There is, It is and Dummy Subjects

 Teaching ideas and lessons, Video and tech  No Responses »
Mar 252019
 

In some languages you can translate ‘it is’ and ‘there is’ with just one phrase. Wow! That’s bound to be confusing.

So what’s the difference? Well, it may seem simple, but actually, it’s quite complex because we can use both expressions as dummy subjects in English.

In this video we explore how we use them, provide lots of examples and share lots of classic old waiter, waiter jokes that should make the language more memorable and lots of fun too. It’s great to be able to see the language on context.

 Posted by at 6:09 am

How to pronounce R in British and American English

 Teaching ideas and lessons, Video and tech  No Responses »
Jul 162018
 

R sounds are a constant challenge to me in the US. I’m British so I speak with a non-rhotic accent, but most people around me speak with a rhotic accent. This means they are expecting strong clear R sounds which, unfortunately, I often fail to provide.

Unless I’m in mission critical circumstances…

Learn more in our video on how to pronounce R sounds in British and American:

 Posted by at 9:22 am

8 words that are hard to pronounce in British and American English

 Teaching ideas and lessons, Video and tech  No Responses »
Jun 132018
 
8 words that are hard to pronounce

We’re back with another eight words that are hard to pronounce in British and American English. Watch some English learners pronounce them and learn how we say them in British and American English.

We look at how we say: fifth, basically, chaos, refrigerator, fridge, Tuesday, photograph, photography, height, weight and eight. We also have some pronunciation tips for how to pronounce long words and shifting words stress.

If you or your students have words that they find hard to pronounce, please tell us. We can make another video about them.

 Posted by at 12:21 am

Top Tip for International Communication

 Teaching ideas and lessons, Video and tech  No Responses »
Jun 092018
 

Back in the 1980s computer scientists were creating the world wide web and looking for ways to connect computers that spoke different languages. The Dutch scientist, Jon Postel, came up with a computer protocol that’s helpful and relevant for international and intercultural communication today.
Travel back in time with us and learn about our top tip for communicating internationally.

 Posted by at 12:21 am

Phrasal verbs and expressions to do with travelling

 Story telling, Teaching ideas and lessons, Video and tech  No Responses »
May 182018
 
travel phrasal verbs

Our dear friend Kathy came round the other day and helped us make a video. It’s a story for teaching phrasal verbs and other expressions and it has the sort of plot line I love: Jay has something he wants to do. Vicki stops him and gets him into trouble with the boss.

Here are some of the phrasal verbs and expressions you’ll see in action: stop by, stop off, pick someone up, drop someone off, give someone a ride/lift, touch down, check in, set off, hurry up and take off.

 Posted by at 8:11 pm

The British Royal Wedding. What Americans think.

 Teaching ideas and lessons, Video and tech  No Responses »
May 112018
 
royal wedding meghan prince harry

I’m always surprised by how much news about the British royal family there is on US television. Are Americans really interested in things like the royal wedding with Meghan and Prince Harry? We decided to hit the streets and find out. In the process we collected lots of fast natural English for listening practice along with some great expressions.

Everyone we interviewed was American and I was suprised by how many differences between British and American English cropped up. Some were just frequency issues like the prefix super. We can say things like super excited and super cute in British English too, but we generally don’t say them as often.

There was a little preposition difference too, with Americans saying “excited for’ and “excited about”. That would be “excited about” in British English. And then there was my favourite: Duh! I love this word, or should I say sound? It’s the perfect thing to say when someone says something stupid and you want to joke around with them.

 Posted by at 8:04 pm

Real English® has a FABULOUS new website

 Indie publishing, Video and tech  No Responses »
Apr 252018
 

I’ve written before about Mike Marzio’s videos for language learners. He pioneered the vox pop genre in English language teaching with real conversations with the man/woman on the street. The videos are a delight – utterly natural and engaging.

And he’s just launched a new website that’s fully mobile compatible. I know from experience that it’s really hard to find ways to display videos on web pages in the way you want. And these free videos are all for self study learners who won’t have access to a teacher to guide them. It’s a real challenge to show what’s available and show them a path through all the videos and exercises. But that’s exactly what Mike’s done. It’s terrific.
Go check it out. https://www.real-english.com/

 Posted by at 1:00 pm
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