About Us

Who is ESLPod.com?

ESL Podcast is run by a team of experienced English as a Second Language professors with over 30 years of high school, adult, and university ESL teaching experience. Dr. Jeff McQuillan is the host and guide for each lesson, providing language and cultural explanations. Dr. Lucy Tse writes the scripts and story ideas for the lessons and helps with recording conversations for the lessons. Both Dr. Tse and Dr. McQuillan received a Ph.D. in applied linguistics and education at the University of Southern California. Dr. Tse was a professor of applied linguistics and education at Loyola Marymount University, Arizona State University, and California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. McQuillan was a professor of applied linguistics at California State University, Fullerton, and Arizona State University. Both are currently Senior Researchers at the Center for Educational Development, the sponsor of ESLPod.com, and have published dozens of articles and books in the area of second language acquisition. Each has appeared on CNN, and they have been quoted as experts in several national newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, and the Los Angeles Daily News, among others.

Why are you doing this podcast?

For many people around the world, learning English is very important. Unfortunately, there are very few useful, effective sources for learning English. Most people take English classes, which help them up to a certain point. ESL Podcast is designed to help you continue to improve your English.

What’s so different about ESL Podcast?

ESL Podcast uses a very different approach than other courses or websites. We believe the fastest way to improve your English is to listen to conversations and discussions you can understand. Many people try to improve their English by listening or reading things that are too difficult. They understand only 40-50%, which means they are wasting half of their time! At ESL Podcast, we provide English at a slower speed and use everyday phrases and expressions. We carefully explain what these expressions mean and how to use them in a clear and entertaining way. That’s all! It’s simple, it’s obvious, and it’s very powerful.

ESL Podcast in the News

ESL Podcast has been mentioned in several international newspapers and media outlets. Here is a partial list of those, along with links to the relevant files or websites. (Note: Many newspapers do not have online archives. In those cases, a PDF of the original article is provided for reference.)