Search Results for "speaking+english"

Welcome to the May issue of the english-at-home.com newsletter. Happy reading! Clare 1. What's new on the site Happy Workers' Day! May 1st is a national holiday in over 80 countries, and this month's newsletter celebrates workers' rights (and responsibilities)! There's a new page in the Real Life section of the site with useful vocabulary…
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Sometimes we forget the right word, or we realise as we're speaking that we don't know the word we need. This can often happen in the PET Speaking test, where you're under pressure and don't have a lot of time to think. In these situations, there are three things you can do to prevent you…
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At this time of year, you'll probably hear people wishing each other a happy holiday. If it's the last day of work (or school) or if you know you won't see the person again before Christmas, you can use these phrases: Happy Christmas! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! (when you see someone again after January…
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If you've just seen a great film, you might want to tell your friends about it. Here are some tips for doing that. First of all, see our advice for telling a good story in English. Make sure you know how to sequence your story, and use linking words to help others understand you. Telling…
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We love watching films (= movies in American English) – either on TV, on DVD, downloaded onto our PCs or at the cinema. What sort of films do you enjoy? You've got a lot of genres to choose from: westerns (set in the American Wild West) or spaghetti westerns (those filmed in Italy) to action…
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Sentences like "It's essential that he be informed" or "If I were you, I'd leave" are examples of the subjunctive. The subjunctive is more common in American English and formal British English than it is in spoken or informal British English. It's used to refer to situations that are not real (but are desirable) or…
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If you're an adult learning English, the accent you have when you speak English is affected by the sounds and intonation of your first language. For many people, accent is not important. But in some situations (i.e. if you're working in a call centre, or with native English colleagues or clients) you might need to…
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Being able to make, change and cancel appointments is an important skill in business English. Here are some expressions you can use to do this concisely and clearly. Asking for an appointment (formal situations) I would like to arrange an appointment to discuss…. Please would you indicate a suitable time and place to meet? (neutral)…
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If you want to practise your English, get on twitter! There's a recent article (with comprehension questions) about it here. If you aren't familiar with Twitter, it's a way of keeping in touch with people via short messages (tweets). It's free, but you need to set up an account. You have limited space (160 characters)…
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One difficult aspect of English pronunciation is that you don't always pronounce every letter in a word. For example, you don't pronounce the 'l' in 'walk'. But how do you know what these silent letters are? Take a look at this very useful pronunciation exercise on silent sounds. It has some of the most common…
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