Ellie’s Voice: Slang, Humor, and Youth Language
Episode 5 celebrates Ellie’s unmistakable voice in The Last of Us — her slang, her sarcasm, her dark humour — as a lesson in informal English, generational language, and the crucial social functions of humour.
The Grammar of Survival: Modal Verbs in Extremis
Episode 4 takes a deep dive into English modal verbs — must, should, could, might, would — using the survival decisions and moral dilemmas of The Last of Us as a grammar laboratory.
Grief Is Not a Stage — It’s a Sentence
Episode 3 explores the language of grief and emotional expression in English, using the devastating loss at the heart of The Last of Us as a framework for learning collocations, euphemisms, and emotionally precise vocabulary.
Trust Nobody — Until You Have To
Episode 2 of The Last of Us English series explores the vocabulary of trust and suspicion, with a deep dive into descriptive adjectives and how English speakers characterize people with nuance and precision.
When the World Ends, Language Survives
In the first episode of The Last of Us English series, we dive into survival vocabulary — the words, phrases, and grammatical structures that keep you going when everything around you is falling apart. Inspired by the opening of TLOU.
All Publicity Is Good Publicity — Until It Isn’t | Close Reading
The idea that all publicity is good publicity is one of the most repeated — and most dangerous — myths in celebrity culture. Let’s look at what the evidence actually says.
Puerile: The Art of Knowing When to Grow Up (and When Not To)
Puerile is one of English’s great backhanded words — it sounds almost elegant, but it’s actually a fairly sharp insult. In this episode, we unpack what it means to be childish, why that’s sometimes a problem, and why it’s sometimes the most human thing in the world.
How to Prepare for a Job Interview in English: The Words, Phrases, and Confidence to Get Hired
Master the English you need to ace a job interview, from basic introductions to advanced storytelling about your strengths, with grammar, phrasing, and real confidence-building tips at every level.
Out of the Woods: The Relief of the Other Side
There’s a specific kind of relief that only comes after difficulty — not when the hard thing starts, not while you’re in the middle of it, but when you finally realize you’re through. ‘Out of the woods’ captures that feeling with remarkable precision. Let’s explore what this beautiful phrase really holds.
The Mechanics of Muscle Growth | Progressive Word Power
Everyone wants stronger muscles, but most people have the wrong idea about how muscle growth actually works. Discover the simple truth behind building muscle — and stop believing the myths that are holding you back.
