Cultural Reflections
The Evolution of English: Our History Lives in the Words We Speak
Did you know that English has more words than any other language? This has always astounded me and got me thinking, where did all these words come from and why is it that English has so many? The truth is that the English language is actually a lot different than it was hundreds of years…
Read More5 Reasons Why You Are NOT a Fluent English Speaker: Confessions of an English Teacher
I have been an English teacher for around 7 years now and I have to say that I really love teaching. As a teacher, the objective of my job is quite simple: to teach people English. I do this through a mixture of hundreds of different methodologies and techniques and through all of these I…
Read MoreHow to Meet Native Speakers
This is a guest post by English fluency and speaking confidence expert Drew Badger. One of the best things you can do to build your fluency and speaking confidence is to close the textbook and get out and meet native English speakers. I recommend native speakers – as opposed to other learners – because you’ll…
Read MoreSuper Hero English: The Story of 4 Lucky English Students
Have you ever dreamed about walking down the red carpet with your favorite celebrities? Well, for four very lucky and creative English students this dream become a reality at the recent launch of the new movie, Thor: The Dark World. Our friends from Kaplan International, with the help of Marvel, are happy to announce their…
Read MoreHow Learning English Can Make You a Global Citizen
Why are you learning English? This is probably the most important question you can ask, but the depth and sincerity of your answer will not only determine the quality of your learning experience, but also the reward. Most people would say that they are learning English for professional reasons, some would say for travel, cultural…
Read More7 Phrases that Will Drastically Improve Your Cultural Fluency in English
You may have perfect grammar, but grammar does not make you a good intercultural communicator, nor does it make you confident and effective in your speaking. Lee en español | Leia em português Today we will explore 7 important phrases that will not only dramatically improve your cultural fluency in English, they will also make you…
Read More34 Ways to Use the Word ASS: Idioms, Slang and Collocation
If you’re like most English learners, you’ve probably heard the word ASS used very frequently in English speaking songs, movies, and TV series. In addition to its most common use (butt), you’ve probably even heard the curse word ASSHOLE, or seen people use LMAO (Laughing My ASS Off) in internet chat. But did you know…
Read MoreAdd Some Color to Your English: Color Idioms
Is you English currently dull and boring? Do you feel like nobody finds you very interesting to talk to in English? If so, you need to add a little bit of COLOR to your vocabulary! Using idiomatic expressions is one of the best ways to make your English sound more interesting and colorful expressions, like…
Read MoreFranglish: 33 English Words Adopted From French (with Audio)
Most people know that English is a very rich diverse language, with a great mixture of roots, including Latin and several Germanic influences. What a lot of people don’t realize, however, is that English is not really that similar to modern day German, but rather much closer to romance languages in a lot of ways.…
Read MoreCommonly Confused Words: Hilarious Homophones
Repeat this phrase out loud: A witch, which lived in a fort, fought with her maid who had made her a really bad cup of coffee. That sounded kind of repetitive didn’t it? The reason for that is because I just used 3 homophones in the same phrase. A homophone is when two words are…
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