Have you ever left a conversation group feeling like everyone else was miles ahead of you? Sarah and Mike sit down for a slow, easy English conversation about why we compare our English to other people, and what a fairer way to measure progress looks like. If you have ever gone quiet at a loud dinner table or slipped out of a class early, this one is for you.

How do you know if your English is actually getting better? In this friendly English podcast conversation you'll practise saying "Could you slow down a bit" and "Bear with me" without feeling embarrassed, talk about what it means to hold your own in a fast group chat, learn why a yardstick matters more than other people's speed, and pick up natural words like take stock, trail behind, stagnate and tangible. Sarah and Mike also share Mike's forgotten name tag from an old class, and one small Sunday habit that makes progress easy to see.

This episode is perfect for B1 English learners who want to build real-life speaking confidence, follow fast group conversations without panicking, and describe their own progress in natural everyday English.

💡 Tip: Write one sentence each Sunday that you could not have said a month ago.

⏱️ Chapters

0:00 Introduction

0:38 Talk About Comparing Your English

4:24 Everyday Words for Describing Fluency

14:50 Asking Someone to Slow Down

19:09 Speaking Practice

20:24 Everyday Words for Tracking Your Progress

26:43 Vocabulary Review and Next Steps

📚 Vocabulary in this episode

• hold your own: do okay against stronger people

• yardstick: the thing you measure progress against

• take stock: stop and look at where you are

• trail behind: stay slower than the others

• downplay: make something sound smaller than it is

• stagnate: stop getting better for a long time

• grasp: your understanding of something

• nudge: a small, gentle push

• gauge: judge something roughly, not exactly

• tangible: real enough to see or touch

• turn of phrase: a nice way of saying something

• proficiency: how well you can use a skill

• in hindsight: looking back, understanding it better now

🎯 In this episode, you can practise:

• Talking About Language Progress

• Asking Someone To Slow Down

• Hold Your Own In Conversation

• Losing The Thread In Group Chat

• Measuring Your English Progress

• Polite Phrases For Thinking Time

• Talking About Learning Habits

• Daily English conversation

• English shadowing practice

• B1 English vocabulary

Everyday English Academy is the place where Sarah and Mike talk slowly and simply about everyday life, so English learners can grow their listening, speaking, vocabulary and confidence one conversation at a time.

Get comfortable, press play, and let Sarah and Mike keep you company while you learn.

Keep practising along with us, even if it is just one new phrase from today. 🔔 Subscribe to Everyday English Academy for a new slow English conversation every week.

#EnglishConversation #LanguageLearning #EnglishVocabulary #B1English #SpeakingConfidence #SlowEnglish #LearnEnglish #EnglishListening #EnglishPodcast #ESL #EverydayEnglishAcademy