Learning English Tips

Do you feel blocked when you speak English? Are you worried about making a mistake? Often, if you start thinking about all the possible things that go wrong, you don’t say anything. After all, nobody wants to make a mistake. But there are two things that will help you feel more confident when you speak. […]

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

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

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

It can be very frustrating when you don’t understand native speakers – especially if you’ve been studying English for a while. When you get into a conversation and need to keep asking someone to repeat or slow down, it can feel demoralising! Here are three tips that can help. 1. Be patient Give yourself some

English speakers value politeness over almost everything else. You can speak the most perfect English, but if you appear rude, other people won’t want to talk to you. Politeness helps us to deal with other people easily and smoothly. It helps us get on with strangers in a crowded place (like in the underground) and

Many English learners worry about making a mistake with the sounds in a word. But it’s more important to get the stress of a word right. Word stress is when you make one syllable in the word louder, longer and at a higher pitch than the other syllables in a word. Word stress helps gives

Most of us want to make a good impression with our boss or project manager. Creating a great relationship with a line manager can make a promotion or pay rise more likely. But it’s one thing to do this with a boss who speaks your own language – and quite another thing to do it

Making a phone call in a foreign language is difficult. You can’t see the other person, so you don’t get the visual clues that help you understand what they’re saying. Another problem is that you can’t predict what the other person will say – so you might find yourself in a situation where: – you