Paris Map by Stefano Creative Commons: Attribution How much do you really know about the place you live in? Have you ever visited the tourist information office? If you haven’t, you may be missing out on an amazing source of study material. Pick up every free leaflet, map and brochure in English. You already have … [Read more…]
In academic writing, there is a tendency for students to write what comes straight out of their head without pausing to think about grammar. While this is fine when one is writing against the clock, it is good practice to use parallelism, or parallel construction, not only at the whole text level (introduction, supporting arguments, … [Read more…]
Last week I showed you how to interrupt politely in a conversation. Now I am going to show you how to ask people to repeat themselves. A lot of students feel embarrassed by this but it is important for conversations between natives, natives and non-natives and also conversations between non-natives only speaking English. People often … [Read more…]
“I want to use English,” my students say, “but I don’t have anyone to talk to apart from you.” “What about writing a diary?” I suggest. “I never keep to it. I always abandon it after a week or so.” In which case, here are some other suggestions. The first one is from my student … [Read more…]
Everybody seems to think that interrupting people is rude. Maybe this is something learned when we are children, with our parents telling us, “Don’t interrupt when I’m talking.” Interrupting when it is unnecessary is rude but sometimes you simply must interrupt. Here are the ways to do it. Try to get someone’s attention visually. Sometimes … [Read more…]
To talk about movies and books looks easy but is difficult for a lot of English learners. In this post, I will teach you how to talk about films and novels. Normally, we talk about genre, characters, setting and plot (or story). Genre Some genres are the same for films and books: science fiction, sci-fi … [Read more…]
When you are writing, there are times you consider what is the correct way to say something. It is at this time that a style guide is necessary. They are essential for professional writers and useful for everyone else. The Economist has a free online style guide. The Guardian newspaper also has one.
You can tell stories easily by using four parts: beginning, main point, reaction and ending. Remember that stories usually stick to the past tense. Beginning It is common to use a past-continuous clause (was/were ~ing) and ‘when‘, followed by a past-tense clause (simple or continuous) for a detail to link to the main point. “I … [Read more…]
Paris Map by Stefano Creative Commons: Attribution Some cities have slightly different names in English to the way their names in other languages. Some of these are different pronunciations of the same spelling, such as Paris; others are wildly different, such as Florence and Prague. This week’s podcast teaches you how to say different city … [Read more…]
Comfort Zone: a place or situation where everything is comfortable and familiar. You can already read English well enough to understand this blog. This blog is not reading practice; it is part of your reading practice. I know that ‘real’ English (as opposed to ESL textbook English) is difficult but life is difficult, too. If … [Read more…]