I have written before about using your to-do list as a way to practise English but why not use your to-do list for more repetitive grammar study? You could use this system for present perfect tense, modals and contrasting the simple future, present continuous and simple past tenses. Present Perfect Tense Simply add the item … [Read more…]
Usually I tell my students, “If you make a mistake, nobody dies.” For most people, English mistakes in a conversation don’t have significant effects and in business conversations you are probably fine. However, there are four kinds of mistakes that business people routinely make and may cost them money. Spelling Mistakes This should be easy … [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…]
“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…]
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…]
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…]
When you write opinion-based essays for TOEFL or IELTS, you need to keep thinking about organising your thoughts in threes. This helps you to structure your writing more effectively. When you have three thoughts to organise each part of your writing it is much easier to stay with your plan. Plan in Three Parts You … [Read more…]
I always recommend my students to write an English diary. The reason is simple: you should write every day because you need to practise as often as you can. It doesn’t need to be long; a few sentences is fine. It’s an easy way to write about things you have learned. It is also a … [Read more…]
When students ask me how to improve their writing the first thing I tell them is to read more and copy the style. After that, I usually tell them to change ‘good’/’better’/’best’ a few times and delete or change ‘very’. Why? They are overused and – most of the time – not precise enough. Is … [Read more…]