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Improving English: None for you without review
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The title of this article says it all. So why is review such an important part of the learning process and improving English? Well, just look at the first two letters of the word “review”, what have you got? That’s right. “Re”. “Re” also happens to be the first two letters of the word…
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Learning English or learning about English?
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Learning English, learning about English, “tomEYto” “tomAHto” you might think. Unfortunately, most English learners spend 70% of their time learning about English. They learn about grammar rules, vocabulary, how to write an essay or pass an exam etc. but hardly learning English as in fully immersing themselves in the language. Look, needless to say,…
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The stubborn pronunciation problems of Japanese learners
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Japanese are stubborn, so are their pronunciation problems Japanese students of English struggle with their pronunciation problems. No matter how advanced the speakers are, no matter how long the learners have been learning or speaking English for, some (phonetic) mistakes are real stubborn aren’t they? They keep happening over and over and Japanese students…
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What grammar book is good to learn English?
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None! It does not exist. You never learn a language by studying grammar. Grammar books should only be used as a reference, just like a dictionary. You use a dictionary to look up the meaning of a word, that is to improve your vocabulary, and you should use a grammar book to help you…
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What is “another” good movie to watch for English learning?
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In a previous post, I recommended Bill Murray’s “Groundhog day” as a good movie to watch to improve the learners’ English. There’s another movie that’s just as good for learning English especially for improving grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. Did I make you curious? I certainly hope so. Do you wanna (want to) take a…
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Blessed are the English learners who can master their emotions
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To master your emotions is to decide how YOU WANT to be feeling now as opposed to how you ARE feeling now! Imagine how difficult that is. As a matter of fact, for most people, it is beyond reach. While it is most certainly not beyond reach (unfeasible), it can easily be if it…
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3rd Largest Economy: behind North Korea in English Profiency
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Something’s wrong there. According to a 2005/2006 TOEFL test of English as a foreign language, Japan has the worst score in Asia, even worse than North Korea. Although Japan scores much better in the EF English Proficiency Index, which attempts to rank countries by the average level of English skills amongst adults, Japan still…
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4 silly myths about learning English
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Silly myth 1: “If you live in an English speaking country for just 3 months, you can speak English like a native speaker.” Can’t tell you how many dreams I’ve seen get shattered and hearts broken. Many seem to believe that it is almost a certain fact if you manage to live in…
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English for beginners: Baby language?
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Hello baby, hello my baby, hello hello my special baby, how are you this morning? How are you, how are you, how are you this morning? How are you beautiful? Hungry sweetie? Awww, poor baby, hungry hungry you are! Aren’t you? okay, let’s change your nappy first shall we? does that make you happy?…
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Why You Can’t Understand Native English!
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“Because I’m not a native speaker of English! Duhhh” many of you might think. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had advanced students coming up to me completely baffled. They have been learning English for years, yet they are still unable to understand native English speakers, especially on TV. Why especially on…