Culips Everyday English Podcast

What does a heat wave actually do to your day? Andrew and Anna compare their summers from opposite sides of the world. Anna is in Madrid, where a hot day reaches 40 degrees and the blinds stay closed until evening. Andrew is in Seoul, where the rainy season just ended but the humidity stayed. They talk about air conditioning, lost sleep, cold showers, and the wildfires that burned west of Madrid this summer.

Keep an ear out for these phrases during the episode:

Not so fast

Respite

Bar none

To do one’s business

Bone dry

To burn to a crisp

Study Materials:

Episode link: The 2026 Spain wildfires

The Best Way to Learn with This Episode

Culips members get an interactive transcript, a helpful study guide, and ad-free audio for this episode. Take your English to the next level by becoming a Culips member. Become a Culips member now.

Members can access the ad-free version here: Click here.

Join our Discord community to connect with other learners and get more English practice: Join the Culips Discord server.

In this bonus episode, Andrew picks up the story he started last time and tells you what happened next. He heads out to the edge of the city on a hot summer evening and gets home much later than he planned. Listen along to learn some vocabulary that will help make your English more natural and to improve your listening fluency.

The Study Materials for This Episode Are Free:

The interactive transcript, study guide, and quiz for this episode are free for everyone. No membership needed.

Become a Culips member to get study materials for every episode, live speaking classes, ad-free audio, member-only perks, and more.

Join our Discord community to connect with other learners and get more English practice.

Expressions

To set the stage

To count down the days

Headlining

The tail end

A certain je ne sais quoi

When all is said and done

Boy, was I wrong

Artsy-fartsy

To rub someone the wrong way

To write off

How do you get from intermediate English to sounding almost like a native speaker? Jesús Florez did it, and he’s back on the show to tell Andrew how. He explains the years he spent creating his own English immersion at home and names the four shows that finally moved him up to an advanced level. Listen in to hear his story and his advice for taking your own English to the next level.

Free Resources and Links

The interactive transcript, study guide, and quizzes for this episode are free for everyone. No membership needed.

Become a Culips member to get study materials for every episode, live speaking classes, ad-free audio, member-only perks, and more. Click here to join.

Join our Discord community to connect with other learners and get more English practice. Click here to join.

Jesús’s YouTube channel

Jesús’s Instagram

Keep an ear out for these phrases during the episode:

A long time in the making

To shift gears

Give or take

To lend itself to (something)

A cut above (the rest)

It bears repeating

Have you ever gotten a second chance at something you thought you would only get to do once? In this bonus episode, Andrew talks about the first Culips meetup in Seoul and then tells the story of trying to see one of his favorite bands play a second time. Listen along to learn some vocabulary that will help make your English more natural and improve your listening fluency.

The Study Materials for This Episode Are Free:

The interactive transcript, study guide, and quiz for this episode are free for everyone. No membership needed.

Become a Culips member to get study materials for every episode, live speaking classes, ad-free audio, member-only perks, and more.

Join our Discord community to connect with other learners and get more English practice.

Expressions

A turnout

To talk into the void

To be taken aback

A high-water mark

Now or never

Once-in-a-lifetime

To shell out

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade

Someone’s mind is made up

To go through

Have you ever looked up from your phone and realized that an hour just disappeared? In this Catch Word lesson, Andrew and Indiana teach you how to tell someone to “touch grass” and how to describe a person as “terminally online” or “chronically online.” They explain the difference in tone between these expressions, why “touch grass” can sound like a real insult, and when each one is appropriate to use.

The Best Way to Learn with This Episode:

Culips members get an interactive transcript, a helpful study guide, and ad-free audio for this episode.

Take your English to the next level by becoming a Culips member. Become a Culips member now: Click here

Members can access the ad-free version: Click here.

Join our Discord community to connect with other learners and get more English practice. Click here to join.

Keep an ear out for these phrases during the episode:

To touch grass

Terminally online / Chronically online

To be cooped up

To be wrapped up in something

A break with reality

To get the last word