Hi there.
Today we're looking at what you want from the Adept English podcast.
That's right, let’s make the podcast more interactive - that’s
I N T E R A C T I V E.
And that means ‘more of you in it’.
Each week when we do the podcast, we ask a question on Spotify - we
ask you to vote on something.
And many of you do and we thank you very much for that!
And although Spotify, I realise, is only one part of our audience, I imagine the
views you express probably represent our listeners’ views more generally.
Sometimes we ask questions just because we’re interested, for fun.
And sometimes we ask questions because we want to know what you like about the Adept
English podcast and what you want more of.
We invite you to help shape the podcast.
And today - as there have been a number of polls in recent weeks and I’ve not
caught up with them - I thought I’d share with you your answers to our questions.
And while this is going on, as usual, your brain will be doing
its English language learning!
Brilliant!
Hello, I’m Hilary, and you’re listening to Adept English.
We will help you to speak English fluently.
All you have to do is listen.
So start listening now and find out how it works.
And just a reminder that if you like our podcasts, but you struggle to understand
them sometimes - or maybe you’re struggling to start speaking English?
Well, both of these problems can be addressed by our Most
Common 500 Words Course.
Really get a good grounding in the most common words in English - and you’ll
start to move along with your learning!
A statistic I read once suggested that you can be learning a language
for up to 10 years, without knowing all of the most common words.
So use your listening and learning time wisely - go and have a look at
our Courses page at adeptenglish.com and the Most Common 500 Words Course.
So to our Spotify polls.
Here are the podcasts we’ve done recently and the questions we
asked and your responses to them.
If you disagree, or feel strongly about something, then you can always message us
via email if you want to be interactive!
We’re also interested in your journey of learning English.
Or we just want to know more about you!
We love it when you get in contact.
But on these Spotify polls we ask questions that go beyond the
classroom and which touch on current events and real-world challenges.
Let’s have a look at some of the questions we’ve asked and your responses.
So in podcast 685 last week, I talked about polycrisis - and all the bad things
going on in the world at the moment.
It makes you want to hide from the news.
But I did find some positive new stories for you.
So we asked in the poll - ‘Do you want more positive news stories?’ At
the point of recording this, the poll isn’t quite finished - but so far a
resounding 93% of you said ‘Yes, please.
More positive news stories’.
I guess maybe you’ve been feeling a bit like we have - it all just seems
so negative out there at the moment.
Let’s find something happier and more positive to think about!
So I’ve got that message now - and I will be on the look-out for positive
news stories to share with you in future!
I hear you loud and clear - the search is on!
After podcast 684 on similes, that’s S I M I L E S - when we say
something is ‘like something’ - we asked whether you would like more
podcasts on similes and metaphors.
And again, quite a definite result - 82% of you said ‘Yes please.
More podcasts on similes and metaphors’.
So you can be assured that there will be some more of those!
More generally on grammar and vocabulary podcasts - the more ‘traditional type
English teaching podcasts’ - your responses when asked have been positive.
We know that you like Adept English because we cover a variety of
topics, but you do like traditional learning topics sometimes.
Anyway, it’s always ‘Listen & Learn’, so these podcasts still act on your brain in
the same way, no matter what the topic!
They’re still practising your comprehension.
I’m also very happy for you to forward to me your grammar questions - or
let us know which parts of English learning you are struggling with.
In line with our Rule Six of the Seven Rules of Adept English, it’s good to
give you ‘a helping hand’ with specific parts of the language, where you need it.
Podcast 683 talked about climate change and about what else may be
affecting the earth’s temperature apart from CO2 and greenhouse gases.
We asked in the poll ‘How relevant do you find climate change to learning
English?’ Again, quite a definite answer.
73% of you said ‘very relevant’, 16% of you said ‘somewhat relevant’ and only
10% of you felt it wasn’t relevant.
I guess where this may come in useful - if you have to do English
language tests or exams, the climate is probably quite a frequent topic and
considered very relevant and current.
So if you have IELTS or other types of test, this sort of podcast is worth a
listen just to polish up your vocabulary!
In podcast 682, I tried an experiment!
I talked about my weekend while imagining myself talking about it on different days.
So this had the effect of changing the verb tenses - in
order to give you some practice.
Everything else stayed the same, but talking about what happened
on Saturday as though it still was Saturday, sounds different to if
you talk about the same thing on Sunday, when everything’s past tense.
In this podcast, I invited you to pause the podcast and repeat my
account of each day - as though it was being told at a different time, so
that you’d have to change the tenses.
After this podcast, we asked in the poll ‘Did you pause to practise
speaking?’ And apparently 49% of you did, 12% of you said you’d ‘do it
later’ and 38% said that you didn’t.
Maybe this exercise was difficult - and you needed to work up to it.
And maybe quizzes and giving you sentences to repeat is more helpful?
It’s harder to judge too, because half of you did do the
exercise - well done if you did!
So give us some more feedback about the level that you would like.
I think it’s good also for us to vary the level because obviously
our listeners are going to be at a range of different levels.
And it’s sometimes good to challenge yourself, anyway
with something more difficult.
Next podcast 681 - where I talked about how ‘small things make a difference’.
This was the podcast about the cutting down of the tree on Hadrian’s
Wall - and the girl who didn’t get a medal at the gymnastics competition.
After that podcast, we asked ‘What’s the most effective way to drive change
for social issues?’ We can sometimes feel, with all these crises and
issues in our world, as though we’re desperate for change to happen, but we
don’t know how best to accomplish it.
The result here?
33% of you felt that social change was best driven by ‘public outcry’ - that
means ‘public opinion, strongly expressed’ - and that was the point of the two news
stories I covered in this podcast.
They only became news stories because there was a public outcry, a
sudden expression of public opinion.
36% of you felt that ‘government action’ was the best way to drive social change.
And 12% of you felt that ‘celebrity endorsement’ was the best way.
‘Celebrity’ - that’s C E L E B R I T Y.
Usually we use that word these days to mean an actual person who is famous.
And the plural is ‘celebrities’ with an I E S on the end.
It means ‘well-known people’.
And people like this often use their fame to speak up about social
issues or injustices in our world that they feel strongly about.
And interestingly, a full 18% of you said ‘I don’t know!’ which is
sometimes how I feel about it too!
Finally, I did podcast 680 on B M I - or Body Mass Index - as a measure of health.
And I talked about why it’s flawed, it’s not a good measure.
I also talked about measures which might be better.
And after this podcast we asked ‘What is your go to health measure?’ Clearly BMI
is still seen as important and widely used outside of the UK too - as 53% of
you said your main health measure was BMI.
22% preferred the ‘waist to hip ratio’ that I talked about in the podcast.
16% felt that blood pressure or BP was your most important health
measure, while 7% of you felt that cholesterol, that’s C H O L E S T E
R O L was the most important check.
I guess to some degree, it depends on what if any health issues you have or
which ones you’re most concerned about.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the variety in this podcast - and the
variety generally in our podcasts.
Looking through our polls and including your views and your opinions in this
podcast feels like a good thing to do.
We really enjoy hearing from our listeners, knowing what
you think of the podcast.
We also like your stories of learning English - or just to hear simply where
you’re from and how you found our podcast!
And which are your favourite podcasts - and what else you’d
like me to talk about and cover!
Let’s keep this as interactive as possible!
Enough for now.
Have a lovely day.
Speak to you again soon.
Goodbye.
Thank you so much for listening.
Please help me tell others about this podcast by reviewing or rating it.
And, please share it on social media.
You can find more listening lessons and a free English course at adeptenglish.com