Can you spot the mistakes?
X “He explained us why he didn’t agree with the proposal.”
Clue: What preposition would you need after explained?
Key: explain to somebody.
√ “He explained to us why he didn’t agree with the proposal.”
Common mistakes in First-B2 (Part 1)
Can you spot the mistakes?
X “I knew her while we were volunteering for the National Trust in the Peak District.”
Clue: What is the difference between meet and know in this context?
Key: You meet someone for the first time and from then on, you know them.
√ “I met her while we were volunteering for the National Trust.”
Extra: “Over the working holiday, I got to know her and we became friends. After having shared some more experiences, we know each other very well now.” Continue reading “Common mistakes in First-B2 (Part 1)”
Talking about a hospital stay
Have you ever had to talk about an experience connected to hospitals in English? Did you feel you lacked the vocabulary? That’s natural; it’s not everyday language.
Here is a suggestion:
Why don’t you try to practise now so that you are prepared next time? You could first use a dictionary to find the words you may need, and then, write the events down or alternatively, record yourself speaking. You can also pick up some words from the following text.
Classic or Classical?
Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Vivaldi… What do you call music composed by them? Classic or Classical?
3 basic pronunciation tips
Intended for:
Spanish speakers learning English at an Elementary or Lower-Intermediate level or those with a higher level but without experience in learning pronunciation.
Historic or Historical?
Say you want to describe an event of great significance in history.
Which one would you use?
HISTORIC or HISTORICAL?
10 Common Mistakes in English
Common mistake 1
Don’t say
I changed the train in Madrid.
Say
I changed trains in Madrid.
Learn some binomials with a story: The lost padlock key
On a warm December evening after a stunning day out and about in Abel Tasman, New Zealand, I was in my dormitory, searching for my key high and low. Pockets, rucksack, bum bag. It was nowhere to be found. I had been kayaking and hiking so that key could have ended up anywhere. Even deep down in the Tasman sea for all I knew. Inside the locker were my tablet, documents, valuables, and other bits and pieces I needed for travelling.
As it happens, this was terrible timing indeed. Shortly before Christmas Day, I was staying at a youth hostel in a little city on NZ’s south island. A bus taking me to the ferry terminal was due early in the morning and I needed to have everything packed to leave the hostel bright and early. Well, not ideal but then again, nothing a locksmith can’t fix, I told myself. However expensive the after-hours service may be.
I went down to the reception desk to explain the situation and inquire about locksmiths in Nelson. A young girl was in charge. The rest of the staff had left for the day. Continue reading “Learn some binomials with a story: The lost padlock key”
Timebox your self-learning
Do you sometimes feel time slips through your fingers when you are studying?
Perhaps you had an ambitious plan in your head but only managed to get through a tiny proportion of it and… oops! your time has run out. Continue reading “Timebox your self-learning”
At the end or In the end?
Do you know when to use the prepositions “in” or “at” before the words “end” and “beginning”. If you are not sure, have a look at these examples and then, write your own to make sure you personalise it and therefore, learn it.