OK, OK. It’s another article with a completely weird “-nym” word in the title. You may well be asking yourself, “Eponyms? What’s an eponym? And how’s that going to help me put bread on my table?” Well, to that I say, “Good questions!” Let’s deal with one of them. (Sorry — I can’t help you out with the bread.) What’s an eponym? In short —…
I hear you! You’re saying, “Meronyms? What on Earth are meronyms?” Well, to be honest with you, I had no idea what they were until very recently when I came across the term in a book I was reading. Then I said the same thing: “Meronyms? What on Earth are meronyms?” Then I looked into them and realised that we actually use meronyms all the…
Have you ever thought about how often we talk about love? It’s fair enough, I guess. I mean love makes the world go round! All you need is love! Love is everything! Right? At least it’s a big part of our lives. So have you ever found it strange how we often talk about love like it’s a war? Or sometimes like it’s just a…
Fancy a vocabulary brain-teaser? Welcome to our English compound noun practice!
What are puns and why am I reading about them? Well, let me start off by telling you that I’m a massive fan of puns. Puns are often known as “dad jokes.” That’s because you hear a lot of very bad puns from middle-aged men who think that being unfunny is being funny … if you know what I mean. But that’s the beauty of…
Tip #1 During an English class, you need to feel good, so a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere is an absolutely must. As emotional intelligence guru Dan Goleman says: “When we are relaxed, it’s easier to achieve the most productive state of mind.“ Tip #2 During your homework, try to repeat new words and phrases out loud. Maybe imagine yourself as an actor or actress, practising…
Let’s start with an amusing image. Why is this funny? Well, even if you don’t get the joke, it’s still pretty funny, I guess. I mean – who can’t laugh at a duck flying madly through the air? But there’s also a language-based joke going on here. “Duck” is a homonym – a word that looks or sounds the same as another word. It can…
Between 1990 and 2010 I went camping and hiking with my fellow scouts and my close friends almost every weekend. We learned an awful lot about nature and how one should behave when out there. We used to visit all kinds of places in the Czech Republic. The photo with some basic camping-gear vocabulary is from my favourite spot in Labske Piskovce. I would return…
Sometimes I look at the date and think, “What happened there, then?” It’s 2020! We are seriously in the future now. Yep – we are now in a time AFTER Back to the Future 2, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barb Wire (don’t ask), Blade Runner, Robocop and … er … 1984. Obviously. And if you think about it, it shows. Look at all the stuff…
TOEFL score speaking improvement … 13 points in one week. The first time Carisa took the TOEFL, she studied for months and achieved only 76. She needed at least 95 to apply to U.S. business schools and to the coveted scholarships. Her next attempt was now just a week away, and she was unable to master the speaking questions. Carisa anticipated washing another $240 down the drain. Desperately,…
A couple of weeks ago, we had a very special date. Lots of people decided to talk about it on social media, which means we know it’s important, right? At the beginning of this month, the date looked very pleasing: 02/02/2020. Nice, isn’t it? One of the reasons that date looks so good is that it reads the same backwards as it does forwards. Go on — try…
As every new parent knows, choosing a name for baby can be fraught with difficulty, even before the inevitable grandparental disapproval. How frustrating! Gordon Bennett! It could all so easily go Pete Tong! Firstly, it’s important to stress-check the acronym situation. It’s all very well mum and dad choosing two mainstream forenames like Donald and Oliver, but, if their surname is Giles, the poor little…
