English Rain – The floods are back
England is the home of rain. It is traditional. That’s why you should always carry an umbrella. This text is about rain and flooding. Useful phrases are explained and then…
Vocabulary phrases: Books v Kindle
Focus on the vocabulary phrases highlighted in bold. Sounding good in English is not just a case of good grammar, you really need to use "chunks" of English. These are…
Common English Errors
Native speakers don’t realise it, but anyone learning English as a foreign language will know that it can be a hard language to learn. A certain period of self-study may…
Accent reduction: Native Speaker speech pattern copying
You were promised some accent reduction training in yesterday's blog, so here it is! At the end of this blog RECORD YOURSELF saying the example sentences - I will get…
R&R 22: English Accent – Missing England
English Conversation Real & Relevant Podcast 22 Two English teachers with two types of English accent. Melissa is back in the pod and talks about the things that she has…
Accent training: ‘th’ sound exercises
Accent training is desired by lots of students. It seems that everyone wants to sound like a native speaker because my students have asked me so many times, "How do…
Advanced vocabulary: Break phrases
Advanced vocabulary doesn't have to mean using long, complicated words that nobody knows the meaning of. You can show that you have an advanced level of English by using metaphorical…
Boxing Idioms: Nexus 7 v i-Pad
Several boxing idioms are highlighted and explained to help you in this article about the new Google Nexus 7 tablet. Read the text and tell us what you think. The…
Did Shakespeare write his plays?
Was William Shakespeare the incredible author that (almost) the whole world believes him to be? YOU DECIDE! Is Shakespeare a fraud? Did he really write all his works or…
Shakespeare, my hero conversation
National hero and all round famous guy, William Shakespeare is a hero to many. Here, SGI English teacher Melissa explains why he holds a place in her heart. Have you…