In the second half of the 1400s, there is written evidence of word play and new word formations within English. These new terms included words for the sounds made by animals and collective nouns for various groups of animals and people. This was also a period when the Plantagenet era came to an end, and the first Tudor monarch seized the throne. In this ep ... Show More
Jul 15
Episode 184: Spelling Says a Lot (Part 1)
Over the course of the 1500s, English spelling started to become standardized, but the pronunciation of the language continued to change. By the early 1600s, English scholars noticed that spellings no longer reflected the way words were pronounced, and they recommended phonetic r ... Show More
1h 20m
May 13
Episode 183: The Fabric of Our Lives
In the early 1600s, cotton fabrics made in India were in high demand throughout Asia and Africa. When the English and Dutch arrived in India and Japan, they realized how popular the fabric was, and they soon began to ship it back to northern Europe. In this episode, we explore ho ... Show More
1h 16m
Mar 2025
Episode 182: World of Confusion
In the early 1600s, English began to spread around the world as speakers searched for new trading partners and new places to settle. Through that process, English become an international language, but as English speakers encountered people and languages in distant places, they so ... Show More
1h 15m
Apr 2025
#333 Collective Nouns - Learn English with Funny Group Names
Today, I want to teach you about collective nouns. But first… what are collective nouns? They are words we use to talk about a group of things or people as one unit. For example: Instead of saying “many trees together,” we say a forest. Easy, right? Get the transcript. Visit: Spe ... Show More
15m 44s
May 2022
PODGAP (51) | 2 Minute Vocabulary (Beg.): Animal Sounds
In this 2-minute Podgap, you will learn some animal sounds in Persian. Knowing animal sounds in Persian might seem unimportant, but these sounds are a part of the culture. When you're first learning Persian, it helps to understand some of the subtle nuances of the language. The o ... Show More
2m 18s