Podcast
5 Minute English Vocabulary
Hosted by Herbert Lee · EN
The 5 Minute English Vocabulary podcast makes vocabulary learning effortless.
Improve your English Vocabulary by just listening to the podcast everyday for a week.
This podcast is designed for English learners at an intermediate or advanced level.
IMPORTANT:Listen to Episode 1 to understand how your brain learns vocabulary and how these podcasts use proven research to make vocabulary learning effortless.
If you listen and can understand 60-70% without any dictionary, this is perfect for you. New episodes posted every Wednesday.
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Episode 19 Mesmerize
Sep 200:08:13Tap to summarizeIn this engaging 5 Minute English Vocabulary episode, host Herbert Lee explores the captivating word "mesmerize" with energy and humor. The podcast provides a comprehensive breakdown of the verb, defining it as capturing complete attention or fascinating someone totally. Lee breaks down the word's meaning through multiple contexts, offering sample sentences that demonstrate usage in performance, natural beauty, and personal interaction scenarios. The episode includes the word's etymology, tracing "mesmerize" back to Franz Mesmer, an 18th-century doctor who believed in mysterious controlling forces. Listeners benefit from practical learning features like pronunciation tips, word family exploration, and a memory trick comparing the word to a magical spell. The podcast includes playful jokes, grammatical guidance, and a pronunciation challenge that makes learning interactive and enjoyable. Additional highlights include similar word suggestions, cultural connections exploring how different cultures describe being absorbed, and a multilingual perspective on fascination. The episode concludes with a free vocabulary assessment offer and an inspirational closing thought about words' power to capture imagination. Lee's dynamic teaching style transforms vocabulary learning into an entertaining, memorable experience.
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Episode 18 Integration
Aug 2600:09:08Tap to summarizeIn this engaging episode of 5 Minute English Vocabulary, host Herbert Lee explores the word "Integration" in a fun and informative manner. The podcast breaks down the word's meaning as "the process of combining parts into a whole," providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of its usage across various contexts. Lee uses creative teaching techniques to make learning memorable, including vivid explanations, sample sentences, and playful jokes. He traces the word's Latin origins, demonstrates its different forms (noun, verb, adjective), and offers practical pronunciation tips. The episode uniquely approaches language learning by connecting the word to broader concepts like social dynamics, technology, and cultural understanding. Highlights include humorous wordplay, a pronunciation challenge, and a multilingual perspective on the term. The podcast also provides a vocabulary challenge, encouraging listeners to create their own sentences using "integration." Lee's energetic presentation transforms what could be a dry linguistic lesson into an entertaining educational experience. The episode concludes with an invitation to take a free vocabulary assessment at Vocabularybreakthrough.com/test, reinforcing the podcast's commitment to helping learners improve their language skills.
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Episode 17 Flippant
Aug 1900:07:46Tap to summarizeIn this engaging episode of 5 Minute English Vocabulary, host Herbert Lee explores the word "flippant" with his signature blend of education and humor. The podcast provides a comprehensive breakdown of the word, defining it as treating important matters with inappropriate or casual humor. Lee offers multiple learning approaches, including clear pronunciation guidance (FLIP-unt), sample sentences demonstrating usage, and contextual examples across professional, educational, and social settings. The episode traces the word's etymology, revealing its evolution from "talkative" in the 1700s to its current meaning of disrespectful casualness. Distinctive features include playful joke breaks, a vocabulary challenge encouraging listener participation, and practical grammar tips. The podcast also provides word family exploration, showing "flippant" as an adjective, with related verb and noun forms. Lee emphasizes the cultural nuance of the word, warning listeners about potential misuse in professional environments. The episode concludes with bonus vocabulary connections to similar words like "casual" and "irreverent", and a motivational call to continue language learning with enthusiasm and fun. The podcast exemplifies Lee's approach of making vocabulary learning entertaining and accessible.
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Contempt: Beyond Upset or Angry
Aug 1200:08:04Tap to summarizeIn this engaging 5 Minute English Vocabulary episode, host Herbert Lee explores the powerful word "Contempt" with his signature blend of education and humor. The podcast delves into the nuanced meaning of contempt as a deep feeling of disrespect or looking down on something as completely worthless. Lee breaks down the word comprehensively, offering pronunciation guidance (kun-TEMPT), multiple sample sentences, and exploring its linguistic origins from the Latin "contemptus". The episode includes practical usage examples across professional, personal, and social contexts, highlighting how contempt differs from simple dislike. The podcast playfully incorporates humor through witty jokes and a memorable pronunciation approach. It provides additional linguistic depth by exploring the word's verb form (contemn), adjective form (contemptuous), and offering a clever memory trick to help listeners remember the word. A unique feature is the cultural note warning about the word's sensitivity in different social contexts. The episode concludes with bonus challenges, encouraging listeners to use "contempt" in conversation and expand their vocabulary through emotional connection and practical application. Lee's approach transforms vocabulary learning into an entertaining, accessible experience.
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Enraptured: Can't Get it Off My Mind
Aug 500:07:13Tap to summarizeIn this engaging 5 Minute English Vocabulary episode, host Herbert Lee explores the word "enraptured," an adjective meaning to be completely fascinated or filled with extreme joy and delight. Pronounced "en-RAP-chured," the word describes a moment of total absorption and captivation. Lee provides multiple sample sentences demonstrating its use, such as "Children sat enraptured as the magician performed incredible tricks" and explains its linguistic origins from "en" (meaning "in") and "rapture" (extreme joy). The episode breaks down the word's different forms: the verb "enrapture" and the noun "rapture," offering additional context and example sentences. Lee includes pronunciation tips, suggesting listeners stress the second syllable and say the word smoothly. Sprinkled with humor through jokes and a playful tone, the podcast offers a vocabulary challenge for listeners to create their own sentences. Lee also provides contextual examples across romantic, nature, and musical settings, emphasizing the word's versatility. The episode concludes by encouraging listeners to use "enraptured" in conversations and highlighting its applicability in both formal and informal contexts, making language learning fun and accessible.
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Serendipity: Plan For the Unexpected
Jun 3, 202500:06:27Tap to summarizeLearn to live on the edge of life. Plan for serendipity in your life.
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Precocious: Don't Get Ahead of Yourself
May 27, 202500:06:06Tap to summarizeA word that can have both positive and negative meanings. A great word that can be used often.
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Did You Get Into A Kerfuffle?
May 20, 202500:05:23Tap to summarizeA word that sounds like what it means! Kerfuffle. I learned this word when I lived in Prince Edward Island. Great word to smooth thinmgs up.
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Integrity. To Thine Own Self Be True
May 13, 202500:05:28Tap to summarizeIntegrity means wholeness - completeness. A person who lives with integrity lives with a full life.
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Everywhere But Not in the Centre
May 6, 202500:05:52Tap to summarizePeripheral is a very useful word but often gets marginalized. Live life on the edge with this word!
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