speak english

  • What is the best way to learn English…fast?

    Not a single day goes by without hearing this question “What is the best way to learn English…fast?”. Since you’re in such a hurry, I’ll indulge you!

  • 7 spelling-pronunciation rules for vowels

    English spelling is messy, chaotic and can be one of the biggest and worst nightmares for English learners. It affects your pronunciation, and therefore writing and speaking. Find out how and why!

  • How To Master English Pronunciation

    Thoughts on English Pronunciation I must have written tens of articles about English pronunciation but I never run out of ideas or other angles to view this topic from. Pronunciation, for the majority of learners, is what they study when having problems being understood. On the other hand, for some, it essentially has to…

  • Listen to speak, read to write

    That is my advice to learners of English as a second or foreign language. That is also my advice to English schools and ESL teachers responsible for creating ESL programs, curricula and textbooks. Just as it says in the title, to improve your speaking, you’ve got to start with listening, and to improve your…

  • Improving English: None for you without review

    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…

  • Learning English or learning about English?

    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,…

  • What grammar book is good to learn English?

    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…

  • Phonological awareness and phonics: Phon what?

    I have been getting many kindergarten teachers asking me about the difference between phonological awareness and phonics or between phonemic awareness and phonics. You’ve got to see how frustrated they look when asking “what the hell is the difference between phonological awareness and phonemic awareness?”. I know, I know. It’s confusing isn’t it? No…

  • Why You Can’t Understand Native English!

    “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…

  • Being great at English: How bad do you want it?

    Not only English, being great at anything pretty much all comes down to how bad you want it. You’ve got to want it! You’ve got to want it so bad that you wouldn’t want to exist in this world without it. It’s the food you eat, the water you drink and the air your…