A common problem for many learners, especially at B1 and B2 level, and even for those preparing for the Cambridge First (FCE) exam, is knowing what patterns come after some frequently-occurring verbs. … [Read more...] about “He wanted TO kiss her” – gerunds & infinitives
Grammar
Can you spot these mistakes? – feedback for students
While your main focus might be to improve your fluency in English or your overall communication skills, my own individual students seem to appreciate it when I give feedback on their progress, including highlighting any common mistakes. … [Read more...] about Can you spot these mistakes? – feedback for students
“If That’d Been me, I Would’ve Helped Her!” – Natural Speech Patterns
This week we have a special guest writer - Robby Kukurs from English Harmony. On Monday he spoke about how you can speak better English by not worrying about things such as grammatical terms. Today another way to improve your spoken English - by paying attention to natural speech patterns: A number of years ago I'd review my grammar related notes regularly, and as a … [Read more...] about “If That’d Been me, I Would’ve Helped Her!” – Natural Speech Patterns
You Don’t Have to Be Well-Versed in English Grammar Terms to Speak Well!
This week we have a special guest writer - Robby Kukurs from English Harmony, a blog dedicated to helping learners of English improve their spoken English confidence. He writes about some of the barriers learners face, with tips and strategies on how to overcome them. I can relate to today's topic, as lately I've started to think more about grammar terms in Czech - and this can … [Read more...] about You Don’t Have to Be Well-Versed in English Grammar Terms to Speak Well!
When to use commas – student question
Commas are those tricky little things which we use to show a gap or pause between parts of a sentence. Recently a student of mine saw that I'd crossed out quite a few of her commas, which begged the question: when to use them? Micheal Swan in his book Practical English Usage has already written a nice summary which answers this very question. So I'll simply highlight a few … [Read more...] about When to use commas – student question