How do you pronounce "I'll" correctly?
tobeornottobe511@gmail.com asked this question about 11 hours ago Hi, Luke Thank you for your contents which I listen to them daily. I’d like a question for pronunciation. I’m struggling with pronunciation for I’ll. Could you teach me how to pronounce it? I’m looking forward to new episodes always. Cheers
Example
This is where you can ask me questions. How about something like this: "What words do you say when you want to avoid using swear words - for example, if you hit your nail on a hammer, but you're standing in front of a priest. You need to say 'Oh F*******CK! but you can't - so what do you say instead? Do you have substitute words for swear words, which are less rude, but do the same job?" Feel free to write a long, rambling question like that!
Speaking
This is a question written as a comment from Amia written on another episode. Aug 14 Subject: Thank You and a Question About Practicing Speaking Dear Luke, I hope you are doing well. I would like to thank you for your lessons — they have been very helpful and enjoyable. I have a question: I would like to practice my English pronunciation by recording my own voice and listening to it. Could you please recommend an easy way or tool to do this? Thank you very much for your time and support. Best regards, Amia
Consuming content in English
Hello, Luke! I hope you're doing great. I've been learning English about 4 years (and 1,5 year with your amazing podcast!). I can understand most of social media content well but movies and books make me be absolutely wound up because I can't just watch or read due to billions unfamiliar words. I know that it's fine but I have no idea how to get myself to stay focused and keep working with content. The question is how to go through English books and movies effectively? For example, I've tried to watch "The Shawshank Redemption". 30 minutes later I have a large list of unknown words but I still understand the plot somehow. Should I stop the movie and work with words? or should I watch it till the end, then zero in on all unfamiliar words and rewatch it? or I even should find other easier movie if there are so many unfamiliar things? Sorry for being long-winded, I was just trying to make my question understandable. and I can't help to say thank you so much for all things you're doing for learners of English! So, thank you for reading it as well!
New premium listener
Hi Luke, I'm a new Premium subscriber, and, as I'd found out these AMA episodes after reading your last email, I decided to take vantage right away, 'cause I've a few doubts which make me crazy! I would really appreciate if you could explain the difference between raise and rise, lay and lie, bond and bound, praise and prize, allegedly and reportedly. Looking forward to reading your reply, I thank you in advance. Laura.
Slangs and Linguistik expressions
Hi Luke, I'm glad you enjoyed your vacation (we also escaped the heat during our summer vacation by heading to northern Europe). You're back with so many episodes and new projects! Amazing! I have a question and I would be happy if you could help me with this topic. I have trouble understanding slangs (especially when I'm talking to native speakers). Could you do an episode about it? And also, when I read books or watch TED Talks, several linguistic expressions and slang appear that I don't understand. Thank you in advance!
Do people who live in UK really drink all kinds of tea all the time?
Hi Luke, I’m so glad to hear from you again! I really enjoy listening to your podcast—it’s fascinating every time. I noticed that you set a timer to remind yourself to drink water. This summer, I’m also planning to stay more hydrated. Every morning, right after getting out of bed, I make myself a cup of Rooibos tea. That got me thinking: do English people really drink tea throughout the whole day, from morning to night? If so, what kinds of tea do you usually drink, and why? Do you go for decaf, or something else? Cheers!
A question about tenses and another question about sounding older than you actually are.
Hi Luke, First of all, I love your podcast, and I really appreciate your efforts for all of us. Secondly, I have two questions, and I am sorry that they are rather long. Question 1: I am writing a story, and in the plot, there are two characters. Let’s call them John and Jen. John spoke with Jen yesterday, and he watched as Jen left for the cinema with Jessica at around 6:30 pm. Then he went to sleep. When he wakes up, he hasn’t heard back from Jen, but he deduces that by the time he is having his breakfast, the visit to the cinema must have been over and the two must have already returned to their respective homes. But the problem is that since I am writing the story in the past tense, I don’t know how to write the past deduction of a character in the past. And another problem is that what I want John to convey in that scene is that he is thinking about Jen and her visit to the cinema, but he doesn’t expect her to be out the whole night. It is supposed to be just a short trip to the cinema for a few hours, so in theory she should be back by 9 or 10 in the evening. So, even when I say it in the present: they must’ve finished with their cinema trip by now or they must’ve already returned to their respective homes by now, it sounds as if John is thinking that they just recently finished their cinema trip and just returned home. So, my sub-question is: how can I make John deduce in a way that shows he thinks their visit to the cinema and their return home happened a long time ago? (How can I distance Jen and Jessica’s activities from the current time when John is making the deduction?) Question 2 This question popped up in my head recently when I was chatting with a native speaker on Reddit. He found no faults with my English that would’ve revealed I was not a native speaker, but his response was that he couldn’t believe I was 25. Apparently, the way I text—or speak by extension—was like what a 60-year-old would, in his opinion. That problem was brought to my attention again recently when the messages between Charlie Kirk’s killer, Tyler Robinson, and his roommate were reported by a news channel on Instagram, and people in the comments were saying that the texts must be fake because the exchange, in their opinion, was not something two young people would have had. And as I read the messages, I realised they were exactly how I would type or speak, and I think that’s a problem I need to fix. Is sounding like an old man a failure from my part? Would that make me less of a proficient speaker or make me stand out like a sore thumb among native speakers? Also, can you recommend ways for me to incorporate young people’s language in my input? Btw, I am already using plenty of colloquial and informal words, as you could gauge from this text, but apparently it is not enough. Thank you, Soe Moe