Loading...

PODCAST

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English)

Michael Digiacomo Happy English

The Happy English Podcast helps English learners learn natural American English with clear lessons, practical phrases, everyday conversation tips, and listening practice.Hosted by American English teacher Michael DiGiacomo, the show features short and practical lessons to help you build vocabulary, improve pronunciation, and speak English confidently in real conversations.Episodes range from quick tips to longer explanations and cover useful topics like phrasal verbs, idioms, pronunciation, grammar,

education language learning

All Episodes

1:45

957 - Luck Out - Phrasal Verbs in a Minute | Happy...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/12/26

Today’s phrasal verb is luck out. When you luck out, it means you have really good luck - usually by chance. Something goes much better than you expected, and you didn’t have to do anything special. It just happened.For example, this morning I lucked out and found a parking spot right in front of the station.And my friend Jake lucked out last week - he got the last two tickets to a concert that had been sold out for days.And yesterday, I lucked out at the supermarket… strawberries were half

en

7:04

955 - Went, Gone, or Been - What’s the Real Difference?

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/12/22

Have you ever gone somewhere… and then realized you should’ve been somewhere else? Or maybe you went somewhere, and now you’re trying to explain that… but the grammar just won’t come out right. Don’t worry - this happens to a lot of English learners. So today, we’re going to clear it all up.Went, Been, Gone. Yeah - I know. These words all seem similar, and sometimes even native speakers mix them up. But there is a pattern. There is a logic behind when we use went, gone, and been. So today, I’m gonna

en

1:51

952 - Chew Out - Phrasal Verbs in a Minute | Happy...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/12/19

Hey there! It’s Michael here, and welcome back to Phrasal Verbs in a Minute from Happy English.I’m here every Friday with a quick one-point lesson to help you learn a new phrasal verb and sound more natural when you speak. By the way, if you want to see the video version of this lesson, just look for Happy English Podcast on YouTube.Today’s phrasal verb is chew out. When you chew someone out, it means you scold them strongly - usually because they did something wrong or made a big mistake. It’s a

en

1:54

948 - Bang Out - Phrasal Verbs in a Minute | Happy...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/12/12

Hey there! It’s Michael here, and welcome back to Phrasal Verbs in a Minute from Happy English. I’m here every Friday with a quick one-point lesson to help you learn a new phrasal verb and sound more natural when you speak. By the way, if you want to see the video version of this lesson, just look for Happy English Podcast on YouTube.Today’s phrasal verb is bang out. When you bang something out, it means you produce it quickly - often a lot of it - without spending too much time on perfect details

en

8:56

947 - Verb + To Do Patterns With Special Meanings

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/12/11

You know, English is funny sometimes. We’ve got a ton of verbs that go with “to + verb” - like want to do, like to do, plan to do - and most of them just talk about an action, right? I want to go. I like to cook. I plan to travel. That’s easy. But! There are some verb + to do combinations that have a special meaning - a nuance - a deeper idea behind them. And that’s what we’re going to look at today.Watch video versions of the Happy English Podcast on YouTube:

en

2:20

945 - Speak Naturally in a Minute | Happy English

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/12/07

Hey there! It’s Michael here - and welcome back to Speak Naturally in a Minute from Happy English. I’m here every Sunday with a quick one-point lesson to help you improve your pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation. And if you want to watch this lesson, just look for Happy English Podcast on YouTube.Today, let’s continue our discussion of reduction in American English, you know, when we shorten or soften sounds when we speak. Can’t you, Aren’t you, and ain;t you are usually pronounced as can’cha,

en

2:13

944 - All + Adjective - English Tips in a Minute |...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/12/06

Hey there! It’s Michael here - and welcome back to English Tips in a Minute from Happy English. I’m here every Saturday with a short, simple tip to help you speak English more naturally and confidently. And by the way, if you want to watch this lesson, just look for Happy English Podcast on YouTube.Today, let’s look at a really casual, really conversational pattern you’ll hear in everyday American English - all + adjective. We use all before an adjective to mean very or totally, and it adds emotion

en

8:24

941 - Though, Even Though, & Although - What’s The...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/12/01

The other day, I was thinking about the difference between though, even though, and although. Even though they all mean but, there’s a difference, though. And although you may not have learned it before… you’ll learn it today.Though, Even Though, & Although all - express contrast, like you say one thing, but then mention something opposite. But how we use them depends on the situation, how formal or casual we want to sound, and the rhythm of the sentence. So today, I’ll walk you through the

en

2:19

940 - Doncha & Woncha - Speak Naturally in a Minute |...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/11/30

Hey there! It’s Michael here - and welcome back to Speak Naturally in a Minute from Happy English. I’m here every Sunday with a quick one-point lesson to help you improve your pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation.And if you want to watch this lesson, just look for Happy English Podcast on YouTube.As we’ve said before, in everyday spoken American English, we often use reduction - that means we shorten or soften sounds when we speak.Today, let’s look at two really common question reductions that you

en

2:17

939 - What’s Up With? - English Tips in a Minute |...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/11/29

Hey there! It’s Michael here - and welcome back to English Tips in a Minute from Happy English. I’m here every Saturday with a short, simple tip to help you speak English more naturally and confidently. And by the way, if you want to watch this lesson, just look for Happy English Podcast on YouTube.Today, let’s look at a really useful conversational phrase - “What’s up with…?”We use what’s up with…? to ask about something we don’t understand. It’s another way to say“What’s the situation with…?” And

en

1:59

938 - Brush Up On - Phrasal Verbs in a Minute | Happy...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/11/28

Hey there! It’s Michael here, and welcome back to Phrasal Verbs in a Minute from Happy English.I’m here every Friday with a quick one-point lesson to help you learn a new phrasal verb and sound more natural when you speak. By the way, if you want to see the video version of this lesson, just look for Happy English Podcast on YouTube.Today’s phrasal verb is brush up on. When you brush up on something, it means you review it or practice it again so you can improve. We usually use brush up on for

en

9:36

937 - Phrasal Nouns For Daily English Conversation

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/11/27

Do you need a pick-me-up? I’m not being a show-off when I say that our little online get-togethers like this podcast are probably good for your English. Thanks for tuning in! Let me start with a quick question. Have you ever heard someone say, “We’re having a little get-together this weekend”? Or maybe, “I could really use a pick-me-up”? You might think, wait a second – isn’t get a verb? Isn’t get together a phrasal verb? Yep - but when we add a hyphen and use it as a noun, it becomes something

en

2:59

935 - Didn’t → Dih-n’t → Dih-n’ - Speak Naturally in...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/11/23

Hey there! It’s Michael here - and welcome back to Speak Naturally in a Minute from Happy English. I’m here every Sunday with a quick one-point lesson to help you improve your pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation.And if you want to watch this lesson, just look for Happy English Podcast on YouTube.Now, in everyday spoken American English, we often use reduction - that means we shorten or soften sounds when we speak. Today’s example is the word “didn’t.” First, most native speakers drop the D in the

en

2:16

934 - Do Me a Favor - English Tips in a Minute |...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/11/22

Hey there! It’s Michael here - and welcome back to English Tips in a Minute from Happy English. I’m here every Saturday with a short, simple tip to help you speak English more naturally and confidently. And by the way, if you want to watch this lesson, just look for Happy English Podcast on YouTube.Today, let’s look at a really common phrase you’ll hear in everyday English - “Do me a favor.”We use do me a favor when we want to ask someone to do something for us. It’s usually for a small, everyday

en

1:56

933 - Chip In - Phrasal Verbs in a Minute | Happy...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/11/21

Today’s phrasal verb is chip in. When you chip in, it means you contribute money, effort, or help toward something - especially when everyone gives a little to make something happen.For example, at the office, we all chipped in to buy a birthday gift for our manager.And last weekend, my friends chipped in to rent a cabin in the mountains.And at home, my neighbors and I chipped in to help our elderly neighbor clean up his yeard. It was a nice way to do something together.And gere’s a pronunciation

en

8:17

932 - How To Politely Refuse an Invitation in English

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/11/19

Has this ever happened to you? Someone invites you to do something - maybe go out for dinner, or join a party - but you can’t go. Maybe you’re too busy. Maybe you don’t want to go. But you feel a little nervous about saying no? Yeah... totally understandable. Saying no in English isn’t always easy, so today let’s learn how to do it.In this lesson, we’re going to look at how we invite people in English, and more importantly, how to politely say no when you can’t accept that invitation. This is super

en

8:50

931 - Questions and Negatives with Still, Yet,...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/11/17

Thanks for joining me today! If you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between “Have you eaten yet?” and “Are you still eating?”... or if you’re not sure when to use anymore - then this episode is for you. These four little words - still, yet, already, and anymore - seem simple, but when it comes to questions and negative sentences, things can get a little tricky. So today, we’ll take a deep dive into how they work, with plenty of real, everyday examples.Build Vocabulary With My Free Vocabulary

en

1:55

928 - Rattle Off - Phrasal Verbs in a Minute | Happy...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/11/14

Hey there! It’s Michael here - and welcome back to Phrasal Verbs in a Minute from Happy English.I’m here every Friday with a quick one-point lesson to help you learn a new phrasal verb and sound more natural when you speak. And if you want to watch this lesson just look for Happy English Michael on YouTube.Today’s phrasal verb is rattle off. When you rattle something off, it means you say or list things quickly and easily - usually without stopping to think much. It’s like when someone just fires

en

11:05

927 - How to Use ‘Make’ and ‘Do’ in English - What’s...

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/11/12

I get it - make and do can be super confusing. You’ve probably learned that both verbs mean "to take action" in some way. But for example, how do you know when to say make a mistake or do your homework? That’s what we’re going to clear up.Today we’re going to talk about two small but mighty verbs in English: make and do. These verbs show up everywhere - but the tricky part is knowing when to use which one. So today, we’ll go over the core difference between make and do, and I’ll give you lots of

en

8:57

926 - How to Agree and Disagree Politely in English

Happy English Podcast (Natural American English) ·

2025/11/10

I guess you're here because you think podcasts are a good way to learn English. Yeah, absolutely — I was thinking the same thing. You might even think they are the best way to learn. Well, I see your point, but I’m not sure everyone would think so. Maybe we can agree to disagree. That’s the language we’ll look at today. In this podcast English lesson, we’re going to talk about something that happens all the time in conversations — agreeing and disagreeing. But not just saying “yes” or “no.” We’re

en

211 results

Similar Podcasts

Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

Michael Britt

Daily Facts

Amalia Dupray and Montgomery Jones.

Les dents et dodo

BFMTV

Bedtime Safari

Bedtime History

Edutainment Learning

Ralph Krauss