Working remotely, a nightmare?

Working remotely, a nightmare?

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26, July, 2026

Episode 254: working from home; a dream or a nightmare?

In this podcast,  Sue  speaks to 5 people about their experience of workingh from home; some people love it, others find that it’s not very efficient. What’s your view?

Help my workplace is stressing me out

Working from home; a dream or a nightmare?

by English Podcasts

Welcome back to English-Podcasts In this episode we talk about working from home. This podcast was recorded during the Covid pandemic, and since then we’ve become more used to working from home. What do you think? What’s your experience?

Notes

Since the Covid pandemic and the lockdown, working from home has now become the new normal. It’s not only office based jobs that have had to adapt to home working but also jobs which are traditionally more “people” based. It seems that almost overnight there has been a major attitude shift as a huge quantity of work tasks have been transferred on-line. But how easy is it to re-organise the working day to these new conditions? Is working from home a dream or a nightmare for you ?

Listen to these 5 people talk about the ups and downs of home/remote working.

Stephen has had to adapt his car showroom to new Covid-19 guidelines. What does he say about the new regulations regarding test driving a prestige car ? 

Anne is a lawyer, who is conducting her legal work on-line. What does she say about assessing the body language of witnesses in a trial?

Philippe as a doctor is doing consultations on the phone. What does he say about his patients’ attitude to remote consultations? 

Victoria as a primary school teacher is having to find creative ways to engage her young students. What does she mean when she says her experience has been a “mixed bag”?

Cyann as a high school student is not a huge fan of on-line lessons. What reasons does she give ?

Recap & Takeaways

Before you listen take a look at some of these points that several business studies have identified as the biggest struggle people have with remote working. What is your experience?

Unplugging after work

Loneliness

Communication with colleagues

Distractions at home

Being in a different timezone to colleagues

Staying motivated

Finding reliable wi-fi

 

 

 

 

 

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Star Wars

Star Wars

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26, July, 2026

Episode 190: Star Wars; the Force Awakens

In this podcast, Chris who has never (ever) seen a Star Wars film, interviews movie goers as they leave the cinema after watching Star Wars – The Force Awakens, just to see what all the fuss is about. It’s a great way to hear people express their opinions too.

Star Wars; the Force Awakens

by English Podcasts formally known as the EFL PodBlog

Welcome back to English-Podcasts In this episode we go to the cinema, or more precisely Chris stands outside a cineam to ask movie goers their first impressions of the long awaited Star Wars film with the return of Luke Sky Walker.

Notes

Star Wars is a space opera set “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” the film centers on Luke Skywalker—played by a then relatively unknown Mark Hamill—a young man who finds himself embroiled in an interplanetary war between an authoritarian empire and rebel forces. Skywalker meets two mechanical “droids” that set him on a quest to find Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), whom he knows as a desert hermit and mystic.

The film The Force Awakens finds Luke SkyWalker again, and all the old favourite characters. It seems that Star Wars fans can rest easy; director J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) clearly knows how to stay faithful to sci-fi classics. He focuses not just on fantastic action sequences, but on the heart of these stories: the characters, both new and old.

Have you seen the film? Are you a fan ? Or are you like Chris who has never seen a Star Wars film? If so, it seems that you aren’t the only one, there is even a BBC Radio 4 program called “I’ve never seen Star Wars.”. Check it out.

Recap & Takeaways

Get ready for a few jokes in this podcast, as Chris who  has never seen Star Wars confuses it with some othe si-fi stories. Can you recognise them?

 

Listen out to what the movie goers say.

Who likes it?

Who doesn’t like it ?

Who’s indifferent?

What did they like?

 

May the Force Be With You!

 

 

 

 

 

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The Future tense

The Future tense

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26, July, 2026

Episode 223: How to make predictions using the future tenses

In this podcast, we dive into grammar with a special focus on the future tenses. Listen out as we make predictions, and you can test yourself with questions at the end.

The future tenses in English

by English Podcasts

Welcome back to English-Podcasts In this episode we dive into the future tenses. How many of them are there? Listen up as we use them to make predictions.

Notes

We all have future plans, whether it’s organizing the week ahead, planning a holiday, or considering a career change. Fortunately, English has all the tools you need to express your intentions clearly! However, when learning English, it can be challenging to know which structure fits best. In this podcast, we break down the different future tenses and provide helpful examples to guide you.

Why not check out this quiz about future expressions. The quiz was created just before the 2018 Winter Olympics, which is now many years ago, but you can adapt it to any future sporting event. Open you mind and get creative, you’ll learn so much.

https://english-podcasts.com/?s=future

Recap & Takeaways

Listen out for these future tenses in the podcast.

  1. Simple Future: Formed with “will” + base verb (e.g., I will go). This form is often used for predictions, decisions made at the moment, and promises.

  2. Be Going To: Formed with “am/is/are going to” + base verb (e.g., I am going to travel). This is often used for planned actions or predictions based on present evidence.

  3. Present Continuous for Future: Uses the present continuous form (am/is/are + verb-ing) to describe future arrangements (e.g., I am meeting him tomorrow).

  4. Future Continuous: Formed with “will be” + verb-ing (e.g., I will be studying). This form is used for actions that will be ongoing at a specific time in the future.

  5. Future Perfect: Formed with “will have” + past participle (e.g., I will have finished). This tense shows an action that will be completed before a specific future time.

  6. Future Perfect Continuous: Formed with “will have been” + verb-ing (e.g., I will have been working). It emphasizes the duration of an action that will be ongoing up until a future point.

Each form adds subtlety to how we discuss plans, predictions, and actions related to the future in English.

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Vanlife

Vanlife

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26, July, 2026

Episode 195: Vanlife

In this podcast, Chris outlines his plans to buy a van, renovate it and then travel around Europe.

Full time Vanlife

Vanlife

by English Podcasts

Welcome back to English-Podcasts In this episode Chris tells Sue about his plans to travel around Europe in a Van. You can also see a video interview of a fellow Van traveller.

Notes

What is Van Life? Or as it is known now, Vanlife in one word.

Is it the life of a Hippy, a Nomad or a Caravan fan?

Well, Vanlifers have formed a community of people who travel in a well renovated van in search of off the beaten track adventures and freedom. It’s a cool lifestyle compared to the traditional canavan driver.

Vanlife is big on social media with the hashtag #vanlife, showing pictures of exotic settings and inspiring a great sense of freedom away from the routine of everyday life.

Many photos illustrate idyllic natural scenery, sometimes framed by the open back doors of the van, or with the van prominently visible in the landscape often in Australia, and the USA. Others depict feature spotless, stylized interior views of the living space. 

Recap & Takeaways

In this podcast Chris details his plans to renovate his van and all the countries he plans to visit whilst writing his travel blog.

Have you ever thought of doing this? Think about it carefully and write 10 pros and cons of this life style.

After listening to the podcast, take the time to watch a video with a full-time VanLifer who Chris met on one of his trips.

https://english-podcasts.com/?s=vanlife

Katharina is from Germany and she has given everything up to get on the road with her little car and her vintage caravan.

Chris met her near Saint Jean de Luz just as she was planning to head off to Spain and Portugal and she has already encountered some problems, like her fridge breaking down and the walls of her caravan falling apart and leaking water into the inside of the caravan, although she remains upbeat and motivated for her adventure.

She talks about the ups & downs of Vanlife, where she has come from, where she is going and how she intends to earn some money to maintain her lifestyle whilst on the road.

What do you think about her lifestyle?

 

 

 

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What happened in 2024?

What happened in 2024?

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Did 2024 pass in a blur for you or were there events which stood out for you? Maybe the Paris Olympics, maybe the US election, maybe cultural events,  We have it all in our End of Year Quiz, which is not only a great way to jog your memory,  but it’s also a fantastic way to review vocabulary covering a wide range of topics. Let’s not forget grammar either, this is a great way to hone your knowledge of forming questions in the past tense.

If you are learning in a class, why not make up your own quizzes about people in the group. That would be fun !!

Let us know if we missed anything you think is important.

 

What do you remember about 2024?

1 / 20

1. The star of the Paris Olympics was Léon Marchand winning the most medals of any competitor in the Games. How many medals did he win?

2 / 20

2. Keeping on the theme of the Paris Olympics, these cute creatures were the mascots of the Games. They were called a Phryge. What did they represent?

 

3 / 20

3. Who did US President Joe Biden pardon ?

4 / 20

4. Which group popular in the 1990s reunited in 2024 promising a concert tour in 2025?

5 / 20

5. The Word of the Year according to the Collins dictionary was Brat. What does it mean in the new context?

6 / 20

6. Canada pushed the ban on smoking to another level. What measure did they pass?

7 / 20

7. Keeping on the topic of bans for health reasons, both physical and mental. What was banned in New South Wales, Australia? This measure may well snowball into a global ban in 2025.

8 / 20

8. The Notre Dame Catheral reopened in time for Christmas 2024 after 5 years of reconstruction following a devastating fire. How much did the whole restoration cost, much of the money being donated.

9 / 20

9. Still in France, our home, how many Prime Ministers did France have in 2024?

10 / 20

10. Showbiz: The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super bowl this year agains the San Francisco 49ers Who was the most famous spectator with cameras focused on them sometimes more than the match itself?

11 / 20

11. This year has seen over 300 million people go to the polls in many countries. Which country from the list below did NOT have an election?

12 / 20

12. In football, which country won the Euro football Cup?

13 / 20

13. Which tennis star retired in 2024 and all his rivals cried their eyes out?

14 / 20

14. Are you interested in the environment? In which country was the COP 29 held?

15 / 20

15. Elon Musk made many headlines in 2024, but perhaps his most interesting one was a world first after part of the rocket Starship was returned safely to the launch pad, thereby paving the way for a reusable rocket. What are the arms of the  "catching" structure known as?

16 / 20

16. Which film achieved the highest global box office sales in 2024?

17 / 20

17. We all experienced a gigantic I.T. outage in July which created chaos at airports, hospitals, supermarkets and businesses around the world. But what actually caused it?

18 / 20

18. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who ran for president in this year’s US election, said he once had what in his brain?

19 / 20

19. Breaking, formally known as break dancing, was introduced in the 2024 Olympics in an attempt to include more contemporary sports. However one of the competitor's performance  went viral for which reason?

20 / 20

20. In December the travel guide Lonely Planet said which city will be THE city to visit in 2025?

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