This week it’s Campus Week at Get Great English. I know the term hasn’t started yet but think of it as a little time to prepare before packing bags, unpacking, moving into halls of residence or a flat. Participating in seminars can be quite intimidating, especially for non-native speakers in classes that have a native-speaking … [Read more…]
This week it’s Campus Week at Get Great English. I know the term hasn’t started yet but think of it as a little time to prepare before packing bags, unpacking, moving into halls of residence or a flat. Today’s post is about making friends. I’ve posted about this before but here are some more tips … [Read more…]
Yesterday I lost my mobile phone. I accidentally left it on the train and somebody took it. When I sent a message to it they threw my phone away. I reported it to the police and it reminded me that sometimes you might need to report lost property to the police.
Sometimes when you are talking to someone you want to use a word that you have learnt and forgotten or there’s a perfect word in your first language that nobody else would understand. To deal with that you need to use simple language to describe unknown words. This is called circumlocution and it is the … [Read more…]
Sometimes you need to give ideas about what you think happened in a past event, including the reasons why. In this post, I’m going to give you some help to speculate about the past.
Today’s episode is about a way to help you read aloud more fluently. You’ll need this PDF file: podcast_chunks.pdf 20140813_chunking.mp3 The podcast is also available in the iTunes Store by searching for Get Great English or clicking here. Also, you can stream it on Stitcher here or in the sidebar.
Question tags are a part of English that a lot of non-native speakers make mistakes with. Here’s a quick guide to some of the most common tag questions.
When you need to check that you understand what someone said it is useful to paraphrase them. There are several ways to do it and I’ll provide some examples that are simple enough for you to try next time you speak English.
Can you persuade people easily? Can you convince people that your side of the argument is right? How do you do it? It really takes just a little bit of psychology and a little grammar knowledge to be able to negotiate more effectively and be more successful in getting what you want.
In the past few months I’ve looked at starting conversations and continuing conversations. Today I’m going to show you how to end a conversation politely and smoothly so you can avoid hurting people’s feelings.