Hi Reader,

In case you missed it: a new podcast episode dropped this week: Coffee, Routines, and CELPIP: Transforming daily life into study time.​

An insider take on this episode:

I was so excited making this episode because I'm trying something new: recording without following a script, and breaking some of my self-imposed rules at the same time.

Rules?

Yep. I broke two of them.

One on purpose, which was including sounds from around me. (You'll hear it if you listen. I loved how it turned out! ) Most of the time I aim for complete silence when I record. I usually don't even leave my desk. But lately, perhaps you've noticed it if you're a regular listener, I've been aiming for a different approach to recording my episodes.

I've been trying to model what I frequently talk about: fitting practice into your busy life instead of trying to add it as something extra.

In my case, I'm using my cell phone, and I'm making episodes outside of my regular spot. This episode happened at our dining room table, surrounded by breakfast dishes and cereal boxes. Fitting it in, see what I mean?

The other rule I broke was totally by accident, and was a completely human thing to do - I lost my train of thought, tried to keep going, lost it again, then had a few moments of dead silence as I struggled with myself to figure out what I wanted to say. (And, to be honest, resisted the powerful urge to hit stop on the recording and try again!)

Oh man and EWW! It was very uncomfortable for me to hear it. I normally would have spent extra time to edit those mistakes out, but I decided against it.

Why I left my mistakes in?

Hopefully you won't hate my podcast because of it. Gulp! But I left it in because I know you make mistakes too- especially when you're trying to practice your English skills. Am I right?

And on the CELPIP, if you make a mistake you HAVE to keep going. I decided I wanted to do the same thing. To keep going, and work my way around the mistake instead of 'pretending none happened' by editing it out.

What do you think? Did I make a good decision or a bad one? Please reply and let me know - I love hearing from my readers and podcast listeners!

Thanks for reading, and we'll be in touch.

Aaron