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When I mention phrasal verbs to my students the usual response involves a slight sense of panic and the realization that they are difficult to learn. There are thousands of different phrasal verbs, most of which are idiomatic in meaning. Each phrasal verb needs to be learned as you would learn any other verb or …

Forming regular verbs in the past simple can be straightforward once you know the rules and have practiced conjugating them. But how do you pronounce them? This is something that a lot of English learners have difficulty with as there are three distinct sounds. But after learning the rules, familiarizing yourself with them, and then …

Today we’re going to see a discussion between two people using the following phrasal verbs: break up, bring down, cheer up and get over. Try and work out the meaning of each one by the context: Today’s Phrasal Verbs – Bring Down, Break Up, Cheer Up, Get Over Bring Down If something is bringing you …

Today we’re going to talk about backpacking. Backpacking means to travel or hike, carrying your belongings in a backpack. It can be for a short trip or a long trip. I went backpacking for eight months in North and South America. I have friends who go backpacking for just a couple of weeks. It involves …

Thanksgiving is a holiday primarily celebrated in the USA and Canada. As I’m now living in the United States we’re going to focus on the holiday here, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. Modern Thanksgiving traditions date back to 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the Pilgrims celebrated a good harvest with a …

Welcome to our new blog category – “Common Phrasal Verbs in Use.” Here you will learn around three phrasal verbs per day. We are going to give you the phrasal verbs with lots of examples and repetition. It’s important to understand the phrasal verb completely and practice it as much as possible. Read the following …

Silvio Berlusconi has this week stepped down as Italy’s Primer Minister. The following is taken from the Telegraph – full article here: There is also an article from the Telegraph stating that he could make a return: Vocabulary Step down – Resign. Gaffe – Causing embarrassment through an unintentional remark or act. Tackle – In …

This post is going to be short, sharp and informative! English throws up lots of little problems (as you have probably noticed), especially when the verb and the noun have only slight variations. “Advice” and “advise” is a great example of this. Here is the difference in meaning: “Advice” is a noun and “advise” is …

This post will look at “should have,” “would have,” and “could have,” paying attention to the contractions, relaxed pronunciation and how to use these constructions. We’ll start with a video from Beverley Knight, called, “Shoulda Woulda Coulda.” Pay attention to the chorus! The above video is a great example of how to use, “should have,” …

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has been growing in recent months and today we’re going to look at an article from the Guardian that reports on a planned march from New York to Washington DC (300 miles). After looking at an article about the march, we’re going to go through some of the vocabulary …