English Connections

21/01/2016

oooh prepositions can be tricky!
this may help a little:

19/01/2016

Have a nice, stress free week everyone! :)

18/01/2016

There are many ways to tell someone they are beautiful :)
Take a look at these examples :

14/01/2016

Happy New Year everyone! If one of your new year resolutions was to improve your English, here is some very practical vocab you can use to describe people :)

16/10/2015

With the weekend approaching, consider this thought :)

13/10/2015

It is Tuesday, however we have a very distinct Monday feeling today.....

12/10/2015

Good news for English language learners!! Trends in English teaching have been changing:
According to experts, the goal is now “to produce fully competent English-knowing bilinguals rather than imitation native speakers.” Therefore the purpose is not to aspire to become native speakers of English, because we are already native speakers of our own L1, but to focus on English as a means of communication.

11/10/2015

We think we all like to hear nice things about ourselves, other people, events, places etc. Now, how many ways are there to say 'good'? The answer is: A lot!!

10/10/2015

I say pyjamas, you say pajamas - who is right? well, we both are....check out the chart below

22/06/2015

confused by in, on, at prepositions? you are not alone! take this quick test to see how you do. Good luck!

The prepositions at, in, on and expressions/phrases of time - Exercise - Learning English

17/06/2015

15/06/2015

Did you know that the synonym of ´to get fired´is to ´be dismissed´and also ´to get the sack´ or ´be sacked´ ?

Nobody wants to be told that they’ve been sacked, and have to come to terms with the fact they no longer have a job. But, want it or not, the phrase has plagued people for centuries. This

15/06/2015

❝To have another language is to possess a second soul.❞
‒Charlemagne
Take a look at a very interesting article talking about how language we speak influences the way we see the world.

Bilinguals think differently depending on the language they're operating in.

18/02/2015

For our more elementary level students, here is an easier report about Brazilian Carnival.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2012/02/120221_vwitn_rio.shtml

Rio de Janeiro celebrates the annual five-day festival of Carnival. Find out more in Video Words in the News. Video Words in the News: 22 February 2012

18/02/2015

With Carnival well and truly over, 2015 can begin in Brazil. Here's an article from a UK-based newspaper called the Guardian about how drought and a weak economy has affected Carnival this year.

Remember developing your vocabulary is hard work so make a note of the words you don't know and look them up using a dictionary and thesaurus. Study them in the context of the article to help you remember them and then produce them correctly.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/11/brazilian-cities-scale-back-carnival-drought-economy

Shortage of water and funds has cities and towns across the country cancelling or hedging plans – even for the world-famous Carnival of Rio

13/02/2015

For our first post of 2015 we would like to apologise for being so absent over the last couple of months!
So what's more fitting than looking at ways to say sorry:

Sorry.
I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry!
Sorry for your loss. (a person or pet died)
Sorry to hear that. (after someone shares bad news such as a child’s illness or a job loss)
I apologise. (you’ve made an error)
Sorry for keeping you waiting.
Sorry I’m late.
Please forgive me.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. (you did something by accident)
Excuse me (you need to get by OR your body released gas)
Pardon me (you need to interrupt OR same as “excuse me”)
I owe you an apology. (your mistake happened a while ago)

REMEMBER the difference between saying "I'm sorry" and "I apologise". We often use sorry to express sympathy and it's not necessarily your fault, for example "Sorry for your loss". But when you use "I apologise" it's your fault and you're saying sorry for something you have done.

29/08/2014

Overusing words is not 'awesome'!!

Which of the following is awesome: your lunch or the Great Pyramid of Giza? Comedian Jill Shargaa sounds a hilarious call for us to save the word “awesome" for things that truly inspire awe.