Have you ever said this? “My accent is too strong.” Or this? “I’m embarrassed when I speak because I sound … (Spanish / Italian, etc.)” If you’re worried about your accent, there are a few things you can do to reduce it and improve your English pronunciation. Choose, listen and analyse Choose the accent you… Read More
English has a range of swear words. Some are unlikely to offend other people, while others are much stronger and more likely to upset people. If you spend any time at all in an English-speaking country, or if you watch English films, etc; you’re going to hear swear words. In this blog post, I’ve got… Read More
You can use “get” + adjective to describe a type of change. When you use it this way, it can mean “become”. Use “get” + adjective instead of using a reflexive pronoun. For example, say “get involved” rather than “involve myself”. This will make you sound more natural when you speak English. Here are some… Read More
Prepositions cause a lot of problems for learners of English. It’s not always obvious which preposition you should use in an expression – and very often the preposition you’d use in your language is NOT the same in English. So in this blog post, I’ve divided some common English phrases with “in” into categories to… Read More
Do you always use “very” or “a little” with adjectives? If you do, you’re missing an opportunity to speak more natural English. In fact, native speakers have a huge range of adverbs of degree – both informal and formal – to use in different situations. Some of these can be used with lots of adjectives,… Read More
Often, we use the word “mad” not to mean mentally ill, but when we think something (or someone) is a little unbalanced. We also use it to comment on things that we don’t understand or which seem illogical to us. “Mad” is often used informally and in spoken English. barking (barking mad) Dogs bark at… Read More
Have you noticed how many adjectives end in -y? It’s really natural for native English speakers to turn a word into an adjective just by adding a ‘y’ to the end – particulary in spoken and informal English. In this way, you can make what you say more descriptive and vivid. Here are a couple… Read More
English is full of little phrases that you hear a lot when people speak- but, these phrases aren’t usually taught in textbooks. Here are a few with “Half”. When you use them, you’ll sound more natural and more like a native speaker. half-way there If you are “half-way there” it means that you are on… Read More
Many years ago, I was on holiday with my family at a campsite in Devon when a young guy offered me (what sounded like) a “kruggi”. Don’t be alarmed! It’s what happens when there are two kids but only one bicycle. One kid sits on the saddle of the bike, and the other gets in… Read More
One way to improve your English is to learn English idioms – and then use them. Idioms add interest to what you say or write, and they make you sound more like a native speaker. Take, for example, the idiom “water baby”. This is someone (often a child) who loves being in the water. When… Read More
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