How to practise your English speaking
If you don't live in an English-speaking country, and you don't have friends or family to speak English with, where can you practise your English speaking skills?
It's easier to have a conversation if you have a reason to speak – something to talk about. These ideas all give you a reason to speak with another [...]
How important is English to you?
Do you need English for your job, or because you live in an English-speaking country, for example? Do you use English to stay in touch with friends around the world on Facebook or Twitter, or do you only use English at school or at work?
English courses
Are you currently studying English at a language school? Have you studied English in an English-speaking country? What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing an English course?
Need a way to practise English vocabulary?
Here's a great idea – open a twitter account and practise idioms / phrasal verbs etc in your tweets to friends, family and followers.
I saw this idea in a tweet from English Phrases who explain how to do it here.
Don't forget: to follow english-at-home.com on twitter, go here.
Praising in English
Vishal asked if I could write about praising people in English. I like to praise my students, and here are some of the phrases I use:
Good job!
Well done!
Excellent work – keep it up!
Nice one! (This is slightly more idiomatic, and you'd be more likely to use it in speaking, rather than writing.)
Fantastic! / Great!
You're really [...]
What's difficult in English?
A quick question for you!
Is there anything that you find particularly difficult about learning English? For some people, choosing the right tense is difficult, for others, it's speaking English, and for others, phrasal verbs are difficult.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Learn English
Welcome to english-at-home.com! Here's a guide to the hundreds of pages we have to help you learn English online:
English Grammar
Get help with English grammar and tenses.
Speaking English
Learn to speak English fluently and with confidence.
Vocabulary and Idioms
If English idioms make you scratch your head in confusion take a look at the vocabulary section.
English Reading
A regularly updated [...]
Being friendly in English
Having good social skills is important if you want to make a good impression on the people you meet. Here's some advice on what is considered polite or impolite in English-speaking cultures.
1. Please, thank you, excuse me and I'm sorry
These polite expressions are used a lot in spoken English, and not using them can make [...]
English relative clauses
There are two types of relative clauses in English: those that add extra information (non-defining relative clauses) and those that modify (or define) the subject of the sentence (defining relative clauses).
Defining clauses
These clauses define the noun and they identify which thing or person we are referring to.
Things
"The present which he bought me is beautiful."
People
"The [...]
Giving orders and instructions
How can you ask someone to do something for you in English without sounding rude? Here are some of the ways that you can give orders and instructions.
1. Use the imperative form
We use the imperative form to give orders, warnings and advice:
Be quiet!
Take care!
Listen to me carefully!
Because it can sound rude to give direct [...]
