along with them on an everyday basis and many things about that person bother you. * To hold a grudge: You keep thinking about something that someone did to you, you hold on to your anger. You don’t move on. Do you have someone to forgive? What is holding you back from forgiving that person? Share your experience in the comments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Get our FREE IELTS CHEAT SHEET: http://www.allearsenglish.com/evaluation Come back to allearsenglish.com/300 and let us know what you are working on. This is our 300th episode! We are happy to be able to continue All Ears English for our amazing listeners! Today let’s talk about how All Ears English got started, what we do to publish each episode, and what it means for you if you want to put your creative vision out into the world! Today we’ll talk about: * The idea: Lindsay was feeling frustrated with what she had seen in the ESL field. English learning didn’t seem to be working for many students. She was also listening to podcasts at the time and she felt an intuitive voice saying that maybe it was time to start a podcast so she found a partner to work with and got started. If you aren’t hearing any voices in your heart of mind about your creative project, look at what’s needed in the world and go out and investigate that idea. * The background research: We tried our best to avoid “analysis paralysis.” We did a little bit of research to see that other people were doing this and that people were downloading these types of podcasts. When you get started on your creative vision, don’t let “research” hold you back because it may be a form of procrastination. Research is a way of staying safe and not taking the risk of launching. * Production/recording: We kept in mind Seth Godin’s philosophy of “the dip.” We hit a dip in our first three months of producing this project. All Ears English almost failed. We couldn’t get the audio right. There was a learning curve, especially with the technology. We had to throw out an entire day of work because it wasn’t good enough. If you are creating something, you are going to hit a dip. You need to keep pushing beyond the dip because in the long run you will be happy that you did. * Editing: Quality is king. This may sound contradictory to “Connection NOT Perfection” but it’s not because we consider our work to be art. We don’t seek perfection but we do seek the highest possible quality that we can reach. Remember, people want to see that you are human. You make mistakes and it’s fine but quality also matters. Find a balance. When you put out your vision keep this in mind. * Publishing: This is the crucial moment. You have finished your project and now it’s time to show your “art” to the world. In this moment a lot of people don’t publish or they don’t “ship” because they get scared. Why is it scary? It’s scary because you are vulnerable at this time and anyone can come and criticize what you have done. Reid Hoffman says, “If you aren’t embarrassed by the first version of your product then you have launched too late.” * Rinse and repeat: Four times per week we publish episodes. You need to put your work out into the world on a regular basis, not just once. This builds up a sense of resilience and self confidence. No matter what you’re working on, there is always going to be someone who doesn’t like your work but that doesn’t matter. ** Get a chance to meet with Lindsay on Skype for 15 minutes! If we get 300 comments we will choose one person to meet with Lindsay on Skype and practice English. What are YOU working on? What is your creative art or vision that you are putting out into the world? Answer these questions: 1) What are you working on? 2) What challenges have you had? 3) What have you learned? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Come back to our blog and leave a comment. Did you bring up one of these topics on a first date? What happened? Tell us your story: http://www.allearsenglish.com/299 Get our free IELTS Chat Sheet at http://www.allearsenglish.com/evaluation Jessica is the author of Hopeful Disasters where she explores dating in New York City. She is also an ESL teacher in New York City. Check out her blog here! When you meet someone for the first time in English, whether it’s a date or just a first-time meeting with a friend or colleague, there are certain topics that you should NEVER discuss. Today you’ll find out what they are with our favorite AEE dating consultant, Jessica Coyle. A few weeks ago we talked about what four things you SHOULD talk about on a first date in English or at a first meeting but today we’ll show you what you should avoid. 4 Topics to AVOID on a first date or first meeting in English: * Politics: You can casually mention your political interests but don’t get drawn into a political debate or discussion. Jessica calls this “quicksand” because you can start to sink and you’ll get stuck and you won’t be able to get out of it. It’s better to bring up this topic once you already know someone well and after you know their triggers well. * Age: You should definitely avoid asking the person their exact age. Also, this means that you should not ask people about their timeline in terms of when they want to get married or have kids. It’s too direct and too intense for a first date or first conversation. You might terrify the person if start asking these questions too early. * Religion: You probably have a rough idea of your date’s religion and it will be important later but it’s too personal to get into during a first date. It’s ok to share your own religion if you want to but don’t ask the person directly what their religion is. * Education: This is tricky. Jessica says that the goal in not asking this question is to avoid coming off as arrogant or judgmental. If you ask the person where they went to school or how many degrees they have, it will be clear that you are fishing for information regarding their intelligence or social status. You might make the other person feel bad if you ask this question. Try to figure out if there is an intellectual connection instead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Come back to allearsenglish.com/298 and leave us your comments! Get your free IELTS Cheat Sheet at: http://www.allearsenglish.com/evaluation What is the difference between “come” and “go” in English? This is a big mistake that a lot of English learners make! Are you making this mistake? Let’s stop it today. Today you’ll get a simple strategy to use when you choose between “come” and “go.” Here is the trick to remember “come” versus “go”: Where is the speaker? If the speaker is in the place that he is talking about, he says “why don’t you come to New York?” In this case, the speaker is in New York. If he says, “I plan to go to Boston” then he is not in Boston. Keep it simple! Stick to this rule and it will clear up your confusion every time. Phrasal verbs with “come” and “go”: * To come around: To visit (at someone’s home) or to get better, to return to normal. Here is an example, “You are in an argument with a friend now but I hope your friend comes around.” * To come to: To regain awareness and consciousness after fainting or after passing out. “In hot yoga, if you faint and then you come to, everyone will be standing over you and staring.” * To go through: To deal with something, to struggle with something that is hard, maybe a break up, a divorce, a hard time financially. “Are you going through anything difficult these days?” * To go into: To enter something, to start to talk about something, an idea, a topic. “Today we went into a lot of great topics.” Write a sample sentence below to show us that you understood today’s episode! We hope to read your example soon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Come back and tell us how you want to apply this quote in your life: http://www.allearsenglish.com/297 What is the difference between being original and imitating? What will get you further in life? Today is a Deep Thoughts Thursday so we have a quote: “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” -Herman Melville What does this mean for English learners? Don’t follow a formula. Be creative with your words. Don’t focus too much on being perfect. Get creative with your tone of voice. Learn different ways to say different things. Check out this episode about the Zone of Genius. Where does this quote resonate with you? Let us know in the comments. We want to hear from you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you feel like you never get a chance to speak English? Even when you attend an English class or work with an English tutor do you leave the class feeling like you haven’t spoken at all? If so, then you are not alone. A lot of students feels this way. Today we have a guest, Jason Newnum, who is an American English teacher. He teaches on the italki platform and he is available for lessons now! Jason has a special class called “Student Speaks, Teacher Listens.” Why did Jason create this class? Jason created this class because when he took Spanish classes he noticed that he was not getting much speaking practice at all. He felt discouraged and didn’t get much better. He realized that the same problem was happening with English students. Jason wants to solve this problem. Why is Jason’s class different? * He makes sure that students talk more, about 80% of the time * He feels comfortable being quiet, he doesn’t get nervous like other teachers do sometimes when they are nervous so he doesn’t fill that space with meaningless chatter A typical class with Jason: * He asks you what’s new with you * He gives you a short article or video clip and asks for your opinion * He asks great follow-up questions- directly related to YOU and YOUR experiences * He writes out your mistakes in the Skype chat box so that you have a record of your mistakes Jason’s Bio: Jason Newnum teaches English as a second language, in Bariloche, Argentina, and lives there with his family. Although he received his university degree in Spanish and now lives in a Spanish speaking country, his Argentine wife speaks English and Spanish equally. So it’s difficult to force himself to practice Spanish, when it’s easier to speak English with his wife. So he understands the frustrations of having to force ourselves to practice a foreign language everyday. Do you have this problem with your English class? Are you planning to try Jason’s class? If so, let us know when you are going to get started with Jason. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Come have a conversation with Lindsay and Michelle in the comments section of our blog! Come back to: http://www.allearsenglish.com/295 Get your free IELTS Cheat Sheet: http://www.allearsenglish.com/evaluation Today you’ll get six ways to check on someone’s progress in a non-pushy way in English! Do you ever want to get the status of someone’s progress on a project or an assignment but do you get confused about how to ask without making the person feel pressured? Today you’ll find out how to do it successfully in English. Ways to check on progress: * “How’s it going? I look forward to receiving the files.” * “Any updates? * ” How are things progressing?” * “How are things moving forward?” * “How are things going?” * “Do you need any feedback on anything?” * “Do you want me to check your work?” Slightly more direct ways to check on progress: * “What’s your timeline?” * “How’s your timeline looking?” * “I just wanted to check in. When do you think you’ll be able to get that done?” What other phrases do you use when you want to check on someone’s progress? Let us know in the comments below. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Come back to our blog and have a conversation with us! Go to http://www.allearsenglish.com/294 Get your FREE IELTS Cheat Sheet: http://www.allearsenglish.com/evaluation April Fool’s Day is coming up later this week. Are you ready for it? How do you celebrate April Fool’s Day in your culture? Today you’ll learn what many Americans do on April Fool’s Day and you’ll get a few new vocabulary words for this day. It’s common to play jokes on friends and colleagues at work or at college in the United States. It’s especially common in colleges because students live together with their friends in dormitories. Vocabulary for April Fool’s Day: * Gullible: To trust people and believe things that people say, even if those things are not true. * Practical Joke: A joke that you play on someone (not a spoken joke). You act out this kind of joke. * A prank: A practical joke, a joke that is acted out * Gag gift: A silly gift that is not meant to be serious but is meant to be a joke What should you do if someone plays a joke on you? Don’t take it too seriously. Laugh at it. Have a good time. Leave a message in the comments. How do you celebrate April Fool’s Day? Let us know. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices