Episode Details

Improve Your English Just by Listening | 40 Minutes of Real English (B1, B2) | Everyday English Academy

Borrowing a step stool, returning a book you have had for months, asking a neighbour for a small favour: these are the little conversations that feel surprisingly hard in English. Sarah and Mike talk slowly about wobbly kitchen chairs, overdue library books, parcels left with the people next door, and the things we all keep putting off. It is a calm daily English conversation you can follow while you cook, walk, or fold the laundry, and it helps you speak up the next time you need to knock on someone's door.

Have you ever waited so long to ask for something that asking became embarrassing? In this relaxed English podcast you will practise borrowing and returning things politely, making a soft request with "any chance I could swing by Tuesday?", explaining why something slipped your mind, using everyday words like overdue, handy, postpone and upfront, and saying thank you to a neighbour in a way that sounds natural rather than stiff.

This episode is perfect for B1 English learners who want to sound polite and relaxed when asking neighbours, friends or family for small favours, and who want everyday vocabulary for the tasks they keep postponing.

💡 Tip: Rehearse tonight's polite ask out loud: "Any chance I could swing by Tuesday?

⏱️ Chapters

0:00 Introduction

0:45 Talk About Borrowing and Lending in English

3:13 Using Borrow and Lend Correctly

6:41 Asking for Something Back Politely

14:11 Talking About Things You Keep Delaying

22:18 Asking for and Refusing Favours

28:58 Speaking Practice

37:30 Vocabulary Review & Next Episode

📚 Vocabulary in this episode

• overdue: later than it should be

• owe: have to give back or pay

• handy: useful and easy to use

• upfront: clear and honest from the start

• postpone: move something to a later time

• swing by: visit somewhere quickly

• scribble: write fast and messily

• drag on: keep going much too long

• blurt out: say something before you think

• wrench: metal tool for turning bolts

• courier: person who delivers packages

• be upfront: say the truth clearly and early

• impose: ask too much of someone

• flat out: completely busy, with no free time

🎯 In this episode, you can practise:

• Borrowing Things In English

• Polite Requests To Neighbours

• Talking About Overdue Tasks

• Asking To Swing By

• Apologising For Forgetting

• Everyday Favours And Thank Yous

• Phrasal Verbs For Putting Things Off

• English listening practice

• English speaking practice

• Daily English conversation

Everyday English Academy helps English learners improve listening, speaking, vocabulary, and confidence through slow, easy, everyday English conversations with Sarah and Mike.

Get comfortable, press play, and let Sarah and Mike keep you company for the next forty minutes.

Listen, learn, and speak with us. Your English grows every time you use it.

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