English with Thiago

Thiago Alencar
  • 5.0 (20)
  • Language Learning
  • Updated Weekly

This is a podcast designed to help intermediate and advanced English learners communicate with more confidence, accuracy, clarity and awareness. Hosted by Thiago Alencar, a Brazilian English Teacher with over 20 years of experience, this podcast deals with topics such as English pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, exam preparation, writing, listening, mindset and everything else related to English learning. If you feel forever stuck at the intermediate level, this podcast is for you! Download the B2 Edge app: https://studio.com/thiago

  1. 15h ago

    Your English Will ALWAYS Be Stuck At Intermediate (Until You Fix These 3 Things)

    ⭐B2 Edge Summer Sale (20% OFF): https://studio.com/thiago💻Work with me 1.1: https://forms.gle/Wn98WnZ3PajswWoKA📓Get This FREE GUIDE to start upgrading your vocabulary:https://www.englishwiththiago.com/pl/2148770947If your English has been stuck at intermediate for months — or even years — this video is for you.Most B1 and B2 English learners think the intermediate plateau is just a motivation problem. Study more, watch more videos, download another app. But the science tells a very different story.In this video, I break down the three real reasons your English stops improving at the intermediate level — and exactly what to do to fix each one. This is not opinion. This is based on decades of research into how people actually develop expertise, including the work of psychologist Anders Ericsson and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Scott Young.Here is what we cover:▶ Why vocabulary growth hits a wall at B1 and B2 English — and the mathematics behind it▶ The hidden trap that keeps intermediate learners stuck even when they are studying every day▶ The most important gear change in language learning — and why most people never make itWhether you are trying to go from B1 to B2, from B2 to C1, or break through the intermediate plateau once and for all — the answer is not more hours. It is better hours.

    47 min

  2. Jun 17

    Are You Accidentally Sounding RUDE in English? (5 Mistakes To Avoid!)

    ⭐Stop Feeling Lost! Try The B2 Edge App: https://studio.com/thiago💻Work with me 1.1: https://forms.gle/Wn98WnZ3PajswWoKA📓Get This FREE GUIDE to start upgrading your vocabulary:https://www.englishwiththiago.com/pl/2148770947Your grammar is correct. Your vocabulary is fine. And you might still be coming across as rude — without knowing it.This is one of the most overlooked problems in English learning at intermediate level and above. Not making grammar mistakes. Making register mistakes. Saying the right words in the wrong way for the situation.In this video, I'll explain what register is, why it becomes critical as you move from B1 toward B2 and C1, and walk you through the most common grammar patterns that non-native speakers use every day that accidentally come across as blunt, demanding, or rude in English.You'll learn:1) What register is and why it's the hallmark of truly advanced English — not just vocabulary or grammar2) Why language that sounds perfectly normal in your native language creates friction in English3) The modal softener mistake — why "Send me that file" lands very differently from "Could you send me that file?"4) Why "I want" almost always needs to become "I'd like" in adult professional contexts5) How to soften negatives so disagreement sounds collaborative, not confrontational6) The abrupt question problem — and the indirect forms that fix it7) The tense register mismatch that exposes non-native writers in professional emails8) The "you should" trap — and how to give advice without sounding preachyThe gap between B2 and C1 is very often not a vocabulary gap or a grammar gap. It's a register gap. And this video will show you exactly where it shows up — and how to close it.

    16 min

  3. Jun 10

    Master The Present Perfect Once and For All | 1+ Hour Deep Dive Lesson (B2 English)

    ⭐Stop Feeling Lost! Try The B2 Edge App: https://studio.com/thiago💻Work with me 1.1: https://forms.gle/Wn98WnZ3PajswWoKA📓Get This FREE GUIDE to start upgrading your vocabulary:https://www.englishwiththiago.com/pl/2148770947"There was an accident here." "There has been an accident here." Both are correct. Both are perfect English. But they mean something completely different — and if you can't explain why, this lesson is for you.In this B2 English deep dive lesson, we go through every single use of the Present Perfect — Simple and Continuous — and compare it directly with the Simple Past. No shortcuts, no oversimplification. This is a full B2 English lesson built for intermediate learners who are serious about getting this right once and for all.Here's what we cover. Every use of the Present Perfect Simple — life experience, result in the present, unfinished time periods and duration. The Present Perfect Continuous and exactly when it replaces the Simple form.The critical contrast between Present Perfect and Simple Past — including the mistakes intermediate learners make most. Guided practice exercises we do together. And a final ten question quiz you do completely on your own.This isn't a tip video. This is a real B2 English lesson. Grab a pen.

    1h 17m

  4. Jun 3

    B2 Shadowing English Speaking Practice | Consistency

    🔥 Want daily structured practice at B2 level?The B2 Edge app gives you AI-powered practice built around lessons exactly like this one — every single day, structured for B2 learners:👉 https://studio.com/thiago💻Work with me 1.1: https://forms.gle/Wn98WnZ3PajswWoKA📓Get This FREE GUIDE to start upgrading your vocabulary:https://www.englishwiththiago.com/pl/2148770947Fluency isn't built by watching videos. It's built by opening your mouth and practicing — consistently, every day, at the right level. That's exactly what this session is designed for.In this B2 English shadowing practice, we work with a paragraph built around the theme of consistency — one of the most powerful ideas in language learning and in life. The language is dense, natural, and packed with B2 level vocabulary so you can practice English speaking the way it actually sounds in the real world. You might even enconter a bit of C1 language as well! =)Here's how the session works. First you listen to me read the full paragraph at natural speed to get a feel for the meaning and rhythm. Then we shadow sentence by sentence — you repeat out loud, as close to my voice as possible. Finally, I read it one last time and you go through the whole thing on your own.This shadowing practice also doubles as a word formation workout. The paragraph is loaded with prefixes and suffixes — un-, re-, -ly, -tion, -ment, -en — all working naturally inside real B2 English sentences. If you want to go deeper on how those affixes work, check out the full word formation deep dive lesson linked below.👉 Word Formation Deep Dive — watch this next: https://youtu.be/YJL90pkf7ko

    23 min

  5. May 27

    How Word Formation Multiplies Your B2 Vocabulary | 1+ Hour Deep Dive Lesson

    ⭐Stop Feeling Lost! Try The B2 Edge App: https://studio.com/thiago💻Work with me 1.1: https://forms.gle/Wn98WnZ3PajswWoKA📓Get This FREE GUIDE to start upgrading your vocabulary:https://www.englishwiththiago.com/pl/2148770947Most B2 learners try to grow their vocabulary by memorizing word lists. It doesn't work. In this full English lesson, I'll show you a smarter approach — one that lets you decode and produce hundreds of new words by understanding how they're built from the inside out.We're going deep on word formation — specifically affixes: prefixes, suffixes, and how they combine with root words to multiply your vocabulary across every topic and context you'll ever need at B2 level and beyond.This is a complete B2 English lesson. Not tips. Not a list. Real teaching designed for intermediate learners who are serious about reaching the next level.Grab a pen. This one's worth it.⏱ 1+ hour of real B2 English teaching✏️ Designed for B2 level learners ready to stop plateauing🎯 Part of the B2 Edge curriculum

    1h 34m

  6. May 21

    Why You Keep Saying The Same 50 Words in English (And How To Fix it)

    ⭐Stop Feeling Lost! Try The B2 Edge App: https://studio.com/thiago💻Work with me 1.1: https://forms.gle/Wn98WnZ3PajswWoKA📓Get This FREE GUIDE to start upgrading your vocabulary:https://www.englishwiththiago.com/pl/2148770947You've studied vocabulary for years. You know hundreds — maybe thousands — of English words. So why do the same fifty come out every time you speak? This isn't a memory problem. It's not a motivation problem. And it has nothing to do with how intelligent you are. It's a method problem — and once you understand it, you can fix it.In this video, I'll show you exactly why your brain defaults to the same comfortable words under the pressure of real conversation, why the vocabulary you've been studying isn't making it into your speech, and the system that actually moves words from passive recognition into active use.You'll learn:1) The comfort vocabulary trap — why your brain optimizes for safe words instead of precise ones2) The passive-active vocabulary gap — why recognizing a word and producing it under pressure are completely different skills3) Why studying vocabulary lists does almost nothing for your spoken English4) The production vehicle method — the same approach I use every day after 20 years of teaching5) A simple four-step system to move any word from passive to active starting today6) Why one word a day, done consistently, will transform your vocabulary range faster than any vocabulary courseIf your English feels limited — not because you don't know the words, but because you can't seem to use them — this video is exactly what you need.

    14 min

  7. May 20

    Make Your English Sound More NATURAL With These 12 Filler Words

    ⭐Stop Feeling Lost! Try The B2 Edge App: https://studio.com/thiago 💻Work with me 1.1: https://forms.gle/Wn98WnZ3PajswWoKA 📓Get This FREE GUIDE to start upgrading your vocabulary: https://www.englishwiththiago.com/pl/2148770947 Some native speakers use them constantly. Language teachers tell you to avoid them. They're both wrong — sort of. Filler words are not signs of weakness. They're the connective tissue of real conversation. They signal that you're thinking in English, not translating. They manage the flow. They make you sound like someone who actually belongs in the conversation — not someone reading from a script.In this video, I'll give you 12 filler words and phrases that will immediately make your English sound more natural and spontaneous. I'll tell you exactly what each one does, when to use it, and give you real examples for each one.But I'll also tell you something most videos like this leave out — the honest limits of fillers, and why overusing them can actually hurt your English at higher levels. I know this from personal experience. My own Achilles heel is "you know." I'll tell you about that too.You'll learn:1) Why filler words are fluency signals, not hesitation markers2) How fillers manage conversational flow and keep you in the exchange3) All 12 fillers in detail4) When each filler is appropriate — and when it's not5) The B1/B2 vs C1/C2 distinction: why fillers that help at intermediate level can hold you back at advanced level6) How to monitor your own filler habits without becoming self-conscious

    13 min

  8. May 19

    Why Some People Come Back From Abroad With The SAME English

    ⭐Stop Feeling Lost! Try The B2 Edge App: https://studio.com/thiago💻Work with me 1.1: https://forms.gle/Wn98WnZ3PajswWoKA📓Get This FREE GUIDE to start upgrading your vocabulary:https://www.englishwiththiago.com/pl/2148770947You know someone who moved abroad to improve their English. Maybe you've done it yourself. And yet — months later, sometimes years later — the English didn't change the way everyone expected. Why?In this video, I'm going to tell you the real reason moving abroad doesn't automatically improve your English — what the people who go abroad and don't improve all have in common — and how I reached Cambridge C2, the highest non-native English certification in the world, without ever leaving Brazil.You'll learn:1) Why "I don't live in an English-speaking country" is the most expensive excuse in language learning2) What actually happens when people move abroad — and why most of them recreate their home language environment within weeks3) The serial exchange student trap: why short programs abroad cost a lot and deliver very little4) Why one year of structured practice at home outperforms three two-month exchange programs5) The one thing you can control right now that matters more than your zip code6) How to create genuine English immersion from your home country — today, with the tools you already have25 years ago, I built a C2 level of English in Brazil with a borrowed grammar book, a notebook, and DVDs. Today you have the internet, YouTube, streaming services, and AI. There has never been a better time in history to live a fully English-immersed life from your home country. The plane ticket was never the thing standing between you and fluency. The daily habit was.

    13 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
20 Ratings

About

This is a podcast designed to help intermediate and advanced English learners communicate with more confidence, accuracy, clarity and awareness. Hosted by Thiago Alencar, a Brazilian English Teacher with over 20 years of experience, this podcast deals with topics such as English pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, exam preparation, writing, listening, mindset and everything else related to English learning. If you feel forever stuck at the intermediate level, this podcast is for you! Download the B2 Edge app: https://studio.com/thiago

Information

  • Creator
    Thiago Alencar
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    155
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Thiago Alencar
  • Show Website
    English with Thiago

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