Transcript of my podcast episode (11)

Welcome to episode no. 11! I sometimes rack my brains about what to tell you at the beginning of an episode, which means I have to think really hard about it, but today I know exactly what I want to say! Do you sometimes find it difficult to revise English grammar? Perhaps you have a few grammar books at home, but they seem to be boring and overwhelming? Well, I have a solution! I’d like to share with you two super useful websites that contain most English grammar in the form of interactive exercises. If you’re a self-learner, it’ll be easier for you to go over some grammar at your convenience, and if you’re a teacher, you won’t have to worry about not being able to find proper grammar exercises for your students. So here we go! The first website is test-english.com, and the second one is my recent discovery – engblocks.com. You can find the links to these websites in the transcript of the episode. And I hope that, by now, you know where to find the transcript!

Now, as usual, let me teach you two new expressions. The first one is TO MEET SB’S EXPECTATIONS. If something or somebody meets your expectations, they are as good as or have the qualities that you predicted, expected, or hoped for.

For instance: That hotel in Greece met all my expectations – I’m more than satisfied. Now, repeat after me.
The translation is: Tamten hotel w Grecji spełnił wszystkie moje oczekiwania – jestem bardziej niż usatysfakcjonowana.

Another example: Take it easy! You don’t have to meet other people’s expectations.
Zrelaksuj się! Nie musisz spełniać oczekiwań innych ludzi.  

The second expression is ON ONE’S OWN / ON YOUR OWN. If you do something on your own, you do it alone, all by yourself, you do it without help from anyone else.

For instance: If I were here on my own, I’m sure I would handle it.
Gdybym była tu sama, jestem pewna, że bym sobie poradziła.

Another example: Is it true that you’ve fixed my computer on your own? You’re a genius!
Czy to prawda, że sam naprawiłeś mój komputer? Jesteś genialny!

Let me say one more thing about this phrase. Many students often confuse the expressions “on your own” and “by yourself”, so make sure you remember their correct versions. You can do something either on your own or by yourself. Don’t mix them!

And now it’s time for your ENGSPRESSO to go!

Our context for the phrases is:

She was unable to deal with the project on her own, so unfortunately she didn’t meet our expectations.
Nie była w stanie poradzić sobie z tym projektem samodzielnie, więc niestety nie spełniła naszych oczekiwań.

Brilliant! You’ve just learnt or revised two useful expressions, and now you also know where to find English grammar exercises online. It was worth listening to this episode, wasn’t it?

If you liked it, send me a message either on Instagram or via email. And if you really want to thank me for this podcast, you can buy me a cup of coffee  – I’m always very grateful for it, I love coffee! And it’s always such a great surprise when I receive an email saying that someone has just bought me a cup of coffee. It really makes my day! You can buy me a cup of coffee through the link mentioned in the description of the episode. And there, of course, you can also find a link to the transcript of this episode if you’d like to read what I’ve just said.

Well, so that’s it for now. Thanks a lot for being here with me and talk to you next time!