English learning notes: August 2012

Monday 6 August 2012

Learn English With English Family

English is the universal language and what is spoken around the world. This is the only language understood by all people who can communicate and understand each other, regardless of where they come from. Today you go to any part of the world, English is the one who brings people together and unites them. This language is of great benefit to us personally to help us connect with people. It is also good for business if you have one. You can treat your customers a common platform that is in English. Is not it useful? If you are a phenomenon of travel and a globe-trotter chronicles in English will help you in any part of the world, especially if you're lost and need directions. So, learn a foreign language. You never know when it will be convenient or rope.

Always be confident and not feel uncomfortable in the beginning to learn to speak English. Willingness to learn and have an interest in wanting to know more. Look at people when they speak, they use different words and phrases, and try to remember that. Most people are very cooperative and will be more willing to teach you and even talk with you. You must do this often on a daily basis. This is the only way to gain more confidence and be encouraged to speak English. Chalk and plan to make time, so do not take too long to learn. Find a school in English or some language families to learn from them and decide on the many days you have to learn English. Once this is done, work schedule and stick to it.

This is very useful for you if you are an English family to teach you because it is one of the fastest ways to learn and better English. You can be sure that your grammar and pronunciation are excellent. These two factors are more important to speak English properly. Once you have created interest and got the hang of it, learning English will be a smooth path. Make sure you pay attention to how the families speak English. Even his body language speaks. The exact amount of interest so that they will help you learn the language faster. Daily practice that everyday life is also important, and accept the language a few weeks. "If you can not find the English families, and then find a friend who speaks English.

Finally, if you are abroad and can not find family, then see if you can find a school or institute that will help you learn English.You can buy self-help books, dictionaries, audio and video aids, etc. All this together can help you master the art of speaking English. It is easy. This boom of the Internet, there are many courses available online invalid. Just remember to check it carefully so that they can not choose the wrong path. What more could you ask? Learning English has never been easier, but not impossible.

I recommend you make a schedule and focus in achieving your goal of learning English with English family.

Improve your Pronunciation and Vocabulary with Speaking English Podcast

If you’d like to improve your pronunciation and solve multiple questions related to your vocabulary and English grammar, you then need to add Speaking English Podcast to your list of websites to visit.

In this online resource there are hundreds of videos (videocasts) about a great variety of topics among which you’ll find something of interest to you.

From all the available categories, the ones that have caught our attention most are related to:

Aspirated vs. partially voiced: Jam vs. Gem.
Homographs: Bare vs. Bear.
Homophones: Muscle vs. Mussel.
Unvoiced vs. Voiced: Lamb vs. Lamp.
Voiceless vs. Voiced: Safe vs. Save.

They show important details and differences within the words that we normally don’t tend to take into account. Moreover, it’s quite difficult to find teaching materials related to this topic so its appreciated when someone explains it.

Tips For Finding A Job

Finding a job is a horrible experience for most people worldwide. There is nothing worse then waking up in the morning, and having to go "job hunting", somehow even the worst job/s that you have ever held seems to better then "job hunting". It gets worse when you have go to the mail box, and the bills are piling up, for some reason who ever sends the bills always seems to have a job. There are some things that you can do to make life a little easier. The first thing is make sure you keep up your confidence. I know it is easy to say and almost impossible to do, but it is still so important. Here are some unusual tips to help you find a Job.

1.Set Hours - Set specific hours and times of the day when you working "job hunting". It may sound so simple or even stupid, but you would be surprised by how many time we are distracted, by taking care of the house, cleaning, appointments, helping out friends etc. It is not uncommon when we are unemployed that people think we are "on vacation", and may think you are available "to lend a hand".

Tell everyone not tp bother you as if you were at "work" and spend that time "job hunting". If possible try to spend as close as possible "job hunting" as you would as if you were at work. If you normally work 8 hours a day, then spend 8 hours a day looking for a job, and make sure you take your coffee breaks and lunch breaks

2.Resumes - Write your resume, and always look for ways to improve your resume. Don't think just because a "professional" wrote your resume", that it can't be improved or changed. Don't let people even "professional people" tell you there is only one way to write a resume. There are some different basic formats for resumes, but there are as many "ways" to write a resume as there are jobs.

Change Your Resume - If you are not get a good response from the resumes that you sent out, it is time to think about redoing or changing your resume.

Resume feedback - Ask people to review your resume, newsgroups and message boards are an excellent place to get feedback on your resume. Make sure you delete any personal information.

The Internet has 100's of sites about how to improve your resume. Custom write your resume to fit the requirements for each job if possible, and of course write a good cover letter.

3.Business Cards - are a must just because you are unemployed doesn't mean that you don't have a profession, and you want to present yourself as a professional at all time. If you are short on cash, don't worry. Make up a set of professional business card for yourself. Buy special paper that you can print out cards on pre-cut paper.

There are many many different business cards templates that you can download, and more of less just fill out the information, and print. It is as easy as it sounds, and if you don't have a printer, then ask a friend or try your local library.

4.Improving Your Skills - If you feel or you have "free time", try to improve your skills, the Internet is an excellent way to start doing that, if it is typing, becoming more proficient with computers, learning new ideas, updating information etc.

5.Building Contacts - If you are looking for a job. Search your old school friends, people that you went to your school, army units or any other groups of people with common grounds.

Don't start off with I am looking for a job, but take time to really get to know them and develop a friendship, since that way they will be more likely to help you out.

6. Message Boards - Get involved with message boards and newsgroups, becoming active is a good way to get to know people that could advice you or even be in a position to give you a job.

7.Be Friendly - Go to local events, that are free of course. Check out volunteering Go out and talk to people, say hello, and let them know by the way you are looking for a job, and give them copy of your business card, so they can get back to you. Get to know the people that live near you, the local stores (if there is such a thing where you live)

8.Fax/E-Mail - Send faxes and e-mails everywhere to people and places that have jobs and places that don't have jobs you never know who will have a job in the future. It doesn't cost money or in the cases of faxes not very much money, and it is a good way to let places know that you are looking for a job.

The Sounds of English Practice Phonetics

Do you have difficulties when pronouncing English phonemes? If your answer is affirmative, we present you today a website that will help you to improve your level of English phonetics. It is a Web page from the University of Iowa that contains flash animations of the phonetic sounds of English, Spanish and German.

With regard to the English language, the animations are available for the 44 English phonemes (divided into vowels and consonants) and explain with a video and a step-by-step description how to manipulate the different articulators (lips, jaw, tongue, etc) in order to pronounce English sounds.

These animations are really valuable because, apart from the audio video with the explanation about how to articulate the sound, you can also find words in context with the particular sound. Those words will act as extra support so you can consolidate your pronunciation.

In this Web page you will also find an interactive diagram showing the different components of the mouth and throat used to articulate the phonemes:

How to Improve Call Center In English

Call center employees whose native language is not English must learn to effectively comprehend the language for the ear. Instructional software and speech language pathologists help language users to listen actively and communicate clearly with customers halfway around the world. Grammar, usage, intonation, accent and business vocabulary are important elements in the learning process.

Step 1

Assess the communication needs of employees at your call center by testing their proficiency in English. English Language Testing System (ELTS) assessments for employees are jointly conducted at more than 500 locations in 120 countries by the British Council, IELTS Australia and the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations. Tests are also conducted by regional language associations in most countries. For example, the All India English Language Testing Authority (AIELTA) develops and administers tests that evaluate the functional abilities of English speakers.

   Step 2

Purchase an English language instruction software designed for call center employees. A wide array of language software is available on the Internet and at leading bookstores worldwide. Next, create training sessions designed around the software targeted at developing specific skill sets, ranging from active listening and reading comprehension to accent and pronunciation.

   Step 3

Recruit part-time or full-time instructors certified in teaching English as a second language. Have them design a customized training program that meets the specific requirements of your call center by integrating relevant business language. Encourage individual coaching sessions that address each employee’s unique requirements, such as focusing on pronunciation, intonation, grammar or vocabulary.

  Step 4

Hire speech language pathologists to help modify accents.

  Step 5

Promote reading related to your call center’s business. Examples include IT support services and financial services such as credit card billing and banking support.

Step 6

Instill self-learning by distributing pocketbooks on common English business phrases and idioms. Or suggest the use of the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.

Step 7

Create an environment of immersion. Have your human resources division collaborate with instructors to develop in-house games that impart lessons in a fun way. Come up with creative ideas such as a Hollywood movie night to deepen the learning experience, or have a Scrabble competition where participants focus on just business words.

Thanks and Thank you , Saying Please

Thank you is more formal than Thanks.

Thank you. (NOT Thanks you.)
Thanks a lot. (NOT Thank you a lot.)
Thank you very much.
Thanks very much.
Thank God it’s Friday. (NOT Thanks God …)
Thank you very much indeed. (BUT NOT Thank you indeed.)

Thank you for/ thanks for can be followed by an –ing form.

    * Thank you for coming.
    * Thanks for everything.

We often use Thank you/Thanks to accept offers.

    * ‘Would you like some coffee?’ ‘Thank you.’

To refuse an offer, you can say No thank you/ No thanks.

    * ‘Another cake?’ ‘No, thanks. I have eaten too many already.’

Replies to Thanks

British people, do not usually answer when they are thanked for small things.If a reply is a necessary, we can say Not at all(formal), You are welcome, Don’t mention it, That’s quite all right or That’s OK (informal).

    * ‘Here is your coat.’ ‘Thanks.’ (no answer)
    * ‘Thanks so much for looking after the children.’ ‘That’s all right.’ (answer necessary)

Saying Please :

We use please to make a request more polite.

Would you move a bit, please?
Could you open the window, please?
Would you like some help?’ ‘Yes, please.’

Please do is a rather formal answer to a request for permission.

‘Do you mind if I open the window?’ ‘Please do.’

Situations where please is not used

We do not use please to ask people what they have said.

‘I have got a bit of a headache.’ ‘I beg your pardon?’ (NOT … Please?)

‘John is on the phone.’ ‘Sorry?’ (NOT …Please?)

Please is not used as an answer to Thank you.

* ‘Thanks a lot.’ ‘That’s OK.’ (NOT … ‘Please.’)

Conversation : How to Confirming your Flight :

Conversation : How to Confirming your Flight

Confirming your Flight :

If you are taking a plane to travel, then you will be calling a travel agent and purchasing a ticket in your own country.We will not cover this portion because you can do it in your own language.country. But once you arrive to your English speaking location, you might need to change your flight and talk to English speaking people. More likely, they will have people speaking your language, but just in case, we will cover some general topics about air traveling here.

Confirming your flight :

Some airlines require you to call a couple days in advance to confirm your departure date. Here are some sentences you will be asked and what you will need to say.

You: "I would like to confirm my flight."
Them: "Can I get your ticket number?"
You: "The number is 45-6-43."
Them: "You are scheduled to depart on June 15th at 1:00 pm. Is this correct?"
You: "Yes it is."
Them: "Is anybody else traveling with you?"
You: "Yes, my wife."
Them: "Can I have the other ticket number?"
You: "It is 45-6-44."
Them: "Your tickets have been confirmed. Please arrive at the airport 3 hours before your flight departs. Thank you for calling."

Some other questions you might hear are similar to the ones you might hear at the airport counter.

"Would you like to book your seats now?"
"Would you like a window seat or an aisle seat?"

"What is your ticket number?"
"What is your last name?"
"What is your first name?"

English Speaking Practice, English Speaking Tips

If you don't live in an English-speaking country, and you don't have friends or family to speak English with, where can you practise your English speaking skills ?

It's easier to have a conversation if you have a reason to speak something to talk about. These ideas all give you a reason to speak with another person.

Start a film or book club :

Invite people to discuss a film that you all watch together, or a book that you are all reading. Prepare questions before, to help people talk about specific aspects.

Volunteer to help other people :

Does your town or company often welcome foreign guests? Can you offer to translate for them ? Or perhaps you can offer to help children or students with their English home work.

Take part in a film conversation :

Watch a film on DVD, and decide in which part you can speak with the film character. Listen to what the character says (and the reply) then rewind, and either mute or pause the DVD after the film character speaks. Take the other character's role, and reply to the first character. You can also find film scripts on the imsdb site. Print it out, then practise taking a role in the film.

Use skype :

Chat with other people in the penpal forum via skype. You can get to know them first by writing to them, them invite them for a conversation. http://www.skype.com

Take English lessons :

This is the most expensive option, but paying for private or group lessons is a good way to regularly practise your English. If you have a job, maybe your company can also arrange lessons for you.

Before you start speaking :

Try to plan what you want to say. Make sure you know the most important words or technical terms that you'll need.
Practise standard expressions. For example, "Pleased to meet you", or "How are you?" Getting these expressions right makes you feel more confident to continue the conversation.
As well as concentrating on what you want to say, also concentrate on listening to the other person. Give your full attention, and make sure you understand by using clarifying expressions such as "Sorry, do you mean…" or "I'm sorry, but I don't understand. Can you repeat that please?" Don't forget: being a good speaker also means being a good listener. People will want to have conversations with you if they know you're interested in waht they say.

Learn English for Job, Learn English Jobs

10 Simple Steps to Learn English for Job :

Learning any new language takes a lot of dedication, practice and time. But all of that pays off when you are able to express yourself in an exciting new way. Learning English has limitless advantages.Job markets increase, grades go up and new friends are made. You will benefit greatly from learning English simply because so many people speak the English language. New horizons and opportunities will expand before your eyes. Use the following tips to help you in your Language Learning process for your job.

Have desire :

Want to learn a new language. Laerning Englisg requires lot of study and dedication .Only true desire will keep you motivated.

Know your motive :

Why do you want to learn English? Is it to help you in school, your business or something else? Identify your reason and remember it when you are having a hard time.

Set goals :

Set goals for yourself whether it be learning twenty words a week or giving a presentation in English at work next month. Goals will keep you motivated.

Study a little each day :

Studying formally for at least 30–60 minutes a day will help you retain what you learn. At the beginning of each study session, review what you learned in the lesson before.
Make a set study schedule
Set aside a specific time for study each day. That way you are less likely to skip your lessons.

Study out loud :

Pronounce the words out loud to yourself as you study. You will remember them more easily and you will be able to practice your pronunciation at the same time.

Use different learning methods :

Language can be learned through different activities such as speaking, reading, writing, and associating pictures with words. Find out which method works best for you and use a variety of other methods for practice.

Practice speaking :

Practice the language you have learned as much as possible.

Don't be afraid :

Never be afraid to try speaking to other people even if you don’t know everything. They will appreciate your efforts.

Surround Yourself :

Surround yourself with English. Read it, listen to it, watch it and speak it with others.

Start Practicing to do these points before you face an interview
Listen to native speakers
Pay careful attention to native speakers using English. Observe the way they pronounce the words and how they use them.

Pronunciation is key :

Imitate native English sounds as closely as you can. The more closely you pronounce words like native speakers, the better you will be understood.

Use good resources :

Use dictionaries, workbooks, software and any other resource that will allow you to practice and expand your language.

Use what you know :

Even if you know relatively little English, you should use what you know. You will be surprised at how much you can communicate with a few words or phrases.

Speed it up :

Get used to listening to the language at normal speed. It will seem fast at first, but the more you know, the more it will sound normal.

Don't get stuck :

If you don’t know a certain word, work your way around it. Use different words and actions to explain it, but don’t give up.

English CV

English CV

The purpose of an English CV is to sell yourself :

An English CV is seen as an opportunity tosell yourself and should emphasise your skills, experiences and achievements. You should include successes and wherever possible include facts and figures to support your claims. Do NOT include information that is negative.

Spelling and Grammar Check :

Correct spelling and grammar are of absolute importance in an English CV. Employers will NOT tolerate any mistakes. It is very important that a native English speaker checks your CV before you send it to an English-speaking employer.

Do not include a photo:

Most English employers do NOT like to see a photo on the CV and, in fact, including one could work against you. Only include a photo if it has been specifically requested for a particular job application.

English Language skills:

This is a very important aspect of your CV and your professional career. You must explain your knowledge of the English language under the ‘Skills’ heading. Describe your level of knowledge as one of the following:

Bilingual-- You can speak English as well as your mother tongue

Fluent-- You have a complete working knowledge of the English language, both written and speaking.

Workingknowledge--You have a good practical knowledge of English for professional purposes.

Conversational--You can converse adequately in English with good comprehension.

English CV Format :

Your name, address, telephone number and email address should appear at the top of your English CV. Always use a capital letter at the beginning of a name including the name of a street,town or country. Do NOT put CV or Curriculum Vitae as a heading.

Your CV should be produced on a word processor, not hand written, and be available softcopy as a Word or PDF file. If you are printing your CV you should use good quality paper.

An employer will scan your CV in thirty seconds looking for keywords that are relevant to the vacancy he is trying to fill. Keep your CV short and concise so that your positive attributes stand out. Your CV should be no more than two pages long.

Do NOT use initials for company names or qualifications, as these could be meaningless to an English employer. Always write the words in full.

Headings :

1. Profile: This is an opportunity to summarise the skills and experience you have described elsewhere in your CV. It is the first part of the CV that the employer will read. It should be only one or two paragraphs long otherwise the reader may not go on to read the rest of your CV. You should also include your career aspirations.

2. Achievements: list any special achievements from your career history or education that may make you stand out from other candidates. List no more than six.

3. Career History: This is a very important part of your CV. The most common CV format is written in reverse-chronological order. Start with your most recent employment and work backwards. List the dates between which you worked for each employer; the name of the employer, your position and the location at which you worked. Write a short description of the company and then describe your responsibilities including facts and figures as much as possible.

4. Skills: In an English CV it is necessary to list particular technical, professional or other skills separate from your career history. An English employer will not necessarily be familiar with non-English professional qualifications therefore you must explain each one.

5. Education: You must enter your highest qualification first, then where achieved, and then dates. Make sure you explain any non-English qualifications or try and put the English equivalent, e.g. Baccalaureate, French equivalent to the Higher Leaving Certificate and A levels. Do not include grades unless they are particularly impressive.

6. Personal details: It is not necessary to include all of your personal details on an English CV as your skills and experience are of paramount importance. However, you need to include your nationality and it is normal to include your Date of Birth such as: 11th November 1967. Do not put your age.

7. Interests. You do not have to include your interest on an English CV but they will help to give the employer a rounded picture of you as an individual.

Signature: It is not necessary to personally sign your English CV.

The Basic Skills Required For Essay Writing

What Are The Basic Skills Required For Essay Writing?,

Essay Tips Writing

Essay writing seems very difficult to some student; they think that they can not write. Though they are very knowledgeable and intelligent, they are not able to write a piece of their own.

To some extent it is true that writing is not everybody’s cup of tea but if a person is keen to learn, nothing is impossible in this world.If a person is consistent in his aims and goals he can rule the world; he can make impossible things possible. Same is the case with essay writing; it needs hardworking and practice; the more you write the more your writing style and language will be polished and within a short span of time you will be included among those who are called the best essay writers.

There are certain skills required for essay writing. First of all you need to analyze the title or topic of the essay on which you are asked to write essay. Once you completely understand what the title says next step is to collect information and facts using various source like print or electronic source. After gathering information you need to highlight the most important and less important things in order to prioritize your task. After that, comes the writing process; once you start writing there are few things which should be kept in mind.

First you should not try to overwhelm your essay with difficult words, lengthy sentences and stylish writing style. Always remember, your essay should be written in such a way that it can be understandable to every person; difficult words and lengthy sentences may lose readers’ attention.

A writer should know his readers; according to the comprehension level of reader a writer should create his piece of writing. If you are writing for children, the language should be simple and easy but if it is for intellectuals the language can avoid simplicity.

Rules of English Grammar, English Grammer Rules

Even though most of us either flunked out or fell asleep during English grammar class in school, it is an integral part of writing whether you are a professional writer or just want to write a note to your son’s teacher. Using good grammar helps get your point across effectively and focuses the attention on what you have to say instead of how you choose to say it. While there are hundreds of rules of grammar that are laid out in several style guides such as The Chicago Manual of Style and The Elements of Style, there are some that are absolute essentials to good writing that everyone should master.

1. Agreement – Agreement in a sentence refers to all of the parts of the sentence corroborating with each other. For example, you wouldn’t say “John have two pieces of toast and I has three.” You would instead say, “John has two pieces of toast and I have three.” The subjects and verbs need to be in agreement. Without sentence agreement you have all-out civil war in your sentence and no one knows what is going on. If your sentence parts don’t agree with each other you will have to jump in and mediate, causing hard feelings all around.

2. Tense – Tense refers to time. What time is it in your sentence? Whatever time it is it should remain consistent throughout your whole piece of writing. If it was last week you are talking about, stay there. There are three tenses in writing, past tense, present tense and future tense. Here is an example of writing with mixed tenses: “Carrie wondered how she is going to finish in time, but Joe will help her.” This sentence contains all three tenses, past in “wondered”, present in “is” and future in “will”. Pick a tense and stick to it! The sentence could read “Carry wonders how she will finish in time, but Joe will help.”

3. Spelling – One of the most important things, and without it, you can kiss your credibility goodbye. Spell checkers are poor substitutes for knowing how to spell and can leave behind more errors than you realize. There are many different forms of words and your spell checker does not know which form you wanted to use. For example, “When Mark washed they’re care, he forgot too putt on the wax.”

4. Run-On Sentences – A run-on sentence is one that is just too darned long! Not only is it too long, it is incorrect. Usually, a run-on sentence can be made into two or more sentences with a little punctuation and style. An example of a run-on sentence might be: “We walked over to the commissary to get something to eat but it was closed so we didn’t know what to do so we kept walking until we saw a restaurant and decided to go in and get something to eat but Andrew didn’t want to eat there so we kept going for another mile.” This sentence could have gone on for another mile too! Break up the sentence into smaller, more coherent parts.

5. Punctuation – It is very important to know your punctuation, even if you never plan on using a semicolon for the rest of your life. The most important thing to learn is where to put your commas, a common mistake among writers. Commas are used to separate parts of sentences that stand alone, such as those that are parenthetical. For example “There were too many flowers, not that I minded, but they took up most of the room.” Avoid using commas after conjunctions like “but” and “and.” Semi-colons and colons take up an entire chapter, read about them in your style book.

6. Usage – If you are going to use a word, you really ought to know how to use it. Some writers think big words look impressive but actually the reverse is true if the word is used incorrectly. Words don’t have to be big to be misused, consider its vs. it’s.

7. Capitalization – Words at the beginning of sentences aren’t the only ones worthy of capital letters. Always capitalize proper names such as people and places. Titles of all kinds deserve capital letters and so do acronyms.

8. Point of View – The point of view refers to whoever is telling the story or “speaking.” When you write a letter you are writing in “first person” which includes I, me, my, we and our. Second person writing occurs when we talk about you and yours and third person includes he, she, they and theirs. In third person writing, the author does not interject himself into the story.

9. Sentence Fragments – A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence that does not include both noun and verb. An example of a sentence fragment might be, “Really dumb.” Make sure your sentences reflect a complete thought unless you are writing dialog.

10. Wasted Words – A big no-no. Sometimes we throw in words just to round out our sentences, or we over-describe something, like, “The really ugly puke-green dress was hanging on the wall.” Do we really need to point out that a puke-green dress was really ugly? Economize your words and you will have fewer chances for grammatical errors.

Difference Between British and American English

The list below highlights the difference between British English and American English.

Apart from the spelling differences you can see those by clicking on the USA - UK differences at the left hand side of this page - there are a number of differences in vocabulary listed below.

I suggest you look them over because you never know when you may run into an American after studying British English, or when you may run into a Brit after having studied American English.

Having been to England a number of times now myself, I can assure you that the difference between American and British vocabulary are just enough to cause a few laughs.

Well, maybe a few... misunderstandings. ;-)

What's important to remember?

That both British English and American English are accepted on the examinations as long as you consistently use either one or the other. In other words, don't mix!

Common Differences

English American English

all right all right, alright (disputed)
analyse analyze
centre center
cheque check
colour color
counsellor counselor
criticise, criticize criticize
defence defense
doughnut donut
favour favor
fibre fiber
flavour flavor
fulfil fulfill
grey gray
honour honor
humour humor
jewellery jewellery, jewelry
judgement, judgment judgment
kerb curb
labour labor
license, licence (verb)
licence (noun) license (verb)
license (noun)
litre liter
metre meter
mould mold
neighbour neighbor
offence offense
practise (verb)
practice (noun) practice (verb)
practice (noun)
pretence pretense
programme program
pyjamas pajamas
realise, realize realize
savour savor
speciality specialty
theatre theater
travelled
travelling travelled, traveled
travelling, traveling
tyre tire
valour valor

Improving your English Pronunciation

Here are some tips to help you improve your English pronunciation.

First of all, don't worry about not having a native-English accent. It's important to be able to speak clearly, so that people can understand you. However, it's almost impossible to sound exactly like a native English speaker if you are learning English as an adult in a non-English speaking country.

However, there are many things that you can do to improve your pronunciation and your speaking skills.

1. Listen to spoken English as often as possible.

Listen to how speakers pronounce various words and pharases and "model" your pronunciation on what you hear.

2. Learn the phonetic alphabet.

Use the phonetic alphabet page (at the beginning of most good dictionaries) as a guide to pronouncing new words.

3. Don't forget to learn the word stress of a new word.

Every English word has its own stress, or intonation. For example, the word "believe" has two syllables (be and lieve), but only the second syllable is stressed. We say be'lieve and not 'be lieve. Your dictionary will show the syllable stress by an apostrophe (') before the syllable to be stressed.

Word stress is important. In fact, it is more likely that someone misunderstands you because of wrong word stress than because of the wrong pronunciation of a sound.

4. Work out which sounds cause you most problems in English.

Depending on what your first language is, you may have problems with certain sounds. For example, French speakers have difficulties with "th"; speakers of Mandarin have difficulties with "r" or "l", and Arabic speakers have difficulties with "p" and "b".

5. Practise the sounds you find difficult.

A useful exercise is a "minimal pair" exercise. For example, if you have difficulty distinguishing between "p" and "b", try practising pairs of words which are the same except for the sound "p" and "b":

For example, "pair" and "bear"; "pond" and "bond"; "pie" and "buy" etc.

6. Be aware of intonation and sentence stress.

Not all words in a sentence have equal stress, and generally only the "information" words (nouns and verbs) are stressed.

'Where's the 'pen I 'gave you?

'Where's the 'red 'pen I 'gave you?

Where's the 'red and 'blue 'pen I 'gave you 'yesterday?

The unstressed words (such as "the", "I", "you" and "and") don't carry as much "weight" as the stressed words. They become much smaller in length, and are almost abbreviated. For example, "and" becomes "un".

Changing stress

Sentence stress isn't "fixed" like word stress. In fact, you can stress words that are normally unstressed in order to highlight different meanings.

For example:

I 'love you. (Love, rather than just like.)
'I love you. (With the stress on I to highlight that it's me rather than another person who loves you.)
I love 'you. (And nobody else.)

Intonation

There are a couple of easy to remember rules about intonation. Usually our voices go up at the end of the sentence to show a question, and down at the end to show a statement.

Intonation is also important in "tag questions":

You know him, don't you? (With rising intonation on "don't you?" to show it's a question)
You know him, don't you. (With falling intonation on "don't you" to show it's a statement you expect the other person to agree with.)

7. Learn to recognise spelling patterns.

For example, "tion" on the end of a word is pronounced "shun", while "sion" can be pronounced "zhun". There are often many ways to pronounce a particular spelling pattern, but it certainly helps to know what the variations are. For example, the pattern "ough" can be pronounced "uff" as in "enough" and "tough", or "or" as in "ought" and "bought" or "oh" as in "although" and "dough".

8. Don't rush.

If you speak too fast, the danger is that you could skip over some words, fail to pronounce them completely, or mix them up. If you speak too slowly, you might end up sounding unnatural. But it's better to speak slowly and clearly than too quickly.

English Speaking Skills

Improving your English speaking skills will help you communicate more easily and effectively. But how do you become a more confident English speaker?

Practice where you can, when you can. Any practice is good – whether you speak to someone who is a native English speaker or not.

It's important to build your confidence. If possible, use simple English sentence structure that you know is correct, so that you can concentrate on getting your message across.

Try to experiment with the English you know. Use words and pharases you know in new situations. Native English speakers are more likely to correct you if you use the wrongword than if you use the wrong grammar. Experimenting with vocabulary is a really good way of getting feedback.

Try to respond to what people say to you. You can often get clues to what people think by looking at their body language. Respond to them in a natural way.

Try NOT to translate into and from your own language.This takes too much time and will make you more hesitant.

If you forget a word, do what native English speakers do all the time, and say things that 'fill' the conversation. This is better than keeping completely silent. Try using um, or er, if you forget the word.

Don't speak too fast! It's important to use a natural rhythm when speaking English, but if you speak too fast it will be difficult for people to understand you.

Try to relax when you speak – you'll find your mouth does most of the pronunciation work for you. When you speak English at normal speed, you'll discover that many of the pronunciation skills, such as linking between words, will happen automatically.

Remember, when speaking English…

Try to become less hesitant and more confident.

Don't be shy to speak – the more you do it, the more confident you'll become.

Remember to be polite – use "please" and "thank you" if you ask someone to do something for you.

How to avoid silence in English conversations

Sometimes you don't know what to say in a conversation.Perhaps you don't have any words to express yourself, or you haven't understood the other person. Or perhaps there isn't anything left to say! In all these situations, it's important to avoid being silent, so here are some words and expressions to use.

When you don't understand

"Sorry, I don't understand."
"Sorry, could you repeat that?"
"Sorry? I didn't get that."

Looking for words to express yourself

You don't want to be completely silent, but you need time to find the words.

"Well…"
"OK…"
"So…"

You can even make some "noises"

"Hmmm…"
"Uh-huh"
"Umm…"

To agree with the other person

You want to show that you agree, but you don't have anything else to say.

"Yeah."
"Right."

To change the subject

You've all given your opinion, and now you want to talk about something else.

"Anyway,…"
"Well, as I was saying…"
"So, back to …"
"So, we were saying …"

How To Help A Child Learn English

While studying the English language many parents may also want to teach their children to speak and read English. This can be a potentially beneficial activity for the entire family. After a parent’s English language ability is already at a high intermediate to advanced level, helping their children learn English can be fun. Teaching the English language to another person can also help to improve the English language ability of a person teaching. Children may ask unique questions about English that may bring special insight into understanding the English language.

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Here are some good methods for helping children to learn English that may also help parents to study.

Fun Is Number One

When helping children learn English the most important aspect is to focus on fun. Making the study of the English language fun and easy is a parent’s goal when teaching their children. One way to make learning the English language fun is to make sure you are using fun learning materials. Have your children shop with you for English study materials that they like. If they really like something then they will be much more likely to study it. There is an amazing variety of media for children in available in English. Children’s ABC books are certainly a wonderful way to start. English language television and movies can also be a good way to help children learn the English language quickly. Many shows on public broadcasting networks are actually made to teach English to children in primarily English speaking areas of the world. One popular show of this kind is known as “Sesame Street”. It has aired for numerous years and apparently has a proven track record for teaching English language and also basic math to children. A more recent English language learning show for children that airs internationally is known as “Charro.” The show is cartoon about a puppy traveling the world. Parent will likely also enjoy reading their children’s English books and watching the movies and shows together as a family.

English Construction Cards

A parent can make their children a set of English sentence construction cards to make the assembly of English sentences easier for a child. It can also be a fun and beneficial learning activity for a parent to make such cards. English sentence construction cards are basically small cards that each contain a word of the English language. One category of cards would be English nouns, another category would be English verbs, and another category could be English particles. Children (and parents too) can arrange the cards in many possible ways. Arranging the cards in different ways produces different sentences and helps children to quickly make English sentences without needing to write them by hand.

Another interesting thing that can help to make sentence construction easier is to add color to cards in a sentence. These colors can make the word types easier to sort at first. This is essentially making color coded cards for relatively easy construction of English language sentences. For instance, the verbs could be green, the nouns could be blue, the adjectives could be yellow, and so on.

This is hopefully a really good start to make learning English more fun for children.

Five Ways to Improve Your English Reading Comprehension

Improving your ability to read English quickly and accurately takes a great deal of practice. However, you don’t have to read boring materials that or ones that contain words and concepts you aren’t interested in. Once you know the basic elements of the English language, you can select from a wide variety of reading materials, including different methods of presentation. Here are a few fun ways to improve your English reading comprehension.

PLAY WORD GAMES

Today, crossword puzzles and other types of word game puzzles entertain native and non-native English speakers of all ages. If you’re looking for a way to improve your vocabulary and have fun at the same time, these types of puzzles can be of immense help to you. If this is something that interests you, you might also consider Scrabble, word searches and other similar games.

TAKE A SPEED READING COURSE

If you aren’t interested in word games, you might want to try taking a course in speed reading. These lessons will teach you how to pick key words out of a paragraph and understand the message without having to read each sentence word for word. That said, if you’re having difficulty isolating nouns and verbs, you may need to practice more before you try taking these courses.

TAKE NOTES ON SUBJECTS THAT INTEREST YOU

If you’re reading a book on a topic that you enjoy, take some notes. These can be verbatim samples from the text or you can try putting sections in your own words. As you write, you’ll also have an opportunity to think about the sentence structures and see how ideas are conveyed. This will help you learn to discuss these topics in a way that sounds more natural.

SELECT MATERIALS THAT WILL CHALLENGE YOU

Just like with physical exercise, you need to constantly set new goals for yourself so that you continue to progress and improve. For example, if you’re able to work your way through a 100 page children’s book, it’s time to start tackling a longer book or one on a more difficult topic. Regardless of which subjects interest you the most, you’ll be able to find some books that are harder to comprehend than others. By applying yourself to the ones that are more difficult, you’ll gain increased mastery over written English.

READ MATERIALS FROM MANY DIFFERENT AUTHORS

Considering the number of people that have websites, it’s easy to sample a wide range of English writing styles. This will help you to learn about the flexibility of the English language, as well as the means of expression that most people are comfortable with. If you already know a great deal about a certain topic in your native language, you can use that background to help you read websites in English that focus on similar concepts.

For the most part, once you know the basic elements of the English language, practice and time will be your most valuable teachers. It’s important to spend time reading materials that interest you in as many forms as possible and to spice up your practice with things like word games and speed reading classes. Over time – and with hard work – you’ll see dramatic improvements in your comprehension of written English.

Nouns, Noun and its Types

Common Nouns

These are words that are used to refer to common and non-specific things.

Examples: girl, boy, camera, computer, keyboard

Proper Nouns:

These are names of people, places, organisations businesses, schools universities etc. They are always written with a capital letter, even if they are in the middle of a sentence.

Examples: London, Paris, Michael, Angela, Mercedes Benz, Honda, Oxfam, King Edward VII, Cambridge University.

Abstract Nouns:

These are words used to name non-physical things. These include feelings, states of mind, concepts etc.

Examples: love, hatered, ambition, cynicism, reluctance, mathematics, sociology

Collective Nouns:

These are words that are used to describe groups of things.

Examples: platoon, class, band, cast

Note: Some collective nouns can only be used to refer to specific groups.

Examples: herd (of cattle), flock (of sheep), gaggle (of geese), caravan (of camels)

IMPORTANT

A singular collective noun refers to one group, but a collective noun in plural form refers to two or more groups of the same thing.
Example: herd / herds

singular: A herd of cattle is grazing in the field.

plural: Many herds of cattle can be seen while driving through farm lands.

Verbs, Types of verbs, Verbs form

What Are Verbs?

Verbs are made up of one or more “action” words.

TYPES OF VERBS

Finite, Non finite / Infinite, Regular, Irregular, Transitive, Intransitive, Auxiliary, Infinitive, Participles

Finite Verbs

Finite verbs are complete verbs, as they have a subject, number and a tense.

Example: He is singing.

“is singing” is a finite verb as it has a subject (he), a number, and a tense (present continuous)

Non Finite/Infinite Verbs

These do not have either a subject, number or definite tense.

Example: asking permission

“asking permission” is a non finite verb as it does not have a subject, number or a definite tense.

Regular Verbs

These are verbs that end in “ed” when they are in the past tense.

Examples: kick, stop, type

These are all regular verbs which end in “ed” when used in the past tense. Kick becomes kicked. Stop becomes stopped. Type becomes typed.

Irregular Verbs

These are verbs that do not end in "d" or “ed” in the past tense.

Examples: run, fight, think

These are all irregular verbs which do not end in “ed” in the past tense. Run becomes ran. Fight becomes fought. Think becomes thought.

Transitive Verbs

These are verbs that have objects. (This means that the action the verb describes is done to something or someone.)

Example: The man kicked the ball.

In this sentence the verb, “kicked” is being done to the object, the ball.

Intransitive Verbs

These are verbs that do not have an object. The action described by the verb is not done to anyone or anything.

Examples: Ducks swim.

Dogs bark.

Babies cry.

Auxiliary Verbs

These are verbs that help to express the meaning of the main verb in a sentence. They are forms of the verb “to be” or the verb “to have”.

Words like: am, is, are, has, have etc. are often used as auxiliary verbs.

Examples: I am running.

She has slept.

He is going.

MODAL VERBS

Modal verbs are a special type of auxiliary verb.

Modal verbs are used to express an attitude towards what is being said or written.

There are two types of modal verbs. These are pure modal and semi-modal verbs.

Pure Modal Verbs

(These are complicated and will only be dealt with very briefly here)

Pure Modal verbs do not change in any way in the past tense.

These always come before the main verb, which in the case of pure modal verbs is always in the bare infinitive form i.e. “run” not “to run”

May, Might, Would, Could, Need, Should, Can, and Should are pure modal verbs.

Examples: He may run home.

He might run home.

He should run home.

He could run home.

Semi Modal Verbs

These are auxiliary (helping) verbs that are usually followed by the full infinitive (e.g. to run).

Examples: ought to, has/have to, able to

Verbs in the Infinitive Form

The infinitive form of the verb is the base form the verb.

It is the form usually found in the dictionary. The infinitive form a verb can always have the word “to” in front of it.

Examples: run, jump, sing, stop, listen, look

Participles

Participles are the endings added to verbs to give the tense of the verb.Participles "take part" or "participate" in the meaning of a verb.

There are two types of participles. These are present participles and past participles.

PRESENT PARTICIPLES

The present participle is the “ing” extension to the verb used for the present continuous tense.

Examples: running, jumping, laughing, singing

Note: Present participles can sometimes be used as adjectives.

Example: The singing boy.

PAST PARTICIPLES

Past participles are the various forms that verbs take in the past perfect tense (when the action of the verb is complete).

They usually come after the words “has” or “have”. For regular verbs this form of the verb ends in d or ed.

Example: We have finished the game.

For irregular verbs the past participle form ends in a number of differnt letters. Some of these are “t”, “en” or “n”.

Example: We have taken the keys.

We have learnt something.

Verbs, Types of verbs, Verbs form

Learning English: Spelling Rules

Writing in English is a representation of the spoken language. Therefore, spelling is very important if you want to be able to clearly communicate with others. The importance in spelling and writing is clear – writing stays fixed, even as the spoken language adapts. So, English spelling can at times, seem totally illogical.

There are certain spelling rules that will help you with your spelling. However, it is important to remember that even the clearest rules have their exceptions.

Words Ending In Double L

When you come across words that end in double l and you are adding a prefix and/or a suffix, you will need to discard an ‘l’.

All + Most = Almost

Full + Fill = Fulfil

Well + Come = Welcome

Skill + Full = Skilful

Will + Full = Wilful

There is, of course, an exception to this rule. When combining the words hill and side, you actually leave the second ‘l’ – Hillside.

Short And Long Vowels

We define short and long vowels in words by the emphasis put on that vowel in the word. Short vowels have more emphasis on other letters, and long vowels have the emphasis on that particular vowel.

When words contain short vowels, they are usually followed by a double consonant:

Bitter

Holly

Dinner

Latter

However, words with long vowels will normally only have a single consonant:

Later

Dine

Holy

When you say the words out loud, you will notice the stress you put on the vowels in the words. This makes it easy for you to determine how to spell that particular word.

Words Ending In The Letter ‘E’

When adding to a particular word that ends in the letter ‘e’, keep the letter ‘e’ if you are following with a consonant. However, if you are following the letter ‘e’ with another vowel, it is common to lose the ‘e’.

Keep The ‘E’

Grace – Graceful

Live – Lively

Hope – Hopeful

Time – Timely

Lose The ‘E’

Take – Taking

Save – Saving

Fame – Famous

Love – Lovable/Loving

‘I’ Before ‘E’, Except After C

People often become confused with this English spelling rule. There seems to be some words that the rule applies to, and others where it doesn’t.

Here is an easy way to remember the words that the rule applies to and the words where the rule changes.

When sounded out, if the sound of the word is /ee/ then it is ‘I’ before ‘e’.

Siege

Field

Chief

Niece

Relieve

Thief

If the sound in the word is /e/ then the ‘e’ comes after the ‘c’.

Ceiling

Their

Perceive

Receive

Making Words That End In ‘F’, Plural

The majority of words that end in the letter ‘f’ become plural by adding the suffix ‘ves’. However, there are a few words that no do apply to this rule: Chiefs and roofs.

One Wolf – Two Wolves

One Shelf –Two Shelves

Making Words That End In ‘Y’, Plural

When words end in the letter ‘y’, and they have a vowel preceding it, just add the letter ‘s’.

* One Boy – Two Boys

* One Toy – Two Toys

However, when the word ends in a ‘y’ and has another consonant preceding it, you should change the ‘y’ to ‘ies’.

One Fairy – Two Fairie

One Baby – Two Babies

One Ability – Two Abilities

There are a lot more spelling rules within the English language, and learning them all may take some time. However, knowing just a few of the English spelling rules allows you to be confident in your spelling ability. A good quality English dictionary is a good tool to keep with you as you learn the English spelling rules.