When you listen to people speaking it is easy to misunderstand if you are not aware of homophones (words that sound the same). This is especially true in standardised tests like TOEIC, TOEFL and IELTS but also in everyday situations as well. Some common homophones and near homophones are: ate eight blew blue check Czech … [Read more…]
In this podcast I’m talking about crime, punishment and a deterrant. What’s appropriate and what isn’t? 20140625_crime.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.
Some things are so difficult that you need a solution for them. Here are some different words and phrases that can be used to talk about the answer to your problem. answer “One answer to the energy crisis is simply using less energy.” cure “Most of the medical research budget is spent on looking for … [Read more…]
When you book hotel rooms, it is important to know what kind of rooms you need. A single room has one single bed. A twin room has two single beds. A double room has one double bed. A suite usually has a double bed and a living room facility and often also has private dining … [Read more…]
OK, let’s kick things off with a post about space. To follow up, I posted about colloquial pronouns you never get taught. On Wednesday, the podcast was about feelings using adjectives and prepositions. After that there was a post about regrets. On Friday I put up a video about sequencing step-by-step processes with the example … [Read more…]
When you start learning a language everything is unknown. You take in vocabulary and grammar and make fast progress in making those new, unknown words become old, known words. The speed of progress becomes normal. What most language learners aren’t prepared for is the plateau at the intermediate level, where there is less clear meaning. … [Read more…]
Today’s video shows how to make coffee. It is not perfect but it does show you how to describe a process by sequencing actions (‘first’, ‘then’, ‘next’) and using the imperative verb form (‘do this’, ‘pour the water’). For more practice, have a look at how to cook in English.
Regrets are difficult for students to talk about. What’s a regret? It’s wishing you could change the past by doing an action you didn’t do or by not doing an action you did do. You can express regrets by using the verb ‘regret’ in the following way. Using a gerund (‘~ing’ verb) and object: “I … [Read more…]
Today I’m talking about feelings using adjectives and prepositions, for example ‘interested in’ and ‘sick of’. 20140618_feelings.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.
Everybody knows the ordinary ‘I’, ‘we’, ‘you’, and ‘me’ pronouns. However, there are other more colloquial pronouns that native speakers use which can be a little tricky for non-natives. The first-person singular ‘us’ This is pronounced as /uz/ and is used in place of ‘me’. It is used throughout Britain, though not as much in … [Read more…]