How much risk do you take? Or do you prefer to play it safe? Here’s a list of the most common risk and safety idioms in English. You can use these to talk about your personal situation and decisions, your career and business, and also risk of physical danger. Risk Idioms You can use many… Read More
When you don’t have a lot of time for studying English, make sure that you make the best use of your time. One way to do this is to find grammar patterns – where a grammar rule is repeated in similar situations. An example of this is “plural greetings”: words that we use in greetings… Read More
Here are three learning activities you can do this summer which will have a huge impact on your English. I’ve chosen one “passive” activity that’s fun and enjoyable; and two “active” things which will give your English a great workout. Read For Fun Reading is a brilliant way to increase your English vocabulary and improve… Read More
“Need” is an interesting verb in English, as it can be used both as a main verb and a modal verb. For example “I need to get some bread” (main verb) and “We needn’t go now” (modal auxiliary). Here are some of the ways you can use “need”, with explanations and examples. Need As A… Read More
Everything has changed with Covid-19 (“Coronavirus”). Our habits, work life, school life are all different now. Nobody knows if these changes will be permanent, but one thing is sure. Our lives will never be the same again! There are phrases that we can use to compare our lives now and our lives before, and we… Read More
Many people worry about their English pronunciation, but some things are more important than others. (For example, it’s not important to have a 100% British or American accent when you speak!) Here are five common pronunciation mistakes to avoid, so that you can focus on the areas which make a bigger difference. Remember that your… Read More
Many English verbs are followed by a preposition. This is a list of common verbs which have the preposition “on”. These verbs are organised into meaning groups to make them easier to remember. Verbs with similar meanings are often followed by the same preposition. Verbs Meaning “Attention” concentrate on = put all your attention on… Read More
There are many ways you can improve your English pronunciation. Here’s a great exercise you can do at home. It’s called a “minimal pair” exercise, because you only change one sound in a pair of words. The sound you change is the sound you need to practise. For example, in the minimal pair “light” and… Read More
In the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen worldwide demonstrations which started after a black man was murdered by a white policeman in the USA. These protests have been the biggest in more than 50 years. Here are some useful phrases and collocations to describe the protests. Stand stand up for = protect something /… Read More
When you’re just starting to learn English, it’s easy to see real signs of progress. Every thing that you learn is new. Each day you can do more and more in English. But how do you see progress in English at upper levels? Often you reach a “plateau” – a higher level, but then it… Read More
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