Everyday listening
Start with short recordings, then work through longer phrases. Listen once for the situation and again for the words.
Showing 343–360 of 370 lessons
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Changed appointment time
Changing an appointment means replacing an existing booking on a calendar with a new time slot. Spoken times during a scheduling call represent different stages: the appointment being replaced, periods that are already full, proposals from the staff, and the final agreed booking.
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Swapping a volunteer shift
A shift swap is a mutual exchange where two volunteers trade their scheduled hours. In our dialogue at the community food collection point, Nora cannot work Tuesday morning because of a family dentist appointment. Liam cannot cover Tuesday morning due to a college seminar, but Liam agrees to take Nora's Wednesday afternoon shift if Nora takes Liam's Thursday afternoon shift. Both volunteers accept this trade, while Tuesday morning remains rejected and coordinator approval remains pending.
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Reporting a home repair
A resident reports a loose stair handrail that moves when held and could cause someone to fall. The building manager schedules a contractor to arrive between nine and eleven tomorrow morning, directs residents to use the other staircase until the contractor arrives, and arranges backup access with a master key if the resident is away.
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Choosing an evening course
The learner compares two photography courses with distinct schedules, delivery formats, homework demands, and fees, ultimately choosing the more expensive studio course because its one-hour weekly homework fits available study time.
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Killer asteroids
The phrase 'no known significant threat' means that astronomers have cataloged the relevant space objects and calculated that none are on a collision course with Earth based on current data. It is an evidence-based assessment that reflects active telescope monitoring, not an emotional claim that space is completely empty or that risk is forever impossible.
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A year-long cruise
The fictional cruise lasts one year and includes private cabin lodging and daily meals in the headline price. Travel insurance and shore excursions cost extra, and the traveler must obtain managerial permission to work remotely before completing a booking.
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Video · 9 min Joining a library
Joining a library means becoming a registered member who can borrow books temporarily and use resources. Registration involves showing acceptable evidence such as photo ID and proof of address before receiving your membership card. Under this fictional practice policy, members can take out up to six books for three weeks. Borrowers may renew their loans online unless another patron has reserved the title, while unreturned items incur a recurring overdue charge of twenty pence per day.
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Eight hours of sleep
The phrase eight hours of sleep refers to duration, but speakers rarely mean a rigid target of exactly 480 minutes. In everyday conversations about health, speakers use words like most and around to describe a typical adult span of seven to nine hours. Individual sleep needs differ according to routine, age, and activity level. Listening carefully to qualifying words prevents you from mistaking a broad population guideline for a personal medical mandate.
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Returning an online order
The customer can return the faulty desk lamp without its original box, but must hand the parcel to the courier by Tuesday, include a printed copy of the email receipt, and expect the refund back to the payment card.
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Rescheduled interview voicemail
Instead of introduces the detail being replaced: Monday instead of Friday means Monday is the new day. Rather than can contrast two ways of meeting. By introduces a deadline: reply by Thursday means reply no later than Thursday.
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Booking a hotel room
A hotel booking reserves accommodation between specific dates. The guest agrees on the number of nights, the bed arrangement, standard inclusions, optional extra costs, and any cancellation limits set by the property.
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Weather-dependent plans
Conditional plans establish two possible paths based on an uncertain event. In this conversation, the friends prefer cycling outdoors, but rain makes that choice uncertain. The word if introduces the weather condition required for cycling. The word otherwise introduces the indoor alternative if that condition fails. The word instead highlights that cooking lunch replaces cycling rather than adding another event to their afternoon.
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A good trajectory
A good trajectory indicates that your overall performance is improving steadily over time. It describes a positive trend rather than finished perfection, meaning that specific habits or details may still require adjustment.
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Describing lost property
Describing lost property means providing a set of precise factual details that distinguishes your possession from other similar items in storage.
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Medicine instructions
Pharmacy instructions separate the dose taken at one time from the daily frequency. Food prepositions define whether medicine requires an empty or full stomach, while conditional warnings explain what actions to avoid if drowsiness or worsening symptoms occur.
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Project status update
Project status updates use time markers to convey progress: already marks finished actions, still identifies unresolved bottlenecks, and once specifies the prerequisite event that activates the next task.
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Confirming an appointment
Confirming an appointment means checking an arrangement that already exists rather than making a new booking. In this call, the bike repair shop updates the booking from Monday to Wednesday at 2:15 p.m., requests arrival at 2:10 p.m., and asks for the bike lock key.
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Understanding an indirect refusal
An indirect refusal communicates that the speaker cannot or does not want to accept the current invitation without directly saying no. Appreciation can soften the message, while a reason explains why the proposed plan will not work.
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