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…
OK. It had to happen, didn’t it? You know what I’m talking about – yet another article on the dreaded Coronavirus! It’s something we don’t really want to talk about, right? But bear with me – because despite all the negative feelings and anxiety surrounding this epidemic, there are positive ways we can look at it. I teach online to students from around the world,…
Humans are lazy. If we can find an easy way of doing something, then we do it. It’s one of the reasons for our success as a species. It also means that language is littered with acronyms (like FBI), abbreviations (like Mrs) and portmanteaus (like Brexit). And there are thousands of them. Today, I’d like to look at the most useful acronyms we use in…
In December 2019 I visited the forgotten country between Kazakhstan and China. Kyrgyzstan is one of the less-developed countries in the world with a 90 % Muslim population. We didn’t know what to expect, but people were really friendly. Of course, there were sophisticated groups of street hawkers in the tourist traps, but in general we felt safe and comfortable. Mountains. That’s why you want…
No one likes to talk about the nasty things in life, right? I mean, who enjoys discussing how many people they had to fire this week, just because the company wants to save a bit of money? And how do you mention that you have a “poor” friend without making her sound insignificant? Or, having said that, how do you talk about your “rich” uncle…
OK, so here’s something I know about you. Either you, or someone you know, is learning a language online. I’m right, right? Online language learning is growing at a fast and horrifying rate. One recent report predicted it would be worth over $10 bn by 2025. That’s more than the hat industry! And everyone likes a good hat. Learning a language is different online from how…
Jag heter Luisa Kerek. Jag har jobbat som lärare i svenska i snart tio år och undervisat människor från hela världen. När man frågar studenterna vad de tycker är svårast med svenska, svarar de ofta att det är uttalet, vilket är logiskt eftersom svenska, jämfört med andra språk, har många (nio!) vokaler och en speciell prosodi (melodi). Detta ställer ofta till problem. Trots att många anser…
In my third international (intercontinental, really) move in five years, I hoped that the process would become easier and that I would find more of a flow which thus far has eluded me. Perhaps it’s because I have not yet perfected my box packing and unpacking method. But I think it’s because, along with the outer, physical box moving, I am also doing some internal…
We all know that some words have lots of different meanings. I remember one student, very early in my teaching career, asking me what “to” meant. That was a very difficult question to answer. English is full of these sorts of words. The word “charge”, for example, can mean “put electricity into yourphone”, “start running towards the enemy with your other soldier friends”, “tell someone how…
—In many ways I’m glad. I’m glad because I’m from that strange generation that knew what lifewas like before the Internet, but also was young enough when it arrivedto be able to adapt to it quickly. I remember when we’d have to rent videos to watch a film (for a small fortune). I remember when we’d write letters to friends and get excited when the…
In the immortal words of Radiohead, “Anyone can play guitar.” And they’re right. That’s the great thing about the guitar. It’s for everyone! But how do we talk about it? What’s the name for those metal things at the top of the guitar? What about that fun noise you make when you put the guitar right in front of the amp? Let’s look at these!…
OK. Let’s start with a little quiz. Which sentences are correct and which ones aren’t? I’ve seen so many country. She spend all day yesterday talking about giraffes. Have you ever seen elephant? Your brother is a lawyer, isn’t it? I don’t think she know much about that. Can you tell me where is the cat? You might’ve decided that they’re all wrong, right? Well,…
