5 Steps to Leaving the Perfect Voicemail in English

Do you know how to leave a great voicemail in English?
Today you-ll get the 5 steps that you need to follow to leave a great voicemail. Listen to the sample role plays in today-s episode to hear what your message should sound like.
Here are the steps:
1) Greeting: -Hi it-s Lindsay- or -Hey it-s Michelle-
2) Why are you calling: -I just wanted to talk with you about tomorrow-s meeting- or -I-m calling to catch up.-
3) What they should do next: -Would you get back to me when you can- or -Give me a call whenever you-re free-
4) Your phone number: -My number is 359-284-9856- or -You can reach me at 617-593-0952
5)-Say goodbye: -Hope you-re having a good day- or -Take care- or -Have a great one-
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Here are a few other tips:
1) Make sure they know how to get back to you
2) Don-t ramble, don-t go on and on, don-t leave a long message, make it concise and tight and to the point
3) Do leave a message- don-t call and hang up, it-s better to leave a message with some grammar mistakes than it is to not leave a message and not connect with the person
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One Key Way to Sound More Natural When You Talk About What You Want in English

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Do you know how to naturally talk about what you want in English?
Native speakers use the verb -to want- in the past tense when we are making a request in the present tense.
For example, you might call a colleague and say - I wanted to confirm our lunch appointment for today.-
This makes the message a bit more polite and more indirect.
We think it-s also used more commonly for women.
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What Makes YOU Come Alive?

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What makes you come alive?
To -come alive- means to become energized and excited about something.
Here is the question:
-Each day wake up and ask yourself, what will make you feel most alive that day.-
What makes you feel happier?
What makes you feel smaller or less alive?
We all owe it to ourselves to think about this every day.
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Use These English Acronyms At Your Own Risk

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English acronyms are fun and easy when it comes text messaging and emailing but you need to know what impression you give the person when you use them!
Today we-ll show you some common English acronyms and what impression they create. We-ll also give you some alternatives.
Here are some common acronyms in English when we send text messages:
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LOL (-Laughing out loud-)- A lot of people get annoyed by this one. This could be used in a text message. A good alternative is -haha-


TTYL (-Talk to you later-)- This one also sounds really young. A more mature alternative is -talk soon- or -talk to you soon- or actually writing out -talk to you later-

SMH (-Shaking My Head-)- This is a newer acronym. You can use this when you disapprove of something that someone has done.

OMG: (-Oh my gosh-)- This can also be annoying. Other options are: -Oh wow- or -I can-t believe it.-

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Which acronyms have you used?
Let us know in the comments below.
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What to Say in English After a Good or a Bad Date

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Do you know what to say to someone after a good or a bad date in English?
Today you will find out from our favorite dating consultant, Jessica Coyle.
You-ll also get some new English dating vocabulary and terms that you can use in the real world!
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What should we do if we have just had a good date:
(1) Send a text message that evening and say:

-I had a really nice time.-

-Had a great time tonight. (I) Would like to see you again.-

-It was really nice meeting you, let-s hit up (go to) the MOMA.-

-Thanks so much for a great time.-

-I enjoyed meeting you.-

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(2) Jessica likes to research the person online after a good first date to find out more about the person.
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If you had a bad date you can say:

-I didn-t feel any chemistry but best of luck.-

-I got more of a friend vibe.-

Key vocab from today:

To ghost someone: To disappear and stop communicating after you have been on a date

To do the fade-away: Similar to ghosting (see above)

A vibe: A general feeling or impression

To go Dutch: To split the bill

Jessica-s Bio:
Jessica Coyle has been teaching English since 2007.
She received her Master-s in TESOL in 2013, finishing with a professional project researching the use of improvisational comedy teaching techniques to teach English as a second language.
She has studied and performed improv comedy all over Korea, China, Canada and the United States.
She writes a dating blog called Hopeful Disasters.
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How to Change Your Routine to Get What You Want in English and in Your Life

Come back to http://www.allearsenglish.com/305 and tell us what change you are going to make after today-s episode
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Today you-ll find out why staying in the same place will never get you to where you want to go and how to make an effective change quickly and easily.
Here it today-s quote:
-To get something you never had you have to do something you never did.-
-Unknown
-If you do what you-ve always done, you-ll get what you-ve always gotten.-
-Tony Robbins
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It-s so easy to get into a habit but we have to step back and ask ourselves if our habits are creating the results that we want.
Time goes by fast.
We often realize that we have been doing the same thing for years and we haven-t achieved our goals.
Here are some examples of our goals:

Michelle-s new goal: She wants to build upper body strength. How is she working towards the goal? She is using resistance bands at her home a few times every week.

Lindsay-s new goal: She wants to deepen her meditation practice. She has started going to her meditation center every morning.

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What about you?
What are you going to change after listening to today-s episode?
What change do you want to create in your life?
Tell us in the comments below
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How to Know If You Have Chemistry with Someone

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Today we have our dating consultant, Jessica Coyle, back on the show!
Today Jessica is back to talk about the concept of chemistry in dating in urban US culture.
Jessica is going to tell us how to know if we actually have chemistry with someone.
Chemistry: A magnetic pull between two people where you seem to understand the other person and something is different about that person to you.
-Two different types of chemistry:

Slow burn chemistry: You start out as friends and then chemistry and attraction gradually builds over time. Features of the other person that seemed strange or unattractive initially start to become endearing and attractive.

Quick chemistry/limerance: This is more of an infatuation. Jessica thinks that online dating and set ups reward this type of attraction. These connections can be really intense at first and then can fizzle out and not end well. At the same time, sometimes these attractions can work in the long run.

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What about in your culture?
What are your deal breakers when it comes to dating?
In your culture, how much influence do your parents and family have when it comes to your choice of a partner?
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Here are some dating vocabulary words that we talked about today:

Limerance

Lukewarm feelings

Slow burn chemistry

Quirks (personality and physical)

Deal breakers

Red Flag

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Jessica Coyle has been teaching English since 2007.
She received her Master-s in TESOL in 2013, finishing with a professional project researching the use of improvisational comedy teaching techniques to teach English as a second language.
She has studied and performed improv comedy all over Korea, China, Canada and the United States.
How to find Jessica Online:
Her dating blog: https://hopefuldisasters.wordpress.com/
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Let us know your thoughts on this topic.
What are your deal breakers?
How important is chemistry when it comes to dating in your home culture?
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Why Just Speaking May NOT Be the Best Route to Fluency in English

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Today we have a special guest on the show!
Our guest will challenge your assumption that SPEAKING is the most important part of learning English.
Julian sees learning languages as a simple, two-step process:
Step 1: Learn the language that we need for our specific situation
Step 1: Apply the language and use it
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Julian-s 3 Tips- How to Keep it Practical:
Try to do many different kinds of things in the language: English is a process. Spend time with it. You can-t HAVE it. You can-t GET it. You need to constantly maintain it.-Julian says that there is no difference between -experiencing- the language and -learning- the language, as far as your brain is concerned. By experiencing the language in many different ways, we can acquire chunks of English which will help us to sound more native-like. You should try to encounter the language through reading, speaking, listening, writing, etc. Get a more well-rounded experience of the language instead of just focusing on speaking.
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Try to get a balance between intensive activity and relaxed exposure: Some of your work should be deliberate, focused, practical, intensive study. At the same time, some of your work should be a more relaxed encounter with the language. You need to take it in in a way that is enjoyable and easy. You could try listening to music in the language or watching TV. The key is getting a balance between the two forms of learning.
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Focus on things which are useful to YOU: Exclude things that aren-t useful to you. Don-t bother to learn things that you won-t need to use. According to Julian, we don-t become fluent in English. We become fluent in specific topics such as cooking, law, politics, art, etc. Choose your focus and pursue English in that area. Drop the idea of becoming -fluent- in English in general.
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Julian-s Bio:
Our guest today is an English teacher from England, living in Japan. He is the father of three bilingual children, is halfway through a PhD program in Psycholinguistics and used his insight about language learning to go from speaking poor Japanese in 2008 to being a translator in 2010. Our guest today is Julian from DoingEnglish.com
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What do you think?
Have you focused down on one specific area of English learning?
What area are you focusing on?
Let us know in the comments!
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Why Forgiving Puts You On Top

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Most people think that forgiveness is weakness but today we-ll challenge your perspective with an awesome quote!
Do you have any enemies?
Do you have any -frenemies-?
Here is today-s quote for a Deep Thoughts Thursday: -Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much.-
- Oscar Wilde
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What does this quote mean?
This quote is somewhat -cheeky- and it says that if we want to annoy our enemies even more, we can forgive them.
Also, the quote is telling us that it-s better for us to forgive.
It helps us lead healthier lives.
When you have an enemy you carry a lot of negative energy around and it takes up space in your body and in your brain.
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According to Mayoclinic.org, the benefits of forgiveness include:

Stronger immune system

Less anxiety

Lower blood pressure

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A few great vocabulary words from today-s episode:

Frenemy: -Friend- + -enemy-= someone that you care about and you are there for them but you can-t get along with them on an everyday basis and many things about that person bother you.

To hold a grudge: You keep thinking about something that someone did to you, you hold on to your anger. You don-t move on.

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Do you have someone to forgive?
What is holding you back from forgiving that person?
Share your experience in the comments.
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4 Topics that You Should NEVER Discuss in a First English Conversation

Come back to our blog and leave a comment. Did you bring up one of these topics on a first date? What happened? Tell us your story: http://www.allearsenglish.com/299
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Jessica is the author of Hopeful Disasters where she explores dating in New York City.
She is also an ESL teacher in New York City.
Check out her blog here!
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When you meet someone for the first time in English, whether it-s a date or just a first-time meeting with a friend or colleague, there are certain topics that you should NEVER discuss.
Today you-ll find out what they are with our favorite AEE dating consultant, Jessica Coyle.
A few weeks ago we talked about what four things you SHOULD talk about on a first date in English or at a first meeting but today we-ll show you what you should avoid.
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4 Topics to AVOID on a first date or first meeting in English:

Politics: You can casually mention your political interests but don-t get drawn into a political debate or discussion. Jessica calls this -quicksand- because you can start to sink and you-ll get stuck and you won-t be able to get out of it. It-s better to bring up this topic once you already know someone well and after you know their triggers well.

Age:-You should definitely avoid asking the person their exact age. Also, this means that you should not ask people about their timeline in terms of when they want to get married or have kids. It-s too direct and too intense for a first date or first conversation. You might terrify the person if start asking these questions too early.

Religion: You probably have a rough idea of your date-s religion and it will be important later but it-s too personal to get into during a first date. It-s ok to share your own religion if you want to but don-t ask the person directly what their religion is.

-Education:-This is tricky. Jessica says that the goal in not asking this question is to avoid coming off as arrogant or judgmental. If you ask the person where they went to school or how many degrees they have, it will be clear that you are fishing for information regarding their intelligence or social status. You might make the other person feel bad if you ask this question. Try to figure out if there is an intellectual connection instead.


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