2019-01-18 How to Order at an American Restaurant
When I lived in Portugal, one of the simplest things to do was really hard for me: ordering food at restaurants. I worried about being laughed at or not being…
2019-01-11 How to Interrupt Someone in a Nice Way
Imagine that you are talking with a friend who lives overseas. You haven’t seen or spoken to the person in a year and he or she has much news to…
2019-01-04 How to Ask for Clarification
In the humorous American television program Seinfeld, the characters often find themselves in strange situations because of small communication failures. These little misunderstandings grow to the point of total confusion.…
2018-12-21 Compound Nouns: Putting Words Together
What do these five words have in common: hotdog, fireworks, well-being, waistline, sunset and ice cream? They could all describe a fun holiday celebration. For example: My holiday was wonderful!…
2018-12-14 Words to Travel With, Part 2: Airports
Ask one hundred people whether they love to travel and most of them will probably say yes. Discovering a new place can be fun and exciting. But getting to that…
2018-12-07 Words to Travel With, Part 1
Have you ever been to an airport or train station where the official language was English? What was your experience – easy, difficult or in between? Today, we will explore…
2018-11-30 Do You See What I See?
It was beautiful in Washington, DC, this morning! I could see the sun shining and hear birds singing. So, I decided to walk to work. As I walked down 6th…
2018-11-23 The Verbs Let, Allow and Permit
The verbs “let,” “allow” and “permit” are part of a group of verbs called “causatives.” These verbs express how one person or thing causes something else to happen. For instance,…
2018-11-16 How to Make a Complaint in English
Imagine that you are visiting friends or family in an English-speaking country. You need to have a few pieces of clothing professionally cleaned for a party. So you take them…
2018-11-09 The Road Signs of English
If you are driving a car, you will probably see many traffic or road signs. They provide information about how fast to go, which way to turn and whether a…
2018-11-02 Use Fewer Words but Say More
American comedian George Carlin is remembered for telling jokes about politics, religion and even the English language. He used humor to express his dislike of things such as misused words…
2018-10-26 What’s the Difference? ‘So’ and ‘So That’
If you asked even the most knowledgeable Americans, they probably could not tell you more than a few meanings for the word “so.” It is an everyday word that most…
2018-10-19 Four Adverbs: Just, Already, Still, Yet
Sometimes, the most common words in the English language can cause the most trouble. Today, we will talk about four adverbs that are often unclear to English learners. All four…
2018-10-12 How to Talk About Preferences
Imagine that you are at a restaurant for breakfast. You want something to drink, but you are not sure what. When the server walks over to your table, he says:…
2018-10-05 Old Grammar Rules You Can Break
Like many languages, English is constantly changing. And today it is changing faster than ever. Mobile phones, social media, increased travel and other things have connected the world more closely…