Speaking: Effective presentations: the magic of three
Intermediate to higher level (B1-C1)
Have you ever stopped and wondered why some presentations and talks feel much better than others? Continue reading
Tag Archives: Teaching
Vocabulary: Mention – a great verb to know
Vocabulary: Mention – a great verb to know
Intermediate to advanced level (B1-C1)
The verb ‘mention’ is one of the verbs we can use to talk about what someone has said or is going to say. It’s really useful because using ‘tell’ or ‘say’ is not always appropriate. Let’s look at some examples: Continue reading
Grammar: Using the past perfect
Grammar: using the past perfect – some examples of when you should
Lower intermediate to advanced level (B1-C1)
Many learners are a little confused about when they should use the past perfect in English (had taken, had told, had imagined etc). There are several reasons for this. Continue reading
Speaking: Checking you have understood correctly
Speaking: Expressions to check you have understood something correctly
Lower intermediate to advanced level (B1-C1)
Even native speakers need to check that they have understood what they heard or read. To do this, you can use a range of expressions. Continue reading
Vocabulary: Approximate numbers
Vocabulary: approximate numbers
Intermediate to advanced level (B1-C1)
When we communicate, we often want to use words or expressions that are approximate. This is common when we have to talk about numbers. This might be because we don’t know the exact numbers or amounts or because we don’t want to give them. Here are some of these words and expressions: Continue reading
FCE Use of English tip: Part 1
FCE Use of English tip: options in Part 1
Intermediate to advanced level (B1-C1)
If you are planning to take Cambridge FCE in December, you are probably doing lots of practice. You can make the most of your practice by thinking about how you could use the wrong answers! Continue reading
Pronunciation: The ə sound in British English
Pronunciation: the ə sound
Elementary to advanced level (A2-C1)
The ə sound is everywhere in English. It’s almost impossible to speak British English for more than a few seconds and not use ə! It is not a letter but many vowels can be pronounced /ə/. Continue reading
Pronunciation: Long or short vowels?
Pronunciation: does a word have a long or short vowel?
Elementary to Intermediate (A1-B1)
One way to find out is to see if it has doubled consonants after it. Continue reading
Matthew’s 10 language learning tips
Matthew Youlden speaks 9 languages – here are his learning tips
I saw this list in an advertisement for Babbel courses. I think these language learning tips are really useful (edited by me): Continue reading
Speaking: Job interview questions
Speaking: job interview questions
Intermediate to advanced level (B1-C1)
What will you be asked at a job interview. Of course it depends on the job but you can practise answering some common questions: Continue reading
Grammar: List of irregular verbs
Grammar: a list of irregular verbs in groups
All levels
Most irregular verbs are used a lot in English so they are important verbs to learn. In this list they are grouped, for example, by spelling or pronunciation. This should make them easier to remember. Continue reading
Pronunciation: English sounds
Pronunciation: English sounds
All levels
If you want to hear the individual sounds of English, you can use Adrian Underhill’s interactive phonemic chart. Just click on the symbol to hear the sound and an example word. http://www.macmillanenglish.com/phonemic-chart/. There is also a great free app http://www.soundspronapp.com/ Continue reading
Pronunciation: Silent ‘e’
Pronunciation: silent ‘e’
Elementary to Intermediate (A1-B1)
English pronunciation has changed over hundreds of years. Today you will often see a silent letter ‘e’ at the end of words. This ‘e’ often shows that the vowel sound in the syllable before it is long. Continue reading