Archive for 'English Language'
Business E-mailing in English Posted by Gabriele on Jan 12, 2016
We live in an electronic world, in which we have to send a lot of electronic mail, or e-mail. So, let’s take a look at appropriate language for e-mailing in English for business purposes. Casual e-mails to friends do not need to be this formal, but putting your best foot forward* electronically in business situations…
English nicknames based on appearance and personality Posted by Gabriele on Dec 29, 2015
In English, like in other languages, we have some commonly used nicknames for people that are based on how people look or act. These aren’t unique nicknames, like those people acquire from their family or friends, based on their individual characteristics. Instead these are general nicknames that can be applied to anyone with similar physical…
Which is English: Just Deserts vs. Just Desserts Posted by Transparent Language on Dec 17, 2015
Native speakers make mistakes, too, and sometimes those mistakes are painfully obvious to learners of that language! Of course learners tend to know the grammar of the language better than natives, while natives tend to have the advantage in pronunciation. There are, however, times when the language itself seems to be doing its best to…
You’re fired! Posted by Gabriele on Nov 10, 2015
Before he started running for president of the United States, the billionaire Donald Trump had a television show called The Apprentice. In this show different professionals competed to be hired by and work for Donald Trump. Most of the people weren’t hired; in fact on a weekly basis someone was fired, on national television. The…
5 of my favorite idioms in English Posted by Gabriele on Oct 20, 2015
I recently read a fun and interesting post on a blog that I’ve shared with my readers before, the TED Blog. This post was about idioms from around the world that can’t be translated literally (or exactly). It is a great read. You might want to see if your native language was represented in the…
English Pop Quiz Answers Posted by Gabriele on Oct 14, 2015
Here are the answers to yesterday’s quiz (to take the quiz click here): Part 1: belts, bell, cow, book, sheep Part 2: cry, be, tell, riding, will not come Part 3: e) all the above, c) all the countries of the world where English is the most prominent language, d) Washington, DC, a) Halloween, b)…
Sorry, can you repeat that? Posted by Gabriele on Sep 29, 2015
Have you ever had to ask someone to repeat him or herself because you didn’t understand them? Of course you have! We all have had to do this at times, but it is particularly common for ESL speakers, particularly while you are still a beginner at speaking English. Needing to ask a speaker to repeat…