Episode 85 concludes 2025 with a bang!

Before you tune it, would you consider an end of the year "thank you" tip in my tip jar? Hear You Go podcast is a free resource, and your support goes a long way to keeping more episodes in production. Thank you!

And now, on with the show:

Are we living in a new era where alcohol is taboo? Is the Mocktail really a trend? Why?

With the holiday season fast approaching, I’ve been thinking about the outsized role alcohol plays in our lives: how we talk about it, why we drink it, and why younger generations are seemingly opting to drink less of it.

Have you heard of "wine o’clock" or "wine Moms”? There's a buzz these days about the creative and colourful world of mocktails - have you read about them? Are you a fan of mocktails?

This episode all explores all this, plus what it means to be sober curious and why this trend is on the up and up.

I’m asking YOU to reflect on your relationship to alcohol, without judgment, just curiosity.

As always, I’ll highlight advanced English language (C1/C2) along the way.

Hear You Go gives intermediate and advanced English learners a space to think, learn, and connect in English.

⏰ To work with me 1:1 add your name to the waitlist.

📥 Do you get my newsletter? It’s really the best way to hear from me.

You can also follow me on Instagram.

🎶 Amos the Transparent provides my theme song. They're an awesome group of talented musicians. Give them some love and check out their music.

Please share the podcast and spread the knowledge!

Curiosity. Motivation. Accepting that it’s a long process.

This episode takes you deep into the real journey from B2 to C1.

Have you ever wondered why so many learners feel stuck at the intermediate plateau? Do YOU wonder why you’re not progressing anymore?

Why is moving from “I can communicate” to “I can express myself precisely and confidently” such a slog?!

In today’s advanced English conversation, episode 84, I speak with English language teacher Lívia Borba, whose winning combo of linguistic insights, teaching experiences, and her personal learning journey makes her the perfect guide to help us decipher this problem and offer solutions.

We discuss:

• why progress feels fast at the beginning but seems to slow to a crawl
• the subtle differences between B2 and C1
• why vocabulary range and noticing skills matter so much
• how to deal with frustration and keep going
• The Spice Girls! (ya didn’t expect that, did you?)

If you’ve ever felt stuck, or if you teach learners who feel stuck, this episode will help you see the path forward more clearly and help get your mojo back.

🔗 Links to contact Livia

Livia on: Instagram

Livia’s website

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Hear You Go English language listening podcasts aim to give you, the intermediate English language learner and advanced English language learner, a space to practice your English listening so that you can think, learn, and connect in English.

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In this final month of 2025, would you consider a year-end tip to help support Hear You Go podcast?

If you're a fan of Hear You Go, and if you've

listened to the podcast and found it valuable for your listening practice, you can say thank you by leaving a tip in my tip jar.

Your support is deeply appreciated.

************

⏰ To work with me 1:1 add your name to the waitlist.

📥 Do you get my newsletter? It’s really the best way to hear from me.

You can also follow me on Instagram.

🎶 Amos the Transparent provides my theme song. They're an awesome group of talented musicians. Give them some love and check out their music.

Please share the podcast and spread the knowledge!

Is the dinner party dead, or is it due for a comeback?

I’ve been thinking a lot about hosting meals lately. Maybe it’s the holiday season approaching, maybe it’s a conversation I had with a Brazilian teacher who told me hosting felt too stressful, or maybe it’s hearing chef Samin Nosrat talk about her new book Good Things.

Today, I’m sharing what I’ve learned as I explore whether the dinner party is really “dead”, and why it might be time to bring it back.

Here’s what we'll think about in episode 83:

• the rise, fall, and reinvention of hosting people for a meal
• how perfectionism (and the pandemic) changed dinner tables
• why simple, imperfect, shared meals might be the cure for modern loneliness
• what Samin Nosrat teaches us about hospitality, imperfection, and cooking with love

I’m asking YOU to reflect on your own relationship to hosting.

When was the last time you gathered around a table and felt truly present?

As always, I’ll highlight some advanced English language (C1/C2) along the way.

Hear You Go English language listening podcasts aim to give you, the intermediate and advanced English learner, a space to think, learn, and connect in English.

❤️‍🔥 Are you a fan of Hear You Go?

🎧 Have you listened to the podcast and found it valuable for your listening practice?

🫙 You can say thank you by leaving a tip in my tip jar.

Your support is deeply appreciated.

Catherine 🤗

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⏰ To work with me 1:1, add your name to the waitlist.

To join the next edition of WILDE (in 2026), my conversation course based on podcasts, add your name here.

📥 Do you get my newsletter? It’s really the best way to hear from me, and it’s where you can find a link to episode transcripts.

You can also follow me on Instagram.

🎶 Amos the Transparent provides my theme song. They're an awesome group of talented musicians. Give them some love and check out their music.

Please share the podcast and spread the knowledge!

I’m joined in this episode by a very special guest, my Italian teacher, Valeria, founder of Vita Semplice in Italia, a project that goes beyond language learning to cultural immersion, and small-scale travel in several locations in Italy, but primarily in Valeria’s hometown in Sicily.

In a first for both me and Valeria, our conversation takes place in English, not Italian! We get into what it really means to immerse yourself in another language, and how meaningful, intentional and thoughtful travel can become a part of that process.

Valeria shares her story, a story that begins with her hearing her grandmother switch seamlessly between English, Italian, and Sicilian dialect, to creating intimate language retreats that bring learners into contact with local people, food, and traditions.

Also explored in our chat:

* Why connection and curiosity matter more than perfection (you hear this a lot on Hear You Go, don’t you?) * The value of small-scale, ethical travel, and how to avoid adding to the problem of overtourism * What to look for if you’re hoping to participate in a language retreat experience, OR creating one for your learners

If you’ve ever wondered how travel can deepen your language learning, or how to travel more thoughtfully and connect with local communities, give this episode a listen. I hope it inspires you to slow down, listen, and savour the experience.

“You might come for the language,” Valeria says, “but you leave with connection.”

Valeria on Instagram:

Vita Semplice website

Vita Semplice newsletter on Substack: https://valeriapao.substack.com/

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Hear You Go English language listening podcasts aim to give you, the intermediate English language learner and advanced English language learner, a space to practice your English listening so that you can think, learn, and connect in English.

⏰ To work with me 1:1 add your name to the waitlist.

📥 Do you get my newsletter? It’s really the best way to hear from me.

You can also follow me on Instagram.

🎶 Amos the Transparent provides my theme song. They're an awesome group of talented musicians. Give them some love and check out their music.

Please share the podcast and spread the knowledge!

Emoji: cute, colourful, easy to use, OR malevolent, dangerous, prone to offend.

I’ve been thinking about emoji a lot lately. I’m confused by them, troubled by them, and eager to learn more about them. But they also entice me, persuading me to add some colour and imagery to my texts.

Today I’m going to share what I’ve learned in my quest to be less ignorant about emoji, and either feel better or worse about using them!

• I’ll define them and present their somewhat recent history
• I’ll consider if they are a language
• And I’ll look at the potential for miscommunication given our world’s diversity of languages, cultures and therefore, interpretation of meaning

I’m asking YOU too to reflect on your use of emoji, how you think about emoji as a language, and if you too are worried about miscommunicating something when using them.

Maybe I’m just being silly and overly cautious. Have a listen and share your thoughts.

As always, I’ll note some useful advanced English language (C1/C2 Intermediate & Advanced English) along the way.

Hear You Go English language listening podcasts aim to give you, the intermediate English language learner and advanced English language learner, a space to practice your English listening so that you can think, learn, and connect in English.

********************

⏰ To work with me 1:1 add your name to the waitlist.

📥 Do you get my newsletter? It’s really the best way to hear from me.

You can also follow me on Instagram.

🎶 Amos the Transparent provides my theme song. They're an awesome group of talented musicians. Give them some love and check out their music.

Please share the podcast and spread the knowledge!

About six months ago, I noticed I couldn’t hear my gym instructors clearly. At first, I chalked it up to the loud music, but then I realized it wasn’t the background noise, it was me.

In this episode, I’ll share:

• What hearing loss is, and how it often changes as we age
• Why hearing aids feel so different from reading glasses, and why that hit different for me
• What we can do to protect our hearing, reduce the risks of dementia, and adapt when hearing loss happens to us as individuals, teachers, or learners

As always, I’ll also point out some advanced English expressions like to chalk it up, the rub, and to chide yourself, among others.

Listen now, and test out your listening skills in this intermediate English and advanced English language podcast episode.

Hear You Go English language listening podcasts aim to give you, the intermediate English language learner and advanced English language learner, a space to practice your English listening so that you can think, learn, and connect in English.

⏰ To work with me 1:1 add your name to the waitlist.

📥 Do you get my newsletter? It’s really the best way to hear from me.

You can also follow me on Instagram.

🎶 Amos the Transparent provides my theme song. They're an awesome group of talented musicians. Give them some love and check out their music.

Please share the podcast and spread the knowledge!

It Takes Two to Tango: A Conversation with Lisa Wood | Advanced English Conversations (E79)

In this episode of Hear You Go, I speak with English teacher and neuro-language coach Lisa Wood about the importance of being an active, kind, gentle listener in the dance that is a conversation.

Our chat is perfect for advanced English learners, English teachers, and anyone interested in mindset, confidence, and how listening shapes communication. You’ll hear how Lisa sees language learning as a dance between speaker and listener (it always takes two to tango!), and why connection—not perfection—is the real goal of fluency.

🎧 You’ll hear:

• What The CALM Way is and how it supports learners
• Why listening is never passive, but always active
• How mindset influences confidence and fluency
• Encouragement to show up and communicate, even if it’s not “perfect”

As always, I’ll note some useful intermediate/advanced language (B1/C1 Intermediate & Advanced English) along the way.

🔗 Follow Lisa here:

https://yourenglishself.com

lisa@yourenglishself.com

Instagram: @your.english.self

🎙 Hear You Go English language listening podcasts aim to give you, the intermediate and advanced English language learner, a space to practice your English listening so that you can think, learn, and connect in English.

⏰ To work with me 1:1 add your name to the waitlist.

📥 Do you get my newsletter? It’s really the best way to hear from me.

You can also follow me on Instagram.

🎶 Amos the Transparent provides my theme song. They're an awesome group of talented musicians. Give them some love and check out their music.

Please share the podcast and spread the knowledge!

📚 In this advanced English listening practice episode of Hear You Go, I dive into The Bee Sting by Paul Murray—a Booker Prize–shortlisted novel about an Irish family falling apart, unraveling really, under pressure. Each family member tells their own version of events, showing us how perspective, memory, and emotion shape the stories we carry.

The episode explores:

• Why personal narratives matter, both in novels and in our own lives
• How different voices and perspectives in The Bee Sting reveal deeper truths
• What English language learners can take from the idea of rewriting their own narratives
• Useful vocabulary for talking about stories and identity

I invite you to reflect on your narrative. What story do you tell about yourself—and how might you tell it differently?

🎧 Ready to rethink the stories you carry?

As always, I’ll note some useful advanced English language (C1/C2 Intermediate & Advanced English) along the way.

Hear You Go English language listening podcasts aim to give you, the intermediate English language learner and advanced English language learner, a space to practice your English listening so that you can think, learn, and connect in English.

*****

❤️‍🔥 Are you a fan of Hear You Go?

🎧 Have you listened to the podcast and found it valuable for your listening practice?

🫙 You can say thank you by leaving a tip in my tip jar.

Your support is deeply appreciated.

Catherine 🤗

*****

⏰ To work with me 1:1 add your name to the waitlist.

📥 Do you get my newsletter? It’s really the best way to hear from me, and it’s where you can find a link to episode transcripts.

You can also follow me on Instagram.

🎶 Amos the Transparent provides my theme song. They're an awesome group of talented musicians. Give them some love and check out their music.

Please share the podcast and spread the knowledge!