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Swear Words in British English Posted by heather on Apr 4, 2012
How is your English swearing coming along? If you have been following the English blog over the past few days then you know that we have been covering the topic in full force. Today we will take a look at some of the specific swear words used in British-English. While many of the same swear…
Language Learning: You Can Always Learn Something New Posted by heather on Mar 31, 2012
Just when you think you have gotten a language straight in your mind, it goes and throws you a curve ball. This is exactly what happened to me a few weeks ago. Despite being a native English speaker and even having studied and taught the language, I am still learning things on a regular basis…
Child’s Play: Mud Pies and Rock Sandwiches Posted by heather on Mar 28, 2012
One of my favourite childhood memories is sitting outside our house on the steps with a pile of rocks, a bottle of bubbles and a handful of leaves. I don’t remember quite how old I was but I do remember that I was on a mission and a very important one at that. I was…
Somebody That I Used to Know Posted by heather on Mar 21, 2012
Do you know this song? It seems like everywhere I go, this song is playing at some point. Music can be a great way to practice your English. With that in mind, here are the song lyrics in English. “Somebody That I Used To Know” (feat. Kimbra) [Gotye:] Now and then I think of when…
Three Strikes and You’re Out Posted by heather on Mar 17, 2012
“three strikes and you’re out!” Have you ever heard this phrase before? It is often heard when the government is discussing how to deal with unwanted behaviour by individuals. You might have also heard a parent say it to a child when they were misbehaving. And lastly, you may have heard it during a game…
Similes Posted by heather on Mar 14, 2012
“It’s been a hard day’s night, and I’ve been working like a dog.” – The Beatles A simile is something compared with something else to create an image in the reader’s mind. A simile usually includes the words “like” or “as.” You can create similes for adjectives (as light as a petal), verbs (He crawled…
Affect vs. Effect Posted by heather on Mar 10, 2012
One of the most misused and misunderstood word pairs would have to be affect and effect. Despite their almost identical spelling and similar (although different!) pronunciation, these two words do have a different meaning. Learning this difference and putting it to good use, will put you well ahead of many native English speakers. The difference…