The A to Z English Podcast

By: Jack McBain
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  • Summary

  • Welcome to The A to Z English Podcast, where we take you on a journey from learning the basics to mastering the nuances of the English language. Our podcast is designed for non-native speakers who are looking to improve their English skills in a fun and interactive way. Each episode covers a wide range of topics, from grammar and vocabulary to slang and culture, to help you navigate the English-speaking world with ease. Join us every week as we explore the A to Z of the English language and help you build confidence in your communication skills. Let's get started!
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Episodes
  • Topic Talk | The future of ESL

    Topic Talk | The future of ESL
    Jul 31 2024
    In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack talk about what they think the future of ESL entails. 00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:48JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with.00:00:52JackMy co-host social.00:00:53JackAnd today, we're doing a topic talk episode and we're talking about the future of ESL or the future of EFL English as a second language or English as a foreign language.00:01:05JackAnd UM.00:01:06JackI've got a lot of opinions about this social because my job is here in Korea. I teach at the university and so I'm always listening and and trying to predict what the the future of the industry might be.00:01:25JackBecause it kind of greatly affects my my livelihood, my ability to have a job and earn an income.00:01:34JackAnd.00:01:36JackI've I've got my opinions about it. What do you what are your opinions about the future of ESL? What do you what do you think the the future might might bring?00:01:44XochitlUhm, you know, I haven't been in the industry nearly as long as you have, Jack. So like, I kind of, I feel like by the time that, you know, because of my age, I'm I'm younger and everything. By the time I graduated college and everything like.00:02:01XochitlThat that the industry was already taking the nosedive while I was, you know, in college, I would say. And, you know, the writing has been on the wall for a while, that there's especially during with the pandemic and a lot of people.00:02:11JackYeah.00:02:21XochitlI mean the no mad lifestyle and teaching classes online and then there were certain difficulties with getting visas and staying in different countries.00:02:31XochitlDuring the pandemic and there were, you know, a lot of complications because of COVID that created a ripple effect of a lot of systemic changes that were, I think, already kind of on the on the fringe before, but definitely.00:02:46XochitlKicked up uh during and after the pandemic and uh, how do I say this? I'm I'm not really sure about the future. I do know that.00:02:57XochitlIt's not as lucrative a business, you know, as it used to be. I would say definitely people who are in ESL now, it's kind of like a.00:03:06XochitlA labor of love and it used to be that, you know, 20 years ago, you're starting pay in in a job like what you would get paid in Korea was the same as what you get paid now. And of course it went a lot farther 20 years ago. Yeah.00:03:19발표자Right.00:03:22JackYeah, yeah, things are more expensive now. Inflation has basically cut that by 1/3.00:03:29JackYeah.00:03:30발표자Hmm.00:03:31JackYeah.00:03:32XochitlThe buying power of that same quantity, it's just not what it used to be.00:03:36JackThread.00:03:38XochitlSo I don't know and I think that also displayed some people from, you know taking the route of moving to another country because it takes a lot of money which a lot of people also aren't aware of to to move out to another country. Yet in Korea like you get an apartment provided.00:03:57XochitlAnd you get a lot of benefits, but just the visa process alone, plus they reimburse you for your flight ticket after like a year of contract, but you have to pay the money.00:04:06XochitlFront and and a bunch of those related charges. You know, we're talking about hundreds or over $1000 and then.00:04:15발표자MHM.00:04:19XochitlYou know your pay is just so. So I think it makes a lot of people question whether they want.00:04:24XochitlTo be like.00:04:26XochitlWork to the bone in some of these jobs. Yeah. Yeah. So I think it, I think on both ends, both for, you know, schools that are hiring teachers from outside of the country when they. I think it's also become a thing of why should I go through the hassle of.00:04:43XochitlHiring someone from outside of my country and paying for their health check and paying for their visa sponsorship and all. And you know, making sure they are who they say they are doing background check and receiving all these documents and processing them like why should I go through all this trouble when I can get someone in my own country with thanks to globalization and better education tools they might.00:05:03XochitlSpeak, you know perfect English and I can just get someone who already knows the culture as well and who I won't have to worry about like.00:05:11XochitlHolding their hand and walking them through the process of moving to a new country and from the teachers perspective, it's ...
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    25 mins
  • Idiom Academy | Drop the ball and Fall off

    Idiom Academy | Drop the ball and Fall off
    Jul 26 2024

    Here are the meanings of the phrases "drop the ball" and "fall off":


    Drop the Ball

    "Drop the ball" is an idiom that means to make a mistake or fail to meet an obligation or responsibility. It suggests that someone has let something important slip through the cracks, leading to a failure or mishap. The phrase likely originates from sports, where dropping the ball can lead to a loss of possession or a missed opportunity.


    Example:

    "I really dropped the ball on that project. I forgot to submit the report on time."


    Fall Off

    "Fall off" can have a few different meanings depending on the context:


    Literal Meaning: To physically fall from a higher place to a lower place.

    Example: "Be careful on the ladder so you don't fall off."


    Decrease or Decline: To experience a reduction in amount, quality, or intensity.

    Example: "Sales have fallen off since the holiday season."


    Lose Focus or Consistency: To stop maintaining a certain level of performance, attention, or engagement.

    Example: "He was doing well in his studies, but his grades fell off after he started working part-time."


    Both phrases are commonly used in everyday conversation and writing, and their meanings can often be inferred from the context in which they are used.


    Podcast Website:

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    8 mins
  • Topic Talk | More Silly Questions

    Topic Talk | More Silly Questions
    Jul 25 2024
    In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack answer more silly questions.Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:48JackWelcome to the Ados English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we have a fun topic talk.00:00:57JackAnd this one is. These are just silly questions, social and.00:01:02JackWe're going to do three of them, and if you join our English corner through the WeChat group, you can also discuss these. We we discussed these questions last week, but we will discuss questions like this in the future as well. And #1 is what are your most random pet peeves?00:01:22JackWe we talked.00:01:22JackAbout pet peeves before, but what's your like most random one? That probably no one else is annoyed by, but only you?00:01:30XochitlMy most random pet peeve.00:01:35XochitlThe leading the chair not pushing, as we discussed before.00:01:39발표자Mm-hmm.00:01:41XochitlWhat's another one?00:01:44XochitlI'm trying to think I'm not too much of A picky person, so it's kind of hard for me. I hate this is kind of a like a weird one. It's not really my business, but I just hate seeing like.00:01:57XochitlLike useless men like this sounds weird, but it's kind of a pet peeve of mine when there's, like, a a woman with like like this just happened in the airport. There's a woman was literally the she she and her husband were at the airport and she had like, seven kids. And I think she's pregnant with another kid and.00:02:17XochitlHe the man just like there's he was supposed to get like dinner for all the kids and the wife with his oldest son, and they just disappeared for like 2 hours and then came back with nothing.00:02:30XochitlAnd the kids were, like, running around and screaming, and the lady looked, like, devastated. And it was like, oh, my God, I just, you know what I mean? I hate seeing stuff like that every time I see a man, a useless partner. That's a huge piece. And it's funny because it's not really my business, but it just makes me angry.00:02:48JackYeah, it's kind of I'm. I'm just, I think.00:02:50JackIt's funny that you were.00:02:51JackJust watching that whole scenario play out and just seething, just so angry.00:02:57XochitlYes, I was sitting across from the waiting and I was just like, oh, my God, this poor lady. And this, like, older lady sitting next to her was like, helped ended up helping her with distract her kids for a while, which was really nice. Of the older lady to step in. But it was just.00:03:12XochitlCrazy that the woman has a whole husband. That's like doing nothing.00:03:17JackYeah.00:03:17XochitlJust absolutely insane.00:03:19JackI wonder, I wonder if my wife would have stories. And then I thought fortunately there might be some examples of me checking out for a moment, but I I try not to. I I try to, you know, we we try to divide and conquer. You know, the best that we can.00:03:34XochitlI don't think he would have been that useless like this guy was a a new level. You know what I mean? From what I've seen of you, I have a hard time believing you would have been that.00:03:39발표자Yeah.00:03:43XochitlBad.00:03:43XochitlYou know, so that's a.00:03:45XochitlBig Tip team of mine and I think.00:03:49XochitlThose are those are two big ones, I.00:03:53XochitlI don't think that I have another one. I guess another, maybe third one is like noise makes me irritated really fast. So like.00:04:04XochitlI like things to be pretty quiet, but if I have to hear like a bunch of noise.00:04:10XochitlI can just get so angry quickly for no reason kind of. So that peeve is like just really noisy environments can really grate on my nerves if I'm not expecting it. You know, if I'm at like a concert or something, obviously I don't really care. You expect it to be loud, but it's.00:04:25JackYeah, you can't really complain about the noise at a concert.00:04:28XochitlYeah, but it's just like sudden loudness or something out of nowhere. Like it just kind of grates on my nerves.00:04:36XochitlYeah. How about you, Jack? What are your pet peeves?00:04:39JackI've got a couple. Well, my the first one, I said this one was in another podcast too, but I it bothers me when people say, you know what I mean like that. It's like, yeah, because I'm. I'm always like, yeah, I I know exactly what you mean. You don't have to ask me. You know, I'm not stupid, but.00:04:49XochitlYes, I remember that.00:04:59JackBut it's not, that's just me ...
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    17 mins
Education Language Learning
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