In a world where everything seems to happen quickly, we often measure our progress by how many "things" we do. We're busy, busy, busy.

What if we slowed down and measured our progress by how deeply we understood what we read and listened to instead?

In Episode 27 of Hear You Go, I'd like to encourage you to take some time listening to English podcasts, Hear You Go specifically and all the other ones that you love. I'll share a 5-step process that will ask you to slow down, listen a few times, and listen for more than just the main ideas or new vocabulary.

Think of the podcast like a puzzle that you build or solve, piece by piece. And at the end, you have a beautiful, full picture, and a better understanding of how the pieces fit together. 

I'd like you to feel better about your listening in English. I'd like you to feel more confident listening to the sounds of spoken English. Spoken language is very different from the words on the page.

Like any new skill, this will take some time...

Why do we swim?

I swim to exercise and to practice my French, lol! 

Do you practice your English speaking when you do a sport or activity?

I know why I swim, but I wanted to learn more about why so many people swim, and I did what I often do: I read a book titled "Why We Swim", by Bonnie Tsui.

I learned a lot from this book, and in today's episode, anchored in the middle of August with summer coming to a close far too soon, we'll explore a few of the reasons people swim: well-being, flow, and awe. 

You don't have to be a swimmer to connect with this English listening summer episode.

Perhaps you can reflect on what gives you well-being, puts you in a flow, and leaves you in awe. It might be swimming or something else.

• Dive in and explore the topic

• Listen for idioms in English connected to water and swimming

• Listen carefully for messy English: for how consonants connect to vowels, which is an important feature of connected speech

• Have fun and enjoy

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye" is something adults often say to children as a warning to be careful, but in my family, we prefer to say: "It's just all fun and games... but I want to win!"

Do you play games? Do you enjoy playing games?

Would you believe that playing games can help us learn English, and become better people? 

Human beings have been playing games for thousands of years. In today's episode (the first of two that will be released this summer), we'll look at the history of games, then the benefits of playing games, and finally, I'll share some of the games I've been playing (and losing!) recently. But, it's just all fun and games, and that's where the joy lies in summertime.

Games are a universal, shared, human pastime. 

I’d no idea when I released Episode 1 of Hear You Go that I'd release another 23 episodes!

Thank you to each one of you who has practiced your English listening with me. 

I'm going to be taking some time off this summer and will release two summer English listening episodes instead of four, so as we come to the end of Season One (OMG!), I thought I'd share some of the lessons I've learned. 

You’ll hear about:

• taking action and being consistent

• the feedback I got

• my love-hate relationship with Instagram, and

• some surprising developments that I didn’t anticipate or predict would happen.

Perhaps you'll be able to relate to some of these lessons to your own English learning practices and takeaways. I hope so.

I'll wrap up the episode by telling you about my plans for season two. More intermediate English conversations and listening practice episodes to come!