A few of my students have part-time jobs in cafés and restaurants. This post is for them and anyone else who needs to use English in restaurants. ‘May’ or ‘can’? Generally, when you are taking orders for people, use ‘may’; it’s more formal and customers should be respected. ‘Can’ is more informal and it’s not … [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 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…]