Lace up your language skills and get ready to dive headfirst into the world of sports with “Thinking in English.”
This blog post showcases some of my favourite podcast episodes that are perfect for intermediate and advanced English learners eager to explore sports-related topics.
From the thrill of the game to the intricacies of sports vocabulary, these episodes offer a winning formula for enhancing your language proficiency while indulging in your passion for sports.
Ready to think, talk, and excel in English through sports? Let’s get started!
Sport Vocabulary Episodes
These first two recommended episodes are perfect if you want to brush up on your English Vocabulary through the world of sports terms, phrases, and idioms!
Even if you don’t care about football or baseball, these idioms and expressions are important to learn as they have become a common part of English conversations – especially in the world of business!
85. Football English: All the Vocabulary You Need to Watch the UEFA European Football Championship in English!
This is one of my earlier episodes, but still worth listening to! Originally recorded in 2021, I introduced a selection of football related phrases and vocabulary to celebrate the start of the UEFA European Football Championship.
The episode introduces three different types of football related vocabulary.
- Basic Football vocabulary
- Football Expressions
- Football idioms which are now used in wider English!
You should definitely listen!
Listen Here
Transcript
Baseball and the English Language!
Baseball is an incredibly popular sport – especially in North America, Central America and areas of the Caribbean, and in East Asian countries like Japan and Korea.
The game is known as America’s Pastime in the USA… and the popularity of the sport has meant its vocabulary has entered the English language.
In particular, baseball related words, phrases and idioms are used ALL THE TIME in Business English!
You hit it out of the park with the presentation. The department inspections came out of left field. The new CEO’s policies are a real curveball.
You can learn many of the most important baseball phrases by listening to this bonus episode (exclusive to Patreon Subscribers…)!
Listen Here
Transcript
Sports History Episodes
These episodes look at the history of sport. How were sports invented? how did they become popular? What has changed over the past decades?
Listen to these episodes to learn something knew about sports history, boost your vocabulary, and begin to think in English!
255. The History of Women’s Football!!
This is one of my most recent episodes, released to celebrate the beginning of the 2023 FIFA women’s World Cup. While the tournament has just finished (congratulations Spain on winning the tournament), the episode is still relevant and fascinating.
Women’s sport is often thought of as being secondary to men’s sport. But has this always been the case?
This episode on the history of women’s football looks at when women started playing, the time when women’s football was more popular than the men’s game, and the subsequent banning of the sport around the world.
Fascinating and full of interesting vocabulary!
Listen Here
Transcript
205. Why Did Britain Invent So Many Sports? (English Vocabulary Lesson)
Football, rugby, cricket, tennis, badminton, modern boxing, golf. What do these sports have in common? They were all invented in the UK!
In fact, there are even more sports that those that I listed. Listen to this episode to discover why the UK was so influential in setting out the rules and regulations for modern sport across the world.
And learn some fascinating vocabulary at the same time!
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Transcript
Sports Controversies and Debates!
Sport is a competition. A battle to prove who is the best, fastest, and strongest.
However, sometimes sports can become controversial. There can be interesting discussions about the future of sports, the rules of sports, or where sporting events are being held.
These next few episodes cover a range of controversial and highly debated topics… and introduce a lot of vocabulary and listening comprehension!
184. Should Performance Enhancing Drugs Be Banned in Sports?
Drugs, steroids, doping… if you watch sports you will know about these things. We describe them as performance enhancing. They can make athletes faster, stronger, run longer, and recover quickly.
But should they be allowed? While they are currently banned in almost every major sport, who sports be more interesting if we could see how strong humans can become?
Listen to the episode to find out more!
Listen Here
Transcript
135. The End of Winter Sport?: Climate Change and the Future of the Winter Olympics!
The Winter Olympics have always been one of my favourite international sporting events. Watching people skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating and extreme speeds is thrilling.
Climate change may eventually put an end to the Winter Olympics, With the world warming and weather becoming more unpredictable…. will there even be enough snow in the future to host these events?
Listen to the episode to find out!
Listen Here
Transcript
Final Thought
What do you think? Have you listened to all of these episodes already? Or will you listen now?
