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How to fail a job interview because of English!
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Having taught hundreds of adult learners of English, many of whom were desperately looking for work in Sydney, one of the most expensive cities in the world, I have come to notice a number of factors that lead the students to bomb a job interview. To apply for jobs looking for “bubbly” personalities Be…
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I hate pronunciation!
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Don’t worry, I’m neither possessed nor schizophrenic and I haven’t lost my mind! It’s not the field that I hate, just the actual term itself. Why? Because the term “pronunciation”, as it is understood now by ESL specialists and schools, does not do justice to the actual concept of pronunciation. Ask an average ESL…
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How do they become terrorists?
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I know what you’re thinking. What does a blog about English learning have to do with terrorism, right? Well, just bear with me and keep on reading, you’ll find out. Anyone ever wondered how someone becomes a full-time terrorist? It’s amazing isn’t it? I mean those people do terror for a living. They are…
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Me, no English, but you, no Japanese!
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I wrote the title so just to make it short, so do not think that I’m taking the piss out of Japanese people or anything like that. Japanese people are quite embarrassed about the fact that they cannot speak English and they (well, many of them I guess) have begun to realize that they’re…
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They hear how, not what you say
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Is that fair? Who cares? Life’s not fair in many ways, is it? You might have the most remarkable vocabulary and the most accurate grammar and still be wondering why you can’t get people to like hanging out with you or just have a conversation with you. No one likes robots. No one likes…
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English Speak Like Native is Back!
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Did you guys miss me? I bet you did. Thank you so much for all your loyalty. It’s incredible how many emails I got from loyal followers just asking me when the website is going to be back up. Well, there it is. The website has been re-designed and now looks completely different. Parts…
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More opportunities in the land of opportunity for better speakers of English
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I realize that may sound arrogant as it assumes that the land of opportunity has to be where English happens to be the first language but no one can argue that countries like the United States, Canada and Australia (and certainly some European countries) have been a common destination for the world’s immigrants over…
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Street slang and American accent
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There you have it, some street slang spoken with an American accent. The dialogue basically focuses on a number of vowels but mainly 2: /æː/ /ʌ/. Now usually vowel /æː/ is short but in some parts of the US and the speakers’ style, some Americans may pronounce it as a long vowel, they stretch…
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Mary crease moss and a hoppy new ear!
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Since we’re just a few days away from Christmas Eve, I thought I should tell you how to say it without sounding funny (in the negative way). It’s very unlikely that people won’t understand you when you greet them with “Merry Christmas” or “Happy New Year” because they are expecting it right? Let me…
