It is important to know word families for standardized tests like TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS and Eiken. However, word families are not only important for those tests; they give you the ability to choose a different form of a word you know that is similar to a word you are trying to remember but cannot. In … [Read more…]
Some students worry about the vocabulary that they should make notes of and really try to learn. What vocabulary is important? There is no easy answer because it depends on the person. If you use English mainly at work, learn vocabulary by listening to podcasts or reading about your industry in English. If you use … [Read more…]
A lot of false shortcuts are taught to English students. Lots of words and phrases are said to be “the same” because it is quicker to teach them to beginning and intermediate learners without explaining them. ‘Even if’ and ‘even though’ are not the same but teachers often say they are. In this first example, … [Read more…]
A lot of students have problems using articles, the short words a, an and the. Remember: A/an means one single thing The means one particular thing or some particular things/stuff or things we know and are talking about (or sometimes about animal or plant species. No article means any things/ stuff. A and an are … [Read more…]
So many students ask me how to tell the difference between the teens (13-19) and multiples of ten (20, 30, 40, etc.) when they are listening or trying to pronounce or intone them correctly. This podcast will help you listen to and pronounce numbers more easily. The quick way to remember them is: thirTEEN and … [Read more…]
A couple of months ago I was teaching a student at a company class in Tokyo. “Can you help me prepare for a meeting tomorrow, please?” she asked. Her company had arranged a meeting with a machine salesman from Korea who spoke no Japanese. My student, an intermediate speaker of English – the best in … [Read more…]
One of the best ways you can study English in a hands on way is through cooking. Think about it: you read a recipe and try to make the dish. If you make a tasty dish, you understood the recipe. If you don’t understand the recipe, you make a mistake and the food tastes bad. … [Read more…]
A lot of people have problems with using transitive verbs correctly. I often hear things like the following errors: I didn’t enjoy. Yes, I like. He needs. The reason these are wrong is that they are transitive verbs. This just means that they need an object to make sense. Some of the biggest sources of … [Read more…]
The words ‘see’, ‘look’ and ‘watch’ are often confused by students of English because they are so similar. Here are a few examples of each one to help you out. See Used for ‘meet’: I’ll see you tomorrow. Instead of ‘meet’ for animals: I saw a nice dog on my walk. Used to mean … [Read more…]
Word cards are one of the most useful ways to study vocabulary, in my experience. You can take them with you easily, and remove cards with known vocabulary from the list so you are studying only what you need. I think it is best to study vocabulary in English only, as much as possible. The … [Read more…]