49. Doctor Visits: How to Talk about Medical Problems - English for Real Life

Listen to an everyday English conversation about going to the doctor, medical visits, and how we talk about being sick or injured in English. 

Transcription:

Curtis:  Okay. For today’s conversation, we’re going to talk about things related to going to the doctor. So, getting sick or having an injury, right?

Amy:  Yeah, exactly. We have noticed that a lot of our students don’t really know how to explain how they're feeling, maybe pain or different symptoms that they're having in their body. So we thought that we could share some of our experiences that we’ve had, unfortunately, where we’ve either been sick or hurt ourselves and what it was like, what was happening to us. So, Curtis, for you I think we’re gonna start backwards and maybe moving our way forward in time.

Curtis:  Okay.

Amy:  And one of the first stories that you were gonna talk about was related to something that happened to you in high school, right?

Curtis:  Yeah. It was back in high school. Actually, I was in a marching band and I played the bass drum, and we actually competed against other marching bands. So we went on tour through the United States and we won this competition one night. And then after the competition we went back to the high school gymnasium that we were staying in, and around these high schools are stairways or staircases.

Amy:  Like the bleachers, right?

End of Transcription Sample. To get access to the full transcription for this lesson and the other 49 conversation lessons currently available, register as a Real English Conversations member here.

Do you want to Learn to Tell English Stories?

As you heard in this podcast, Curtis and Amy help students to improve their small talk and storytelling skills all the time in private lessons. We are experts in helping our students to improve their speaking and listening skills, improve confidence and reach their goals faster. Learn more about Private Lessons with us here

Get ALL the English Conversation Lessons & Online Courses

Real English Conversations is a website for students that want to start USING their English skills! Join our WhatsApp group to practice speaking and get excellent online lessons that can be studied anytime.

Members of our website get immediate access to:

• All the online courses to quickly improve speaking, listening and increase vocabulary
• All the transcripts and exercises related to each podcast lesson!
• Our Member-Only WhatsApp Speaking Practice Group

Learn More about the membership options here

Other English Podcast Conversation Lessons:

• Consistency & Motivation to Learn English - Top advice to Learn English 
• Spooky Stories - Learn English with Stories!
• Phrasal Verbs: Pick Up On and Hang On- From the English Phrasal Verbs Podcast

Interesting article: Listen Deeper - How to Improve Your Listening in English

48. Learn Smarter: Spooky Stories: UFO’s, Ghosts & Haunted Houses | Real English Stories

Listen to a natural conversation where we share English stories about spooky experiences we've had related to UFO's, ghosts and haunted houses. You're going to get some great vocabulary and expressions from this English podcast episode!

Transcription:

Yeah, exactly. So, there is one other time that I don’t know what I saw. I don’t know if it was a UFO, I don’t know what it is, but it was super, super weird. There’s one time when we had our delivery business, I was actually doing a delivery in this area called Black Mountain, it’s like a neighborhood. It’s sort of on the side of a hill or in a little valley. So on one side of the valley, there are all these houses and they have a beautiful view, of course, during the day. And on the other side of the valley, there are more houses. But I was on the one side that was – it’s quite steep in that area and you have a pretty good view.

I went up the road and then I did a U-turn and I parked my car in front of the house. This was a regular customer. I remember I looked up after I had parked my car, and there was this super bright light across on the other side of the valley. But I mean, I was born and raised in Kelowna. I know the geography of the city.

End of Transcription Sample. To get access to the full transcription for this lesson and the other 46 conversation lessons currently available, register as a Real English Conversations member here.

Do you want to Learn to Tell Better English Stories?

As you heard in this podcast, Curtis and Amy help students to improve their small talk and story telling skills all the time in private lessons. We are experts in helping our students to improve their speaking and listening skills, improve confidence and reach their goals faster. You can get more information about how to take private lessons with us by sending an email to: amy@realenglishconversations.com

Get ALL the English Conversation Lessons, Online Courses and Have Live Conversations with Us!

Real English Conversations is a website for students that want to start USING their English skills! We offer a mix of real conversations you can join to practice speaking, tell stories in English and get excellent online lessons that can be studied anytime.

Members of our website get immediate access to:

• Join conversations with Curtis and Amy to discuss interesting topics
• All the online courses to quickly improve speaking, listening and increase vocabulary
• All the transcripts and exercises related to each podcast lesson!

Learn More about the membership options here

Other English Podcast Conversation Lessons:

• Learn Smarter: Efficient Language Learning-
• Scariest Moments Ever - Intermediate/ Advanced English Podcast Lesson
• 251 Pull Over, Go Over, Get Rid Of - From the English Phrasal Verbs Podcast

Interesting article: Find Your English Weaknesses (and How to Fix Them)

47. Learn Smarter: How to Improve Your English Skills with Effective Activities

In this English podcast, you will learn how to improve your English skills by Identifying the most effective types of activities to rapidly increase your language learning with actionable tips to change your learning strategy. Plus, get some effective activities that will help you learn smarter and faster as an independent language learner!

Transcription:

So, we’re going to call that kind of level one activity. Level two is just listening to it like we were last night. We weren’t taking notes, we didn’t stop the audio, we were just listening to it. The benefit we’re going to get is very, very little, if any, and I’m not really sure I’d consider it a good use of time and it’s certainly not studying. But level one activity is going to give you some benefit.

Another idea that you could do, if you're somebody who’s driving and maybe you have control on your steering wheel or something, something that isn’t going to distract you, obviously – I’m not promoting distracted driving – but if you have a button on your steering wheel and you can rewind the audio by holding it or pause the audio or something, this is good. What you can do is you can actually pause the audio and try to repeat the last part that the person said as much as you can and then continue playing it. This is going to help you to improve your listening skills and to practice speaking at the same time.

End of Transcription Sample. To get access to the full transcription for this lesson and the other 46 conversation lessons currently available, register as a Real English Conversations member here.

We Can Help You Get Focused!

Curtis and Amy help students everyday to focus on the right activities and overcome barriers faster. If you feel like you need a push (and a bit of experienced guidance) to get to the next level, send us a message to get started with private lessons. You can get more information about how to take private lessons with us by sending an email to: amy@realenglishconversations.com

Language Learning Advice for Our Members

By joining us as a member of our website, you will get access to full lessons with the top learning advice to become an efficient and independent learner. Beyond the advice, we have the lessons you need to improve your speaking fluency, listening comprehension and practice speaking with real people (including us!)

• Join conversations with Curtis and Amy to discuss interesting topics
• All the online courses to quickly improve speaking, listening and increase vocabulary
• All the transcripts and exercises related to each podcast lesson!

Learn More about the membership options here

Other English Podcast Conversation Lessons:

• Delivery Service - Intermediate/Advanced English Podcast Lesson
• Mother Nature - Advanced English Podcast Lesson
• 253 Come Up, Get Up & 3 Others - From the English Phrasal Verbs Podcast

Interesting article: Tricks to Building and Learning Vocabulary like a Pro

46. Scariest Moments | English Stories | Historias en Ingles

Listen to an conversation where we share three English stories about our most terrifying moments ever! Curtis and I thought this would be an entertaining conversation for everyone to hear about some of the things we have experienced in vivid detail to help you hear the art of story telling in English and to help you learn using stories in English.

Introduction:

Students: Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. I am from Japan. Brazil. Thailand. Uruguay.

Thanks to Real English Conversations, I got a part-time job.

I can practice with a native speaker and other members of the community. It’s really good.

I have improved my understanding of native speaker.

Thumbs up and big thanks to Amy and Curtis.

Amy:  I am so proud of these students and the progress they've made since becoming a member with us. If you're looking for a different way of learning and to finally break through your own barriers, it’s time to join us as a member. You’ll have access to lessons designed to improve your speaking and listening fluency that you can study online any time it fits your schedule. You’ll also be able to have real conversations with Curtis, myself, and these incredible members. Head over to RealEnglishConversations.com to learn more and get started.

Curtis:  What other scary moments have you had?

Amy:  Okay. I would say for me, my scariest moment that I ever had was actually a time that I was snowboarding. For those of you that don’t know, I am actually a very, very good snowboarder. I’ve been doing the sport for about – I don’t know how many years – maybe 15 years, but at least 12 years. At this point I was kind of at the top of my ability and what I was capable of doing.

So I was up snowboarding with one of my friends, not like a really, really good friend but somebody that I liked to go with, and he had an idea to go to this area of the hill that we like to go to because it’s just slightly out of bounds. But it’s not like so far out of bounds where you're going to get lost. It’s like if you go in at the top of this area and you go down the hill, you come down to another area and you come back in-bounds to the resort again. And a lot of people do it. It should literally be in-bounds.

Curtis:  Slightly out of bound.

Amy:    Slightly ... for a little section of the hill, but it literally should be in-bounds because of the shape of the mountain, it’s very easy to go through this area.

So, anyway, I was snowboarding and everything was fine. We found this fresh powder and, “Oh yeah, this is great.” I think it was our second time through this area. And what happened was I was making a turn and I fell, basically.

End of Transcription Sample. To get access to the full transcription for this lesson and the other 46 conversation lessons currently available, register as a Real English Conversations member here.

Do you want to Learn to Tell Better English Stories?

As you heard in this podcast, Curtis and Amy help students to improve their small talk and story telling skills all the time in private lessons. We are experts in helping our students to improve their speaking and listening skills, improve confidence and reach their goals faster. You can get more information about how to take private lessons with us by sending an email to: amy@realenglishconversations.com

Get ALL the English Conversation Lessons, Online Courses and Have Live Conversations with Us!

Real English Conversations is a website for students that want to start USING their English skills! We offer a mix of real conversations you can join to practice speaking, tell stories in English and get excellent online lessons that can be studied anytime.

Members of our website get immediate access to:

• Join conversations with Curtis and Amy to discuss interesting topics
• All the online courses to quickly improve speaking, listening and increase vocabulary
• All the transcripts and exercises related to each podcast lesson!

Learn More about the membership options here

Other English Podcast Conversation Lessons:

• Delivery Service - Intermediate/Advanced English Podcast Lesson
• Small Talk Vol. 2 - Advanced English Podcast Lesson
• 251 Pull Over, Go Over, Get Rid Of - From the English Phrasal Verbs Podcast

45. Consistency & Motivation | Tips to Learn English Faster | Real English

Learn the relationship between motivation and consistency to stay on track and improve your English faster. We will give you real life examples and share our experiences where we have seen how powerful consistency is in the language learning process. 

Transcription:

So it’s more like when you're consistent, you are learning faster, which creates motivation, which creates motivation to study again. And in my case, when I’m highly motivated, I’m actually more motivated to do activities that are more challenging compared to periods where maybe I have lower motivation because I’ve been too busy, I haven’t been consistent, and I’m kind of on that downward spiral out of consistency.

So it’s kind of a winning combination. If you're studying regularly, you're going to be learning faster and just able to have more room in your brain to be able to learn new things. You're going to have high level of motivation, which is going to help you naturally want to study without feeling like it’s a chore. And if you're really motivated, you're probably going to be doing activities that are more demanding on your concentration, right?

End of Transcription Sample. To get access to the full transcription for this lesson and the other 45 conversation lessons currently available, register as a Real English Conversations member here.

Get the Best Guidance to Learn English Faster from Us

Curtis and Amy are experts in teaching students how to learn faster, improve speaking fluency and efficiently develop their listening skills. You can get more information about how to take private lessons with us by sending an email to: amy@realenglishconversations.com

REC is More than Just Podcasts!

Real English Conversations is a website for students that want to start USING their English skills! We offer a mix of real conversations you can join to practice speaking, tell stories in English and get excellent online lessons that can be studied anytime.

Members of our website get immediate access to:

• Join conversations with Curtis and Amy to discuss interesting topics
• All the online courses to quickly improve speaking, listening and increase vocabulary
• All the transcripts and exercises related to each podcast lesson!

Learn More about the membership options here

Other English Podcast Conversation Lessons:

• 43. Language Immersion: What to Really Expect
• Small Talk Vol. 2 - Advanced English Podcast Lesson
• Hear 10 Phrasal Verbs in a Story

Interesting article: Learn How to Speak English Better - Knowledge vs. Skills

44: Small Talk Vol. 2 | English Conversations | Conversaciones en Ingles | Conversação em Inglês

Learning how to have small talk in English is a big challenge for most learners because they aren't sure what to talk about!

In this English Podcast, you will hear us practice having a small talk conversation to understand how to make 'ordinary' events or interests in your life an interesting story or discussion.

Introduction:

Students: Hi. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. I am from Mexico. Russia. Saudi Arabia. Prague. Spain.

Thanks to Real English Conversations, I have improved my fluency.

It's been helping me to think automatically in English.

Being part of a cool community of people when practicing English in many ways.

The first time I have the opportunity to talk in English.

It's a different way of learning.

Amy: It's time to take your learning beyond just listening to it. Why don't you join us and our awesome community to practice your English with Curtis, myself, other native speakers and of course these awesome members? To get started go to RealEnglishConversations.com and check out the membership options.

Curtis:  Okay, Amy, and what have you been up to lately?

Amy:  Well, I would say that I’ve been doing a lot of cooking and baking with plantains.

Curtis:  Oh, yeah. We’ve been growing a banana tree we thought at first but they turned out to be plantains.

Amy:  Exactly. Gigantic plantains. Like really, really big. So, yeah. We went outside and we counted how many plantains that we had when they were still green and growing on the tree, and we had 51 in total. And I knew that I would be cooking a lot of plantains but I didn’t really realize how big these things are and how long it takes to eat them. But I’ve been making banana bread and banana muffins. Once the plantains ripen, they actually become sweet like a banana – at least the ones that we have – and I’m able to make these sort of things with them. And I’ve been making like regular banana bread, ginger banana bread, cinnamon banana bread, chocolate chip banana bread. Yesterday I made double chocolate banana bread which was coco and chocolate chips.

Curtis:  Yes. And muffins.

Amy:  And muffins, exactly.

Curtis:  Yeah.

Amy:  I mean they're good. We eat a few and then we freeze some, and I’ve been giving them to friends and sharing my plantains with people, and we still have 15 on our counter right now. So yeah, I made some plantain chips. That was pretty cool. I figured out how to make them so that they were nice and crunchy. And they have to be green when you make plantain chips, otherwise they're too soft.

End of Transcription Sample. To get access to the full transcription for this lesson and the other 44 conversation lessons currently available, register as a Real English Conversations member here.

Get access to ALL the conversation Lessons!?

As you heard in this podcast, we have 44 conversation lessons available and we add a new one every month! Only a few of our conversations are available to the public to listen on podcasts.

If you enjoy our lessons and you'd like to get access to more conversations, activities, transcriptions and the downloads, you can join us as a member to get instant access to everything!

Check out the membership options here!

Other English Podcast Conversation Lessons:

• Delivery Service - Intermediate/Advanced English Podcast Lesson
• Phrasal Verb Podcast 252: Take Away, Go In, and Walk Over
• English Immersion - Advice Podcast Lesson about the reality of 'immersion'

43: English Language Immersion | Conversaciones en Inglés | Conversas em Inglês

English learners from all over the world often dream of having a complete English language immersion by spending a significant amount of time living in an English speaking country.

In this English podcast, we share some advice about our own experiences and problems related with living abroad (in our case, living in Mexico/learning Spanish).

You will also hear about common situations and difficulties our students facing with reaching fluency while living abroad in English speaking countries.

Hopefully, this English podcast episode will give you a better idea of how to structure your English immersion trip abroad to get the most out of your experience and plan ahead!

Introduction:

Students: Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. I am from Japan. Brazil. Thailand. Uruguay.

Thanks to Real English Conversations, I got a part-time job.

I can practice with a native speaker and other members of the community. It’s really good.

I have improved my understanding of native speaker.

Thumbs up and big thanks to Amy and Curtis.

Amy:  I am so proud of these students and the progress they've made since becoming a member with us. If you're looking for a different way of learning and to finally break through your own barriers, it’s time to join us as a member. You’ll have access to lessons designed to improve your speaking and listening fluency that you can study online any time it fits your schedule. You’ll also be able to have real conversations with Curtis, myself, and these incredible members. Head over to RealEnglishConversations.com to learn more and get started.

Curtis:  Hi, everybody, it’s Amy and Curtis from RealEnglishConversations.com. And we’re going to do something a little bit different for this podcast. What it is, it’s going to be kind of like how we used to give the Real English Tip in our conversation podcast but in more depth, more explanations with advice on really important things that you need to do and need to work on during your English studying and English learning journey. So, what are we going to focus on in this first episode, Amy?

Amy:  Today we’re going to be talking about learning a language in an immersion situation, and I’m going to say “so-called immersion” because I don’t think that the majority of cases are “true immersion.” So in your opinion, Curtis, what does “immersion” mean?

Curtis:  Immersion means that you’re working, you’re living in your target language, you’re exposed to the language – like you guys – English. It’s going to be an English immersion situation. If you’re working in it, if you’re interacting, having everyday typical...

Amy:  Your household.

Curtis:  Your household is...

Amy:  You have somebody in English.

Curtis:  Yeah. Exactly.

Amy:  Yeah. So, immersion is 100% you work in English, you’re at home, there’s probably a native speaker there that’s interacting with you, and of course when you’re sleeping, you’re not studying. But this is what immersion actually is. And for most of us we don’t really hit this point. I have a few different categories of people and I’m going to talk a little bit about the typical situations that they face so that we can look at the reality of immersion and how much immersion they’re actually getting. Okay?

Curtis:  Okay, great.

Amy:  So for people that are already living abroad, this is really, really going to depend on whether they’re working or not, right? So, for example, can you talk about a really common situation that you see with the students that you teach, for example, in the private lessons?

Curtis:  Right. Yeah. About 25% or 30% of my students are living in an English-speaking country now or have immigrated to it. The common thing is one of the people in the relationship is immersed in English.

Amy:  During the day when they’re working.

Curtis:  During the day when they’re working. They come back home, be right back into their native language.

Amy:  And there’s a good reason for that. A lot of times they’re trying to raise bilingual kids and also, for example, husband and wife, the husband has a much higher level if he’s out working – or the wife, it’s vice versa – and the person who’s at home looking after the kids, they don’t have as much contact with the language and therefore their level is not as high...

End of Transcription Sample. To get access to the full transcription for this lesson and the other 43 conversation lessons currently available, register as a Real English Conversations member here.

Do you want to take lessons with us?

As you heard in this podcast, Curtis and Amy are available for private lessons. We are experts in helping our students to improve their speaking and listening skills, improve confidence and reach their goals faster. You can get more information about how to take private lessons with us by sending an email to: amy@realenglishconversations.com

Get Podcast Transcriptions, Online Courses and Have Live Conversations with Us!

Real English Conversations is a website for students that want to start USING their English skills! We offer a mix of real conversations you can join to practice speaking and excellent online lessons that can be studied anytime.

Members of our website get immediate access to:

• Join conversations with Curtis and Amy to discuss interesting topics
• All the online courses to quickly improve speaking, listening and increase vocabulary
• All the transcripts and exercises related to each podcast lesson!

Learn More about the membership options here

Other English Podcast Conversation Lessons:

• Delivery Service - Intermediate/Advanced English Podcast Lesson
• Mother Nature- Advanced English Podcast Lesson
• Niagara Falls - Advanced English Podcast Lesson

42: Delivery Service | Real Conversation | English Podcast | Podcast em Inglês | Conversación en Ingles

Before Amy and Curtis were English teachers, they used to have a delivery service in Canada. In this English podcast, you will hear them have a real conversation discussing some of their most memorable delivery clients. Also, you'll hear an everyday dialogue you might hear if you decide to place an order for delivery.

Learn Faster with the Transcription from this English Podcast Lesson

Each of our 42 English podcast conversation lessons has a full transcription (text) available to help you study deeper and to better learn the phrases, vocabulary and expressions you are hearing.

Below, we have provided the transcription for the first part of this conversation to help you recognize how valuable it is to improve your listening, think about the sentence structure and even improve your pronounciation.

English Podcast Transcription:

Amy: Hey, everybody. My name is Amy.

Curtis: And I’m Curtis.

Amy: And we’re here from RealEnglishConversations.com.

Curtis: And as you know with this podcast, we have real, natural, unscripted conversations between the both of us, to show you the right way, the real way that native speakers actually speak.

Amy: Exactly. So that you guys can understand real people in the real world. This is just a quick reminder that all of our podcast have a full transcription or text available so that you can read and listen at the same time and really take your learning beyond just listening to podcast. If you haven’t had the chance to come to the website yet, I strongly recommend that you guys come and join us. As a free member, you’re going to realize how much more benefit you can get from our podcast lessons when you have the transcriptions, the lesson activities, and all of the other things that we have available on the website. But anyway, let’s get started with today’s conversation.

Curtis: Hi everybody, today we’re going to be talking about what we used to do before we were English teachers, and we used to have a business and run a business that was a delivery business. What is a delivery business all about, Amy?

Amy: Well, a delivery business or a delivery service is actually a service that we provided to people to bring things to their home that they needed. So, for example, if somebody needed something from the grocery store, maybe they needed a few ingredients like some milk and butter and a loaf of bread, they could call us and we would bring those things to their house. And some of the other things that we received orders for were food from restaurants that didn’t deliver and also for drinks, specifically alcoholic ones, beer and wine, for example.

Curtis: There are so many different people that use a delivery service. So there are people who are old and people who don’t get around as easy as the rest of us, but primarily I think it was for lazy people.

Amy: Yeah, exactly. The people that we delivered to, a lot of times they actually had their own car and they literally just didn’t want to go out and get the things themselves. I mean it make sense if you don’t have a vehicle and the store is a little bit far from your house, it can be really convenient to have someone to bring it to you.

To get access to the full transcription for this lesson and the other 42 conversation lessons currently available, register as a Real English Conversations member here.

Start USING Your English Skills by Having Real Conversations

Real English Conversations is a website for students that want to start USING their English skills! We offer a mix of real conversations you can join to practice speaking and excellent online lessons that can be studied anytime.

Members of our website get immediate access to:

• Join conversations with Curtis and Amy to discuss interesting topics
• All the online courses to quickly improve speaking, listening and increase vocabulary
• All the transcripts and exercises related to each podcast lesson!

Learn More about the membership options here

Other English Podcast Conversation Lessons:

• Airport Travel - Intermediate/Advanced English Podcast Lesson
• Forest Fires - Advanced English Podcast Lesson
• Niagara Falls - Advanced English Podcast Lesson

40. Driving - Real English Conversations Podcast

In this English podcast, we tell you all about our experiences driving in Canada. You will hear us talk our experiences behind the wheel of a car and about everything from what you have to do to get your driver's license to following the rules of the road if you don't want a ticket from the police.

Learn How to Speak Confidently and Fluently with Us

Real English Conversations is a website for students that want to start USING their English skills! We offer a mix of real conversations you can join to practice speaking and excellent online lessons that can be studied anytime.

Join us FREE for 7 days as a member of the Fluency Power Pack where you will get access to:

• Live speaking practice sessions with a teacher and in a small group with other members.
• Full conversation lessons (like this audio lesson) which also includes speaking practice activities, listening comprehension questions, a full transcription and the MP3 downloads.
• The Listening Training Video Series to rapidly improve your listening skills
• Access to the Speaking Course, the Phrasal Verb Course and much more!

Come to our website or click this link to get started!

English Podcast: Driving

Join our email list to get updates when we publish new podcasts or lessons

Other English Podcast Conversation Lessons:

• Camping
• Carnival in Colombia
• Niagara Falls

38. Job Interviews - Real English Conversations | English Podcast | Business English

In this English podcast job interviews, Amy and her friend Greg talk about how to prepare you for a job interview. You will hear them talk about everything from making a good first impression, how not to feel nervous and what NOT to say or do in the actual job interview!

Get on the Path to Fluency with Us

If you like studying our real conversations, you might want to know that we have lessons and courses on our website that help students improve their speaking and listening skills too!

Members of the Fluency Power Pack can join conversation practice sessions (with our teachers) and get access to high-quality online lessons that focus on helping you to USE your speaking and listening skills to become a confident, fluent English Speaker.

Take the first step to reach your fluency goals by learning more about the 7-Day Free Trial here

English Podcast: Job Interviews

Join our email list to get updates when we publish new podcasts or lessons

Other English Podcast Conversation Lessons:

• Driving
• Carnival in Colombia
• Airport Travel